Season One premiered on May 30, 2005 and concluded on August 1, 2005.
Episode 1
Original airdate: May 30, 2005.
Nominees for elimination: The red team's Carolann and Dewberry. Carolann was eliminated.
Episode 2
Original airdate: June 6, 2005.
Team challenge: Cleaning squid. The team that could clean and prep the most squid received a dinner with Ramsay. The red team won, and the losing blue team had to prepare squid while the dinner was taking place. The losing team also had their kitchen's air conditioning turned off during the next restaurant service period.
Nominees for elimination: The red team's Jeff and Dewberry. Dewberry was eliminated.
Episode 3
Original airdate: June 13, 2005.
Michael was transferred to the red team in order to even out the number of contestants on each team.
Jeff, a member of the red team, walked off the show, after a loud argument with Ramsay. Ramsay still eliminated a contestant from a team, meaning that two contestants left during this episode.
Team challenge: Ramsay asked the teams to cook him a five-course meal of original dishes. The catch was that they only had 10 minutes of shopping time at a local supermarket, and only $100 per team to spend at the market. The red team won the team challenge, winning an evening out at a pub with Ramsay while the losing blue team stayed behind to clean the dorm. The red team also won the next service period. Although both teams had difficulty preparing meals on time, the food critics in the restaurant preferred the meals prepared by the red team.
Nominees for elimination: The blue team's Wendy and Andrew. Wendy was eliminated.
Episode 4
Original airdate: June 20, 2005.
Team challenge: Ramsay passed the two teams to JP, his maitre d', for a lesson in how to properly set a dining table. The teams then had to replicate a sample table containing 96 items within a 5 minute time period. The blue team won the team challenge and received an afternoon of spa treatments, while the red team had to clean/polish all the glass and silverware. An additional penalty was that the red team had to take time away from their food prep to set all 100 places in the restaurant before the next service period.
Both teams learned how to cook pigeon and frog legs.
During the service period, Ramsay promised that the first team to complete all of their orders, no matter how long that takes, would be safe from elimination. Despite their handicap of starting their food prep later than the other team, the red team pulled ahead and won the service period.
Nominees for elimination: The blue team's Andrew and Mary Ellen. Mary Ellen was eliminated.
Episode 5
Original airdate: June 27, 2005.
To shake things up, Ramsay threw out the entire previous menu and created a new menu featuring pasta dishes.
Team challenge: As Ramsay changed the menu of the restaurant to feature pasta, the two teams had 10 minutes to turn raw dough into as much spaghetti as possible, judged by suitability for serving in the restaurant and total weight. The red team won the team challenge and received an afternoon in Venice, California dining and drinking in a gondola.
The service period was split into two two-hour sessions. In each session, one team would wait on tables in the restaurant, take and deliver the orders; while the other team would work in the kitchen preparing the orders. As the red team won the previous challenge, they chose to cook first. Although the blue team did not complete as many dishes during their cooking time, the red team's lack of quality in food and service was enough to cost them the day.
Nominees for elimination: The red team's Chris and Elsie. Ramsay selected Chris for elimination, as Ramsay explained that someone who boasts about their skills needs to step up and meet that expectation or else be eliminated.
Episode 6
Original airdate: July 11, 2005
Always one to shake things up, Ramsay threw out the entire menu yet again, and asked each team to create menus of their own. The two teams were going to compete head-to-head, with diners choosing to eat from the Red menu or the Blue menu.
Team challenge: Team members were blindfolded/earmuffed and then asked to identify various foods on taste alone. Each participant had to identify 4 different food items. The red team won the challenge and received an afternoon of wine tasting with Ramsay, while the losing blue team had to clean all the cookware used in the previous night's service. A further penalty was that their storeroom would be secured by a combination lock during the next service period, forcing the team to enter the complicated code every time they needed supplies. The team was allowed to bring a tray of food in with them during each trip, however Andrew attempted to circumvent the rules and tape the door latch so the door would not lock. During this, sous chef Scott caught him and told the team as further punishment, they would have to go into the storeroom whenever they needed an item.
The service period was not divided into Red tables and Blue tables as diners were able to select an entire Red or Blue menu of selections created and cooked by the team. Near the end of the service, Ramsay caught Ralph waving to two ladies who were at their table. Ramsay yelled at Ralph for flirting with customers, then shut down both kitchens in frustration. Michael was disappointed because the red team was close to completing a full dinner service. Although the blue team served more dishes during the period, they had a higher number of main dishes returned to the kitchen, causing Ramsay to select them as the losing team. Jessica was not involved in the preparation of the rejected entrees so Ramsay selected Jessica as the night's winner.
Nominees for elimination: Jessica nominated Andrew. Ramsay nominated Ralph. Andrew was eliminated.
Episode 7
Original airdate: July 11, 2005
Ramsay assigned the remaining five contestants to a single kitchen team, wearing black, where each contestant was now going to compete as an individual.
