Hell's Kitchen (American TV series) season 5

The fifth season of Hell's Kitchen is the current edition of the American competitive reality television series where chefs compete to earn a job with Gordon Ramsay. This season of Hell's Kitchen began airing on the Fox Network starting on January 29, 2009. This season was taped in 2008.

The winner will be employed at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey with a $250,000 salary.

Contestants

There are 16 chefs competing in Season 5.

• Andrea Heinly, 30, a line cook from Reading, PA
• Ben Walanka, 26, an executive sous chef from Chicago, IL
• Carol Scott, 30, a sous chef from Knoxville, TN
• Charlie McKay, 24, a prep chef from Las Vegas, NV
• Coi Burruss, 22, a cafe cook from Austin, TX
• Colleen Cleek, 41, a cooking school instructor from Papillion, NE
• Danny Veltri, 23, an executive chef from Edgewater, FL
• Giovanni Filipponi, 37, an executive chef from Destin, FL
• J Maxwell, 32, a food court chef from Clifton Park, NY
• Ji-Hyun Cha, 33, a private caterer from Palisades Park, NJ
• LA (Alicia) Limtiaco, 23, a line cook from Las Vegas, NV
• Lacey D'Angelo, 24, a corporate buffet cook from Charlotte, NC
• Paula Dasilva, 28, an executive sous chef from Coconut Creek, FL
• Robert Hesse, 29, a sous chef from Quogue, NY
• Seth Levine, 27, a private party chef from New York, NY
• Wil Kocol, 27, a quality-control chef from Elgin, IL

Contestant Progress

Each week, the best member (as determined by Ramsay) from the losing team during the latest service period is asked to nominate two of their fellow teammates for elimination; one of these two is sent home by Ramsay. On some weeks, there may be a variation in the nomination process, depending on the losing team's (or teams') performance.

Chef	501	502	503	504	505	506	507	508	509	510	511	512	513	514
Andrea	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	BoW	WIN	NOM	WIN
Ben	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	LOSE	WIN	NOM	WIN	NOM
Danny	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	BoW
Giovanni	LOSEW	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	BoW	WIN	WINR	LOSE	WIN
Paula	WIN	LOSEW	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN
Robert	LOSE	WINW	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	NOM
Carol	WINW	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	NOM	OUT
LA	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	BoW	NOM	WIN	OUT
Lacey	WIN	NOM	WIN	NOMB	LOSE	WIN	NOM	OUTD
J	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	WIN	OUTD
Coi	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	OUT
Colleen	WIN	NOMW	WIN	NOM	OUT
Seth	NOM	WIN	NOM	OUT
Charlie	LOSE	WIN	OUT
Ji	WIN	LEFT
Wil	OUT

^WThis contestant was chosen to wait tables or serve the raw bar for the service.
^BThis contestant was switched from the Red Team to the Blue Team.
^RThis contestant was switched from the Blue Team to the Red Team.
^DThis contestant was eliminated from service by Chef Ramsay while dinner service was still in progress.

  Contestant was a member of the Winning Team

  Contestant was a member of the Losing Team

  Contestant was chosen as the Best of the Worst (BoW), or the Best of the Best (BoB)

  Contestant was nominated for elimination but prevailed

  Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay

  Contestant was eliminated

  Single team - contestant advanced in individual competition (IN)

  The runner-up of Hell's Kitchen

  The winner of Hell's Kitchen

Episodes

Each episode consists of a challenge with a reward, a service, nominations for elimination, and an elimination.

