Hell's Kitchen (American season 2)

Signature dishes: Chef Ramsay asked each contestant to make their signature dish. Giacomo's Frutti di mare was deemed "not bad", Heather's chocolate raspberry empanadas, despite having thick pastry, were one of "the best" dishes Ramsay tried, and Rachel's butterfly shrimp received positive feedback for taste despite criticism for the chocolate sauce. The remaining dishes received negative feedback; Keith's tuna was too hot and there was too much rice, Ramsay refused to eat Polly's "undone" focaccia bread, Larry's crab cakes were undercooked and Ramsay spat out Maribel's soup because it was overly garlicky and "looked like baby vomit". Tom's shrimp scampi was also spat out because it was too hot and criticized for using cooked Caesar salad, Garrett's meat was overcooked, Gabe's fish was raw, Sara's pasta was overcooked, and Virginia's salad was crunchy, and she was scolded by Ramsay for making a dish with virtually no cooking, aside from toasting nuts.

For the first time, the chefs were divided into teams of men (the blue team) and women (the red team). Ramsay asked for a volunteer from each team - Heather and Giacomo - who were chosen as the team's "donkeys"; they could only help their teammates or clean and organize the kitchen. In preparation, the women finished hours ahead of the blue team, though the men's progress was hindered by Tom sweating into the food, forcing them to restart.

Service: In the red kitchen, Polly failed to make risotto three times, and this was not helped by Sara giving incorrect cooking times when she jumped onto her station to help her. Ramsay asked Polly to replace Heather as the donkey, and as a result, Heather cooked the first acceptable risotto an hour and a half into service. Sara cheered despite Heather warning her not to, earning her a scolding from Ramsay, as they had only served one dish ninety minutes into service. Virginia struggled on meat, and the team had mistakenly prepared veal stock rather than lamb stock, leading to Virginia asking the blue team for help, which they refused. When one customer complained to Ramsay that there was no pumpkin in his risotto and Ramsay did not immediately respond to him, he became aggressive, and Ramsay asked to escort him from the premises. In the blue kitchen, Tom initially was inconsistent in serving appetizers. He caused a fire on his station, then forgot to turn his stove back on. Larry was berated for standing around and doing nothing, and Gabe undercooked wellingtons. After three hours, customers had a lot of wine, but very little food. When two customers shout "I want my food!", and others followed by shouting "We want our food!", Ramsay shut down the kitchens. Ramsay named the men winners for at least serving entrees; Heather was named best of the worst for being the only one on her team to send any food out.

Elimination: Heather considered nominating Maribel as she wanted Virginia to stay, though changed her mind and nominated Polly and Virginia. Ramsay eliminated Polly for her lack of passion and poor performance on appetizers.

Group punishment: The teams were forced to dig into the trash bin containing the food that was wasted in the previous dinner service.

Team challenge: The teams were challenged to cut the most steaks to exactly ten ounces; as the men had an extra member, Keith was forced to sit out. Sara and Rachel both scored three, while Heather, Virginia and Maribel each scored two. Gabe scored three, Garrett scored one, Giacomo scored two, but Larry scored zero. Lastly, Tom scored five and was praised, but the women still won 12-11.

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a helicopter lunch at The Saddle Peak Lodge with Ramsay. The men prepped the steaks for the next dinner service.

Larry's exit: The night after the challenge, Larry had trouble breathing and was rushed to hospital. The following morning, he called the remaining chefs from hospital and told them that he would not be returning due to health problems. Despite his departure, Tom remained unsympathetic, saying that Larry had spent the previous night in the hot tub. Rachel criticized Tom for this response and stated in a confessional that even if Larry partied in the hot tub the previous night, it wouldn't guarantee he would be feeling well later on. Ramsay gave no comment on Larry's departure. His photo was shown to be burned, but he did not receive the coat hanging scene.

