Hell's Kitchen (U.S. Season 3) - Episodes - Episode 8

Episode 8

• Original Airdate: July 23, 2007
• Reward: At the beginning of the episode, Chef Ramsay congratulated the chefs with champagne flutes, then sprayed them with champagne, with Josh being the only one brave enough to catch it in his mouth. He then told them to go upstairs and put on their black jackets, as they were all now one team.
• Challenge: Each chef, individually had to prepare 100 portions of a dish for "trendsetters" (with meals planned at least one week in advance). They later learned the "trendsetters" was a high school class at Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California. Rock made Kobe beef hamburgers, Josh did salmon with pineapple salsa, Jen served baked chicken fettucine with an herbed butter sauce, Bonnie made fried goat cheese on salad, and Julia prepared a grilled chicken and cheese sandwich with onion rings. Julia won the challenge with 51% of the votes (the DVD release of the season revealed the full results; Rock finished in second place with 25% of the votes, Jen and Bonnie got around 10% each, while Josh did not get a single vote and finished in last place), and her prize was to visit the Green Valley Ranch. She was allowed to pick one chef to go with her and eventually chose Jen. They got a chance to see the Green Valley Ranch Resort, and also went to the Red Rock Resort to meet Heather West, the winner of the second season who gave them recipes she had created for her restaurant, and tips for the competition. The losers had to clean the dining room (Josh's difficulty in handling the carpet shampoo machine was a source of amusement).
• Evening Service: The united black team was tasked with serving all 100 tables in the restaurant. Josh got off to a bad start by pre-making too many risottos. Julia also struggled with forgetting things on the garnish station. Josh then pre-cooked spaghetti twice, bringing Chef Ramsay to the edge. When he finally did get risottos out, every single one was returned because they were all undercooked. Chef had enough and kicked Josh out of the kitchen and off the show. Even Rock screwed up as he overcooked some scallops, which lead Chef to say "Rock has hit rock-bottom". As service continued, Jen and Bonnie performed strongly, but Rock's temper once again got the best of him, as he and Jen quarreled repeatedly (to which Rock later admitted privately that he was at fault and apologized to Jen). Julia had more troubles on garnish, but recovered. In the end, the four chefs were able to successfully complete the dinner service.
• Early Elimination: Josh was eliminated during mid-service due to his consistent inability to serve a successful appetizer. This marks the first time in Hell's Kitchen history that a contestant was eliminated mid-service (others include J and Lacey from Season 5, Louie from Season 6 and Nilka from Season 7). He cooked risotto and spaghetti too early twice despite Chef telling him not to. The risottos he did get out were all sent back because they were undercooked. Chef Ramsay was brought to the end of his patience and booted Josh out. In fact, Josh did not even get a full elimination sequence (i.e., jacket hung on a spike and photo burned). Josh was shown leaving Hell's Kitchen via the delivery entrance, with his bags. In Fox Reality Channel's Reality Revealed, Josh thought that he wasn't getting kicked off immediately, so Josh turned around and was returning to the kitchen at the same time Chef Ramsay went to the back. If Chef Ramsay never went to the back to see if Josh really left or not, Josh would have gone back into the kitchen and the confrontation would have escalated.
• Elimination: Chef made it clear that even though Josh was eliminated, one other chef would still be sent home tonight. Bonnie was declared the best of the service, and had to choose two for elimination. Nominating Rock was predictable as he was disliked by the other three women, but Bonnie was uncomfortable with putting up either Jen and Julia, as she had become close to them, mainly as they united against Melissa. While Jen and Julia had an even stronger bond, Bonnie did get along better with Jen while often arguing with Julia; Julia's weak dinner service further made her vulnerable. The choice wasn't easy as Chef Ramsay was visibly troubled by the dilemma of picking between a very driven and talented chef and a chef that had grown and exhibited great potential. Chef Ramsay chose to eliminate Julia, though in a break from his usual heavy criticism, he heaped praise on how far she progressed in spite of her Waffle House background. In an unprecedented move so far on Hell's Kitchen, Ramsay said he would personally send Julia to culinary school, and invite her to come back once she has finished.
• Chef Ramsay's Reason:
  • Josh: Josh made the same mistake on appetizers many times throughout the dinner service and was kicked off mid-service. "You're standing there, you're screwing me and you're fucking useless!" (No reason was given for Josh's elimination at the end of the episode, nor did he receive the "coat hook and burning picture" routine. However, at the start of episode 10 during a recap of the past episodes where Josh and Julia's pictures were burned side-by-side and their jackets got hooked simultaneously.)
  • Julia: "To become a great chef you must have a natural ability. Clearly, Julia does have it. All she needs is a little more experience. After that, she will be ready to run her own restaurant."