Challenge: Ramsay demonstrated how to make tableside fruit flambe. Based on Ramsay's opinion of presentation and taste, Jimmy and Elsie placed 1st and 2nd respectively. Jimmy received a helicopter trip over L.A. and was allowed to bring someone along; he chose Michael.
Jimmy nominated Elsie to prepare tableside caesar salad and fruit flambe during the next service. During service, Ramsay requested Ralph work alongside him at the hotplate. Based on performance in the kitchen, Ramsay selected Ralph as the day's best.
Nominees for elimination: Although Elsie had asked Ralph to send her home, Ralph decided to nominate Jessica and Jimmy. Based on Jimmy's poor performance and an in-kitchen confrontation during the service period between Ramsay and Jimmy, Ramsay eliminated Jimmy, though not without a few words of praise.
Episode 8
Original airdate: July 18, 2005
Challenge: Ramsay gave the final four contestants 15-minutes to each create an original dish out of a tray of 15 different leftovers from the previous evening's service. Among the ingredients were macaroni, parsnips, chicken, beef, raspberries, and a lemon. Elsie made chicken soup. Michael made a side dish of grilled chicken wings. Jessica made a raspberry dessert. Elsie won the challenge as Ramsay said that she used the most ingredients as well as having a hearty, tasty soup that he would order in a restaurant. As a reward, Elsie accompanied Ramsay to a taping of Good Day Live, where they demonstrated how to make risotto.
The next service period did not have any twists. Elsie was asked to assign the team members to various tasks on the line. During the service, Ramsay reassigned the team twice as he felt that there was inadequate communication between the team members. This lack of communication may not have been accidental; Michael, Ralph, and Jessica had previously agreed not to help Elsie if she asked for advice.
At the end of service, Ramsay did not select a leader to nominate somebody; he nominated Elsie and Jessica as the weakest performers that night. Ramsay then eliminated Elsie, but noted warmly that he was very proud of her for getting this far, without any prior restaurant experience.
Episode 9
Original airdate: July 25, 2005
Having been woken up at 4 AM unexpectedly, the three remaining contestants are told that they have to bake bread for the night's service. Jessica, who had had a lot to drink that night, went back to bed. Michael and Ralph did the majority of the work.
Challenge: On very little sleep, the three finalists were then asked to create a soufflé. Ralph's was the winner, followed by Michael's, then Jessica's. As a reward, Ralph got to choose which dish he would be creating that night: beef, chicken, or tuna.
Ralph chose beef, Michael tuna, and Jessica was left with chicken.
Unbeknownst to the contestants, members of their families were seated in the restaurant for the service. They had a chance to try each of the specialty dishes and select their favorite, not knowing who had made each one.
When the time came to choose one contestant to leave, their family members appeared. Ramsay tells them to vote for each's favorite dish. Michael's tuna got the most votes, followed by Ralph's filet mignon. Jessica's chicken only got one vote.
Elimination: Ramsay told Jessica that "deep down inside, you know you weren't as good as Michael and Ralph," and asked her to leave. He told her that she'd entered through the front door, and she'd earned the right to exit through the front door.
Episode 10
Original airdate: August 1, 2005. 2-hour finale.
Michael and Ralph are informed that Hell's Kitchen is going to be split in two for the final service, with each contestant decorating their own restaurant, choosing the service uniforms, and creating the menu.
The two finalists were able to renovate Hell's Kitchen however they liked. Michael went with an LA-modern style theme named Lola Pop (named for his wife, Lola), while Ralph decided to go with more of a New York style Steakhouse he called Frank & Lulu's (named for dogs owned by himself and a friend).
Six of the previously eliminated contestants returned to help Michael and Ralph compete in the big challenge. (Dewberry, Wendy, Andrew, Elsie, Jimmy and Jessica)
After the service, Ramsay praised both Michael and Ralph, saying that all of the customers loved their food and atmosphere, but one thing helped him make his decision: the number of customers who would return. While one scored 90% on this question, the other scored 94%. Ramsay declared Michael the winner. Ramsay then made Michael an offer: the original prize of his own restaurant, or an invitation to join Ramsay in London to work and learn alongside him at one of his restaurants. Michael accepted the offer to work in London.
Epilogue
Winner Michael Wray's original plan was go to the UK to learn under Ramsay, but as a newlywed, he did not go in deference to his wife's wishes. After the show was over, he said that he hoped to eventually open a restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada at either the The Palms or the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, although it was more work than he expected. In the meantime, he has started a custom chef's knives company, Skull and Cleavers. He claims that he received "a chunk of cash and $75,000 in restaurant equipment" for winning. Wray has been cooking for the Los Angeles restaurant Tatou, and is expected to open the Las Vegas location.
Runner-up Ralph opened his own restaurant in Sag Harbor, New York, called Fat Ralph's Deli. He also appeared as a challenger on Iron Chef America, competing against Iron Chef Bobby Flay.
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