Hell's Kitchen (American TV series) season 4

Season 4 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen began airing on the Fox Network starting on April 1, 2008. The show was originally planned to air later in the season, but instead was aired as a replacement for shows that were affected by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

The winner will be installed as a "senior sous chef" at Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood - not an executive chef role mentioned in publicity or press releases. The London West Hollywood opened May 27, 2008, while the series was still in progress. In addition, the winner will also receive $250,000 in cash, as announced on the June 3, 2008 episode.

The final episode of Season 4 is slated to air on Fox July 8.

Production location

This season was filmed in the warehouse district in Culver City, California.

Chef and staff members

• Chef - Gordon Ramsay
• Sous chefs - Scott Leibfried, Gloria Felix
• Maître d' - Jean-Philippe Susilovic

Contestants

• Bobby Anderson, Niagara Falls, New York
• Ben Caylor, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Dominic DiFrancesco, Catawba, South Carolina
• Louross Edralin, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Corey Earling, Brooklyn, New York City, New York
• Rosann Fama, Staten Island, New York City, New York
• Jennifer Gavin, Chicago, Illinois
• Vanessa Gunnell, Bozeman, Montana
• Christina Machamer, St. Louis, Missouri
• Louis Petrozza, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Craig Schneider, Coram, New York
• Matt Sigel, Pine Hill, New Jersey
• Sharon Stewart, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Jason Underwood, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Shayna Zodoka, Buffalo, New York

Episode progress table

Each week, the best member (as determined by Ramsay) from the losing team during the latest service period is asked to nominate two of their fellow teammates for elimination; one of these two is sent home by Ramsay. In Episode 1, the teams selected captains for service, though Ramsay changed both captains during service.

Chef	4011	4021	4036	404	4057	4067	4078	408	409	410	411	412	413	414	Chef Ramsay's reason
Bobby	NOM3	WIN	LOSE	BoW	WIN	WIN	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	IN
Christina	WIN	NOM	BoW	WIN	NOM	WIN	WIN	NOM	WIN	NOM
Corey	WIN	BoW	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	WIN	BoW	WIN	NOM
Jen	WIN	NOM	LOSE	WIN	WIN	WIN	WIN	WIN	NOM	IN
Petrozza	LOSE	WIN	BoW	LOSE	WIN	WIN	NOM	WIN	BoW	IN
Matt	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	WIN	NOM	WIN	NOM	WIN9	OUT					"There once was a boy named Matt / Whose kitchen performance fell flat / He was far from neat, / Miserable on meat, / So I kicked him out, and that's that."
Louross	BoW5	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	NOM	WIN	NOM	WIN	OUT						"Louross was never short on energy, he was just short... on cooking ability."
Rosann	WIN4	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	NOM	NOM	WIN	OUT							"If the size of one's mouth corresponded to the size of one's talent, then Rosann would have been a world-class master chef. Unfortunately, she just has a big mouth."
Ben	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	WIN	WIN	OUT								"Ben left a manual labor job digging ditches to get back into cooking, but all he did in Hell's Kitchen was dig himself into a hole. A hole too deep to get out of."
Shayna	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	WIN	OUT									"Shayna has a big heart, but at times I felt her heart wasn't here, it was back home with her newborn baby. She made far too many simple mistakes, and that's why she's going back to something she's good at: changing diapers."
Vanessa	WIN2	LOSE	NOM	WIN	LEFT										"It's unfortunate that Vanessa's burn took her out of the competition. We will never, ever know if she really had what it takes to win Hell's Kitchen."
Craig	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	OUT											"I can teach someone how to cook, but Craig was a bad cook with an even worse attitude. There was no hope for him."
Jason	LOSE	WIN	OUT												"I kept waiting for Jason to wake up, to show some energy, but he never did. And that's why I had to put him to sleep."
Sharon	WIN	OUT													"Sharon clearly paid great attention to detail. Unfortunately, it wasn't for cooking, but for her make up."
Dominic	OUT														"To be a great chef you need to have passion, talent, and creativity. Dominic had passion, but that was it."