Episode 1

• Original airdate: January 29, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 501, "16 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Signature Dishes: Compared to all of the previous seasons, where Ramsay would find little praise in contestants' signature dishes, a surprising number of dishes were acceptable this season, with only some low marks for presentation. Chef Ramsay declared, "Based on your signature dishes, you are the best group we've ever had, so I'm expecting the best opening night ever." The women establish themselves as the team to beat with high marks going to Carol, Ji, Andrea, Coi and Paula. Among the men, only Ben received high marks ("by far, the best dish on the men's team, clearly") although Wil's dish was deemed delicious but presented poorly and Robert's bass being cooked nicely but served with a sauce that Ramsay found disgusting ("the dish is clumsy - like you.") Among the low points were Colleen's chicken enchiladas and Seth's ratatouille with honey, which Ramsay describes as the worst thing he ever tasted. During the tasting of her dish it was revealed that Colleen had no formal training despite charging customers $300 for each 3-4 hour period of instruction. After further having her dish insulted, Colleen replied, "I teach manners too, Chef," to which Ramsay replied, "Ok please, Miss Manners, (bleep) off back in line." In addition, Seth laughed at Ramsay causing Ramsay to say "Fifteen years to make that (bleep), and you're laughing. You could make history in being the fastest exit in Hell's Kitchen, and I'm (bleep) serious." One additional memorable point was Wil's revelation that his pride pin was a symbol of his pride in being openly gay. Chef Ramsay ended the challenge by instructing the teams to go to their dorms and come up with a team name.
• Teams:

Spice Racks (female Red team)

Blues Brothers (male Blue team)

• Service: During preparation, Lacey found prepping her fish station extremely difficult and gave up to have a smoke in the patio. She eventually came back and continued with her station. On the men's side, Seth proved to be unpopular, especially with Giovanni, for not paying attention and not being productive all morning. Five minutes before service, Chef Ramsay gathered the teams to get their team names and volunteers to be waiters. The women initially suggested 'Team Saffron' but after several of the team members revealed their dissatisfaction, the name was changed to 'Spice Racks.' Chef Ramsay liked the men's team name, "Blues Brothers." Carol and Giovanni were both chosen to be waiters, to their chagrin. After the meeting, Coi began arguing with Lacey for not having her station prepped to the point that Ramsay had to break up the fight. Power failed partway through the appetizers. After 20 minutes, power was restored, and the men began to release entrees. Colleen cooked way too much wasted spaghetti, tried to start a dish using a dirty pan and accidentally put sugar in a risotto. Ramsay said it was the worst risotto he's ever tasted in his cooking career. Robert also interrupted Ramsay while calling out a ticket and Ramsay forced Robert to read the ticket himself. Danny also got an earful after talking back to Ramsay. Almost everyone on the blue team helped Wil with the garnish. (Ramsay: "Charlie's on the garnish, Robert's on the garnish, and Wil's on planet cuckoo.") After stalling several times, dinner service ended after the customers began to leave. Only the men served any entrees.
• Nominees for elimination: Wil and Seth
• Winner: No winner; the service never went beyond the initial entrees. The men were declared the losers after 90% of customers rated Giovanni's waiting service below average, and customers rated Carol's waiting service 88% above average.
• Elimination: Wil nominated himself, and the rest of the men nominated Seth. After arguing their positions, Wil was eliminated. Ramsay commented that Wil lacked the heart to continue.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "I found it quite strange that Wil didn't even have the will to succeed. He clearly did not belong in Hell's Kitchen."

