Hell's Kitchen (American TV series) season 3

This article contains contestant information and episode summaries from Season 3 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen. Cast during February 2007, the third season started airing on the FOX television network on June 4, 2007 and concluded on August 13, 2007. The winner was promised a $250,000 USD per year head-chef position at a restaurant in the Green Valley Ranch resort and spa in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas.

The Hell's Kitchen set has moved from a building at LaBrea and Willoughby, where it was located for seasons one and two, to a Century Studios building on La Cienega Place, off West Jefferson Blvd for season three. During Episode 9 (aired July 30, 2007), a casting call was announced for the fourth season of the show.

The season finale was a record high for the show's ratings, drawing 9.8 million viewers. The winner of Season 3 is Rahman "Rock" Harper.

Chef and staff members

• Chef - Gordon Ramsay
• Sous chefs - Scott Leibfried, Mary-Ann Salcedo
• Maître d' - Jean-Philippe Susilovic

Contestants

The third season features the following 12 contestants on the initial teams, separated by gender:

Men's Team (Blue)

• Aaron Song, 48, a retirement-home chef from Rancho Palos Verdes, California
• Brad Miller, 25, a sous chef from Scottsdale, Arizona
• Eddie Langley, 28, a grill cook from Atlanta, Georgia
• Josh Wahler, 26, a junior sous chef from Miami Beach, Florida
• Rahman "Rock" Harper, 30, an executive chef at B. Smith's Restaurant from Spotsylvania, Virginia (Winner)
• Vinnie Fama, 29, a nightclub chef from Milltown, New Jersey

Women's Team (Red)

• Bonnie Muirhead, 26, a nanny/personal chef from Santa Monica, California (Runner-Up)
• Jen Yemola, 26, a pastry chef from Hazleton, Pennsylvania
• Joanna Dunn, 22, a chef's assistant from Detroit, Michigan
• Julia Williams, 28, a short-order cook from Atlanta, Georgia
• Tiffany Nagel, 27, a kitchen manager from Scottsdale, Arizona
• Melissa Firpo, 29, a line cook from New York City (Switched to the Blue Team at the end of Episode 5)

Black Team (Final 5)

• Bonnie Muirhead
• Jen Yemola
• Josh Wahler
• Julia Williams
• Rahman "Rock" Harper

Final Dinner Service

Rock's Team:

• Sous Chef Scott Leibfried
• Brad Miller
• Vinnie Fama
• Josh Wahler

Bonnie's Team:

• Sous Chef Mary Ann Salcedo
• Jen Yemola
• Melissa Firpo
• Julia Williams

Chefs That Did Not Return For The Final Service

• Aaron Song
• Eddie Langley
• Tiffany Nagel
• Joanna Dunn

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.

#	Chef	3011	302	3032	3043	3055	3066	307	3088	309 9	310
1	Rock	WIN	BoW	BoB	BoW	BoB	BoW	LOSE	NOM	IN	WIN
2	Bonnie	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	NOM	NOM	WIN	NOM	BoW	IN	LOSE
3	Jen	LOSE	WIN	NOM	BoW	BoW	WIN	LOSE	IN	OUT
4	Julia	LOSE	WIN	LOSE2	LOSE	LOSE	WIN	BoW7	OUT
5	Josh	WIN	NOM	WIN	LOSE4	WIN	NOM	LOSE	OUT
6	Brad	BoB	LOSE	WIN	LOSE	WIN	NOM	OUT
7	Melissa	BoW	BoB	LOSE	LOSE4	LOSEB	OUT
8	Vinnie	WIN	LOSE	WIN	OUT
9	Joanna	NOM	WIN	OUT
10	Aaron	WIN	LOSE	LEFT
11	Eddie	WIN	OUT
12	Tiffany	OUT

