After a very short night’s sleep the 16 remaining chefs are awoken to an early morning, high-decibel concert by a young, electric guitar-playing boy. Then they are sent downstairs to meet Chef Gordon Ramsay in the yard of “Hell’s Kitchen,” where they are presented with their next challenge. In pairs of two, they will have 20 minutes to prepare a perfect medium-rare New York strip, a medium rib-eye, a medium-well filet, and a well-done burger.
Right from the start, Amanda and Krupa get four points for the women. Jonathan and Brendan miss on the strip and the burger, but their other two cuts are correctly cooked. Gordon says that their burger looks like “a joke turd that you stick on your granny’s chair.” Carrie and Elise get only one out of four points, while Chino and Tommy close the gap between the men and the women, winning three points to tie the overall score. Jamie and Natalie earn three more points, but Monterray and Paul cook only two pieces properly. While Jennifer, Gina, and Elizabeth could have taken the Red Team over the top, they score only two of the possible four points. That leaves Will, who’s flying solo, to get all four right and put the men over the top. He succeeds, winning the challenge for the men. As a reward, the Blue Team heads to Palm Springs on a private jet with Chef Ramsay. They sip Champagne and ride in a tram to a restaurant overlooking the desert. (more…)