Hell's Kitchen Episode 14

Hell's Kitchen Episode 14 aka 3 Chefs Compete

- Recap: Vegetarian challenge with the kids is won by Tennille but has a horrible night on fish, Dave's wrist causes more pain for him, Dave begs to stay, Tennille goes home, family and friends visit the remaining three.

The chefs return to the dorm all recharged from seeing their family and friends.

The next morning, Dave is up early from nerves. It's one of the very few times we see him without a hat on. He's got a full head of hair so it just must be his style.

Challenge: each chef is randomly given the cuisine of a specific country to emulate. They each have 45 minutes to create an entree in the style they receive, using the special ingredients in the storeroom, which are clearly labeled as belonging to each country.

Ariel gets China. She's happy as she expresses a love for Chinese food. Dave gets India. He's nervous as he's unfamiliar with Indian food. Kevin gets Mexico. He notes that everyone's cooked Mexican food so this should be a snap.

As normal, it's a race to complete with contestants bringing their dishes to the front as time elapses. Dave has admitted he's no idea what he was doing with Indian food so his declared plan is to prepare something he knows how to do and give it an Indian flair. Kevin and Ariel do not have this issue and plow through the process, able to work within familiar structures in their head.

After the cooking is done, Chef Ramsey informs them that he has three chefs to help grade the dishes, each an expert in a specific cuisine. The Indian expert, Vikas, was on one of the American episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Neat! No one sweats more at this information than Dave, who also reverses his dirty apron to make it look clean again. First impressions are important, so probably a good move.

The Chinese dish goes first. Ariel is incredibly nervous, stammering and stumbling as she tries to explain her dish. Thomas, the Mexican expert, feels her plum duck and noodles isn't balanced. Vikas liked the sweetness of it. Eddie, the Chinese expert, felt it was a good try but that the sauce was too watery. As a result of this lukewarm feedback, Ariel feels she could have done better.

Kevin is next. This doesn't surprise me. Having seen Dave's reaction through the challenge, his is the story, either to succeed or fail entertainingly. I'm guessing we'll get a commercial break before seeing the expert reaction to his dish. Kevin is confident in explaining his dish but, when questioned by Chef Ramsey, he realizes he forgot to add the mole chocolate sauce he made to go with it. Commercial. Sooner than I expected.

Thomas agrees that a nice Mexican style sauce would have done it and that the dish lacks without it. Eddie and Vikas both enjoy the dish.

Dave is still rightfully nervous. Upon presenting it, he admits this is his first attempt at Indian food. He selected pork as he seemed to remember that the cow is revered in India. Vikas informs him that there are also a lot of Muslims in India so pork wasn't the greatest choice either; chicken or seafood would have been better. Apart from that, Vikas seems to have enjoyed it, 'for first try: amazing'. Thomas is impressed, especially since Dave was unfamiliar with the spices going it. Eddie also enjoyed it.

Chef Ramsey calls for the experts opinions: all three vote for Dave. Wow! He's shocked but thrilled.

Reward: each of the experts will make their signature dish for Dave. And a set of cookware as used in Hell's Kitchen. Punishment: prepping for tonight's service and getting the restaurant ready.

Kevin is confident that he would have won had he remembered his sauce. To 'rub in' the reward, the experts are cooking in Hell's Kitchen while the punished clean. Dave's sister and fiancee get to join him for lunch, making the price that much greater. Each chef brings Dave over to see what they are cooking and giving him pointers on each dish. The punished are fuming, not so much at Dave, but just out of jealousy. After lunch, Dave returns to the dorm to amp himself up for dinner service. Commercial.

Just before the pre-service meeting, we get a brief video package of the eliminated chefs removing their jackets to leave Hell's Kitchen. I liked that. During the meeting, Chef Ramsey explains that each chef will get a turn leading the kitchen at the pass. Playfully, he explains how it's done by all the things he wouldn't do, an explanation that's intercut with video of him doing those very things during the course of this season. Ha!