Template:FnbChef Ramsay declared that neither team won after the dinner service, but that one team was a losing team; the non-losing team is labeled as the winning team here in this table.
Template:FnbSelected as team captain by Red team
Template:FnbSelected as team captain by Blue team
Template:FnbAssigned as Red team captain by Ramsay during service
Template:FnbAssigned as Blue team captain by Ramsay during service
Template:FnbChef Ramsay declared that neither team won, and that there would be one nomination from the best of each team.
Template:FnbChef Ramsay declared both teams winners, since they both completed the service, but required that each team nominate someone.
Template:FnbChef Ramsay declared that each member of the Blue team had to nominate someone for elimination.
Template:FnbAlthough Matt was on the winning team, he was deemed as one of the worst of the night.

  Contestant was a member of the Winning Team.

  Contestant was a member of the Losing Team.

  Contestant was the leader and nominator of the Losing Team; Best of Worst (BoW)

  Contestant was nominated for elimination but prevailed.

  Contestant was eliminated

  Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay

  Contestant voluntarily withdrew from the competition, generally due to a sustained injury.

  Single team - contestant won pre elimination competition, was eliminated

  Single team - contestant moved on in individual competition

  The runner-up of Hell's Kitchen

  The winner of Hell's Kitchen

Ratings

#	Air Date	Rating	Share	18-49	Viewers (m)	Weekly Rank
1	April 1, 2008	7.5	11	5.7/14	12.55	#16
2	April 8, 2008	6.9	10	5.4/13	11.63	#19
3	April 15, 2008	6.6	10	4.9/12	11.08	#16
4	April 22, 2008	6.9	10	5.1/13	11.56	#19
5	April 29, 2008	7.2	11	5.5/15	12.26	#16
6	May 6, 2008	6.7	10	5.2/13	11.25	#18
7	May 13, 2008	7.1	11	5.5/14	12.40	#17
8	May 20, 2008	7.1	11	5.6/14	12.60
9	May 27, 2008
10	June 3, 2008

Episodes

Episode 1

• Original airdate: April 1, 2008
• Signature Dishes: All the dishes, except for Vanessa and Rosann's, were found to be below par of Ramsay's expectations; Matt's dish, "Exotic Tartare", appeared to make Ramsay vomit due to its combination of raw venison, caviar, raw quail egg, lime zest, olive oil, scallops, and white chocolate.
• Teams: Red (Women) and Blue (Men).
• Captains:

Blue: Bobby was selected by his team to be captain. During service, Ramsay demoted him and elected Louross captain.

Red: Vanessa was selected captain by her team. During service, Ramsay demoted her and elected Rosann captain.

• Dinner: No entrees served to guests. Patrons left restaurant due to delays of 3 hours. The Red team managed to serve a few appetizers.
• Nominees for elimination: Bobby and Dominic
• Winner: No winner; the service never went beyond the appetizer stage, and that stage was barely completed by the women's team. Chef Ramsay proclaimed this service to be the worst start ever in Hell's Kitchen history.

• Elimination: Dominic was eliminated. After elimination, Chef Ramsay noted that Jason "dodged a bullet" as he would have been eliminated had Louross nominated him.

