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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, Christina Machamer, was installed as a "senior sous chef" with a $250,000 salary at Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood - not an executive chef as mentioned in show-related publicity and press releases. The London West Hollywood restaurant opened on May 27, 2008, while the series was still on-air.

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

There were 15 chefs who competed in season 4

Credit order: Petrozza, Shayna, Ben, Craig, Rosann, Corey, Dominic, Jen, Christina, Jason, Matt, Louross, Vanessa, Bobby, Sharon.

Episode progress table

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

Chef 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.
^2 Selected as team captain by Red team
^3 Selected as team captain by Blue team
^4 Assigned as Red team captain by Ramsay during service
^5 Assigned as Blue team captain by Ramsay during service
^6 Chef Ramsay declared that neither team won, and that there would be one nomination from the best of each team.
^7 Chef Ramsay declared both teams winners, since they both completed the service, but required that each team nominate someone.
^8 Chef Ramsay declared that each member of the Blue team had to nominate someone for elimination.
^9 Although 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 chosen as the Best of the Worst or the Best of the Best

  Contestant was nominated for elimination but prevailed

  Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay

  Contestant was eliminated

  Contestant voluntarily left the competition

  Single team - contestant advanced in individual competition

  The runner-up of Hell's Kitchen

  The winner of Hell's Kitchen

Ratings

Episodes

Episode 1

• Original airdate: April 1, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 401
• Signature dishes: The chefs were given 45 minutes to create their signature dishes. Craig was the first up with his jerk-seared Chilean sea bass over rum raisin risotto, which Chef Ramsay thought was way too sweet. Jen's Dungeness crab and corn risotto with lobster tail was immediately spit out by Ramsay as the rice was raw. 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, capers, scallops, and white chocolate. Dominic's chicken dish left Gordon with something that lacked excitement. Rosann, a receptionist in a law office, received compliments from Chef regarding the perfect seasoning of her spicy mussel soup. Ramsay found Petrozza's "Hen in a Pumpkin" dish interesting, complete with greasy potatoes, dry cornish hen and unseasoned pumpkin. Vanessa's pan-seared halibut was complimented by Chef Ramsay for its seasoning and texture, "the best dish by a mile so far". Bobby, "the four star general", presented his Hawaiian butterfish with a red butter Thai sauce. However, Ramsay considered deep-frying the fish to be very lazy. This is what Chef Ramsey had to say about each dish, starting from Craig and ending with Bobby.

Craig (negative): "Everything tastes so sweet." "The fish may have been doused in jerk seasoning, but that's one thing I'm definitely not: a (bleep) jerk. That is a pile of (bleep)."

Jen (negative): "The rice is raw."

Corey (negative): "That tells me a lot about you. Simple, plain, blonde, and boring."

Jason (negative): "It wouldn't even pass as something tinned in a can."

Shayna (negative): "You've burned the thing."

Matt (negative): "That has to be one of the worst combinations I've ever tasted in 21 years of cooking."

Dominic (negative): "For 45 minutes, I expected something a little bit more...exciting."

Rosann (positive): "It's actually not too bad. It's seasoned perfectly."

Petrozza (negative): "It's dry. And the pumpkin's not even seasoned inside it's bland. You had more chance sticking a candle in there making me happy than you were sticking a hen in there."

Sharon (negative): "You know damn well that isn't up to scratch for Hell's Kitchen."

Ben (mixed): "It doesn't set me alight, but it's not bad."

Christina (mixed): "Good concept, terrible execution."

Louross (negative): "Could have done a lot more."

Vanessa (positive): "Seasoned beautifully. Light, fragrant, that was delicious."

Bobby (negative): "I find it embarrassingly lazy to deep fry the fish."

Overall, there were two positive reviews, two mixed reviews, and eleven negative reviews. The women got the two positive reviews and one mixed review. The men had the other mixed review.