Template:Fn This contestant was switched from the Red Team to the Blue Team.
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:FnbJulia was nominated by her team, but Chef Ramsay told her she didn't belong in the nominations and told her to return to the line.
Template:FnbChef Ramsay declared that neither team won, and that there would be one nomination from the best of each team.
Template:Fnb Member was nominated for elimination by their team but Chef Ramsay overruled the nomination and selected a different member (for elimination nomination) instead.
Template:Fnb Melissa and Bonnie were nominated but Chef Ramsay did not eliminate anyone, though Melissa was moved to the Blue Team.
Template:Fnb The original nominees were Josh and Melissa. However, Chef Ramsay didn't even hear the nominees, and eliminated Melissa. He then called up Josh and Brad, and threatened to eliminate them both. At the end, Chef Ramsay decided to give the two another chance.
Template:Fnb Julia was declared the best of the worst on the red team, however the Blue team had no best of the worst, and as a team came up with one nominee.
Template:FnbAll competitors were combined into one team (black) this episode. Also, two chefs were eliminated, the purpose of the additional elimination was to make up for Episode 305 where no one was sent home.
Template:FnbRamsay first declared that Rock would be moving on, which "nominated" Bonnie and Jen for elimination.

  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 (BoW), or the Best of the Best (BoB)

  Contestant was nominated for elimination but prevailed

  Contestant was nominated for elimination by Chef Ramsay

  Contestant was eliminated

  Single team - contestant advanced in individual competition

  The runner-up of Hell's Kitchen

  The winner of Hell's Kitchen

Episodes

Episode 1

• Original airdate: June 4, 2007
• Introduction: For this episode, FOX added a parental advisory notification to the TV14 rating. The episode opened with Gordon Ramsay seated at a table in the restaurant, telling viewers he was going to be nicer this time around. After a few seconds, he admitted he was joking. The contestants arrived, and maître d’ Jean Philippe Susilovic began to brief the chefs, until Chef Ramsay interrupted, instructing the contestants to get to the kitchen and prepare their "signature dish".
• Signature Dishes: Each contestant prepared their signature dish for evaluation by Chef Ramsay. He declared Melissa's peppered steak and asparagus and Tiffany's seafood tostada as the best.
• Teams: The men and women were separated into two teams: the Blue Team (men) and the Red Team (women). The teams were required to prepare standard menu items for the Hell's Kitchen evening patrons.
• Dinner: When Chef Ramsay asked the red team how they were doing, Julia said her team had poor communication skills, which Tiffany denied. When the blue team was asked the same question, Aaron burst into tears and Ramsay had to calm him down. The red team, especially Tiffany, struggled for quite some time with their inability to fry quail eggs, with Ramsay describing them as "silicone implants". At one point, Ramsay tried having Bonnie help Tiffany with the eggs, but that didn't improve things. On the blue team, Vinnie tried to bring his spaghetti appetizer to the hotplate, but Chef Ramsay rejected it for being overcooked and glue-like. Julia was kept on the sidelines chopping apples, due to other contestants disparaging her short order cook background; i.e. a Waffle House cook, even though she repeatedly asked Tiffany to let her make eggs. When Chef Ramsay again asked for quail eggs, Julia broke down and said that she was trying to help, but they wouldn't let her. An exasperated Ramsay pulled her aside and quietly said "All I want is some food"; Ramsay fired Tiffany from the station and replaced her with Julia. Meanwhile, on the blue team, Ramsay caught Vinnie putting water in a risotto; Vinnie made an excuse that they had no vegetable stock left and Ramsay said it tasted like a "gnat's piss". He demoted Vinnie to dishwashing and put Brad in his place, which helped the Blue Team's appetizers get back on track. Back in the red kitchen, arguments continued to flare amongst the girls (particularly between Melissa and Joanna), much to Chef Ramsay's chagrin. Meanwhile, back in the blue kitchen, Aaron continued to cry and had to go take a break, causing Ramsay to abandon the hotplate and calm him down. Josh took over his station, but the chicken was overcooked and the blue team had run out of meat, while the red team kept bickering. Frustrated diners started leaving the restaurant, and after hearing another argument in the red kitchen, Ramsay reached his boiling point and shut down the kitchen, causing all the contestants to feel defeated. After a disastrous dinner service, Ramsay declared there was no winner. He asked Vinnie for an explanation for his horrendous performance. Vinnie said that he didn't show him what he wanted, so he had no idea. Ramsay called him a "two-faced lazy little fucker". But of the two groups, he decided the red team was the worse and dubbed them "Hell's Bitches", which would continue to be used as a nickname for the girl's team throughout the season, as he said he had never heard them argue so much. Melissa, who had taken over the line duties and helped her team make up ground, was declared the best of the losing red team, as things started to happen when she was put on appetizers. Back in the dorms, Julia said that everyone in the kitchen was for themselves and criticized the poor communication; Melissa noted that Julia was a team player but wondered if her Waffle House background would be a liability. Joanna and Tiffany urged Melissa to eliminate Julia due to her lack of culinary education ("She works at the fucking Waffle House!" said Tiffany in private). Tiffany said she did not want to go and Melissa appeared to agree.
• Nominees for elimination: Joanna and Tiffany, much to their surprise. Joanna was nominated because of how she communicated with Melissa during the service, and Tiffany because of how long it took for the appetizers to go out. Tiffany was eliminated, because Ramsay thought Tiffany brought nothing to the table besides hard work.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: "To be a great chef, you need great attention to detail, passion, and great work ethic. Tiffany worked hard, but that was it. Nothing else."

