Ashley Giordano

* First

**Ashley Giordano** is a contestant on Hell's Kitchen Season 30: Next Gen, she is still in the competition.

Ashley is an Australian pastry chef of Italian descent who was inspired by Jazz's run in Season 28 to try out for the show herself, Ashley was initially rejected for Season 29 but got called up for Season 30 as a cast member couldn't make it due to a family emergency and the producers still had her contact info.

## Personality

Ashley is a lovely, passionate girl with plenty of spunk and a great sense of humor, traits that allowed to her to hit it off with the other chefs easily.

### Episode 1

Ashley was the second chef to have her dish tasted and explained that her she was born in Sydney but her parents (and grandparents) were from Milan and that they now lived in Connecticut where she works for a top Italian Restaurant, her seafood risotto was initially met with worry after she said that she had pan seared the rice but upon correcting herself Ramsey declared it one of the best risottos he's ever had, awarding Ashley the second perfect score of the night.

Ashley was seen bonding with Chelsea and McKenna during the reward, explaining that she didn't drink in general, and that she was looking forward to tomorrow's challenge.

### Episode 2

Ashley produced one of the best tacos of the day with her risky vegetarian taco but it was defeated by Chelsea's, though Ashley was still a good enough sport to congratulate Chelsea for her win.

Ashley and Chelsea were on apps that night but despite getting the red team off to a strong start with the help of Ava and McKenna on fish, Cora and Saraya derailed their hopes of winning service getting them all kicked out, Cora and Saraya would prove to be lucky come elimination as Trent's plea pretty much eliminated himself.

### Episode 3

Ashley was paired with Ava for the Chicken Relay challenge, Ashley breaking down the chicken and Ava preparing the dishes, and the duo worked well together only to have their efforts undermined by Chelsea and Kaylee's terrible teamup which put the women so far behind that Ramsey called off the challenge early, awarding the challenge to the men.

As mad as the women were at them. Ashley managed to get them to hear it from Chelsea and Kaylee's side which helped die down the anger, Ashley was on the tableside station that night and wasn't seen much but she was happy to hear that Chelsea had recovered from the challenge so well that her friend had been declared best of the worst, an assignment that ended in Kaylee's elimination.

### Episode 4

By the time of Episode 4 Ashley's relationship with Chelsea had blossomed from a friendly rivalry to the two young women being friends, to the point that Ashley offered to fillet Chelsea's salmon for her but Chelsea refused for two reasons, she was confident in her abilities to filet the salmon and she wasn't sure if such hep would fly with Ramsey and the judges.

As for what Ashley did for the budget challenge, Ashley went to her Italian roots by making her spin on spaghetti and meatballs and much like Chelsea, Ashley's dish was a hit and one of the highest scoring dishes, the Red Team went on to win the challenge.

Ashley was on meat with Fiona that night and, alongside Chelsea, acted as a peacekeeper between Cora and Saraya, the Red Team went on to win their first service.

### Episode 5

Ashley and Chelsea's friendship made them an effective team in the Jackets Challenge and Ashley's burger was one of the best dishes of the day.

Ashley was forced to pull double duty as Cora and Saraya's mistakes got them kicked off the apps and fish station and was supportive of Chelsea as her nerves caused her to rush orders, when Saraya turned her personal attacks towards Chelsea at elimination Ashley jumped to Chelsea's defense only for Saraya's true, ugly side to show itself, getting Saraya disqualified in the end, as the teams returned to the dorms Ashley went out of her way to comfort Chelsea who had been driven to tears by Saraya's comments.

### Episode 6

Ashley was very happy to get sea bass for her protein in the dogpen challenge, calling it one of her favorite fish to cook, naturally her dish was one of the best ones of the day.

The Red Team were in disarray come service as whilst Chelsea and Ashley rocked the apps station, Fiona and Cora had a disastrous night on meat and Ramsey moved Chelsea to the meat station and subsequently eliminated Fiona whilst kicking Cora out the Red Team were able to complete and win service.

Following Grant's elimination Ashley found herself traded to the Blue Team with Chelsea in exchange for Stephan and Miles, as Ramsey felt that it was the only way to remedy the situations that led to both teams having difficult services.

### Episode 7

Ashley's combination of pork belly, herbs, apples and potatoes allowed her to make an unconventional take on Porketta which turned out to be one of the best dishes of the day.

Ash was with Xander on the apps station that night and performed well, allowing the Blue Team to win the service.

### Episode 8

Ashley woke up shortly after Ava and Cora did and didn't even give Chelsea a chance to get a word in before she hugged her friend upon realizing that the youngest chef in the competition was turning twenty one that day.

In the prom night tasting menu challenge Ashley took a bit of a risk with her hot appetizer dish, making a savory tiramisu, she assured Chef Ramsey that she had made the dish before, her dish got rave reviews and earned an easy point over Sophie's dish because she had used alcohol in her dish (a mistake Chelsea almost made but got caught before she could make the batter for her onion rings).