Service: Keith and Sara were chosen as servers for service, but Keith struggled, taking a long time getting orders in before spending ten minutes rewriting a ticket. Heather burned her hand and had to leave service, but delegated her station to her team before leaving, later earning Ramsay's praise; with the red kitchen missing Heather, Sara asked to join the kitchen and cook, which Ramsay agreed to. Virginia put incorrect sauce on monkfish and shocked Ramsay when she said she would serve a tortellini that was split. The men failed to serve an appetizer as Gabe allowed his teammates to work his station, while Tom and Giacomo struggled to work together on meat and garnish as Giacomo did not know what sides were required. After several customers walked out, Ramsay closed the kitchens. Ramsay named the women winners for their improvement; Garrett was named best of the worst for being the only one not to struggle.

Elimination: Garrett nominated Giacomo and Tom. After Tom pleaded his case, Ramsay sent him back in line and nominated Gabe. Ramsay eliminated Gabe for being too nice and allowing his teammates to work his station.

Team challenge: Both teams had to cook three entrees (chicken, tortellini and salmon) in twenty minutes, with one person in the kitchen at a time. During the switch, each team member would only have fifteen seconds to give information to their replacements. The red team had an extra member, so Heather sat out, fearing her hand injury would slow her team down, though Sara assumed she was putting herself in a less vulnerable position. Maribel did not hear the tortellini entree from Rachel, leading herself and then Sara to carry on cooking the other two dishes. Meanwhile, Tom was disallowed from using tortellini he found from a prior service, leading the men to get confused - Giacomo, Keith and Garrett all made fresh tortellini. The women only created two entrees and the men scored on tortellini by default, but the women won by scoring on chicken and salmon as the men had forgot the sauce.

Reward/punishment: The women were rewarded with a yacht trip with Ramsay. The men were forced to do both teams' laundry by hand. When they returned, Garrett made a comment Heather considered to be sexist and later argued with Heather, creating a bitter rivalry.

Service: Sara and Keith both put in strong performances on appetizers, though Keith was scolded for handling rice with his hands and for not pulling up his trousers, something the diners saw. Garrett was berated twice for whistling, while Tom was scolded for giving up after burning his hand and argued with Keith after he was asked to make another sauce, only for Keith to then say he didn't need it. Giacomo forgot to turn the oven on before losing track of his orders; Ramsay switched Giacomo to the fish station. Giacomo and Tom used up virtually all of the blue kitchen's food during their unsuccessful attempts to serve entrees, making it impossible for service to get back on track. In the red kitchen, Heather tried to control other stations than her own, but annoyed Sara and was scolded by Ramsay, while Maribel struggled on meat, incorrectly serving several beef wellingtons. When one table (who had been waiting over an hour for the wellingtons) threatened to walk out, Maribel served undercooked wellingtons before correcting the mistake, by which point the diners had already walked out. Ramsay was angry at Maribel and disappointed in Heather, but praised Sara as the red team's best for the night. The red team were named winners for serving more entrees.

Elimination: While Keith was acknowledged as the best of the worst, Ramsay refused to let him select two nominees for elimination due to his failure to step up as a leader. Instead, the men individually nominated another teammate for elimination. Tom nominated Giacomo, but everyone else nominated Tom for his continued struggle. Despite more votes against Tom, Ramsay eliminated Giacomo for being the worst performer of the night.

Team change: Before the challenge, Ramsay acknowledged that the men was now two members short, and Rachel, Sara and Heather had stepped up as leaders. He then transferred a reluctant Heather to the men.

Field trip: The teams were taken to Pink's Hot Dogs, where Ramsay surprised them with news that they would be opening for lunch for the first time, forcing them to run back to Hell's Kitchen.

Team challenge: The teams had to cook lunch for a group of children. Despite her reluctance to being on the blue team, Heather clamped down on bickering between Garrett and Tom and helped the blue team finally come together. Meanwhile, the red team was marred by a power struggle between Rachel and Sara, resulting in the quality of the food leaving the kitchen being occasionally inconsistent. Both teams managed to complete a service for the first time, finally impressing Ramsay. The red team earned a score of 9.84 out of 10, but the blue team won with a score of 9.85.