Episode 2

• Original Airdate: June 11, 2007
• Challenge The teams were woken up early to retrieve and prepare Dover sole for the dinner service. While bringing the fish in, Aaron claimed to suffer from cramps and Chef Ramsay excused him from the challenge, automatically balancing out the teams. The teams had 30 minutes to carefully remove the skin and extract the roe from as many fish as possible; Chef Ramsay inspected each one and made a pass/fail determination. The Red team won with 9 perfectly-prepared fish (after Joanna's three were all prepared correctly) to the Blue team's 8, and won a fishing trip with Chef Ramsay for the day, while the Blue team had to prepare the remaining sole for the dinner service.
• Dinner Based on Aaron's current physical state, Chef Ramsay instructed Aaron to work in the dining room by deboning the Dover sole when served, but he was found talking to diners, took too long, and left large bones in their fish. The Blue team had other problems in the kitchen; Eddie didn't speak up loud enough when his teammates swarmed his station. Eddie also cooked too much pasta at once and used too much pepper in the risotto, causing Chef Ramsay to dismiss it as "inedible" and something he "wouldn't even serve to a fucking pig", while Josh undercooked some of the meat courses and tried to obscure this information from Chef Ramsay. When Josh overcooked a chicken, Ramsay smashed the chicken from the plate. The Red team worked well and was able to complete their dinner service. Chef Ramsay, near the end of Red team's successful service, completely dismissed the Blue team from the kitchen and had the Red team complete Blue team's service. After the service, the Red team was the clear winner, and Chef Ramsay pointed to Aaron, Eddie, and Josh as the worst of the Blue team, and determined that Rock was the only member who didn't make any mistakes, instructing him to nominate two people for elimination.
• Nominees for Elimination Eddie was selected for not being able to handle his station during dinner service and for being the "little man" on the team. Josh was selected because Rock saw him as someone that would hide the truth from his team and not a good teammate. Eddie was ultimately eliminated from the show, something Eddie admitted was his own fault.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: "Eddie's got a big heart, sadly, he couldn't even hold his own section. He made far too many simple mistakes, and he didn't merit running his own restaurant."

Episode 3

• Original Airdate: June 18, 2007
• Challenge: The teams' challenge was to make breakfast for the Army and Navy. The winner would be the team that completed their breakfast service first. Julia's short order experience lead her team from start to finish. After the Red Team completed their service, Ramsay requested Julia to help the struggling Blue Team.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team members were rewarded with a helicopter ride and a meal with Chef Ramsay aboard the USS Midway. The Blue Team's punishment was KP duty, preparing a thousand pounds of potatoes and onions for a military base. Aaron fainted as the Blue Team began KP duty, and was transported by ambulance to the hospital for treatment.
• Withdrawal: Before the Dinner service, Chef Ramsay called a hospitalized Aaron and said he could no longer participate on the show due to his ongoing illness and doctor's orders.
• Dinner: Without Aaron and under Brad's leadership (as Rock and Josh could not agree), the Blue team got off to a good start, but got bogged down with the entrees. At one point, an exasperated Ramsay smashed an egg on Vinnie's chest though the latter managed to restrain himself from retaliating. The Red Team kept running into problems with appetizers, and didn't complete its service. Joanna was caught trying to serve rancid crab, to which Ramsay shouted "You'll kill someone" and accused her of not caring. Jen overcooked the spaghetti but when she discovered that their side had run out, she tried to retrieve it from the trash and wash it, but she was stopped by Julia, while Ramsay didn't notice. In the end, patrons of both kitchens walked out due to the delayed service, and Chef Ramsay crumpled up the orders and ended the service. Neither team won, but the Red Team was chosen the worst of the two. Chef Ramsay instructed the entire Red team to nominate two people for elimination.
• Nominees for Elimination: After trying to serve rancid crab, Joanna was the first nomination. Despite her strong performance at breakfast, the women nominated Julia because of her unfamiliarity with cuisine terminology. In her defense, Julia said she didn't know any reason why she should have been nominated to which Chef Ramsay agreed. Jen volunteered herself to be nominated, which led to the beginning of her friendship with Julia, admitting to Chef Ramsay that she tried to serve spaghetti that she threw away. Ramsay chose to eliminate Joanna, but he told Jen to stay out of the rubbish bin.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: While hospitalized, Aaron received a phone call from Chef Ramsay saying that he could no longer participate in the competition due to doctor's orders.
  