• Teams: Red (women) and Blue (men).
• Captains:

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

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

• Dinner: Neither Jason or Sharon could get their appetizers out. Chef Ramsay kicked Sharon off her station and replaced her with Jen, who managed to get the job done. Dominic threw about 30 overcooked scallops in the bin, while Jason twice failed to give Ramsay a good risotto; Ramsay made Jason eat the second risotto. Both Vanessa and Bobby failed to show leadership and were replaced by Rosann and Louross. Corey overcooked a chicken, which led Ramsay to throw it against an oven. Jason finally got his appetizers out, but the customers had already left. No entrees were served.
• Winner: None. The service never went beyond the appetizer stage, and that was barely completed by the women's team. Chef Ramsay proclaimed this service to be the worst start ever in Hell's Kitchen history. The Red Team was declared to be the winners for at least completing the appetizers. Louross was declared the Best of the Worst for managing to get the Blue Team somewhat organized after he replaced Bobby, and was assigned to select the two candidates for elimination.
• Nominees for elimination: Bobby and Dominic
• Elimination: Dominic was eliminated. After elimination, Chef Ramsay noted that Jason "dodged a bullet", as he would have been eliminated had Louross nominated him, and that Bobby's survival was mostly due to him admitting he had been a poor leader.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "To be a great chef you need to have passion, talent, and creativity. Dominic had passion, but that was it."

Episode 2

• Original airdate: April 8, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 402
• Group punishment: For wasting over $1000 in food in the previous episode, the contestants were awoken by Scott and Gloria with bullhorns and rushed outside, where Chef Ramsay forced them 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 choose 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 teams, 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 said "Before I make my decision, I would like to say that this is the most important prize ever and I'm not going to give this job to someone I don't believe in, and there is someone here, that I just don't believe in. So the person leaving Hell's Kitchen is...Sharon." Sharon got eliminated for struggling in two dinner services and showed that she can't cook.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Sharon clearly showed great attention to detail. Unfortunately, it wasn't for cooking. It was for her makeup."

Episode 3

• Original airdate: April 15, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 403
• 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 visited the Saddle Ranch Chop House, a western-themed restaurant on the Sunset Strip, where they met restaurant regular Aaron Song, a former contestant from the show's third season. The losing Blue team was transported to a field in the country to pick peppers (during the punishment Ben tossed peppers at Craig and Jason decided not to work as much as the rest of the group).
• 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 selected Vanessa. Chef Ramsay chose Jason, as he was too slow and had quit earlier when he could not stand the pressure.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "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."

Episode 4

• Original airdate: April 22, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 404
• Group punishment: After Jason left and the remaining chefs returned to their dorms, Chef Ramsay ordered both teams to clean up their kitchens. Corey snuck out of the Red kitchen and went to bed.
• 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 was taken via Hummer limousine 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 the 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 (versus two for the Red team). Craig struggled on the pasta station and seemed rather surly answering Chef Ramsay. Once the Red Team finished service, they were then sent to help the Blue Team; unfortunately, during that time Craig still would not accept help (or as Shayna put it: "Take the help, even if it's from a girl.") and yelled at his teammates and Ramsay (or as Rosann put it, "You've got some attitude, son.")
• Winner: The Red team was the season's first winner, with Jen, nominated for elimination earlier, 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 to him. Nevertheless, Chef Ramsay chose Craig for elimination.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "I can teach someone how to cook, but Craig was a bad cook with an even worse attitude. There was no hope for him."

Episode 5

• Original airdate: April 29, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 405
• Challenge: The contestants were to make a gourmet-style pizza; the most delicious pizza, as determined by Chef Ramsay, won. 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 was taken by helicopter to the Square One restaurant in Santa Barbara, California, home of the "$90 Burger" and their truffle "fries". The men stayed behind to prepare for the night's service.
• Dinner: Vanessa, still recovering from her burned hand from the previous service, went up to see Chef Ramsay before service and decided to withdraw from the competition, as she felt she won't be able to give "100%" after Ramsay tells her that the choice for her is to leave Hell's Kitchen. 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 Rosann, but Rosann reversed it and picked Christina, while the Blue Team chose Louross. Chef Ramsay was puzzled with Louross's nomination, shocked by Christina's, and went on to briefly interrogate both teams about their decisions. In the end, he decided Vanessa would be the only one going home and saying that it was his gift to both teams for completing a full dinner service; thus nobody else would be dismissed.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "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." (Chef Ramsay's reason on Vanessa's withdrawal was stated prior to dinner service. However at the end of the episode, Vanessa did received her full elimination sequence.)

