Tonight on Hell’s Kitchen, the top eight chefs begin the week with an International Cuisine Challenge. They will randomly be assigned a cuisine to inspire an original dish intended to transport Gordon Ramsay across the globe.
Following the challenge, the chefs will report to the dining room for an especially important dinner service, Hell’s Kitchen’s Charity Night. This year, the show will be honoring guests from the American Heart Association and the Connecticut Chapter of the Special Olympics. Guests of honor, board members, and CEOs of both organizations will be in attendance, including Daytime Emmy winner Susan Lucci.
Only one team can reign supreme in the all-new “A Soap Opera in Hell” episode of Hell’s Kitchen: Head Chefs Only airing Thursday, Jan. 2 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) on Fox. Here’s how the teams stacked up:
Blue Team: Brandon, Egypt, Joe, Kyle
Red Team: Amanda, Ann Marie, Hannah, Whit
For the International Cuisine Challenge, chefs were randomly assigned a country and faced off head-to-head against a member of the opposite team. It was Kyle vs. Whit (China), Brandon vs. Hannah (France), Joe vs. Amanda (Greece), and Egypt vs. Anne Marie (Mexico). They had 45 minutes to complete their dish.
Michelin-starred chef Vikas Khanna judged each entrée and the contest ended in a tie. The tie-breaker went to the night’s best dish, which belonged to Egypt. For their efforts, Blue Team won a private tour of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and a delicious Native American lunch. The Red Team stayed back to make cupcakes for tonight’s dinner service.
At dinner service, the Red Team cooked for the American Heart Association, while the Blue Team served the Connecticut Chapter of the Special Olympics. Egypt struggled to show leadership on the Blue Team while Whit’s attitude dragged down the Red Team’s morale. During the second course, Ann Marie failed to earn the respect of her teammates before questioning Gordon’s standards. After asking, “How is that burnt, Chef?” Gordon pulled Ann Marie aside, called her a “smart ass,” and gave her a lesson in overcooked scallops.
After a relatively smooth third course, Brandon lit the Blue kitchen on fire while searing filets. He recovered nicely as focus shifted to Whit frustrating Hannah with sloppy plating on the Red Team. Despite the shaky service, diners were thrilled with the food.
Gordon praised Kyle and Hannah for their leadership throughout dinner service. He asked each of them to hold a one-on-one with each of their teammates and come back with two nominees for elimination.
For the Blue Team, Kyle nominated Joe and Egypt. For the Red Team, Hannah nominated Amanda and Ann Marie. All four pled their case to stay in the competition, but Gordon decided it was time for Ann Marie and Joe to leave. He closed the show stating, “Both Joe and Ann Marie couldn’t stay afloat on the fish station tonight. If you can’t master that, you have no chance of being my next head chef.”
Fun and games become no laughing matter when Kyle takes his impersonation skills to offensive levels, infuriating Amanda and Whit. Then, Gordon hands out black jackets as the team competition turns individual.