• "Not only did Joanna serve rancid crab that could've seriously made a customer ill, she completely gave up, screwed her team, and if you can't handle one individual section, you got no chance of running a business."

Episode 4

• Original Airdate: June 25, 2007
• Challenge: Team members were blindfolded and wore headphones as Chef Ramsay tested their palates with various foods. The Red Team won after correctly guessing the most foods, though the Blue Team suspected that Bonnie was cheating.
• Reward/Punishment: The Red Team was treated to a dining service in the dark with Chef Ramsay. The Blue Team had to prepare both teams' kitchens for the dinner service and further "test their palates" by eating offal such as cow's tongue, liver and kidney.
• Dinner Service: For this service, the customers would fill out comment cards on their food, which would decide the winner. Melissa started off moving too quickly ahead appetizers; she tried to push Julia on preparation time even after Julia told her when they would be done. Chef Ramsay commented that this did not show good leadership. Bonnie would not give Chef a clear answer on whether or not her chicken was ready and eventually broke down crying. She had trouble understanding Chef Ramsay's instructions, and over the course of the evening he called her a "stupid cow," a "dumb blonde," and a "stupid nanny". Vinnie had trouble with his Beef Wellingtons and was caught trying to flash grill rare Wellingtons in the oven to make them appear medium. After wasting six Wellingtons and a chicken, the Chef accused him of "not caring.". Both kitchens had numerous dishes returned due to poor quality. Ramsay warned that if one more dish was brought back from either kitchen, the service would be aborted. After a customer complained of cold chicken and salty garnish, Ramsay smashed the returned dish on the floor, stuck to his promise and shut the kitchen down.
• Eliminations: Ramsay said while the customers enjoyed most of the food, over 65% would not return due to the wait for their food. He said that a restaurant would fail with those numbers, explaining why there was no winning team. Chef Ramsay said that one nominee from each team should be nominated for elimination. He picked Jen and Rock as the "best of the worst", and strongly suggested that they should choose the teams' weakest members. Jen nominated Melissa for her lack of teamwork and poor leadership, because she did not want Bonnie to leave, even in spite of her poor performance. Rock's nominee was Josh, giving the reason that Josh had reached the limit of his abilities and was not fit to continue. Surprised and disappointed by the two's picks, Chef Ramsay overruled their decisions and he himself picked Bonnie and Vinnie calling out both as the weakest members on their respective teams. The Chef finally decided to eliminate Vinnie, saying the night-club cook had revealed his full potential and was no longer qualified to compete in the show.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: "Vinnie talks the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk. The bottom line with Vinnie is, he's a crap cook."