Reward/punishment: The blue team won a trip to an amusement park. The red team cleaned up the dining room, full of food on the floor, balloons and silly string. Garrett and Heather made up and became friends, along with Keith. They all secretly plotted to get Tom out of the team, because he was holding them back.

Service: In the red kitchen, Rachel struggled on risotto, and Sara sabotaged Virginia by saying she was "ready and waiting for her call", though later told Ramsay she had yet to put on her turbot. When Virginia tried to explain the situation, Ramsay accused Virginia of lying to him and of not being a team player. Maribel served poor mashed potatoes, Rachel and Virginia left bones and wing on a quail, and Rachel left to buy ice after running out (part of their earlier punishment), forgetting to bring money on the way. Meanwhile, despite Keith and Heather having a strong performance on the blue team, Garrett was inconsistent in serving risotto, initially serving a bland, under-seasoned risotto before managing an acceptable serving. Tom was scolded for working the wrong order and burning a duck, almost setting fire to the restaurant, prompting Ramsay to put Keith on the meat station to supervise him. Virginia served rare wellington instead of medium, and when Ramsay realized the women were glazing with egg whites instead of egg wash and had run out of wellingtons, he closed both kitchens. Ramsay then declared both teams losers, ordering one nominee from each team for elimination before sending them back to the dorms. This was the first time in the show's history that both teams lost a dinner service, something that would become more frequent in later seasons. This was also the first time one team, or in this case both teams, got kicked out. Keith and Sara were named the best of their respective teams.

Elimination: The blue team nominated Tom and the red team nominated Virginia. Ramsay however questioned Virginia's nomination as he felt Rachel should have been considered due to her bad performance on risotto. Rachel then said that she would go in Virginia's place if Ramsay wanted her to which he said was tempting, however Ramsay eliminated Tom for being a consistently poor performer.

Team challenge: The teams were told to taste various high cuisine dishes, not realizing they were made of low quality processed foods. Afterwards, they were challenged to a blind taste test; Rachel was forced to sit out. Keith and Maribel both scored two, Virginia scored three compared to Heather's two, and Sara and Garrett both scored two, giving the red team a 7-6 win.

Reward/punishment: The red team did a photo shoot with Ramsay for TV Guide. The blue team cleaned the kitchen and Garrett begrudgingly served champagne to the red team.

Service: In the blue kitchen, Heather started cooking spaghetti before any tickets had come in, in an attempt to get ahead, which Ramsay rebuked her for. Afterwards, she served an undercooked risotto, but the kitchen managed to get through appetizers under Keith's leadership. However, Heather maintained a negative attitude towards Garret due to her earlier problems and attempted to take over meat from him. This in turn caused disarray, with Garrett sending up the wrong order quantities due to miscommunication, eventually forcing Keith to step in and take control. However, Keith argued with Ramsay when one of his dishes was returned from the dining room due to having too many bread crumbs on it. Despite this, the blue team completed service. Meanwhile, when hair was found in one of the red team's entrees, Maribel argued with Ramsay when she claimed it wasn't her hair, and Rachel struggled on meat. Virginia succeeded on fish, earning Ramsay's praise. After Rachel overcooked wellingtons and then tried to hide this for their few remaining tickets, Ramsay shut down the kitchens. After service, Heather said to chef that no one in her kitchen performed as well as they could have, but she still felt like she should remain in the competition; Keith and Garrett saw this as a way to weasel out of responsibility. Ramsay declared the blue team the winners and named Virginia the best of the worst for her improvement.

Elimination: Virginia struggled with nominations - she considered Rachel for her recent downward spiral, Sara for lying the previous week, and Maribel for the hair found in the food and for losing concentration due to missing her family. In the end, she nominated Rachel and Maribel, though gave a lengthy speech as to why Sara could also be nominated. Ramsay eliminated Rachel for her many mistakes, but praised her for her effort. During Rachel's exit, a retrospect montage was played. Heather was particularly upset with Rachel's exit, as they had grown close, especially in their mutual dislike of Sara. Rachel had told Heather that if she were to go home, she'd like Heather to win.

