Hell’s Kitchen Season 8 Cast

It seems like season 7 just ended last month. Probably because it did. Hell’s Kitchen is coming back again with a new cast of 16 chefs.

Antonia Boregman
40
Line Cook
Lake Station, IN (Hometown: Chicago, IL)

Boris Poleschuk
38
Catering Chef
Manalapan, NJ (Hometown: Brooklyn, NY)

Emily Kutchins
29
Executive Chef, Senior Home
Chicago, IL

Gail Novenario
28
Executive Chef
Wantagh, NY

Jillian Flathers
28
Sous Chef
Pagosa Springs, CO

Lewis Curtis
26
Executive Chef
Cabot, AR (Hometown: Beebe, AR)

Lisa LaFranca
48
Corporate Food Director
Fort Mills, SC (Hometown: Brooklyn, NY)

Louis Repucci
28
Children’s Camp Chef
Felton, CA (Hometown: Diamond Bar, CA)

Melissa Doney
31
Executive Sous Chef
Glens Falls, NY (Hometown: Albany, NY)

Nona Sivley
29
Sous Chef
Loganville, GA (Hometown: Fort Worth, TX)

Raj Brandston
49
Personal Chef
Los Angeles, CA (Hometown: Queens, NY)

Rob McCue
36
Law Firm Chef
Brooklyn, NY (Hometown: Massapequa, NY)

Russell Kook II
29
Sous Chef
Chicago, IL (Hometown: Madison, WI)

Sabrina Brimhall
22
Prep Chef
El Cajon, CA (Hometown: Moreno Valley, CA)

Trev McGrath
30
Line Cook / Bartender
Chicago, IL

Vinny Accardi Jr.
29
Line Cook
Las Vegas, NV (Hometown: Queens, NY)

Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Winner

Following Ben’s complete meltdown and Autumn’s eventual elimination in Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 14, we were presented with a final two: Jay Santos and Holli Ugalde. One of them will the Hell’s Kitchen season 7 winner.

Ramsay takes the final two out. They’re wondering what the catch is. They run into hundreds of people cheering, and it’s the final challenge. They have one hour to cook five dishes, to be judged by five executive chefs from England. Jay gets the first point. The point for the cold appetizer is awarded to Holli. For the hot app round, Holli scores again. Winning the fish round, Jay ties it 2-2. In the tiebreaker, Jay wins the challenge.

Some friends/enemies have returned to fill out their kitchens. Having won the challenge, Jay will pick first.

Jay’s team: Ben, Jason, Fran
Holli’s team: Autumn, Nilka, Siobhan

Autumn’s worried that she will be buried by Siobhan’s lack of skill. She hopes she can get together enough money to go to cooking school.

On Jay’s team, Ben intends to take over to the extent he can. He still thinks he’s better than Holli and everybody else, in spite of the fact that he fell flat on his face for multiple weeks in a row before finally quitting.

Holli warns her team that she’s probably going to be a bitch. Thanks for the heads up.

Holli starts off by tripping over her words. Once she gets the order out, Siobhan immediately starts struggling. Jay hasn’t been left entirely untouched. On his side, he’s got to deal with Fran, who’s burning her scallops. With Siobhan still struggling, Autumn decides to take over for her on appetizers. Fran, however, is managing to hold her own for now.

Jason delivers some undercooked lamb. Ben’s suggestion is that Jay should follow his style and call him an idiot. Jay realizes that Jason does not react well to yelling, so he’d rather be calm and not get into an argument.

Nilka’s never cooked venison before, so this will be a a trial and error experience for her.

Autumn’s trying to do too many things. She doesn’t want any help. Nobody knows what they’re doing. There’s the team spirit.

Jay’s team finishes first, with Holli’s team not far behind.

After the service, Ramsay reviews the customer comment cards, and he’s made a decision. Both chefs stand in front of their doors. The chef whose door opens will become the winner and will be the head chef at the Savoy in London.

Holli certainly put forth a strong effort and made it further than anybody expected, but it would seem the outcome is not going to be her winning. It would seem wrong. Holli Ugalde is the Hell’s Kitchen season 7 winner. Ramsay explains that her victory is because she’s grown more than anybody else.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 14

Remember a couple weeks ago how nobody went home on So You Think You Can Dance? Gordon Ramsay took a page out of the make the show up as you go playbook when he, too, did not dismiss anybody in Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 13.

Chef Ramsay says dress up. Jay’s idea of what this means: wear a pair of jeans. Well, I guess for somebody with blue hair, that should not be a surprise.