Episode 5

• Original Airdate: July 2, 2007
• Challenge: Chef Ramsay informed the teams that Hell's Kitchen would be hosting a wedding reception for the first time, for Carlotta and Cyrus. The teams were sent to a supermarket and told to buy ingredients for three courses (appetizer, meat entree, fish entree) in 30 minutes and with a $100 budget, with the blue team initially being over the limit and forced to ditch items at the check-out counter. The teams then had one hour to prepare the dishes, with the men managing by consensus, while Melissa acted as the boss and kept talking and asking if anyone needed help, saying that she had put herself in charge when the other women questioned her authority. The first sign of trouble came when Chef Ramsay asked if the teams had used their time wisely, with the men appearing confident, while Bonnie, Jen and Julia admitted that they didn't and Melissa suggested that they should not serve their dishes, angering Ramsay as the couple were present. The team with the most dishes chosen by the wedding couple would be the winner. The men's appetizer was chosen, while the women won the fish entree. For the meat entree, the men had a perfect steak, while Melissa tried to prevent Jen from serving Julia's duck dish that Melissa overcooked (Julia took it out of the oven at the right time but Melissa put it back in saying that it should be hot when presented). Chef Ramsay was furious that Melissa was disrespecting the couple and embarrassing him. When Jen set the plate on the table and took the cover off, it revealed a small overcooked duck breast on an otherwise empty plate. Chef Ramsay was very upset with the Red Team, stating he had never been so embarrassed in his own kitchen.
• Reward/Punishment: The men's reward was a day of pampering at a spa. The women's punishment was to decorate the dining room for the wedding reception.
• Dinner Service: Both teams would have to serve the three winning dishes from the challenge, and the men were given the privilege of cooking for the wedding couple. Melissa repeatedly cooked the potato dish incorrectly and kept accusing Rock of not teaching her the recipe, so she again earned the wrath of Chef Ramsay, who replaced her with Jen on the potatoes. The women also quickly got agitated with Melissa because she continued to dictate orders. Josh initially screwed up on the risotto, which held up Brad's crab and the entire Red Team, as the wedding couple had to be served first before the rest of the guests. During a moment of inattention, Melissa set down her cream sauce, and it promptly fell over in its water bath. She went over to the men's kitchen asking for some of theirs. Upon seeing this, Chef Ramsay yelled at her to get back over to her side and fix it from scratch, saying the boys didn't make enough for both sides and it wasn't their fault she made the mistake. Also, when the wedding coordinator questioned Jean-Phillipe on why the parents of the bride weren't served, he was directed to Ramsay who promptly told him to get out of the way. The kitchens eventually managed to complete their first service. The red team was picked as the losers as the blue team finished three minutes ahead of them. Ramsay's wedding gift to the couple was a stay at the Green Valley Ranch resort and spa.
• Eliminations: Jen was chosen to eliminate two contestants from her team as Chef Ramsay felt like she emerged as a leader that night and did a good job. After much consideration, Jen chose Melissa, for her attitude and mouth, and Bonnie, despite her impeccable service, for previous problems. Jen wanted Melissa gone, and was confident that Bonnie could survive elimination. Chef Ramsay told Melissa to give him her coat, but instead of eliminating her, he gave Melissa another chance and she was sent over to the blue team. Ramsay later said that "He had never seen such a terrific chef turn into such a bad one so quickly".

Episode 6

• Original Airdate: July 9, 2007
• Challenge: The two teams are required to make three lobster dishes in one hour. To even out the teams, and in punishment for failing to identify lobster from Episode 4's taste test, Josh is excluded from the challenge. He is allowed to coach the team, but he is not allowed to touch a lobster. Also, both teams must start with fresh lobsters from a tank, which worries Bonnie. Chef Ramsay takes notice of this and barks at her, at which point she reveals that she does not like to kill living things. She states that "I cry whenever I kill one." To which Rock retorts "so do the lobsters." She does, however, overcome this fear, and successfully boils her own lobster. The first head-to-head is Bonnie vs. Melissa on the salad which Bonnie wins. The second is Julia vs. Rock, which Rock wins. The last is Jen vs. Brad on the bisque. Chef Ramsay compliments both chefs, but he chooses Jen's and the Red team triumphs. He later mentions that this was the hardest decision so far.
• Reward/Punishment: Since the Blue team lost their challenge, they have to go through the garbage, separating out the recyclables. Rock is visibly angry with the Chef's decision and grumbles that, although he grew up in a poor neighborhood, he thinks this punishment is a bit extreme. Meanwhile the Red team is taken to a photo shoot for In Touch magazine. When Rock goes off on a tirade about how the team lost, he is singled out for further punishment; he is summoned to the photo shoot and ordered to separate the recyclables from the trash there as well.
• Dinner Service: Chef Ramsay informs the teams they will be making familiar dishes, such as risotto, sea bass, Beef Wellington, spaghetti, and also featured Bonnie's newly created lobster salad. The women get off to an excellent start, and the Chef compliments them in his own back-handed sort of way. They are communicating well and getting their food out quickly. The blue team does not perform as well, as Melissa's scallops were too thin, Josh's mashed potatoes were gloopy and runny, and Melissa overcooked monkfish causing Chef Ramsay to say it looked like "regurgitated dog shit". Brad also overcooked risotto which led to Ramsay describing it as Brad's worst service. The Red Team later made mistakes, as Bonnie accidentally causes a fire on the stove, Julia gives Ramsay the wrong dish, and she gets into an argument with Bonnie. However, the Red Team overcame their problems and end up serving all of their dishes. The blue team struggled on appetizers and an entire table of six sends back their food because their lobster is overcooked. This enrages Chef Ramsay and he orders the kitchen closed.
• Elimination: The men agree to put up Melissa and Josh for nomination. However, Ramsay eliminates Melissa without even asking the men who they chose or asking her to justify why she should stay ("You, madam, have had more chances than anybody."). The Chef then calls up Brad and Josh and threatens to eliminate both of them as well, but he decides to give them another chance. Ramsay later comments that he was surprised how fast Brad and Josh fell apart.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: "With Melissa, she's very assertive, and she sounds like a leader, but unfortunately, she doesn't cook like a leader."