Sous Chefs Scott and Heather will be helping out as there are only three chefs working tonight and, at times, one will be on the pass. It also lets Chef Ramsey test the chefs while at the pass. The Sous Chefs have a habit of 'messing up' while in this situation to see if the contestants will catch it. The service starts well and Kevin is soon called up to work the pass. In Interview he notes that this is no different from any other night as he always leads the kitchen. He starts well, spots the halibut that Sous Chef Scott 'accidentally' brings to the window instead of sea bass, and decides Ariel's order of lamb isn't good enough. She gets annoyed with him after the second attempt is also rejected. The commercial break comes with them giving each other the stink eye.

Third time is the charm but Ariel is now flustered and annoyed. Kevin is released back to cooking and Dave is brought up to the pass. He yells, swats his towel, kicks things, and gives suggestions where he shouldn't, such as to Sous Chef Scott. It's really weird to see him like this but he does keep the kitchen going. Sous Chef Scott 'accidentally' makes a risotto with the wrong puree (same color but different flavor) and Dave doesn't catch it, even after tasting it. He also misses that a tuna order that's not prepared with the correct seasonings. Both failures get him politely chastised by Chef Ramsey. He then catches a poorly cooked tuna and some poorly seasoned vegetables thereby 'bouncing back' from his earlier failure. Food continued to flow from the kitchen. Dave is returned to cooking and Ariel is brought up.

This time it's Sous Chef Heather's turn to have an 'accident', substituting parsnip puree for mashed potatoes. Ariel doesn't catch it even after tasting it. Sous Chef Scott brings up a salmon order instead of sea bass and Ariel catches this 'mistake'. She calls out three orders at a time, confusing the kitchen. Kevin gets totally thrown off. Ariel looses control of the kitchen. Chef Ramsey ends up yelling out priorities as we go to commercial.

Ariel tries to take control back and blames Kevin for dragging her down now. She then questions the quality of an order of scallops he prepared and he fixes it. The rest of the service completes without incident.

In the post service meeting, Chef Ramsey says things went well. They all had their ups and downs on the pass. This will be a difficult decision. He asks them to go away and for each of them to pick out one person that they feel should be the one to go home tonight.

As they return to the dorms, Dave doesn't know who he should vote for tonight. Ariel asks if Kevin intentionally dragged down the scallops order while she was on the pass but we don't see him directly answer her question. The answer we get is: 'This is a competition of skill, not cheating.' Difficult decisions but, since Ariel and Kevin seem to be feuding at the moment, I wonder if Dave will slip through? If I had to pick, I'd vote for Ariel tonight. She had issues with lamb, not completely her fault but still, and she lost it the worst of the three when at the pass.

As they stand before Chef Ramsey, he notes that he could see them all winning. He begins collecting their votes. Kevin's vote: Ariel, doesn't feel she's quite ready. Ariel: Kevin, as he didn't have her back while at the pass. Dave's vote...commercial.

Dave's vote: Ariel due to her performance at the pass.

Chef Ramsey notes that their votes haven't helped him and that this is a tough call. He has another question for each chef: why do you belong in the final?

Kevin states that he's a strong person and that there's nothing he can't do when he sets his mind to it. He is certain he can succeed at the head chef position. Ariel points to how she's grown over the competition, believes she has the correct skills, and notes her youth and creativity. Dave says he's run himself, he's grown tenfold over the competition, and that he'll run the kitchen rather than letting it run him.

Two video screens suddenly drop from the ceiling of Hell's Kitchen. The first to advance is Dave. The second finalist is Kevin. Ariel is eliminated. Dave and Kevin shake her hand and hug her goodbye. Chef Ramsey calls her over to compliment her and tells her to keep her jacket. Nice!

Ariel is disappointed that she didn't win but says she learned a lot while in Hell's Kitchen. She's pretty calm and collected so I'm wondering if she may have expected this as well.

Dave and Kevin have 30 minutes to get ready for their limo ride!

The episode feeds directly into the next so it doesn't really stop or have a trailer for the next episode. Instead there's a recap of the entire season, focusing on the different conflicts that occurred. We'll stop here and review the final later.