Episode 2

• Original airdate: February 5, 2009
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 502, "15 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Preliminaries: Following the previous service, a marching band awoke the contestants early in the morning and greeted with garbage bags containing food that they wasted. Unlike the last season, they will instead fish scallops out of big crates, and take the scallops to the kitchen, where they would be used for the day's team challenge -- shuck the scallops without leaving any cuts in the meat. The blue team won the challenge in a dramatic finish with J managing to have the last of six scallops be deemed good by Ramsay after a 0-for-5 start. They won by one piece -- 36 pieces to the red team's 35.
• Award / Punishment: The men take a helicopter ride to Catalina Island; Robert, however, was forced to take a ferry due to his weight. To his further misfortune, when Robert arrived at Catalina Island, it was time to head back. While on a submarine ride, Seth demonstrated a level of knowledge of Gordon's personal life, to a point that had gotten Gordon to (jokingly) believe that Seth was stalking him. Meanwhile, the women stayed back to prepare a raw bar for the night's service, of which Lacey mostly slept through.
• Service: During preparation, Ji had sprained her ankle and she was in doubt to be able to take part in dinner service, but announced to Chef Ramsay that she would. Carol and Charlie both struggled with risotto, but Ben was able to bail Charlie out with a good one. Colleen was horrid on the fish station, leading Ramsay to assign Lacey to help her, but after continual mistakes, Colleen was reassigned to the the raw bar. To make things interesting, Chef Ramsay declared the team to complete their service first to be the winner. Despite the setbacks, both teams would complete their service.
• Winner: The blue team won, for completing their service first. The red team had one table to go when blue won.
• Nominees for elimination: Colleen and Lacey were nominated for elimination.
• Elimination: After Colleen and Lacey stepped forward, Ji announced that she had chosen to withdraw from competition, due to a sprained ankle she sustained during the raw bar preparation. She admirably completed service but felt that she wouldn't be able to carry on later into the competition. Chef Ramsay said she had been phenomenal and let her keep her jacket, as a token of her bravery. Colleen and Lacey were spared, to the apparent chagrin of the Red Team. As Andrea helped the wheelchair-bound Ji out of Hell's Kitchen, the Blue Team all rose and gave Ji a farewell standing ovation for her gritty performance. Ramsay then called on all those remaining to draw from Ji's perserverance, who Ramsay said demonstrated "courage at its best".
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Ji showed great courage; unfortunately, her injury got in the way of her dream. She had a chance to win this, but sadly we will never, ever know."

Episode 3

• Original airdate: February 19, 2009
• Episode recap: "Hell's Kitchen - Episode 503, 14 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Preliminaries: Both teams were awakened at 6AM by Chef Scott, who takes them on a field trip to a meat rendering plant, where he shows the contestants how the meat is cut and where the cuts come from. Back at the kitchen, Chef Ramsay gives the contestants a challenge -- match the names of the cuts of meat with the cuts themselves, then place the names of the cuts on a cow, in the area where the cuts came from. The blue team won by getting both parts of the challenge 100% correct first.
• Award / Punishment: The blue team fly to the Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez, California, where they have a wine tasting, followed by a steak dinner. The red team stay behind to make cuts of meat out of two large sides of beef, requiring the entire team to carry each side into the kitchen. Furthermore, for lunch, Chef Scott treats them to a lunch, consisting of cow's tongue and offal, leading some contestants to vomit.
• Service: Tonight's service is a split "steakhouse" service, split into two two-hour seatings -- one team cooks while the other serves, and vice versa. During the first seating, the blue team frequently sent out undercooked meat, and even prepared dessert before the appetizers; Seth also overcut filet mignon, wasting a great deal of the meat making the cut. During the second seating the red team worked at a faster pace, but also apparently undercooked some meat; some customers returned meat that Chef Ramsay thought was cooked correctly, causing him to accuse the blue team of sabotage. Both seatings were eventual failures as well as complete turn-arounds from the last episode's service, and shut down before everyone's dinners were served.
• Winner: Based on the amount of entrees served, the red team won.
• Nominees for elimination: Seth and Charlie were nominated for elimination.
• Elimination: Charlie was chosen by Chef Ramsay to leave Hell's Kitchen. Ramsey stated he didn't think Charlie was head chef material.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Charlie is a prep chef, but I'm looking for a head chef. He seems like a nice guy but you know where nice guys finish."