Episode 2

• Original Airdate: April 8, 2008
• Group Punishment: For wasting over $1000 in food in the previous episode, Scott and Gloria wake the contestants with bullhorns and rushed them outside, where Chef Ramsay forced the contestants to pick up the wasted food -- delivered via garbage truck -- with their bare hands, and place them in clear bins.
• Challenge: The contestants were to fillet a large halibut in uniform pieces, each weighing 6 ounces, trying to leave little waste. At the end, each team had 41 pieces cut and deemed acceptable by Chef Ramsay, leading to the series' first tiebreaker. The tiebreaker consisted of one person from each team who had to chose an accepted fillet that was the closest to six ounces. The Blue team won when their piece weighed 5.9 ounces; the Red team lost with their 4.8 ounce piece.
• Reward/Punishment: The Blue team are transported via Rolls Royces and Bentleys to a superyacht, where they enjoy dinner with Chef Ramsay and Jean-Philippe. The Red team stayed behind to prepare the seafood for the next night's service.
• Dinner: To help out Jean-Phillipe, Rosann and Craig each become an assistant maître d' for their respective team, while their teammates cook. The Blue team was the only one to have served their entrees, while the Red team barely finished with the appetizers, while suffering from a backlog of orders. Chef Ramsay, disappointed with the progress, closed the service.
• Winner: No winner, though the Red team was designated the worst team; Corey was designated "Best of the Worst". Corey nominated Christina, for strategic reasons, and Jen, for personal reasons, for elimination. After both stated their reasons why they wanted to stay, Chef Ramsay overrode Corey's selections, opting instead to eliminate Sharon.

Episode 3

• Original Airdate: April 15, 2008
• Challenge: The contestants were to make perfect cuts of a chicken, part by part, without cutting too much meat or having portions of other parts on a part of the chicken. At the end, the Red Team won.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team visit the Saddle Ranch Chop House, a western-themed restaurant on the Sunset Strip, where they encounter restaurant regular Aaron Song, a former contestant from the show's third season. The losing Blue team were transported to a field in the country to pick peppers.
• Dinner: Bobby was chosen by Chef Ramsay to cook the service's chicken special tableside as a second part of the Blue Team's punishment. As for the rest, both teams in the kitchen were able to complete their appetizers, but were barely able to begin the entree portion. Vanessa, on the Red team, served the meat undercooked, then later burned the meat, starting a fire in the kitchen. Later, Jason, on the Blue team, was unsatisfied with the souffles, in which he suggested coating their rims with sugar and cocoa; upon hearing this suggestion, Chef Ramsay repeatedly banged his head on the counter in frustration. With dinner practically never served, and Chef Ramsay near the end of his rope, he closed service and declared both teams losers.
• Winner: No winning team. Chef Ramsay had Petrozza and Christina, both Best of the Worst for their teams, nominate a person from their team for elimination; Petrozza nominated Jason, while Christina nominated Vanessa. Chef Ramsay chose Jason, as he was too slow in his actions, and had quit earlier when he could not stand the pressure.

Episode 4

• Original Airdate: April 22, 2008
• Group Punishment: After Jason left and the remaining chefs retired to their dorms, Chef Ramsay over the loudspeaker ordered both teams to clean up their kitchens. During which, Corey snuck out of the red kitchen and went to bed.
• Tonight's service: A family night, which included a kids' menu.
• Challenge: The contestants were to make perfect strands of pasta, with the team with the most pasta by weight winning. The Red Team won.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team were taken via Hummer limo to the Pacific Park amusement park at the Santa Monica Pier. The Blue team prepared the night's service for both teams, while Ben unwittingly volunteered to clean up after the animals in the petting zoo set up outside for Family Night.
• Dinner: Both teams cooked a special family menu, given to them just hours in advance. On the Red team, Vanessa was sent to hospital after she burned her hand with hot oil; despite being down a team member, the Red team succeeded in completing their service. Meanwhile, on the Blue team, Matt served raw chicken and tough hamburgers. Also, Ben congratulated his teammates for a job well done -- while there were still six orders waiting in the queue (vs. two for the Red Team).
• Winner: The Red team was the season's first winner, with Jen, once selected for elimination earlier this season, being the best cook. On the Blue team, Bobby was selected Best of the Worst, and nominated Craig and Matt for elimination. Chef Ramsay, however, nominated another member, Ben, for being disrespectful towards him. Nevertheless, Chef Ramsay chose Craig for elimination.

