Tonight, chefs are put to the test when Gordon Ramsay and special guest James Beard Award Winner Stephanie Izard challenge them to make the perfect dish with obscure ingredients….only in a wok. Find out who is not in sync in the all-new “Wok This Way” episode of “Hell’s Kitchen” airing Thursday, November 17 (8:00-9:02 PM ET/PT) on FOX.
“Hell’s Kitchen” returns for its 21st season, with Chef Gordon Ramsay back in Los Angeles. For the first time ever, the well-seasoned 40-somethings will take on the fresh up-and-coming 20-somethings in a battle of the ages. These 18 all-new chef-testants enter the kitchen, with Christina Wilson and Jason “Jay” Santos returning as sous-chefs for the Red Team and Blue Team, respectively. At stake for the winner? A $250,000 cash prize and the head chef position at Gordon’s brand new Hell’s Kitchen Caesar’s Atlantic City.
SEE Everything to know about ‘Hell’s Kitchen 21’: Meet the 18 chef-testants competing
Below, read our minute-by-minute “Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the Ages” recap of Season 21, Episode 7, titled “Wok This Way,” to find out what happened Thursday, November 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite aspiring chefs on Fox’s reality TV show and who you think has what it takes to join the “HK” winners list. See which contestants are still competing below.
BLUE TEAM: Abe Sanchez, Alejandro Najar, Alex Belew, Brett Binninger-Schwartz, Sakari Smithwick, Vlad Briantsev
RED TEAM: Cheyenne Nichols, Dafne Mejia, Ileana D’Silva, Mindy Livengood, Sommer Sellers, Tara Ciannella
Keep refreshing/reloading this “Hell’s Kitchen” live blog for the most recent updates.
8:00 p.m. — “Previously on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’!” In Episode 6, Season 20 winner Trenton Garvey and his soon-to-be-wife Macy entered the kitchen and challenged the contestants to create their upcoming wedding menu. The Blue Team ended up winning the challenge 4-2. Unfortunately, the actual wedding reception was a complete embarrassment for Gordon, who ended up kicking both teams out of the kitchen, leaving Chef Christina and Chef Jason to finish up dinner service. In the end, he gave Bill and Alyssa the boot, stating, “It’s so sad that on Trenton and Macy’s wedding day I have to say ‘I don’t’ to both Billy and Alyssa.”
8:07 p.m. — Both teams head back to the dorms after an exhausting double elimination. Abe apologizes to his team and hopes they can squash everything, but Brett is skeptical about things every going smoothly with him. Over on the Red Team Tara and Mindy bond over their similar ages losing record. The next morning the chefs head back down to the kitchen for their next challenge. Gordon will test everyone’s ability to take five amazing ingredients that work in perfect harmony together. They’ll choose their five ingredients and cook them in only one pan…a wok. Time starts now!
8:25 p.m. — Each chef plates their dish and sets it on the pass. Helping Gordon judge this contest is James Beard Award Winner Stephanie Izard. First up, Alex takes on Dafne with their chicken dishes. Stephanie thinks Dafne could have had more flavor in her chicken. They love Alex’s dish and Stephanie awards him the point. Up next Sommer defeats Abe with her steak dish, evening the score. Next is Cheyenne vs. Brett with their pork dishes. Brett’s is completely under-seasoned, giving Cheyenne the point as the Red Team takes the lead. For lobster its Sakari vs. Ileana and both failed to hit the mark so Stephanie awarded no points. Next is Vlad vs. Tara with their varying shrimp dishes. Vlad’s is well-seasoned and Tara nailed her protein. They’re both awarded points, so the Red Team maintains its lead heading into the finale round: Mindy vs. Alejandro serving snapper. Alejandro’s needed a bit more seasoning. Mindy’s broth flavor is “on point” and she earns the point. Red Team wins 4-2! Stephanie gives Mindy more confidence by calling her dish the best of the day. The Red Team will head to a rooftop dance party while the Blue Team stays in the kitchen breaks down hundreds of beets for tonight’s dinner service. Alejandro opts to use his punishment pass, taking Sommer’s reward away from her.
8:35 p.m. — Sommer is immature and doesn’t handle her prize being taken away from her well. Abe tries to shake her hand and welcome her to the Blue Team, but she wants nothing to do with it, immediately causing friction between these two hot-heads. Later, she confronts Abe for calling out her attitude problem as if he wasn’t completely justified. I’m on Abe’s side here. Their argument only intensifies from there until Abe walks away. Back in the kitchen, the Blue Team is grating beets for hours and then juicing them through a cheese cloth. It looks awful. Finally the Red Team returns and it’s time to open Hell’s Kitchen for dinner service. Actor Matt Walsh (“Veep”) and “Conan” sidekick Andy Richter are two VIPs in the dining room tonight.
8:45 p.m. — Vlad immediately rubs Gordon the wrong way by being so nonreactive in the kitchen. He doesn’t talk much and his communication is poor. Luckily he knows how to nail the scallop appetizers. Meanwhile, Tara is lacking communication on the Red Team and Mindy appears to have lost any confidence she gained in the earlier challenge. Although both have made early mistakes, the seem to be recovering. Back on the Blue Team Abe struggles on the garnish station, serving up cold mushrooms and slowing everyone down as they wait for him to finish some french fries. Next, Cheyenne and Ileana have a quick mishap with some undercooked lamb on the Red Team, but quickly rebound. Then it’s Sakari and Brett in the hot seat when they struggle on the meat station. It’s a rough dinner service, but no complete disasters yet.
8:55 p.m. — On the last ticket of the night Ileana drops the ball on her beef Wellington. It’s raw. Meanwhile, the Blue Team finishes smoothly. After Ileana delivers a successful Wellington on her second attempt, dinner service is over. Gordon says it was the best service yet, but he still needs to trim the fat. Both teams must go up to the dorms and nominate two people for elimination.
9:02 p.m. — The Red Team has nominated Mindy and Ileana for elimination. The Blue Team has nominated Abe and Sakari. Each of them pleads their case to stay in the competition and then Gordon eliminates Mindy. Despite sending her packing, he leaves her with words of encouragement. In closing, Gordon states, “Mindy had the guts to get her this far, but I had to go with my gut and cut her loose.”