Episode 4

• Original airdate: February 26, 2009
• Episode recap: "Hell's Kitchen - Episode 504, 13 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Challenge: Both teams cook a special breakfast service for a group of 100 young football kids and cheerleaders; the first team to successfully serve everyone in their half of the group wins. The blue team had an early lead but fell behind by the end because it was too slow with scrambled eggs; the red team won. After losing the challenge, Ben and Danny from the blue team got into a fight.
• Award / Punishment: The red team goes "camping" for the day at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The blue team cleans up the dining room and the entire kitchen, as well as prep both teams for that night's service. The blue team failed to finish prepping the red team's side by the start of service.
• Service: In a standard service, the red team was missing its tomato butter sauce, which was supposed to have been made during the blue team's prep; on that account, Chef Ramsay suspected sabotage. Coi pre-makes spaghetti instead of cooking it to order. Colleen makes one beef wellington too many. A butt of a head of lettuce was found in someone's caesar salad prepared by J. And Seth wiped a pan off with a dirty rag after wiping his face with it. In addition, almost every appetizer and entree was returned. With Chef Ramsay's temper reaching the boiling point, he closed the kitchen and declared the service a total and complete failure. In addition, he ordered all teammembers back to the dorms immediately to decide which two team members from each team should leave Hell's Kitchen. All this was done in front of the customers, without the usual post-mortem.
• Winner: No winners; not even a Best of Worst.
• Nominees for elimination: Ben and Seth from the blue team; Colleen and Lacey from the red team. Coi nominated herself but the others didn't agree.
• Elimination: Seth was chosen by Chef Ramsay to leave Hell's Kitchen due to his lack of progress.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Seth showed that he had all the passion in the world, but the bottom line is he's a crap cook."
• Team Change: Effective next episode, Lacey will participate in the blue team.

Episode 5

• Original airdate: March 5, 2009
• Episode recap: "Hell's Kitchen - Episode 505, 12 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Challenge: Both teams visit an Asian supermarket, where they purchase the ingredients needed for "Asian fusion" dishes. The ingredients must consist of one seafood, one poultry, and one meat. Each team has only 25 minutes to shop and $100 to spend. Both teams got what they needed, within budget. Upon returning to Hell's Kitchen, they have one hour to cook their dishes. Each dish will be judged by Chef Ramsay and Tanya Steel, the editor in chief of "Epicurious". The red team won, as they had two dishes chosen to the blue team's one.
• Award / Punishment: The dishes chosen by Chef Ramsay and Ms. Steel will be featured at Epicurious' web site. In addition, the red team spend the day sumo wrestling (wearing oversized sumo suits), and imbibing on sake. The blue team make fortune cookies and origami for that night's service. Lacey, who was once seen as a pariah on the blue team, saved the day when she shows her teammates how to fold origami.
• Service: In this service, the night's patrons include a group of sumo wrestlers, who each orders everything on the menu, bringing an extra challenge to the service. Despite a great start on the appetizers, however, it went downhill from there—Andrea was caught hiding burned beef Wellingtons, so that Chef Ramsay wouldn't see them, while J's own beef Wellingtons were undercooked, as the oven fan was on low. In addition, Robert has wasted a lot of food in making his dish; he made Chef Ramsay even angrier by not responding to him when he called Robert "Bobby". And, on top of all that, Colleen's pear dessert was returned because both the pear and the pastry were rock-hard and raw. All was a lost cause, and the kitchen was closed. In a private meeting with Chef Ramsay following the service, Robert explained why he did not respond to "Bobby"—Bobby was his father's name, and Robert got teased when he was younger because of it. Chef Ramsay then told Robert that he will respect Robert's wishes, adding that if Chef Ramsay knew about it earlier, this wouldn't have happened.
• Winner: No winners; Giovanni and LA were the Best of Worsts for their teams. Each of them will choose a person for elimination.
• Nominees for elimination: Giovanni chose J; LA chose Andrea.
• Elimination: Instead of eliminating J or Andrea, he told them to go back to the line. He then addressed Robert and told him to wake up. Finally, he summoned Colleen and told her to leave Hell's Kitchen, as he could no longer tolerate her mistakes. Ironically, as Colleen was leaving, Chef Ramsay complimented her on her tenacity and told the remaining contestants to follow her example.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: "There was no place in the kitchen I could put Colleen where she wasn't a disaster. It's time for her to go back to where she belongs—teaching—because she certainly can't cook."

