Team Challenge/Signature Dish: This year, the signature dish challenge was changed to a cook-off between two chefs, one from each team. Both would go head to head with the same ingredients they received from a slot machine containing protein, vegetable, and starch. Ramsay judged each dish on a scale from one-five. While cooking signature dish, Kenneth finished cooking his dish with 20 minutes to go, only the second person to do this after JP in season 13. First Declan's New York strip received five points while Nikki's New York striploin received four points. Then, Syann's filet mignon received two points because of raw cauliflower served on the side, and Cody's filet mignon got three points for having great flavor, but bad presentation. Next, Kenneth's chicken scored only one point since it was badly burnt despite being finished too early, while Kori's chicken dish scored four. In the halibut round, Lauren scored three points for having too much pasta, while Drew scored two points because his pasta lacked salt. Next, Mary Lou scored two points for her salmon because of lack of seasoning and raw rice, whereas Eliott also scored two points for removing the salmon's skin. Adam's lamb received four points while Jordan's lamb received three points. Peter and Amber both received four points on their ribeyes. On scallops, Fabiola scored three points while Josh scored two for his burnt kale. Finally, Marc's pork loin dish received five points after Brittani's pork chop only scored two because it was overcooked, giving the men a 28-27 win.
Service: Ramsay opened the chef tables for two VIP families. Wayne Brady and his family ate in the blue kitchen, while Lisa Vanderpump and her husband ate in the red kitchen. In the dining room were Antonio Fargas and Erik Kilpatrick. Despite Nikki breaking down in tears after serving raw lobster and too few scallops, and Mary Lou overcooking a steak, the women successfully completed service. In the blue kitchen, appetizers left the kitchen quickly, but Peter overcooked duck, while Ramsay berated Eliott for staring into space and not helping his team. After Drew put up raw lamb, he, Peter, and Eliott were thrown out of the kitchen. Cody took over the garnish station and served undercooked fries, which got the rest of the men kicked out; they did not serve a single entree, and were ordered to provide two nominees for elimination.
Service: Dan Reynolds was in attendance, while Apolo Ohno and Marshall Faulk were seated at the red and blue chefs tables, respectively. Drew was caught with his pants down, while Cody served extra orders of scallops twice and raw salmon, but rebounded, and the men successfully finished service. In the red kitchen, Fabiola undercooked a flatbread and burned another. Jordan and Lauren struggled with timing on the meat station, forcing Mary Lou to help them. After Lauren undercooked duck while Jordan mistakenly served a New York strip instead of Beef Wellington, Ramsay kicked the women out and they lost the service.
Service: Sous Chef Christina's girlfriend and family dined in the red kitchen, Sous Chef Jay's wife and best friends dined in the blue kitchen, while Marino's family was in the dining room. Also attending service were DJ Ashba, DJ Friese, and Donna D'Errico. In the blue kitchen, Peter struggled on the fish station, incorrectly cooking scallops, while Declan served raw New York strip and argued with Marc on garnish. The last straw for Ramsay was Peter burning a halibut, which was also their last, leading to the Blue team getting kicked out of the kitchen. In the red kitchen, Syann undercooked flatbread twice, needing all her teammates' help, while Brittani overcooked salmon. Although Nikki helped Brittani with the salmon, Kori's raw New York strip forced Ramsay to kick them out of the kitchen as well. Neither team was able to serve its chef's table, so they both lost.
Service: Marc had trouble with the risotto and couldn't communicate with Josh on fish. Josh also broke a piece of halibut by picking it up with tongs instead of a fish spatula. In the red kitchen, although Nikki lacked some confidence on the meat station, she produced flawless entrees. Lauren was called out by Ramsay for not proactively helping her team.