Ramsay has created a dish, which he allows them to get a taste of. After that, they are given 45 minutes to recreate the dish. Autumn, Holli, and Benjamin have chosen venison. Jay opts to cook all three meats. Jay also goes his own way with a pear puree rather than the apple the others have chosen. For the puree base, it’s Autumn who goes a different route with bacon, as opposed to pancetta. Jay has made his decision to go with beef.

Jay’s puree is correct. It was pear. However, he was not so lucky with the meat, which was venison, the most important ingredient. Ben and Holli are the top two. Holli is the winner. Ben’s sauce was slightly watery, and it shouldn’t have been sauce anyway.

For her reward, Holli will be going on a luxury yacht. In a change of pace, she will not be taking Jay. Instead, the surprise is that her son is there waiting for her. The others will stay behind to move from their original sleeping arrangements into the final four sleeping quarters, which means lots of lugging mattresses. Jay and Ben use the opportunity to talk smack about Holli.

When Holli returns, Ben starts whining about how it’s not fair. Then he says his back is messed up, and he doesn’t think he can prep. After a visit to the chiropractor, who says he should be fine, Ben has decided he’s done. Congratulations to the final three. Fare thee well. Don’t get hit by the door on the way out.

Following his chat with Ramsay, Ben has changed his mind. Now he’s going to cook. The others are not too pleased that he quit but now he’s back.

Each person will run the pass. Jay’s given the first opportunity. He’s doing a good job. He passes the first quality control test, lobster instead of crab. The next sabotage is also returned, crab instead of lobster.

Holli is the second person to step up to the pass. She fails her first test from an unlikely source, as JP delivers a ticket with only 5 entrees instead of 6. Then Jay gets yelled at to wake up when he spills food on Ramsay of all people. Holli passes her next quality control test, undercooked scallops.

Ben, whose back doesn’t seem to be giving him too much (any) difficulty, is next. At least he seems to be able to communicate for a change. He fails his first test. There’s a difference between venison and lamb. He also fails to realize he’s been delivered New York strip instead of filet.

Autumn is the final person to step forward. She’s commanding the kitchen, but they don’t like her regardless. She fails her first sabotage, missing the parsnip. This causes her to giggle. There is no laughing in the kitchen. No laugh. No breathe. So she starts returning everything.

Seeing as nobody went home last week, two people must go home this week. Yeah, I saw this twist last week on SYTYCD, too.

Autumn is, obviously, the first choice. Ben’s a target for being a quitter. Ramsay doesn’t want their input who should be nominated, however. Instead, he would like them to say why they should stick around.

The first person leaving Hell’s Kitchen is Autumn. The first person in the finals is Jay. The final spot goes to Holli. I don’t think she stands a chance against Jay, but the quitter who’s been a disaster the last few weeks has needed to go.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 15, where we will find out who the Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 winner is, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 13

In spite of Ben’s complete mockeriness in Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 12, Jason was eliminated.

Ramsay cooks the contestants a dish. Do they think they can recreate that dish? Yes, chef. Well, that’s good because he’s going to… test their ability to teach. They all get students with the same amount of experience. Zero. Four young cool dude bachelors know nothing. The chefs are given half an hour to prepare the dish using verbal instructions only. Jay’s student is done putting on his apron after 5 minutes. Holli is concerned with flirting with her student, while Jay gets jealous and pretends he’s not. With about 9 minutes left, Ben’s student asks what they are making.

Autumn has failed to deliver much monkfish, the key ingredient in the dish. She made the decision that the poorly sliced fish was not worth putting on the plate. Jay delivers superb presentation and perfectly cooked fish. Ben’s student has delivered some raw/burned food, which doesn’t show much for Ben, who is a cooking teacher. Holli’s presentation is not great, but the potatoes are perfectly cooked. Congratulations goes to Jay and his student Rick. The dish looked like Jay had done it.

The losers get to participate in maintenance day and clean the car parking lot, as well as prep for service for the evening.

Jay will be getting something special, to be revealed later. He again chooses Holli to go with him. They will be going up in a blimp. Ben hates Holli now, but then again, who doesn’t he hate?

The chefs are given the opportunity to choose who does which station. Holli gets fish, Autumn gets garnish, Jay is on appetizers, and Ben gets the beef.

On the first order, there is no response from anybody. Not a good start.

Against Holli’s request, Autumn decides to take the fish before it’s ready. Without Autumn grabbing her food, Holli’s next attempt is perfect. Try number three, however, is no better than the first.

Jay’s first risotto is bland, which he takes to mean not good. Pretty much. As he’s getting busier, he gets sloppy, which he doesn’t see as a problem.