Episode 5

• Original Airdate: April 29, 2008
• Challenge: The contestants were to make a gourmet-style pizza; the most delicious pizza, as determined by Chef Ramsay, wins. Also, the winning team's pizza would be on the menu for Dinner Service. The Red Team won with Jen's "Little Bit of Italy, Little Bit of France" pizza.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team is taken by helicopter to the Square One restaurant in Santa Barbara, California, home of the "$90 Burger" and their truffle "fries". The men stay behind to prepare for the next night's service.
• Dinner: Vanessa, still recovering from her burned hand from the previous service, decided to withdraw from the competition, as she felt she won't give "100%". Ramsay selected Ben from the Blue Team to deliver pizza orders. Both teams completed their service.
• Winner: Chef Ramsay declared both teams winners. However, he still required each team to nominate a member for elimination. The Red Team originally nominated Christina, while the Blue Team chose Louross. Chef Ramsay was puzzled with Louross's nomination, shocked by Christina's nomination, and went on to briefly interrogate both teams about their decisions. In the end, he decided Vanessa would be the only one going home this episode; thus nobody else would be dismissed.

Episode 6

• Original Airdate: May 6, 2008
• Challenge: The contestants prepare appetizers and entrees for Melissa, a girl celebrating her "Sweet 16" to vote on; the team with the most chosen dishes wins. The Blue Team wins.
• Reward/Punishment: The Blue Team spends a day kart racing, followed by treats at the Simon LA restaurant. The Red Team decorates Hell's Kitchen for Melissa's party, under supervision of party planner Francesco, and Melissa's mother.
• Dinner: Both teams prepare a service for the party-goers, with Melissa ordering a filet mignon and her mother ordering halibut. Both dishes were returned -- the filet mignon was undercooked; the fish was overcooked. Because of this, Chef Ramsay recooked the filet mignon himself, while Bobby muscled Matt out of the fish service. Both teams completed their service. The dinner service was followed by a concert by The Pink Spiders.
• Winner: Chef Ramsay declared both teams winners, as both team's comment cards had scores above 98%. However, he still required each team to nominate a member for elimination. The Red Team originally chose Shayna, but Chef Ramsay personally chose Rosann; the Blue Team chose Matt. Chef Ramsay chose Shayna for elimination. In addition, Chef Ramsay transferred Matt to the Red Team, per Matt's wishes.

Episode 7

• Original Airdate: May 13, 2008
• Challenge: The contestants have a blind taste test to see which foods they can identify by taste. The Red Team wins. (To even up the teams, Chef Ramsay excluded Jen from the challenge.)
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team spend the day at the patio, which has been converted into a spa. The Blue Team spend the day cleaning the kitchen and the dorms. In addition, Ben was called to serve iced tea to the Red Team.
• Dinner: During a standard fine-dining service, both teams struggled to serve their entrees, but it was the Blue Team that was at its worst, to a point where Chef Ramsay shut down the kitchen.
• Winner: Neither team won, though Chef Ramsay declared the Blue Team the losers, due to their continual lack of communication. Matt, who volunteered to transfer to the Red Team at the end of the previous episode, was singled out as the best member of the Red Team. Among the Blue Team members, each tendered their own nomination -- Ben and Louross nominated each other, Bobby nominated Petrozza, and Petrozza, who did not want to nominate his team members, nominated himself. Ultimately, Chef Ramsay chose Ben for elimination and before sending the teams back to the dorms, he praised Petrozza for his selflessness.

Episode 8

• Original Airdate: May 20, 2008
• Team Change: Following the elimination round in the last episode, Chef Ramsay called for a volunteer from the Red Team to move to the Blue Team. Jen volunteered herself, which Chef Ramsay accepted.
• Challenge: The contestants must cook four dishes per team in 45 minutes, using all 20 ingredients on hand only once. The Red Team won, after the Blue Team used only 19 ingredients. During the challenge, Matt accidentally cut off a tip from one of his fingers, but returned after receiving first aid.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team attends a photo shoot and interview for In Touch Weekly magazine. The Blue Team spends the day doing laundry by hand.
• Dinner: Tonight's service included two food critics (Sophie Gayot of Gayot Publications and Merrill Schlinder of the Los Angeles Zagat Guide) among the customers who would order the same item from both kitchens for comparison. Neither Chef Ramsay nor the chefs were aware which orders belonged to the critics. The Blue Team managed to serve all its entrées successfully and received rave reviews from the critics. The Red Team bungled to a point where Chef Ramsay threw them out and had Blue Team take over the rest of the dishes; the critics panned the Red Team's dishes.
• Winner: The Blue Team were the winners; Corey in the Red Team was the Best of the Worst, and had to select two contestants for elimination; she selected Rosann and Matt. Chef Ramsay also selected Christina as his personal nominee, but eventually chose Rosann for elimination.

