The Red Team is fractured after the elimination. Paula and Andrea tell LA that she could be doing more. Carol and LA are upset that Paula and Andrea seem to be a team to themselves.

The next morning, Chef Ramsay presents the chefs with a taste of his tapas-style dishes. To even up the teams, Giovanni is given a red jacket. The chefs then race into the kitchen to prepare their own tapas-style dishes, using only leftovers.

In the Blue Kitchen, Lacey doesn't know what to make. In the Red Kitchen, Carol mistakes balsamic vinegar for soy sauce.  When all are done, the two teams face off in a five round taste test.

Paula and Danny both present great dishes and tie for a point each. LA and Lacey put up such bad dishes, neither get a point. Robert's dish, inspired by his mother's cooking, wins against Carol and Andrea's dish beats J. At the end, Ben faces off against former teammate, Giovanni to settle the tie. Giovanni's impact is felt immediately as he gets the win for the Red Team.

Giovanni and his new team go to Hollywood Park to enjoy a day at the horse races with Chef Ramsay. The Blue team stays behind to prep both kitchens for dinner service that night. Lacey, both lazy and ineffectual, quits on her team. Ben successfully talks her back into the kitchen stating, "We need you."

At the start of service, the rice that J prepared proves to be ruined bringing both kitchens to a standstill. At the same time, Carol and Andrea can't work together on the appetizer station and are forced to eat their poorly prepared pasta out in the dining room.

As both kitchens begin to put out entres, J's troubles continue as he keeps ruining the fish from his station. Chef Ramsay pulls J into the closet to give him a well-needed wake up call. However, not long after, J sends up badly cooked scallops and Chef Ramsay throws J out of Hell's Kitchen altogether. J packs his belongings and leaves Hell's Kitchen for good.

Back in the kitchen, the Blue team tries to pick up the pieces after J's dismissal while in the Red Kitchen, things are going very well thanks largely to Giovanni reading out the orders and guiding his team through service.

The Blue team continues to struggle since Ben has great difficulty on the meat station. By contrast, in the Red Kitchen, Paula is cooking her meat perfectly. Chef Ramsay catches Ben cooking his meat on a dirty tray and pulls him into the storage closet for one final warning.

Even with all their troubles, the Blue Team manages to complete dinner service well after the Red Team. Yet, despite their clear victory, Carol brings down her team by voicing her complaints about Andrea.

Chef Ramsay tasks the Blue Team to individually pick one person they don't want to work with any longer. In the dorm, Ben is disgusted with his performance. Lacey doesn't know who to nominate until Robert comes after her for quitting on the team during prep.

At elimination, led by Robert's passionate plea, the entire Blue Team nominates Lacey who, in turn, nominates Robert. However, in addition to Lacey, Chef Ramsay brings up Ben for his poor performance in service. In the end, Chef Ramsay sends both back to their team blaming the night's poor service on J who had everyone struggling from the very beginning.