Ben wants to show that he can communicate with the team this time. Not only can he not communicate, but he’s drowning.

Autumn’s spinach is cold and greasy. And again. She finally starts serving heated food that’s acutally heated, but after that she doesn’t have a clue what order has been called.

Next up is Holli, who gets a lecture about the proper way to cook fish.

Ben continues to struggle on meat. This leads to him serving raw food. Jay wants to help him, and for the first time he doesn’t tell the person helping to f off, probably because that person is not a woman.

In spite of all the yelling, for the first time, no food has been sent back to the kitchen.

Following a good service, they can go upstairs and choose two nominees. Jay is congratulated for his leadership. Autumn is, as usual, a target. It really doesn’t matter what her service is like, and it hasn’t mattered to them for weeks. Just an easy placeholder for one of the spots. That will leave it between Ben and Holli, with Jay casting the deciding vote between his crush and somebody that’s else.

Autumn is the first nominee. Ben is the second nominee. He promises that he can communicate better. Again. Autumn can get herself back in line. Ben can, too. Nobody’s going home. You gotta make a choice eventually.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 14, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 12

His disastrous service was the last straw, and Ed was eliminated in Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 11.

The boys are all upset by the fact that Autumn is still around despite their best efforts.

Today’s challenge starts at a high end market. They have to think about costs and being profitable. With a whopping $10, they can select ingredients for one dish. Jason’s strategy is all about cheap. Holli hopes to cram as many things together as she can afford.

A random collection of Ramsay’s buddies will be judging. These judges will give a price they’re willing to pay for each dish.

Jay: $28.66 average price – surprisingly good dish for the budget
Jason: $16.00 – store bought raviolis ruined him
Ben: $25.00 – good price considering it’s undercooked and not overly creative
Autumn: $27.33 – perfectly cooked meat
Holli: $29.66 – the random mix of ingredients that don’t make a lot of sense works

Holli comes out on top. Her reward is $1,000 for a kitchen supply store and a day at the pool with JP. Who would she like to take with her? Jay. The right reason is because he came in second. The reason she gives is that he deserves a drink. It’s basically their first date.

For their punishment, the others will be doing the laundry. At least they get spam sandwiches for lunch. Oh, and they get to listen to Autumn keep babbling.

To switch things up for the service, each person will switch stations whenever Ramsay tells them to do so. They’re going to communicate whether they like it or not.

The first switch doesn’t go over too well. Holli gives Jason a time on the meat. When he cuts them, he finds they’re raw.

Ben has decided to overcook Holli’s challenge winning tuna, which during the challenge was barely cooked. Then they switch, and Jay blames Ben for his lack of success on the fish.

Autumn’s paying attention to the orders. Same thing can’t be said for Jay. Not only does he not know what the tickets say, but he then delivers well done meat that’s supposed to be medium rare. Then he gives Holli the wrong amount of time on the refire.

Autumn inherits the meat station from Jay, without any communication. Regardless, she cooks the meat beautifully. Likewise, Holli gets a compliment about her scallops. Not one to notice that Holli’s doing just fine on her own, Ben jumps in without asking or being asked. In doing this, Ben manages to cook his food badly, not helping anybody in the process.

Ramsay’s trying to talk to Ben. Not that anybody would know that because Ben’s not responding, as usual.

When Ramsay goes to tend to something else for a while, he leaves Scott in charge. Ben’s next mistake is to try to take over the pass. This leads to Scott yelling like a raving lunatic. Get over yourself, dude. Somebody was clearly trying to extend his spotlight for tonight.

After the service is over, Jason says that Jay was too quiet, which leads to a battle. He also says that Ben is too quiet. It goes without saying that Ben still wants to get rid of Autumn. She picks Jay and Ben. Jay still wants Autumn gone, and he also votes for Jason. Holli chooses Ben for going downhill. As much as she wanted Autumn to screw up, it didn’t happen, so she’s going to have to go with Jay or Jason.

Ben is the first nominee. Jason is the second nominee.

As much as Ben needs to be sent packing, Jason is the person who is actually going home.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 13, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 11

Nilka was thrown out in Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 10 before we could even get to the nomination ceremony. The reason for her elimination? Having the nerve to yell at Ramsay.

The challenge is focused on presentation. Their dishes must not only taste great but also look great. A very noted food photographer will be taking pictures of their food. Holli’s disappointed with how her dish looks, which basically means she missed the point. Everybody is complimentary about their competitors… except for Jay. His favorite dish is his own. Ramsay will not be the judge. Rather, some culinary students will be judging the photos. The top two dishes will move to the tasting portion of the challenge.

