Hell’s Kitchen: Rookies VS Veterans Episode 14 Recap

It’s the final four and these chefs have one more hill to climb to get into the final on an all-new episode of “Hell’s Kitchen: Rookies VS Veterans.” It’s pancakes, shrimp and sabotages galore. The final four didn’t get a chance to sleep because Ramsay called them up late at night to get into the dining room. Here, they met Dan Drake, founder of “Dancakes” making, well, pancakes. Not just any pancakes; pancakes that look exactly like Ramsay and the final four. That takes a lot of skill to pull of because those pancakes look amazing. It wasn’t just about pancakes; Ramsay told them that for their next challenge they had to prepare and serve a dish tableside for the next day. Not only that, the diners were chefs who would be the judges in the final. Ariel made albondiga dumplings Fiesole, Mia made cilantro, lime and tequila shrimp scampi, Bret made shrimp scampi with cavatelli and Motto made New Orleans BBQ shrimp. The only thing of note is that Motto was super clumsy (almost knocked over a hot pan on a diner) and took a little too long to serve one table. That’s surprising since he’s been one of the strongest chefs this season. Ariel won this challenge. Her reward was horseback riding on the beach in Malibu and even a full body massage. She also had to choose who she wanted to accompany her and, surprisingly, she chose Bret. Meanwhile, Motto and Mia had to wash, peel and zest all sorts of citrus fruits and even make a sangria. Not much of note happened during these two events. As with any season of “Hell’s Kitchen” the final four had to prove themselves at the pass. This includes sabotages that Ramsay, the sous chefs and the maître d’ came up with to test each chef’s ability to spot mistakes. Bret was up first. He spotted that the pasta used for the carbonara was spaghetti instead of tagliatelle, but didn’t notice the rice was replaced with orzo IN HIS OWN RISOTTO DISH! How did he not see a mistake in a dish HE created? Next was Ariel. She noticed the tartar was beef instead of tuna, but couldn’t taste the fennel puree was onion. Mia noticed the lobster Wellington was monkfish, but couldn’t tell the NY strip was actually ribeye. Finally, Motto noticed Marino wrote salmon tartar instead of tuna but didn’t know the pork chop was replaced by a veal chop. As usual, the final four had to choose one chef who they thought was the weakest. In a huge surprise, Motto chose himself to leave because he felt he was needed in Baton Rouge more than in Las Vegas. The first chef going to the final is Ariel with the second chef being revealed next week. Motto leaving is a huge shock to everyone. He was a shoo-in for a winner, but it was his decision. Ramsay even said when he was finished in Louisiana to give him a call. Now it’s more obvious the final will be Ariel and Mia because Bret just isn’t that strong. Some may see this as a cop out for a real rookie VS veteran showdown even though Ramsay threw that idea out the window a long time ago.