Automatic elimination: One hour into dinner service, Peter was struggling to keep up on the garnish station. After needing Cody's help with tomatoes, overseasoning lentils, and falling behind on mashed potatoes, Ramsay asked the blue team if they had the qualities to become his next head chef. While most of the blue team enthusiastically responded affirmatively, Peter openly admitted that he was not qualified to continue any longer. Ramsay eliminated Peter on the spot, making him the tenth person in the show's history to be eliminated in the middle of service. He then instructed Amber to take over the garnish section for the rest of the service. Peter stated that he felt he was not ready to become an Executive Chef if these were the steps he had to take, that the cash prize was not worth the mental stress, and that he wanted to go back home to his family.
Service: Frank Pellegrino Jr. and Robert Earl dined at the chef tables for an Italian Night themed dinner service. Amber had troubles on the fish station, sending up raw lobster and soggy salmon. Josh was also a roadblock on the garnish station, not communicating and serving bland mashed potatoes. In the red kitchen, Jordan preemptively fired scallops and Mary Lou and Syann sent up raw Beef Wellington and lamb, but they all recovered. Although both teams completed the service, Ramsay gave the Red team the win in a close decision.
Service: The blue team had a near-flawless service, where the only issue was Adam's scallops being seared on side but raw on the other side. Amber was praised for her performance on meat, despite her uncertainty over its temperature, and they had a smooth service. In the red kitchen, Syann burned salmon twice. Jordan served meat before garnish was ready, and miscommunication between Kori on garnish and Nikki and Jordan on meat resulted in Jordan bringing up New York strip instead of the Wellington on order. After Kori served soggy fries while Jordan and Nikki overcooked steak and Syann undercooked salmon, Ramsay kicked the Red team out of dinner service, and had the Blue team finish their tickets.
Service: Before dinner service began, Ramsay allowed both teams to decide on where they wanted to cook that night. Ramsay invited two former winners to dine at the chef's tables. Season 12 winner Scott Commings dined in the blue kitchen, while season 17 winner Michelle Tribble dined in the red kitchen. The red team had its second perfect service in a row, with Ramsay singling out Nikki in particular for her dramatic improvement since the beginning of the competition. Marc got the blue team to a bad start on appetizers by not realizing that his stove was off, which he attempted to blame on Cody. He then served bland and undercooked risotto as well as scrambled carbonara, earning a warning in the pantry from Ramsay. On entrees, Declan undercooked lamb and Ramsay kicked the blue team out once again after Amber undercooked halibut for Scott's table.
Service: Dinner service was for two charities headed by Sarah McLachlan and Chris Long. Also attending service was Beau Allen. Declan had to lead both the scallops and the filet courses due to the blue team being short a member. On the scallops course, Ramsay criticized Declan for cooking all the scallops himself and relegating Amber and Cody to plating, while Nikki only put out ten plates instead of twelve. There were no issues on the pea risotto or the halibut courses. However, Amber got overwhelmed by Declan asking her to cook all the filets for him and burned one, while Jordan led passively and did not check the filets Nikki and Mary Lou gave her before Ramsay pointed out that they were raw. Ramsay refused to name a winner on the grounds that he had to stop both teams' mistakes from leaving the kitchen and requested one chef to be nominated from each team.
Reward/punishment: Kori received a $4000 shopping spree at Macy's and had to pick someone to split it with, which was Cody. They also each received a set of Hell's Kitchen home and kitchen goods. Declan and Mary Lou had to clean out the dorms. Kori bought a pink suit for Cody, a pan for Declan, and a Vitamix blender for Mary Lou, the only person remaining who had yet to win one in a challenge.
Elimination: Kori and Cody said they wanted to cook against Mary Lou, who picked Kori, while Declan picked Cody. Ramsay eliminated Cody for his indecisive leadership and struggles on the meat station, but told Cody he could keep his jacket and reach out to him anytime. Cody received a retrospective montage. He named Declan as the first finalist, before announcing that Kori and Mary Lou would both join him in the finale. Declan, Kori, and Mary Lou would have to face one more challenge to determine which two would cook in the final dinner service. This is only the second three person finale in the show's history after season 17.
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