Team challenge: Both teams, after going to the Grand Central Market to buy ingredients, had to create a three-course meal. On appetizers, Ramsay was bothered by a sharp shrimp tail in Garrett's roasted corn scallop and shrimp bisque and felt Sara's bell pepper soup was too burnt, due to Virginia's instructions on how to cook the peppers. For the entree, Ramsay was pleased with both Virginia's chicken roulade stuffed with Mexican heart salamis, sliced tomatoes and garlic, and Keith's bone in pan roasted ribeye with a tomato and smoked chili demi, though the later was felt to be a little untidy. For desserts, Maribel's strawberry shortcake Ramsay found tasty albeit uninspired, while Heather's fresh fruit crepes with a mango peach puree was soggy; Ramsay gave the red team the win.

Reward/punishment: The red team spent a night in town with Ramsay. The blue team were task to help with the restaurant's delivery service, though were angry, as they felt they should have won. When the red team set off, Garrett angrily flipped the red team's car the bird, unaware that Ramsay was inside it. He later chastised him, threatening him with elimination.

Service: Ramsay allowed both teams to create their own menu. Virginia and Sara (shutting out Maribel) came up with exotic ideas for the red team including sashimi and a rack of lamb. For the blue team, Keith and Heather came up with the ideas for their menu; Garrett offered suggestions, but Keith and Heather shot down his ideas as they were considered too complex. As a result, he maintained a negative attitude throughout prep. In the blue kitchen, Keith performed well on appetizers, though Garrett struggled on meat, so had to be assisted by Ramsay and then Heather, after which acceptable servings were served. Both Heather and Keith performed well, and though the blue team were forced to stop during service to unload more deliveries, they still managed to complete service, for the first time in Hell's Kitchen history. In the red kitchen, Sara and Virginia had problems with their overly ambitious menu, while Maribel refused to help them as they had let her contribute nothing to the menu. Sara did not manage a single acceptable serving of lamb, which led Ramsay to order it off the menu, and many tables were not fully served due to the red team falling behind. The red team barely managed to send out a few appetizers, but when Ramsay suggested their salmon dish just be cut into a slice, Sara argued with him, causing Ramsay to scold her. The blue team were ordered to help the red team, while Ramsay left the kitchen in disgust. Ramsay named the blue team clear winners, though named Garrett lucky to be on the blue team, as Keith and Heather had performed much more strongly than him. He stated it had been Keith's strongest performance thus far.

Elimination: Ramsay asked the red team to come up with nominees, but nominated the entire team for elimination at the ceremony. Despite holding Sara primarily at fault for the red team's failure and calling it her worst performance thus far, Ramsay eliminated Maribel for her lack of leadership, though praised her for her attitude.

Challenge: Ramsay merged the final five into one team and awarded them all black jackets. Each chef was given twenty minutes to cook a special dish for Ramsay. Sara's dish was deemed the worst due to poor presentation, while Garrett and Heather made good tasting dishes, but were ruled out due to over-seasoned prawns and unwashed spinach respectively. Ramsay selected Keith as the winner, with Virginia a close runner-up.

Reward/punishment: Keith received a trip to Las Vegas to visit the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino and chose Virginia to go with him. In addition, his veal chop was placed on the menu for service. The others fumigated the kitchen, much to Garrett's frustration, as Keith had promised that if either were to win a challenge, they would take the other.