Episode 9

• Original Airdate: May 27, 2008
• Challenge: The contestants must prepare 3 dishes; John Dory, chicken, and scallops. Each team had 3 members to compete; Louross was indirectly chosen by Jen to sit out. Only one chef from each team could be in their kitchen at a time, for only six minutes. When their time was up, the next chef enters the kitchen. For 15 seconds, the previous chef tells the next chef of what happened in the kitchen and what they should do next. After 15 seconds, the previous chef must leave the kitchen. Chef Ramsey then compared the same dishes from both teams in completeness, taste, and appearance to decide the winning team. The Red Team won.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team goes to the beach with Chef Ramsay and Jean-Philippe, where they learn how to surf. The Blue Team spent the day cleaning the restaurant's exterior, the flaming Hell's Kitchen sign, and the red carpet, which the Red Team indignantly tread on upon their return from the beach.
• Dinner: Each team made their own menus. Customers choose from either team's menu; while it was initially announced that the team whose menu was chosen the most would be the winner, Chef Ramsay stated that the winner would be decided by quality, not quantity. On the Red Team, many of Matt's pasta appetizers were sent back, while Louross on the Blue Team had difficulty sending out properly cooked filet mignon, and Jen prepared undercooked desserts. Nevertheless, both teams were able to complete dinner service.
• Winner/Loser: Using quality as a determining factor, Chef Ramsay declared the Blue Team as the losers. Petrozza was declared the Best of the Worst and had to nominate two members for elimination; he selected Louross and Jen. Chef Ramsay then asked Petrozza who to send home. Petrozza chose Louross, with which Chef Ramsay agreed. Chef Ramsay then had Matt and Jen return to their original teams (Matt on Blue, Jen on Red), as he felt their reassignments were not working.

Episode 10

• Original Airdate: June 3, 2008
• United: Beginning with this episode, the 6 remaining contestants merge to form the Black Team. The contestants received the news after being transported to Chef Ramsay's new London West Hollywood restaurant (which was still under construction while the series was taped). Chef Ramsay also announced a $250,000 cash prize for the winner.
• Challenge: In the first individual challenge, each contestant has 45 minutes to create a meal using the main ingredient given. Jen's ribeye and Christina's sea bass dishes both were standouts; Chef Ramsay has chosen Jen as the winner.
• Reward/Punishment: Jen wins an overnight trip to Las Vegas, where she has dinner at the Green Valley Ranch resort and spa with last season's winner, Rock Harper. She has chosen Corey to go along with her. The others stay behind to take in several deliveries of food.
• Dinner: In the first dinner service as the united Black team, several mishaps occurred, including Corey suffering from a burn and Matt enduring a migraine. Corey wanted to keep working after being burned, but Chef Ramsay insisted on her getting first aid first. Meanwhile, Matt's constant complaints about his migraine were affecting the team's performance, to a point where Chef Ramsay orders him back to the dorm. However, after Jen burned the rice, Chef Ramsay declared the service a total loss, closing the kitchen.
• Winner/Loser: No winners, not even a Best of the Worst. The team unanimously chose Matt to be eliminated, followed by Christina. When Corey said she should've been chosen based on tonight's service, Chef Ramsay agreed. Ultimately, Chef Ramsay told Matt to leave Hell's Kitchen.

External links

• Weekly Interviews With The Eliminated Contestants