Recaps
Episode 109
Jessica, Ralph and Michael return to the dorms, where they find a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for a celebration of making the final three. Jessica's confidence is growing, having avoiding the last two eliminations. At 3:22am, the contestants finally drag themselves to bed. Less than thirty minutes later, Michael gets a call from Chef Ramsay. He says there's an emergency and he needs the chefs in their gear and in the kitchen straight away. Michael tries to rouse Ralph and Jessica, with no luck. Sous Chef Scott finally comes in and barks at them to get ready.Once in the kitchen, Chef Ramsay has two pieces of news for them. One, they'll be open for dinner that night, the first time they'll have two service nights in a row. Two, their baker can't come through for the service, so they'll have to bake their own bread. At 5:12am, Ralph and Michael are kneading dough, but Jessica lays down for a quick nap. Seeing that she's still tipsy, Michael and Ralph send her back to bed. By 8am the bread is done and the chefs are in bed. But two hours of sleep is all they're going to get. Sous Chef Maryann calls the chefs to the kitchen.
Chef Ramsay is waiting for them with big news. They each have to create a new dish that reflects their cooking and their personalities. The customers will decide which dish they prefer, determining the chefs' fates. Then it's time for a new challenge. Soufflés. After Chef Ramsay gives a quick primer on making soufflés, he shows the chefs a tray of ingredients. Fruits. Jams. Chocolates. They now have ten minutes to make the perfect soufflé. Time runs up and Jessica hands over a mint and raspberry number. Ralph used chocolate, hazelnut and mint. And Michael used raspberry and chocolate. Chef Ramsay puts the three soufflés into the oven for fifteen minutes.
Jessica's comes out looking spongy and, after a taste, Chef Ramsay laughs and pronounces it the worst he's ever tasted. Chef Ramsay likes the flavor of Ralph's, but tells him it needed more egg whites to lift the soufflé. And Michael's needs more sugar. Chef Ramsay declares Ralph the winner, his first challenge win in over a month. For his reward, tonight Ralph will be allowed to choose between beef, chicken or tuna to make his personal dish. Those are the three ingredients for tonight's service and Ralph gets first choice. Ralph chooses beef, Michael goes with tuna and Jessica is left with chicken.
The chefs get to work on taking stock of the kitchen's ingredients to plan their dish for the night. Michael and Ralph are pretty certain about what they're going to make, but Jessica has no idea what to do with her chicken. She decides to pound it out, stuff it with goat cheese and roll it with prosciutto.
After a hard day of work, it's now 6pm. Chef Ramsay brings the team together to tell them that the diners' reviews of the main courses and each chef performance in the kitchen tonight will determine who goes home tonight. At 7pm, the first customers begin filing in. Orders start coming in for Ralph's filet mignon, Michael's sesame-crusted tuna and Jessica's stuffed chicken. But the chefs also have to prepare the starters and desserts. What's more, they have no idea that Chef Ramsay secretly invited each contestant's family to the restaurant tonight.
Thirty minutes into service, it's time for the first main courses to go out. The first ticket gets held up when Jessica needs an extra minute to finish her chicken. Actually, she needs two minutes. Ralph puts his main course in a holding pattern. The family tickets come in and Chef Ramsay tell the chef they have VIP orders. One hour into service, the main courses are going out. One table gives the filet and chicken a rave review, but the tuna falls flat. Back in the kitchen, communication is much improved. Each chef is calling out wait times for their dishes. But with dessert orders coming in, Jessica is struggling to do both desserts and chickens.
Meanwhile, the VIP courses are going out. Each table is having one of each entrée, without knowing who prepared what. Jessica is still struggling to finish off desserts, while Michael and Ralph are firing out main courses. Jessica begins falling to pieces as she plates a soufflé. She tells Michael and Ralph that they won't complete tonight's service if she doesn't get some help. Jessica sends two soufflés up to the hot plate, but they look so shabby, Chef Ramsay refuses to send them. Desperate, Jessica begs Michael to take over desserts, and when he can't, she asks Chef Ramsay for help. Jean Philippe intervenes to calm Jessica down. But she still can't get it together.
It's almost 10pm and Chef Ramsay announces that they have three tickets left. Michael and Ralph bang the last entrees out. With all tables served, Ralph's filet received 42 orders, Jessica's chicken landed 34, and Michael's tuna only received 26. With only three tables' worth of desserts left for the night, Michael and Ralph pitch in on Jessica's dessert section. Finally, the last soufflé goes out and the evening's service is completed for the first time. Chef Ramsay pulls the team together and let him know how incredibly proud he is of the work they did tonight, particularly on such little sleep.
After a break, the chefs return to the kitchen to face Chef Ramsay. And he has a surprise for them. Their families. Chef Ramsay then tells the chefs that the families will be determining who had the best dish tonight. Ralph's family goes first, and all three vote for Michael's tuna. Jessica's family is next, and they give one vote to each dish. Lastly is Michael's family, and they have two votes for filet, one for tuna. The final tally is 5 votes for tuna, 3 for filet and 1 for chicken. And with that, Chef Ramsay tells Jessica that her time in Hell's Kitchen has come to an end. With encouraging words and a big hug, he sends her on her way.
And then there were two.