Service: For the first time, the chefs served the entire restaurant. Sara and Heather got off to a slow start on appetizers, with Heather underseasoning a risotto and Sara forgetting to cook scallops in a non-stick pan. Heather rebounded, though Sara still struggled with portion sizes on scallops, and her dislike for Heather meant that they struggled in communication. They still managed to serve appetizers at a reasonable pace, though. Garrett served several unacceptable dishes, including which he served raw chicken, which Ramsay claimed "could kill someone", and was forced to switch stations with Keith and Virginia struggled on garnish, and was criticized for making a dish that was not on the menu and then arguing with Ramsay about it. Despite setbacks, Keith's strong performance ensured that entrees were served at a reasonable pace. However, one customer questioned Ramsay about how long her meal would take, and when Ramsay asked her to be patient before insulting her, she flipped over the tray for an entire table, setting back the kitchen and causing her to be escorted. A bachelorette party arrived and occupied a twelve top table. Virginia continued to struggle on garnish, but service was completed. Ramsay berated Heather for being inconsistent, Sara for being feisty, Garrett for performing poorly on both stations and Virginia for putting herself in danger. Keith was "clearly" named best of the night, thus being the only chef to receive Best of the Best/Worst four times.

Elimination: Keith immediately ruled out Heather, though struggled between Virginia and Sara. After much thought, he nominated Virginia and Garrett. Ramsay eliminated Garrett for serving raw chicken, which Ramsay deemed unacceptable.

Challenge: The task was to serve a group of construction workers. Each construction worker sampled all four dishes and instructed to vote for the best and the worst entree. Virginia's turkey and feta sandwich was voted the best and Heather's chicken sandwich with french fries was voted the worst, upsetting her.

Reward/punishment: Virginia was rewarded with immunity from elimination in the next service and a shopping spree at Sur La Table. The others had to remove meat from crabs. They secretly decided to eliminate Virginia as they believe she was the weakest chef, even though she kept winning challenges. She later earned their resentment by buying them what they considered to be cheap gifts.

Service Three master chefs dined at Hell's Kitchen for service; Michael Mina, David Myers and Josie Le Balch. Keith did well on appetizers, but Virginia on garnish struggled to keep up with Heather on meat. The three master chefs then arrived, and each chef served a meal to them. Keith served three spaghetti lobsters for appetizers, but his spaghetti was undercooked and received poor reviews. Sara also struggled to keep up with Heather and ran out of salmon, substituting with turbot. Ramsay threatened to switch Heather to the station as she was performing so well, though Sara defended her ground. Sara's scallops received mixed reviews from the master chefs, though Heather's wellingtons received praise. Virginia struggled on vegetables and Heather had to come to her rescue, though even then, Virginia's peas were burnt, which angered Ramsay. Virginia then still struggled to keep up, causing Ramsay to strip her of her immunity. The chefs completed service; Ramsay named Heather best of the night.

Elimination: Virginia stated her belief that she did not deserve to be in the competition, and under the belief that Virginia would "take herself out", Heather decided to nominate her and Sara, who had been the second worst performer of the night (though Sara objected to her nomination anyway). Virginia stated to Ramsay that she did not believe she deserved to be in the competition, though Ramsay decided to give Virginia back her immunity if she wanted it. Virginia stated she only wanted to be in the competition if Ramsay believed she was a good enough chef and not because of his promise, though Ramsay said that if she wanted to stay, he would eliminate Sara. She then changed her mind and Ramsay eliminated Sara for her lack of teamwork and disintegrating performances, angering Keith and Heather.

Challenge: The chefs were given twenty minutes to recreate Ramsay's signature dish on taste alone. Virginia won, though Heather and Keith were disappointed with this, as they both believe she cheated by buying Ramsay's recipe book the previous week and as she asked for ingredients the others had just finished using.

Reward/punishment: Ramsay gave Virginia tips on how to run a restaurant. Keith and Heather polished glasses and silverware.