Ashley was on meat with Xander that night and between them and Chris and Tai on Garning they ensured that Chelsea's challenge winning slider trio went out perfectly, much to Chelsea's delight, the Blue Team won the service and Sophie was eliminated.

### Episode 9

Ashley was among the first to find out that Chelsea was diabetic and offered the young chef her sympathies, in the challenge proper Ashley took on Stephan in a battle of the double cut pork chops and both dishes were deemed strong enough to earn them a point.

Ashley had the unfortunate task of being paired with Cora for her first night on the Blue Team and it didn't end well as Cora had a complete meltdown on apps whilst Ashley divided her attention between Cora, her own work on the apps station and looking out for Chelsea (who had her own problematic station partner in Tai), both teams lost the service and Chelsea was named Best of the Worst for managing to get excellent food out despite her blood sugar getting low at one point, Tai was ultimately the one who was sent home that night.

 Week 3
 Week 4
 Week 5
 Week 6
 Week 7
 Week 8
 Week 9

## Trivia

Ashley is the second ever Australian contestant to compete on Hell's Kitchen and the first Australian of Italian descent to compete.

She is the tallest female contest this season at 5ft 11.

## Quotes

"I am finally here mofos! It took me two tries to get on this show but I am here to kick ass and take names, and I'm all out of names! The other chefs might look at me like I'm just the Italian girl with green hair and I've got two things to say to that: one: I'm Australian of Italian descent, two: my hair's naturally brown, not green!" (Ashley's first confession cam)

“G’day chef.”

“G’day, and I’d recognize an Australian accent anywhere, did you know Jazz per chance?”

\*Ashley laughs\* “No, I’m from Sydney, that’s on the other side of Australia from where Jazz is from, but she did inspire me to try out for this show myself.”

“Right, tell me a bit more about yourself.”

“Well, I’m Ashley, I currently live in Connecticut and I’m a pastry chef at a high end Italian Restaurant.”

“Nice, what was your inspiration for getting into cooking?”

“My grandparents are from Italy, I learned most of what I know from watching and cooking with them and the rest whilst I was in culinary school.”

“Whereabouts in Italy are they from?”

“Milan.”

“Very nice, please present your dish.”

\*Ashley unveils her dish\* “What we have here is a Steelhead Trout Fillet served over a Pan Seared Seafood Risotto.”

“You what?”

“Err, what? What did I say?”

“You said you pan seared the Risotto.”

\*Ashley facepalms before running a hand down her face\* “My grandparents are going to get on my case about that but that was a slip of the tongue brought on by nerves, the Trout Fillet was pan seared, the Risotto was cooked the normal way.”

“Thank fuck you clarified!” \*Ashley laughs nervously as Gordon cuts into the fillet\* “Wow, that is glistening! What seafood did you put into the Risotto?”

“Lobster claw and tail, prawn heads, scallops and squid.” \*Ramsey tries the dish as a whole\* “And I used a fish stock to cook the Risotto as well.”

“What seasoning do you have in there?”

“Salt, pepper, some saffron and a Umi butter that I started the seafood in.”

“Wow, you went all out didn’t you?”

“Doing anything less wouldn’t have cut it chef.”

“Good answer, young man, have you made risotto before?"

"A few times, yeah."

"What do you make of that risotto."

"Looks absolutely delicious to me! Though I'd be worried if an Italian chick messed up Risotto."

\*Ashley laughs\* "That would probably get me banned from Italy at least!"

"At least! Now, here’s the positives, each bit of seafood on that plate is cooked to perfection, the risotto is perfect, everything is seasoned to perfection and as for the negatives?” \*Ashley waits for Gordon to elaborate\* “The only negative I can find is that I can’t go higher than a five, phenomenal job, that was one of the best risottos I've ever tasted!"

"Thank you chef!" (Ashley's risotto gets a perfect score)

"YES! My risotto is perfect! Like there was any doubt that someone from Italy knew how to cook a risotto! Boys, girls, doesn't matter, I'm coming for all of you!" \*Ashley facepalms\* "I really should've worded that better!" (Ashley's confession cam after earning a perfect score)

"So Chels, Ash, I have a question for you both."

"Go ahead."

"Shoot."

"What's motivating you girls in this competition?" \*Ash and Chelsea glance up at McKenna\* "You tell your stories, I'll tell you mine."

"Sure, I'm motivated by trying to finish what my aunt started whilst establishing me as my own chef." \*the two older women nod as they get the idea\* "I know I have big shoes to fill but Jamie encouraged me to try for the show."

"Well, this won't be awkward at all, I'm here to follow in Jazz's footsteps." \*Chelsea gives Ash a mock glare\* "I don't have as much experience as Jazz did but neither do you and we both got perfect scores."

