Hell’s Kitchen Coverage: The Final Four

It’s down to the “fantastic” final four in this season’s “hell’s Kitchen.” There’s no time for drama, these chefs are now serious about getting the grand prize.

In the dining room the chefs saw two Secret Service agents. Ramsay told the chefs that for the first time “Hell’s Kitchen” would host some special dignitaries. He even told each chef to be on their best behavior. Outside they saw a motorcade coming towards “Hell’s Kitchen.”

Of course, if you’ve seen this show throughout the years you can easily guess that it’s the chefs’ family. Sure enough, it was. Ramsay was even nice enough to give the chefs and their family a nice fish dish to eat while they talked.

After that, it was time for the day’s challenge. The challenge was “taste it, now make it.” Problem was, the chefs already tasted it while talking with their families. However, Ramsay did have a spare dish for them to taste for the challenge. See? Ramsay can be nice when it comes to the challenges.

For the fish Jason, Melanie and Rochelle chose sole while Scott chose escolar. All four chose prosciutto to wrap the fish in. Everyone except Melanie (pumpkin) chose butternut squash for the garnish and for the purée Jason and Scott chose watercress while Melanie used arugula and Rochelle used parsley.

Scott was the first eliminated because the fish was sole. Melanie was next because of the garnish. Jason won the challenge. His reward was a VIP restaurant tour. He also got brand new “All Clad” stainless steel cookware. Those pots and pans were really shiny. Of course, part of the reward was lunch with Chef Andi and then with his mom and girlfriend.

As for the rest of the chefs, it was moving day. That translated as Scott doing all the work while the women ate lunch. This was all Melanie’s idea.

That night’s dinner service was where Ramsay tested how each chef performed on the pass. James was in charge of all the sabotages that service.

The first one up was Rochelle. She was her usual airheaded self by giggling and talking too fast. At least she was able to spot Sous Chef James’s messy salad and risotto with shrimp instead of lobster.

Melanie’s turn didn’t start well when she got confused by the Caesar special, an item not on the menu. At least she asked Ramsay for clarification. When nobody was answering her it was obvious she wasn’t ready. Ramsay even told her that they were controlling her and not the other way.

At Scott’s turn Jason got the order wrong. The order was one halibut, two salmon one chicken. Weather this was to test him or Jason really was clueless is unclear. Scott successfully caught James’s duck breast instead of chicken. He was also getting every tiny detail, just like how Ramsay would do it. It seems like Ramsay taught him well.

Jason started out a bit too nice. He was constantly talking to everybody saying things like “how long” and “good job Scott.” That may be his personality, but he was acting way too much like a goofball. Because of that, nothing was coming out of the kitchen. At this point, Jason should know how things are done in “Hell’s Kitchen.” Ramsay had to straighten him out. Things improved when he became serious. He even caught James’s encrusted salmon instead of encrusted halibut.

Despite some low points, all did pretty well. Scott was the best overall.

As far as who went on the final, the first thing Ramsay did was eliminate the first chef. That was Rochelle. Then he announced the last two were Scott and Jason.

The amazing part here is that Rochelle was in the final four. She seemed like someone who would’ve been eliminated a long time ago. Scott and Jason in the final was a good choice by Ramsay. Scott is a huge improvement over what he was at the start and Jason has been consistent despite some minor drawbacks. This is one of the hardest finals to pick a winner. It can go either way.