Episode 7

• Original Airdate: July 16, 2007
• Challenge Each team was given an identical tray of leftovers and instructed to make three courses: one appetizer and two entrees. The winning dishes were judged by Chef Ramsay. Both teams produced equally good appetizers as Bonnie had her rustic chicken soup against Brad's pasta. Chef granted them both a point. Josh and Jen were up next with Jen's steak and eggs and Josh's sea bass although neither receive a point because Jen's lacked originality and Josh's tasted horrible. Rock also made a sea bass dish that went up against Julia's fish and chips which were tasty but not as elegant as Rock's. The Blue team won the challenge.
• Reward/Punishment: The Blue team was given the chance to participate in a 3-on-1 paintball match against Chef Ramsay. They jumped at the chance saying how no one ever got the chance to take out frustrations on their boss. Target practice had pictures of the Red Team posted. During the competition, Ramsay managed to beat the three men, taking out Brad, then Josh and Rock last. The Red team was required to receive, check, and bring in the food delivery for the evening service, with Bonnie in charge of checking/marking the packing slip. Notably, Bonnie missed the fact that unsalted butter and turbot skeletons were delivered instead of the correct salted butter and turbot filets. The errors meant that the Red team had to arrange re-delivery of the missing items, working longer than they had expected. Bonnie felt horrible and thought that she would be sent home for her mistakes.
• Evening Service: Each team had to create a menu of 3 appetizers, 3 entrees, and 3 desserts; the diners were allowed to select from either menu for their meal. The Red team's dishes were mostly standard fare, including Julia's last minute add-on of steak and shrimp, while the Blue team's dishes were generally fine dining meals that mostly Brad created. Both teams were able to make it through the dinner service, but both had significant problems. Chef Ramsay noted the women lacked stamina and was upset that they refused to communicate with each other. Jen had an attitude most the night and kept snapping at Bonnie. Julia begged the girls to keep their service positive while struggling on the last set of entrees in order to make it through. The Blue team, led by Brad, had difficulties with a lamb dish and had several plates come back with complaints on Brad's ravioli and then his gravy. While Chef was mad at Josh for messing up the lamb, he was also equally mad at Brad and Rock, because they did not help Josh with the lamb when he was in the weeds. They made Josh get himself out of the mess which completely hurt the team. Chef Ramsay declared neither team a winner, but noted that Julia was the most consistent chef during the service and that her steak and shrimp dish, while initially rejected by the Red team, turned out to be the most popular. He had her nominate a player from the Red team for elimination, while he instructed the Blue team to come up with a nominee for elimination on their own.
• Elimination: Julia selected Bonnie for elimination due to some of the mistakes she had made in service and the way she seems to get flustered during service. Brad stepped up to be nominated as he was team leader and Josh said he refused to go on the chopping block because he was tired of being the team's whipping boy. Chef Ramsay called Bonnie's name giving everyone the impression that she was about to be sent home but he followed that by telling her to "wake up" and then eliminated Brad because while he had stepped up as leader, he only performed "as a cook" during the service.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: "Brad was a hard worker. Unfortunately, he worked with his back rather than his brain. He lacked finesse to become a great chef."