"Okay, either I'm going to have to play peacekeeper or you two or gonna make out with the way your looking at each other." \*Chelsea and Ash laugh at McKenna's joke\* "Me? I only just got clean, I see this competition as the best way for me to get my life in gear."

"Yeah, from what you told Gordon? That sounded rough as hell." \*Ashley gives McKenna a sympathetic look\* "But you're here now, that's what matters right?"

"Right, and as long as I have you babes motivating me? I'll keep fighting!" (Ashley, Chelsea and McKenna continue to bond)

"Okay, guys? Before we head off to the punishment? We need to talk." \*Ashley sighs as she sits down among the rest of the women\* "I've already cleared this with Christina and Ramsey but we need to address this, Kaylee, Chelsea, there's no way around this, you guys dropped the ball big time, what the hell happened?"

"It basically boils down to a breakdown in communication." \*Chelsea sighs\* "At the start of the challenge me and Kaylee had a gameplan, she'd break down the chicken and I'd cook the dishes, I figured someone with her background could handle a task like that but, well, you guys saw the outcome."

"Truth is? I don't cook chicken at my restaurant, and I never learned how to break a chicken down." \*Kaylee sighs as she sees the looks she's getting from the other women\* "I know, I'm a chef from the south who doesn't cook chicken, but my restaurant is a seafood restaurant."

"What about breaking down the chicken? I know I just graduated from culinary school but that was one of the first things I learned."

"And I'm sure they taught you well but I inherited my restaurant from my parents and they trained me, they never got around to teaching me about breaking down chicken, only that serving pink chicken is a good way to get you fired from any self respecting restaurant." \*Kaylee lets out a deep breath\* "I should've delegated breaking down the chicken to Chelsea and I should've cooked, maybe then we'd be in a better position, but what's done is done and we'd better get this punishment over and done with."

"Agreed, let's go." (Ashley calms down the situation between Kaylee, Chelsea and the rest of the women)

"Cooking on a budget? They may as well have labelled this challenge "Xander and Ashley are going to do well in this challenge", why? Because Italian households know a thing or two about making the most out of cheap ingredients and we're the resident Italian chefs this season, my take on Spaghetti and Meatballs is killer and I'm continuing my good challenge dish streak!" (Ashley talks about the budget challenge via confession cam)

"Chels, you brought a whole salmon?!"

"They didn't have any fillets, I figured "screw it. I'll fillet it myself"!"

"I could help you with that if you want."

"Appreciate it but I've done this before and I know what I'm doing, besides, I don't know if the judges would let that fly."

"Good point. probably not worth risking it." \*Ashley tastes her sauce\* "How much did that salmon cost ya anyway."

"$82." \*Ashley nearly spins out her sauce\* "For all of the ingredients, the salmon was $50."

"Even so, I'm never going budget shopping with you!" (Ashley offers Chelsea her help)

“Ashley, with your Italian heritage this challenge should be in your wheelhouse.”

“That’s my hope at least, well that and impressing a fellow Aussie chef with my flavors.”

“Pretty much how I felt when I had to present my food to Curtis Stone in the Season 28 finale to be fair.”

“Right, let’s not keep them waiting, show us your dish.”

\*Ashley unveils her dish\* “When I heard that the challenge was about cooking on a budget my first thought was “my Nonna’s spaghetti and meatballs”, the blend is 20% pork and 80% veal, and I made the marinara sauce with a bit of a twist to help me stand out.”

“What was the twist?”

“I included the Parmesan rinds as well as Calabrian Chill Paste, a good amount of garlic, onion and basil and some butter.”

“And did you make the spaghetti yourself?”

“Off course.” \*the chefs try the dish\* (Ashley’s confession cam) “If I somehow screw up this dish I’m turning in my Italian badge! There’s nothing more Italian than Spaghetti and Meatballs and my family will never let me live this down if I didn’t nail it.”

“Ashley you’ve once again proven yourself to be the Red Team's Italian cook to beat.” \*Ashley grins in response\* “The sauce is the star of the show and it is absolutely delicious, the meatballs are cooked perfectly and the spaghetti is to die for.”

“Yeah, if it wasn’t obvious that you came from an Italian family before you served this dish? It is now because that tastes like something straight out of Italy.”

“Maybe not the region my family’s from, they are from Milan in Northern Italy.”

“Right, and the chillis are from Southern Italy, still it’s got a strong flavor and I’m glad to see another Aussie kicking ass in the competition, even if you’re from New South Wales.”

“Would it help if I mentioned that I was born in Sydney?”

“A little bit.”

“Zara, your thoughts?”

“My thoughts? This sauce should be served in a bottle, and everything else is cooked perfectly!”

"Total agreement with the ladies, the Red Team seems to have some strong cooks this year and I don't envy Ramsey one bit."

