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.

This season's winner will receive a job as the executive chef for Ramsay's The London restaurant in Los Angeles, California.

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

Blue Team

• Ben Caylor, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Bobby Anderson, Niagara Falls, New York
• Louis Petrozza, Charlotte, North Carolina
• Louross Edralin, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Matt Sigel, Pine Hill, New Jersey
• Craig Schneider, Coram, New York
• Dominic DiFrancesco, Catawba, South Carolina
• Jason Underwood, Las Vegas, Nevada

Red Team

• Christina Machamer, St. Louis, Missouri
• Corey Earling, Brooklyn, New York City, New York
• Jennifer Gavin, Chicago, Illinois
• Rosann Fama, Staten Island, New York City, New York
• Sharon Stewart, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Shayna Zodoka, Buffalo, New York
• Vanessa Gunnell, Bozeman, Montana

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. Starting this season, teams will select captains for each service, though Ramsay can change captains during service.

Chef	4011	4021	4036	404	4057	Ramsay's reason
Ben	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	WIN
Bobby	NOM3	WIN	LOSE	BoW	WIN
Christina	WIN	NOM	BoW	WIN	NOM
Core	WIN	BoW	LOSE	WIN	WIN
Jen	WIN	NOM	LOSE	WIN	WIN
Petrozza	LOSE	WIN	BoW	LOSE	WIN
Louross	BoW5	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	NOM
Matt	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	WIN
Rosann	WIN4	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	WIN
Shayna	WIN	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	WIN
Vanessa	WIN2	LOSE	NOM	WIN	OUT	Vanessa voluntarily withdrew due to her injury: "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.

  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 going to be eliminated but was forced to switch teams instead.

  Contestant was eliminated

  Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay

  Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay and eliminated

  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
4	April 22, 2008	6.9	10	5.1/13	11.56
5	April 29, 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 appeared to make Ramsay vomit due to its combination of venison, caviar, 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
• 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 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, with its "Little Bit of Italy, Little Bit of France" pizza created by Jen, won.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red team, winning its third straight challenge, 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, which will feature the Red Team's pizza as a special. In addition, Ben is assigned to deliver these pizzas door-to-door, as part of the punishment.
• Dinner: Vanessa, sill recovering from her burned hand from the previous service, decided to withdraw from the competition, as she felt she won't give "100%". Despite the bumps along the way, both teams completed their service.
• Winner: Chef Ramsay declared both teams winners, as both completed their service. However, he still required each team to nominate a member for elimination. The Red Team originally chose Rosann, but then shockingly turned around and nominated Christina, while the Blue Team chose Louross. Chef Ramsey was shocked by Christina's nomination and went on to briefly interrogate both teams about their decision. In the end, he decided Vanessa would be the only one going home; thus nobody else would be dismissed. However, he warned the contestants that the contest will only get tougher, and he expects complete services from everyone.