Episode 6

• Original airdate: May 6, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 406
• Challenge: The contestants prepared appetizers and entrees for Melissa, a girl celebrating her "Sweet 16", to vote on; the team with the most chosen dishes won. The Blue team triumphed.
• Reward/Punishment: The Blue team spent a day kart racing, followed by treats at the Simon LA restaurant. The Red team decorated Hell's Kitchen for Melissa's party, under the supervision of party planner Francesco, and Melissa's mother.
• Dinner: Both teams prepared 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 and the fish overcooked. Because of this, Chef Ramsay recooked the filet mignon himself after Rosann undercooked Melissa's entree, while Bobby replaced Matt on the fish service. Meanwhile in the Red Kitchen, Shayna struggled to keep on the garnish station after Chef Ramsay tells her that she's too slow. Both teams completed their service. The dinner service was followed by a concert by Melissa's favorite band The Pink Spiders.
• Winner: Chef Ramsay declared both teams winners, as both teams' comment cards had scores above 98%. However, he still required each team to nominate a member for elimination. The Blue team chose Matt and Chef Ramsay said that it was a good choice because of the fact that Matt sent dried fish to Melissa's mom. The Red team originally chose Shayna, but Chef Ramsay asked Christina who would she nominate personally and Christina said that she would nominate Rosann. Chef Ramsay chose Shayna to leave Hell's Kitchen.
• Team change: At elimination when Matt was nominated he said that, "If you put me on the Red team, you will see the failure of the Blue team." In the end, his wish was granted, effective in the next episode.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "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."

Episode 7

• Original airdate: May 13, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 407
• Challenge: The contestants had a blind taste test to see which foods they could identify by taste. To even up the teams, Chef Ramsay asked Jen to sit out on this challenge. The final pairing was between rivals Matt and Ben, guessing the ingredients in a bowl of Clam Chowder. The Red team won.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red team spent the day at the patio, which was converted into a spa. The Blue team cleaned 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 the 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 team (Ramsay stating that he served out the best risotto in the history of Hell's Kitchen). 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 (stating that hee was the "most gracious man on that team").
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "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."

Episode 8

• Original airdate: May 20, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 408
• 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.
• Challenge: The contestants had to 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 attended a photo shoot and interview for In Touch Weekly magazine. The Blue team spent the day doing laundry by hand.
• Dinner: The night'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 were served to the critics. The Blue team managed to serve all its entrées successfully and received rave reviews from the critics. The Red team struggled to a point where Chef Ramsay threw them out and had the 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 was chosen the Best of the Worst and had to select two contestants for elimination; she selected Rosann and Matt. Chef Ramsay also picked Christina, but eventually chose Rosann for elimination.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "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."

Episode 9

• Original airdate: May 27, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 409
• Challenge: The contestants had to prepare three dishes; John Dory, chicken, and scallops. Each team had three members to compete; Louross was indirectly chosen by Jen to sit out. Only one chef from each team was allowed in the kitchen at a time, for only six minutes. When their time was up, the next chef took his or her place. The previous chef was given 15 seconds to brief the next chef. Chef Ramsay then compared the same dishes from each team for completeness, taste, and appearance to decide the winning team. The Red team won.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red team went to the beach with Chef Ramsay and Jean-Philippe, where they learned 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 trod upon when they returned 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 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; Chef Ramsay agreed. Chef Ramsay then had Matt and Jen return to their original teams, as he felt their reassignments were not working.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Louross was never short on energy, he was just short... on cooking ability."