"I just wish there was more than one plate because I could eat this all day."

“How much did you spend on the ingredients?”

“Just under half the budget at $48.”

“And how much would you pay for that Jazz?”

“$35 easily.”

“I’ll go one step further and say $40.”

"It's simple, classic Italian flavors but they are classic for a good reason, I'd pay $42 for that."

"I'll match Max's score honestly."

"I'll round that down to $40 and once again, the red team have raised the bar." (Ashley's dish gets praised)

"If there's one thing I didn't come to Hell's Kitchen to do, it's put up with bullshit like that! Now my best friend in the competition is an emotional mess and the idiot who upset her got herself disqualified! And as for Saraya? Nothing of value was lost! The Red Team will be stronger without that idiot dragging the morale down!" (Ashley's confession cam after Saraya's disqualification)

"Well, I'd say I didn't see that coming but honestly? That sentence describes most of everything that's happened since this morning's challenge! Me and Chels are in the Blue Team and I know Chelsea's had a couple of rough nights here so I'm hoping this gives her the confidence boost she needs to kick ass all over again, me? I've done nothing but kick ass since I arrived in Hell's Kitchen and that's not changing because I'm one of only two women in the Blue Team! It just means that I'm closer to my strongest rival and Xander had better learn the meaning of the phrase "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" quick!" (Ashley's confession cam after getting swapped to the Blue Team)

(Ashley's confession cam) "I put a lot of pressure on myself whenever I cook, that's just who I am and I perform at my best under those conditions, but today I've got extra pressure on me because it's Chelsea's birthday and I don't want to make this a miserable birthday for her! If the rest of the Blue Team doesn't perform well? Trust me, I'll give them hell on Chelsea's behalf."

"Ashley, I don't know what your working on but it smells delicious."

"It better, because I'm making another Italian classic, Tiramisu!"

\*Jason gives her a confused look\* "Aren't you doing the hot apps?"

"Yeah, it's gonna bit a savory version, with sun dried tomatoes and basil."

"No wonder it smalls so good."

"Yeah well, I gotta go the extra mile for the birthday girl."

"Did I miss a birthday in the Red Team?"

"Not the red team." \*Ashley motions to Chelsea with her head\* "The baby of the bunch can drink alcohol legally now!"

"For the love of god, don't get Chelsea drunk on the reward if you win! I don't want to catch hell from her aunt!" \*Ashley laughs at Jason's joke\* "Anyway, good luck."

"Thanks." (Ashley explains her dish to Jason)

"Ashley, Sophie, present us with your hot apps please." \*Ashley and Sophie bring their dishes\* "Ashley, what was your thought process?"

"I've drawn on my Italian heritage since I entered the competition and this dish was no different, but I wanted to go outside the box, I didn't want to go with another pasta or risotto dish."

"I have a question." \*Ashley turns to Chad and waits for it\* "Does pineapple go on pizza?" \*both Ashley and Xander groan simultaneously\* "Sorry, Gabrielle says it does and I said that if one of the chefs was Italian I'd ask them."

"No, it doesn't go on pizza, the traditional version at least, Hawaiian pizza? Maybe but I don't even like Italian style pizza." \*Xander gasps and Ashley turns to him\* "What? I grew up on American style pizza!"

"How about we get to the dish before we have any arguments in Italian?"

\*Ashley grins sheepishly before revealing her dish\* "I did a savory take on Tiramisu, I made it with Sun Dried Tomatoes and basil."

\*Ramsey and the guest judges try the dish\* "It's a risky move, but it's intriguing in how well it works, you've got a strong dish there Ashley."

"Yeah, that is like nothing I've tasted before and I mean that in the best way."

"Can I have the recipe?"

"As long as you promise to never have pineapple on pizza again."

"You drive a hard bargain, Sophie lets see your dish."

"This is linguini and clams, I used white wine to de glaze the clams.........."

"You what?!" \*Sophie quickly realizes her mistake and the rest of the Red Team groan, Ashley on the other hand is all smiles\* "Ashley what was the key rule of this challenge?"

"No alcohol."

"I thought I could get around that by having the alcohol burned off."

"Except you admitted to using it."

"Yes chef."

(Chelsea's confession cam) "PHEW! I just dodged one hall of a bullet! Glad Jason caught me before I could use the beer in my onion ring batter!"

"Ashley, it's a good thing your dish is so delicious because you've won the round by default."

"Thank you chef!" \*Ashley's dish gets rave reviews\*

"You know, I like Cora a lot, she's a hard worker and clearly has a lot of passion for cooking, that said: how many lives does that bitch have?! Seriously, she's been up for elimination five times and has always managed to just survive! I swear if she somehow makes it to the Black Jackets I'm going to scream!" (Ashley's confession cam after Cora survives yet another elimination)