Episode 6

• Original Airdate: March 12, 2009
• Episode recap: "Hell's Kitchen - Episode 506, 11 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Challenge: The chefs had to create gourmet versions of three dishes the guest of honor (Max) liked: chicken soup, brisket, and burger. Ben felt he had the advantage, as he was also Jewish. While the red team was preparing their dishes the team, led by Carol, began criticizing Andrea and constantly arguing with her, as they thought she was trying to lead while being one of the weakest members on the team. The Blue team won with their soup while the Red team won with the brisket. On the burger, Max liked both but went with the Blue team because the Red team's burger, made by Carol, had blue cheese which he didn't like (the red team had warned Carol about using the blue cheese on the burger but she wouldn't listen).
• Award / Punishment: The Blue Team was treated to a day at a spa. The losers had to set up for the Bar Mitzvah complete with a basketball court while Andrea and Carol argue about the loss. Francisco (from the wedding reception in season 3 and the birthday party in season 4) arrived again much to the chagrin of Jean Philippe.
• Service: This service was the first one in Hell's Kitchen to be held for a Bar Mitzvah. The second part of the red team's punishment had them carry Max on a chair during the dance. Both teams struggled but were able to complete service. At the end, Chef Ramsay gave Max a surprise: The Harlem Globetrotters. During cleanup, Carol told Andrea that she wanted to punch her in the throat, which underscored the constant arguing and insults the two had shared during service.
• Winner: The Blue Team for being more consistent during service. Andrea was chosen as best of the worst, much to the disgust of her team.
• Nominees for elimination: While Andrea was deciding on her nominees, the rest of the red team got together and agreed that Andrea should not have been best of the worst and if picked, they would tell Chef Ramsey that Andrea was the weakest on the team. After struggling to come up with two nominees, Andrea selected LA and Coi. As according to plan, both nominees stated that Andrea was the worst on the team. Ramsay asked Carol who also said that Andrea was the worst. Paula said that Coi was the worst however, and Ramsay agreed with her at the end, eliminating Coi.
• Elimination: Coi
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "When this competition began, I thought Coi was gonna be a really strong chef. But tonight she was exposed, when she couldn't even cook a bloody burger."

Episode 7

• Original Airdate: March 19, 2009
• Episode recap: "Hell's Kitchen - Episode 507, 10 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Team change: Shortly before the start of the challenge, Chef Ramsay transferred Giovanni to the red team.
• Challenge: The chefs each have 20 minutes to make tapas, using leftovers from the previous service. The Red team won this challenge in a close race, 3 to 2. During the challenge, Giovanni took over leadership of the red team and was able to clamp down on some of the bickering between Carol and Andrea.
• Award / Punishment: The red team go to Hollywood Park for a day of watching horse racing. The blue team stay behind to prep both teams' kitchens for that night's service, as well as bringing in small plates for tapas. Lacey was threatening to quit, as no one was listening to her, but was eventually talked back in by Ben.
• Service: During this service, J overcooked rice for both teams, turning it into mush, and forcing Chef Ramsay to take the risotto off of the menu for the night. Andrea and Carol were forced to eat a pasta dish, after Chef Ramsay said that the pasta was raw. Chef Ramsay later expelled J from Hell's Kitchen in mid-service, after J committed several additional mistakes including burning the salmon and undercooking the scallops. Chef Ramsay would later threaten to do the same with Ben after he was caught cooking Beef Wellingtons on a dirty pan. Nevertheless, both teams completed service.
• Winner: The Red Team for finishing service first.
• Nominees for elimination: Each member of the blue team must nominate who they think should leave Hell's Kitchen. The men nominated Lacey, while Lacey nominated Robert.
• Elimination: Lacey and Ben were asked by Chef Ramsay to step forward. Chef Ramsay especially singled out Ben for nominating Lacey, as he felt that it was Ben that should've been nominated. But with J already out of the race, no other team members left Hell's Kitchen.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "I kept Ben and Lacey because J put the kitchen in such a hole that they never stood a chance. They're very lucky that I sent J packing."

