Season 16 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox between September 23, 2016 and February 2, 2017. Event chef Kimberly-Ann Ryan, from Traverse City, Michigan, was the winner of the season and was awarded a Head Chef position at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar at The Venetian in Las Vegas, with a $250,000 salary.
Hell's Kitchen - Season 16
At the end of each episode, one chef is eliminated from the losing team by Ramsay. The season is the third, overall and consecutive, that featured an all-female final three, as well as the second that featured an elimination where two chefs were eliminated instead of one, and the third that featured a chef eliminated after a challenge and this season marks the fourth time that the final two chefs avoided elimination following Seasons 6, 7, and 14.
The sixteenth season of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen premiered on September 23, 2016 on Fox. Gordon Ramsay returned as host/head chef, Marino Monferrato and Aaron Mitrano returned as maitre d' and blue kitchen sous chef respectively while Andi van Willigan-Cutspec resumed her role as sous chef for the red team after Season 10 winner Christina Wilson filled in for her in the previous season while she got married. This was also the first season since Season 13 to take a hiatus due to Fox's coverage of the 2016 World Series in addition to the holiday breaks. The remaining episodes of the season were moved to Thursday nights on January 5, 2017 as part of the network's midseason schedule. This is the first season to have episode titles other than the usual "(Remaining number of) Chefs Compete" and "Winner Chosen". This season was filmed between November to December 2014, shortly after the completion of the previous season, about two years before the season aired.[1]
Reward/punishment: The women rode a hummer limo to Takami Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, where they had a special sushi dinner with Ramsay and previous winners Christina Machamer and Scott Commings from Seasons 4 and 12, respectively. The men cleaned the kitchens, prepped the dining room for the opening night, and transported the risers out of Hell's Kitchen, under the direction of Marino. While Pat sat out of the punishment, Marino and the others made fun of Matt's bolognese, which cost them their chance at winning.
Service: Noureen DeWulf and Dash Mihok were in attendance. Johnny, Paul, Heidi, and Shaina handled the Dover sole appetizer. In the women's kitchen, Jessica served soupy carbonara and was confused on appetizers, but rebounded. On the fish station, Gia shocked Ramsay by asking if she should work dessert, despite still being on entrees. Kimberly sent up raw lamb, but recovered and the women got through the rest of the night without further incidents. However, in the men's kitchen, Aaron overdressed a kale salad, while Andrew forgot an order of scallops, setting his team back. Aaron made another mistake by not rolling his pizzas properly and trying to cook two of them on the same paddle. During entrees, Genaro sent up raw New York strip twice, causing Ramsay to take drastic measures and called the women to take over service in the men's kitchen, while kicking the men out of their second service in a row.
Service: Andrew and Jessica each served rock shrimp pesto tagliatelle tableside. The men stumbled when Koop made too much risotto, despite being perfectly cooked, but he recovered. Paulie served Ramsay overcooked, then burnt scallops, much to Ramsay's anger. Recovering from his earlier meltdown, Matt stepped up and helped Paulie create a successful plate of scallops. Despite Aaron burning mashed potatoes on entrees, the men regrouped and successfully finished their first dinner service. In the women's kitchen, Kimberly overcooked scallops but recovered. On meat, despite Gia's first lamb being perfectly cooked, she overcooked the next one and sliced her wellingtons poorly, which she claimed was due to cutting off part of her finger. However, the injury was hardly noticeable. Marino reported Jessica's overcooked tagliatelle to Ramsay while she attempted to start over. However, Ramsay called her back to the kitchen and showed the team Kimberly's raw salmon and Gia's raw Wellington, before kicking them all out of service.
Jessica's comment: "I think Gia should've went home over me. I am a strong cook, and I do belong in this kitchen. But I think my downfall was putting myself up on the chopping block. Yeah, I shouldn't have done that."
Service: Ramsay raised the stakes when he announced that each team would be working half of a 12-top table, consisting of several pregnant women. In addition, Pooch Hall was also a guest in the dining room. Wendy and Devin served mussels and sausage tableside. In the women's kitchen, Aziza deep-fried her scallops after adding too much oil to the pan. The women managed to finish cooking their entrees for the 12-top, but were forced to wait on Gia's garnish, resulting in Ryan assisting. Meanwhile, in the men's kitchen, Koop sent up ice-cold lobster, but managed to recover. The men also grew frustrated with Aaron for not communicating, even though his meats were cooked perfectly. Despite almost finishing service, on the last ticket, Aaron sent up an undercooked Wellington, while Koop sent up an overcooked sea bass and the men were kicked out of the kitchen for the third time.