Last place: Holli
5th place: Jay
4th place: Jason
3rd place: Autumn

Ben and Ed have placed in the top two and will have their dishes judged based on taste now. Ed’s dish is really well cooked. Ben’s dish has good flavors and colors. The winner is Ben. His reward is to be on Epicurious, and he’ll be getting a makeover. The losers will be sprucing up the dining room.

Ben’s dish will be on the menu for the evening. Too bad it’s extremely complicated.

Ed starts off by undercooking his fish.

Jason’s pasta is underseasoned. He also remains unthrilled about the concept of communicating.

Holli reverses the trend. Her potatoes are very nice.

Ben continues to be of the belief that he can do everything on his own and that everybody is in his way. He has no use for Autumn and tells her to get lost. In his mad dash, Ben slips and drops his chicken, which Autumn finds quite amusing.

Back to Ed. Still delivering raw fish. And again. And again. After the fifth time, the others take the hint that maybe they need to pitch in to bail him out. Finally, the fish is acceptable. However, Ben’s beef is not. Ramsay decides he’s had enough of Ben and Ed, so they can get out. Ben blamed Ed for his inability to communicate.

Whoopi Goldberg is the VIP for the evening. By this time, the remaining chefs seem to be getting into their groove, having improved despite the decrease in manpower. They serve Whoopi without a hitch.

Once the service is over, based on what they’ve seen throughout the season, they must all go upstairs and decide who needs to be nominated. Ben picks Autumn. Jay agrees because she’s been up there so much already. Holli follows suit. Jay’s second choice is Ed or Jason.

The first nominee is Autumn; Ed is the second nominee.

Since she is getting better, Autumn can get back in line. Ed has been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 12, which airs next on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 10

Fran was finally sent home in Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 9 after being nominated again and again and again.

The red team’s surprisingly happy to have Autumn back.

For the challenge, they have to get creative with 10 pound lobsters. They’ll have 45 minutes to divide the lobster between themselves so that they can each create a unique dish.

Ed grills his lobster tail, which concerns Jay, although Ed is unconcerned about all of Jay’s talk. Ben and Nilka are fighting over their tail. Once again Ben gets his way. When he rips it out of the shell, Nilka’s going to have to change her plans.

Red team is granted 30 seconds to decide who has the weakest dish. Not another lame attempt at mock drama with a fake tie. This time they have the sense to taste the dishes, although it doesn’t look like they would have without Autumn there. Nilka’s dish is the reject. It was lobster with potato puree. The judges will be Michelin starred chefs.

Holli’s dish is good. Ed’s dish is slightly rubbery, as Jay feared. Ed’s dish is more creative, but Holli’s is executed better. Red team leads 1-0.

Jay has cooked something really quite massive, which could feed a family of four (or be a one person meal in some cases, mostly in America). Fairly good flavors, and the lobster’s not too bad. Autumn’s stir fry is overflavored. Blue team ties it 1-1.

Ben’s presentation is sloppy. Jay’s lobster is raw. No winner.

Now there will be a tiebreaker. Saw that coming. But it won’t be based on Nilka’s dish. Rather, the person with the best dish overall will score the win. That would be Holli, despite her lack of creativity.

For their reward, the red team will go to a caviar house, then they will have a $1,000 shopping spree. Blue team will have to clean the dorm top to bottom. Jay disagrees that you can undercook lobster, and that chef was wrong.

When red team gets back from their reward, blue team has none of their own stuff prepped. At least they prepped for the other team. The lucky break for them is that the kitchens have now been combined into one.

Holli will be serving caviar tableside.

Nilka plans to show chef her full capability. On the very first table, she delivers raw food.

Jason’s beef is cooked perfectly. The same still can’t be said for Nilka, who’s going from bad to worse. Raw food, dropping things, and not delivering the correct items. Once Nilka starts to recover, Ed is struggling to not burn the place down. It’s not long before Nilka falls apart again, though. She doesn’t know where her spoon is, and she doesn’t know how much time she needs. And her lobster is raw. Out she goes. Not content with merely being thrown out, Nilka yells that she’s going, so now she can take her jacket off as well. She should know better than to act like that without thinking his ego’s going to get in the way.

Not ready to leave just yet, Nilka returns to plead her case. He doesn’t want to hear anything from her. After some more badgering, she finally accepts her fate. Ramsay’s waiting for out in the parking lot, but he does not have any thugs waiting over his shoulders to defend him (unlike last season). He tells her she’s not quite ready for the head chef job, but she did well. Oh, and he wants that chef’s jacket back.