Service: Each chef took a turn running the hot pass. Sous-chefs Scott and Mary-Ann, assisting with the cooking, were secretly instructed by Ramsay to make a deliberate mistake. Virginia got the night off to a bad start when she burned two orders of salmon and casually put them in the bin, infuriating Ramsay. In Keith's turn at the pass, he spotted overcooked pasta, but his lack of authority meant that Heather ended up taking much control during his turn. Meanwhile, Virginia remained unresponsive to Keith's orders, forgot what she was cooking and got overwhelmed on the fish station, confusing the rest of the kitchen's timings. Heather led well at the pass, being vocal in giving out timings and controlling the kitchen. Keith sent up enough rice for one risotto instead of two, before openly arguing with Ramsay about this, leading Heather to stabilize the situation. Despite spotting the lumpy mashed potatoes, she failed to send them back to be recooked. Virginia got off to a slow start on the pass, leaving Keith and Heather unable to remember her orders. However, she rebounded and impressed Ramsay with her leadership, spotting bass in a dish instead of salmon.

Elimination: Ramsay asked the chefs to nominate one other person for elimination. Heather reconsidered her and Keith's pact to eliminate Virginia, as Heather felt that Keith had been a particularly weak leader. Heather and Keith nominated Virginia and Virginia nominated Keith. Ramsay eliminated Keith for his poor leadership and his hostile attitude in service. After his elimination, Keith criticized Ramsay for his choice, accusing him of having a "hard-on" for Virginia. Ramsay however defended his choice, while arguing that Keith's attack on him just proved he made the right decision. He said his farewells to Heather, though ignored Virginia. Keith did not receive a coat hanging or burning picture sequence.

Heather's parents and Virginia's mother and husband came in for a surprise visit. The women were then given control of half of Hell's Kitchen each and instructed to remodel it for service, as well as create their own menus.

Challenge: Heather and Virginia traveled to Las Vegas to make a signature dish judged by twenty people. Virginia made a chicken roulade and Heather a sea bass dish. After a 10-10 tie, Virginia won the tie-breaker.

Reward: Virginia was granted first pick in drafting a team using the six chefs eliminated from the competition prior to the final.[note 2] Virginia picked Keith, Tom and Giacomo, while Heather picked Rachel and Sara, and was left with Garrett. Though Heather's team were happy with her (even Garrett, who was picked last, and Sara, who had previously admitted her dislike of Heather), Virginia's were not; Virginia had openly stated she picked her team as she believed they were the weakest chefs, Keith openly stated he wanted Heather to win the previous week and Tom did not like working for a woman. Virginia promised to pay each the men $1000 to work for her.

Remodeling and preparation: Heather and Virginia remodeled the dining room per their wishes. Heather made the walls look like a blank canvas with a video wall and graffiti, including messages from her chefs. Ramsay liked most of her ideas, but suggested she remove the graffiti. After sampling her dishes, Ramsay found them to be good, but wanted them to be more exciting. Virginia created a waterfall behind the walls with an atmosphere akin to a desert sunset, and despite having trouble implementing the water wall, it was completed before service. Ramsay liked this.

Service: Heather had a great service rate but struggled occasionally with quality control, while Virginia was proficient in quality control at the expense of service rate. Virginia spent a long time making the dishes look good, refusing her team's help, which resulted in a back up of dishes and some dishes getting cold and thus being sent back. Keith and Tom showed Virginia little respect and Tom cut himself, leaving the kitchen late into service for over ten minutes seeing a medic, despite Ramsay not considering it to be a serious problem. Despite earning praise for refiring several dishes for not being up to her standards, Virginia found she had run out of ingredients towards the end, due to her perfectionism. For Heather's team, Sara made several mistakes in seasoning, Rachel overcooked steaks and the team became flustered by Heather's abrasive leadership. Despite this, Heather was considered a strong leader, and they picked up from their mistakes, finishing before Virginia's team. Ramsay praised both teams for their services, but unbeknownst to them, the President of the Red Rock Resort was among the clients sampling dishes from each menu. Ramsay based his decision on comments from the President of the Red Rock resort, customer comment cards and his own observations.

Winner: Heather and Virginia stood in front of a closed door; Heather's door opened, making her the second winner of Hell's Kitchen. Virginia was very gracious in defeat, stating that she hoped she would be as good as Heather in the future.