Reward/punishment: The men had lunch with Ramsay at Petty Cash Taqueria and went bowling at Pinz in Studio City. The women broke down and diced up a large delivery of vegetables for a tableside seafood chowder and prepped both kitchens. The women were already fed up with Kimberly for not cooking her couscous properly and losing the challenge for them, but she made things worse by asking a lot of pointless questions, irritating her teammates.
Service: The chef's tables took center stage with Joe Perry in the men's kitchen and Estelle in the women's kitchen. Matt and Heather each handled the clam chowder tableside. Aziza and Paulie each led well on appetizers. However, in the men's kitchen, Devin served up cold asparagus while Johnny sent up raw salmon. In the women's kitchen, Ryan and Heidi had control of meat and fish, respectively, delivering perfect dishes. They along with Kimberly's strong garnish performance gave the women a strong service, although Ramsay warned Ryan to speak up. The men, on the other hand, sunk as Andrew sent up raw New York Strips twice, while Johnny burned a salmon and Devin sent up bland creamed spinach, causing the men to get kicked out of service yet again.
Service: Guests in attendance for family night were Lauren Lapkus and Ciara Hanna. Also in attendance that night, though not credited, were several current and former WWE Superstars, including Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and Alicia Fox. Kimberly and Andrew handled the quesadilla station. Both teams had rocky services. In the women's kitchen, Shaina served raw pizza despite Heidi's warning, Aziza cooked too much garnish ahead of order, Wendy served raw lamb, and Heather served raw salmon. In the men's kitchen, Paulie served a raw burger and undercooked sea bass, Johnny served a raw egg, and Devin undercooked grilled cheese. For the most part, both teams managed to bounce back from their various mistakes. However, despite both teams finishing service with no one ejected, Ramsay announced no winning team due to the numerous mistakes in both kitchens, and told both teams to come up with two nominees.
Reward/punishment: The women went horseback riding and had a Southern lunch prepared by food truck Wings N' Waffles. The men ground the corn and shelled the shrimp for a shrimp and grits appetizer and prepped both kitchens. Koop contemplated quitting after his injury, but changed his mind.
Service: The chef's tables featured Adrienne Maloof in the women's kitchen and JJ Redick in the men's kitchen. Also in attendance were Blake Lewis and Mircea Monroe. Devin and Ryan handled the shrimp and grits appetizer. The men had a decent performance, their only problems being Andrew serving soggy catfish and Koop serving a raw Wellington. The women had a rocky service; Despite Kimberly's strong performance on appetizers, Shaina struggled on meat, serving overcooked then raw chicken for Maloof's table, while Wendy struggled with her own catfish dish. After Shaina served raw and overcooked wellingtons and Wendy served raw catfish twice, Ramsay kicked the women out.
Service: The red team turned a near perfect service, their only error being Matt burning scallops, but Ryan and Kimberly put in strong performances on meat. The blue team had a very rocky service. Wendy forgot to cook carbonara and Paulie cooked too many risottos too early. Things got worse on the entrÃes as Johnny failed to sear the bass he was working on despite Shaina asking if they should, with Johnny not taking her advice prior to service, and also served raw bass, while Devin served raw chicken while forgetting a portion. With the blue team 10 tables behind the red team including the judge's table, Ramsay lost his patience, threw the blue team out of the kitchen for the fifth time and sent the red team, except Heather who was on desserts, to finish their service for them.
Reward/punishment: The blue team were rewarded with a spa day and lunch at a penthouse suite at the InterContinental Los Angeles Hotel. The red team took in deliveries of ice and wine and prepped both kitchens. They did not read the invoice and unloaded 102 bags of ice instead of 52, forcing them to take back the extra ice, angering Heidi. The team accused Matt of not reading the invoice.
Service: Guests in attendance for this service were Josh McDermitt and Jeannie Mai. The red team, once again, seemingly had a near perfect service (although Ramsay later told them it was "far from perfect"). The only problem was Matt forgetting a portion of lamb, but he recovered. The blue team had a flawless performance on appetizers thanks to Devin and Shaina, but struggled on entrÃes. Paulie served raw lamb, and Koop was caught cooking salmon and sea bass in the same pan and argued with Paulie over cooking times. After Paulie sent up another raw lamb, Ramsay lost his temper and ejected the blue team yet again, which was their series-record sixth time thrown out of the kitchen, while telling them to eat their mistakes. When they returned to the dorms, Koop lost his temper and threw a chair at a wall, breaking it.
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