Episode 8

• Original Airdate: March 26, 2009
• Episode recap: "Hell's Kitchen - Episode 508, 9 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Challenge: The palate taste test where a member from each team, wearing a blindfold and earphones to dull their senses, must identify different foods by taste. The red team wins 8 to 7.
• Award / Punishment: The red team is treated to a photo shoot for TV guide magazine in Hell's Kitchen while the blue team has to prep both kitchens for tonight's service and prepare lunch and hors d'oeuvres for the red team.
• Service: Two celebrities were in attendance, Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2). Lacey struggled on the meat station and her whiny attitude forced Chef Ramsay to eliminate her during service. (Just as had been the case with Josh Wahler, Lacey also didn't get the full elimination sequence of her jacket being hung up on a peg and her photo incinerating; indeed, Chef Ramsay merely threw her jacket aside after the service.) The blue team without Lacey was able to complete service while the red team wasn't.
• Winner: Blue Team
• Nominees for elimination: LA, Carol, and Andrea
• Elimination: Lacey was thrown out in the middle of service. LA was eliminated.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "LA was a real workhorse in the kitchen. I kicked her out because she lacked two crucial skills to be a great chef-- leadership and creativity."

Episode 9

• Original Airdate: April 2, 2009
• Episode recap: "Hell's Kitchen - Episode 509, 7 Chefs Compete" (Fox.com)
• Challenge: King Crab test pushes the teams to create individual dishes, where then one dish from the team will be presented a specialty crab dish to Chef Ramsay
• Award / Punishment: After Chef Ramsay rejects both dishes from Andrea and Ben, Danny and Paula present their crab dishes. The blue team triumphed over the red team. The blue team were to be taken to Santa Monica Beach, where they were to spend a day of fun at the beach and eat at a seafood restaurant. The red team were to clean both of the teams dorms, and cook all of the king crabs for the following night's dinner service.
• Service: Disaster struck through both teams during dinner service, From Ben's slaughtered Filet Mignon steaks, to Carol's uncooked potatoes, both teams crumbled under pressure. One restaurant guest tried taking matters into her own hands by taking her unseasoned carpaccio dish up to Ramsay, where then Ramsay insults her back to her seat. Tension between Robert and Ben escalated during entrees and desserts, as Ben saw that Robert couldn't keep up with the speed of the kitchen. After Ramsay saw enough misery from both kitchens, he ordered to shut down the kitchens.
• Winner: Red Team
• Nominees for elimination: Ben and Robert
• Elimination: Carol was eliminated despite being on the winning team.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason: "Carol knew she was out of her depth in Hell's Kitchen. I just put her out of her misery."

• NOTE*

(NOT A SPOILER, Preview to next week's Hells Kitchen, as viewed on FOX after completion of show)

The competition between the final 6 chefs heats up. As the teams confront Chef Ramsay, Ramsay questions Danny from the blue team for his opinion on who is the weakest chef in the blue team. A sudden and surprising elimination will take out 2 of the 6 chefs, with it being a mystery to viewers. At dinner service, Ramsay reaches his boiling point with Giovanni. A sudden call from Chef Ramsay in the wee hours of the morning wakes up all of the chefs, with Ramsay stating "I need all of you down in the dining room immediately". Once all are down in the dining room, Ramsay states "I have NEVER EVER done this before. I am shutting down Hell's Kitchen".

External links

• Hell's Kitchen official Fox.com website by Fox Broadcasting Company