Following their best service ever, they can go upstairs and decide which two people are weighing them down. Jason nominates Ed and Autumn. Jay would also pick Autumn. Ben and Autumn nominate Ed and Jason. This despite the fact that Jason has been told his meat cooking was perfect for the night.

Ed is the first nominee; Autumn is the second nominee. All this drama leads to one thing. They’re in the final six, and they can switch over to black jackets.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 11, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 9

Fran… was not eliminated in Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 8. Instead, the petty Ben got what he wanted and got rid of Siobhan.

Ben has his sights set on Fran now.

Ramsay pulls out a TV dinner. They all love it. Not that they were going to trash something they thought the yelling chef cooked. So who has got the best palettes?

Fran and Autumn step forward with blindfolds and headphones first. Fran guesses the brussel sprouts are white cabbage. Autumn agrees. Autumn goes with turkey for the pork tenderloin, while Fran thinks it’s roast beef. Sweet potatoes? Autumn says carrots; Fran says parsnip. Coconut is the last ingredient. Autumn finally gets one right. Fran, however, says potato. Potato.

Holli and Ed are next. Ricotta cheese is the first item. Ed guesses creamy polenta. Holli agrees. For the chickpea, Ed says turnip, and Holli says lima beans. Holli thinks the heart of palm is pickled cabbage, and Ed says artichoke. Trout is the last ingredient. Ed says canned tuna. Holli is finally right.

Benjamin and Jason are the third duo. Ben guesses fennel correct, and so does Jason. They are both wrong on kidney beans, butter lettuce, and mussels.

Nilka and Jay are the last pair. Kobe beef is their first test. Jay goes with corn beef; Nilka thinks it tastes like turkey. Both are in the nut family for cashews but not close enough. Silantro is guessed correctly by both of them. The final ingredient is eggplant. Nilka guesses prunes. Seriously? Jay is correct, and the blue team wins 4-3.

The reward is a VIP pass to SeaWorld. They’ll be swimming with Shamu and the dolphins.

For their punishment, red team will have to unload everything on delivery day. Holli blames Fran for not getting any right. Ben takes control of the delivery. After they unload everything from one truck, JP informs them it was delivered to the wrong place. Ben might want to read what he’s signing.

The teams are to create their own menus. Red team will apparently be making whatever Ben tells them to make, which does not include things like rice (rice is poor food). Blue team wants to keep it simple and not go with anything that nobody knows how to make.

Before service, Ramsay will taste everything. Red team’s first dish is bland. Their second dish is spit out. Their other dishes are all just okay, and Fran is glad that all of Ben’s dishes fell flat. The bright spot is that Holli gets compliments on all her desserts. Jay’s salad is too much like rabbit food. The rest of their dishes are similarly bland and boring, except for Autumn’s dessert that passes for terrible. He’s not falling for their plan, which was too simple.

Blue team jumps right into making improvements. The red team, though, plans to stick with what Ramsay told them was no good.

With diners from the same table ordering from both menus, both kitchens must bring food to the pass at the same time. Ed gets ahead of everybody else, but both kitchens manage to get in sync after some shouting.

Ben has shrimp pasta rejected because both the shrimp and the pasta are undercooked. The women want him to communicate if he needs any help. His theory is that if he ignores him they will shut up. After Ramsay yells at them, Ben agrees to let Nilka put his food on a plate. Or not.

Blue team is getting all the orders for some tables. Because of that, Jay’s struggling to keep up.

Fran doesn’t know which part of the chickens are to be cooked.

Autumn delivers raw pork. She can go out in the dining room and explain why their meals are stalled.

Nilka has decided to change the menu because she’s unable to cook the asparagus correctly.

Jason’s bacon gets turned down. Then he gets flustered and unresponsive.

Fran is upset because nobody talks in her kitchen. After that, she decides she wants them to leave her alone so she can bring up the meat.

Apparently, Autumn’s attitude stinks. She’s not yelling and running around, so therefore she sucks. She will be exiled to the dessert station, where she manages to recover.

Fran has finally delivered her chicken. It’s raw. Bad Fran.

Both teams lose. They can each pick one nominee. Jason’s not happy that they lost despite the fact that their menu was the clear favorite. Fingers point at Jay and Autumn. Fran continues to harp on lack of communication. Holli thinks Ben has a large share of the responsibility because he had a lot of input into the menu, and she’d like to see a threat go home anyway.

Autumn has been nominated by the blue team; Fran has been nominated by the red team (again). Fran is finally gone. Autumn can take off her jacket as well, so she can go back to the red team.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 7 Episode 10, which airs next on Fox.