Episode 10

• Original airdate: June 3, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 410
• United: The Red and Blue teams merge.
• Challenge: In the individual challenge, each contestant had 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 chose Jen as the winner.
• Reward/Punishment: Jen won an overnight trip to Las Vegas, where she had dinner at the Green Valley Ranch resort and spa with last season's winner, Rahman "Rock" Harper. In a surprise, she chose Corey to join her. The others took several deliveries of food.
• Dinner: Several mishaps occurred, including Corey being burned. She wanted to stay, 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 ordered him back to the dorm. However, after Jen burned the rice, Chef Ramsay declared the service a total loss, closing the kitchen.
• Winner/Loser: The team unanimously chose Matt to be nominated, followed by Christina. When Corey said she should have been chosen based on tonight's service, Chef Ramsay agreed. Ultimately, Chef Ramsay told Matt to leave.
• Chef Ramsay's reason:
  "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."

Episode 11

• Original airdate: June 10, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 411
• Challenge: In the individual challenge, each contestant had 45 minutes to teach a housewife how to make lobster spaghetti. The standouts were Corey and Christina; Christina won.
• Reward/Punishment: Christina spent time with Chef Ramsay and two other chefs, Mark Peel ("Campanile") and Ben Ford ("Ford's Filling Station"), learning the tricks of the trade, while her teammates cleaned the kitchen.
• Dinner: The dining room included a twelve-top (a dozen diners at a single table) that had to be served at the same time. Despite Jen's bad attitude and Bobby's difficulty cooking meat, the night's service was completed.
• Winner/Loser: Christina, the best contestant of the night, nominated Jen and Bobby for elimination. When Chef Ramsay asked Christina who she would like to send home, she chose Jen. However, Chef Ramsay picked Bobby for elimination.
• Chef Ramsey's reason: "Although Bobby was big in stature, he fell short in a number of areas. I kept on waiting for him to emerge, but he never did. That's why I have to say, 'Over and out, General Bobby.'"

Episode 12

• Original airdate: June 17, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 412
• Challenge: In the individual challenge, each contestant had one hour to cook an entree for a lunch service of 80 pregnant women, with their votes determining the winner. Christina won this challenge, beating out Petrozza by only two votes.
• Reward/Punishment: Christina and Chef Ramsay visited the Lisa Kline boutique in Beverly Hills, where Christina spent over $1000 on new clothing. The rest got to clean up the dining room and polish silverware for that evening's service.
• Dinner: During service, Jen mushed the rice and was slow on the scallops; Petrozza's area was dirty; Corey's John Dory was returned raw; and Christina managed to burn Chef Ramsay's hand -- twice. Nevertheless, tonight's service was completed in record time and was declared a success.
• Elimination: The team chose two candidates for elimination -- Jen and Corey. Chef Ramsay told Corey ... to say goodbye to Jen.
• Chef Ramsey's reason: "A great chef should not only be consistent with their cooking, but with their attitude. I never knew which Jen I was going to get at dinner service and that's why it was her time to go."

Episode 13

• Original airdate: June 24, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 413
• Challenge: The remaining three ate one of Chef Ramsay's signature dishes with their parents and significant others. Afterward, each contestant had 45 minutes to replicate the dish, based on taste and looks alone. Christina won this challenge in another close one with Petrozza -- both used venison, but only Christina had a puree, which Petrozza forgot.
• Reward/Punishment: Christina and her parents went on a tour bus through Hollywood, which included stops at two upscale restaurants. Corey and Petrozza crushed blocks of ice by hand and polished glasses.
• Dinner: In the final service as a team, the three also took turns at the "hotplate", directing the rest in Chef Ramsay's place. In addition, sous chefs Scott and Gloria, assisting with the cooking, were instructed to make one deliberate error for each contestant to see if they would spot the mistake while at the hotplate. Petrozza failed to notice there were no peas in the risotto, but was otherwise strong in command; Corey was rather weak in not only giving orders, but also spotted her mistake too late, pouring the wrong sauce on the beef wellington; Christina's service behind the stove was "crap", but she persevered at the hotplate, and correctly spotted her mistake with the wrong seasoning in the mashed potatoes. The service ended successfully.
• Elimination: Each contestant had to nominate someone -- Christina and Corey nominated each other, while Petrozza nominated Christina. Chef Ramsay named Petrozza and Christina to advance to the finals, while Corey went home.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: No reason was given for Corey's elimination nor she got the full elimination, though Chef Ramsay mentioned that his decision was based on her entire progress as a contestant.

Episode 14

Part 1

• Original airdate: July 1, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 414
• Setup: Hell's Kitchen is divided into two, with Christina and Petrozza getting to design their own menus, ambience, and wait staff. As the builders remodeled Hell's Kitchen to their specifications, Chef Ramsay flew the two to New York City, to Times Square, where Chef Ramsay's London NYC restaurant is located. This is the venue of the final challenge.
• Challenge: Petrozza and Christina had 45 minutes to cook their signature dishes, which will be judged by five of Chef Ramsay's chefs. Petrozza won, three to two. Afterwards, Whoopi Goldberg made a brief appearance to wish the finalists luck.
• Reward: Petrozza got first choice of the six former contestants who will serve as the cooks for their restaurants. Both Christina and Petrozza won a trip to Dubai to spend five days at a resort and to dine at one of Chef Ramsay's restaurants while there.
• Cook selection: Six of the last seven contestants eliminated were invited to return to be the cooks in the final service: Corey, Jen, Bobby, Matt, Louross and Ben. (Rosann did not return for unknown reasons.) At the end of part 1, Petrozza picked Bobby, Jen and Ben; Christina took Corey, Matt and Louross.

Part 2

• Original airdate: July 8, 2008
• Episode recap: Hell's Kitchen - Episode 415
• Cook selection (part 2): For his final choice, Petrozza selected Jen; Christina got Matt.
• Pre-service preparation: During the final hours before service, the finishing touches were made on the contestants' restaurants, each with 13 tables serving 50 customers. In the kitchen, Christina and Petrozza briefed the cooks on their menus, while Chef Ramsay inspected the sample dishes and gave Christina and Petrozza last-minute advice. During the preparation time, Jen asked Ramsay for a letter of recommendation, while Matt openly displayed a negative attitude.
• Dinner service: Petrozza was a strong leader, with an eye for quality, but was crippled by Jen's attitude. Early on, while attempting to serve appetizers, Petrozza's kitchen ran out of prepared ingredients for two of the appetizers, but bounced back by putting risotto on the menu. Christina had some problems when some of her steaks were returned cold. She also endured another cook with an attitude problem, Matt. Matt also frequently served dishes that came out raw, a problem that he never overcame as a contestant. At one point, Chef Ramsay offered to kick him out of the kitchen, but Christina declined. Despite these and other problems in both kitchens, the evening went well overall and everyone was served.
• Winner: The criteria for deciding a winner was determined by the comments from the customers, as well as Chef Ramsay's own observations. Summoning Christina and Petrozza to his office, Chef Ramsay gave them his final thoughts. Then, he had them step to a door "to their dream". Christina's door opened, signifying she was the winner. She was chosen for her full potential from day one and her ability to run a kitchen.
• Chef Ramsay's reason: "Christina had the least amount of experience coming into Hell's Kitchen. But I saw something in her that was quite special. She had the best potential across any other chef in Hell's Kitchen, and in my business I think long term. I definitely, definitely made the right choice."

References

1. ^ Seaton, Leslie (2007-11-12). "Hell's Kitchen: Season 4 Premiere Announced". BuddyTV. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
2. Fox Returns Series to Production. The Futon Critic.
3. ^ Scattergood, Amy (2008-05-01). "Gordon Ramsay L.A. reservation line is open!". LA Times. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
4. ^ "Gordon Ramsay opens news restaurant in West Hollywood". Yahoo. 2008-06-05. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
5. "Hell's Kitchen". Futon Critic. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-05-29.

External links

• Christina Machamer's website

• Hell's Kitchen official Fox.com

• Hell's Kitchen program description and commentary at the Internet Movie Database website

• Lists of food television series episodes
• Lists of reality television series episodes
• American reality television series
• Food reality television series
• 2000s American television series
• American cooking television series
• Cooking competitions