Episode 8

• Original Airdate: July 23, 2007
• Reward: At the beginning of the episode, Chef Ramsay congratulated the chefs with champagne flutes, then sprayed them with champagne, with Josh being the only one brave enough to catch it in his mouth. He then told them to go upstairs and put on their black jackets, as they were all now one team.
• Challenge: Each chef, individually had to prepare 100 portions of a dish for "trendsetters" (with meals planned at least one week in advance). They later learned the "trendsetters" was a high school class at Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California. Rock made Kobe beef hamburgers, Josh did salmon, Jen's was chicken and pasta, Bonnie made fried goat cheese on salad, and Julia did a chicken and cheese sandwich with onion rings. Julia won the challenge with 51 percent of the votes, and her prize was to visit the Green Valley Ranch. She was allowed to pick one chef to go with her and eventually chose Jen. They got a chance to see the Green Valley Ranch Resort, and also went to the Red Rock Resort to meet Heather, the winner of season 2. The losers had to clean the dining room (Josh's difficulty in handling the carpet shampoo machine was a source of amusement).
• Evening Service: The united black team was tasked with serving all 100 tables in the restaurant. Josh got off to a bad start by pre-making too many risottos. Julia also struggled with forgetting things on the garnish station. Josh then pre-cooked spaghetti twice, bringing Chef Ramsay to the edge. When he finally did get risottos out, every single one was returned because they were all undercooked. Chef had enough and kicked Josh out of the kitchen and off the show. Even Rock screwed up as he overcooked some scallops, which lead Chef to say "Rock has hit rock-bottom". As service continued, Jen and Bonnie performed strongly, but Rock's temper once again got the best of him, as he and Jen quarreled repeatedly (to which Rock later admitted privately that he was at fault and apologized to Jen). Julia had more troubles on garnish, but recovered. In the end, the four chefs were able to successfully complete the dinner service.
• Early Elimination: Josh was eliminated during mid-service due to his consistent inability to serve a successful appetizer. He cooked risotto and spaghetti too early twice despite Chef telling him not to. The risottos he did get out were all sent back because they were undercooked. Chef Ramsay was brought to the end of his patience and booted Josh out, ripping off his chef jacket. In fact, Josh did not even get a full elimination sequence (i.e., jacket hung on a spike and photo burned). When a teammate asked where he was, Ramsay said Josh was "searching and standing for a bus on Sunset Boulevard", and Josh's photo was shown out on the street with his suitcase. In Fox Reality Channel's Reality Revealed, Josh thought that he wasn't getting kicked off immediately, so he turned around at the same time Chef Ramsay came in and Josh went to go back into the kitchen. If Chef Ramsay never came in to see if he really left or not, he would have gotten back in the kitchen and the confrontation would have been worse.
• Elimination: Chef made it clear that even though Josh was eliminated, one other chef would still be sent home tonight. Bonnie was declared the best of the service, and had to choose two for elimination. Nominating Rock was predictable as he was disliked by the other three women, but Bonnie was uncomfortable with putting up either Jen and Julia, as she had become close to them, mainly as they united against Melissa. While Jen and Julia had an even stronger bond, Bonnie did get along better with Jen while often arguing with Julia; Julia's weak dinner service further made her vulnerable. The choice wasn't easy as Chef Ramsay was visibly troubled by the dilemma of picking between a very driven and talented chef and a chef that had grown and exhibited great potential. Chef Ramsay chose to eliminate Julia, though in a break from his usual heavy criticism, he heaped praise on how far she progressed in spite of her Waffle House background. In an unprecedented move so far on Hell's Kitchen, Ramsay said he would personally send Julia to culinary school, and invite her to come back once she has finished.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: Josh made the same mistake on appetizers many times throughout the dinner service and was kicked off mid-service. "You're standing there, You're screwing me and you're fucking useless!"
  
• "To become a great chef you must have a natural ability. Clearly, Julia does have it. All she needs is a little more experience. After that, she will be ready to run her own restaurant."

Episode 9

• Original Airdate: July 30, 2007
• Challenge: Chef Ramsay started the challenge by bringing in his mother and having her present her own mac 'n cheese (comfort food) and then producing his own in a more elegant version. He then told each chef to randomly select one of the 5 covered dishes and change it to a gourmet dish. Rock's turned out to be spaghetti, Bonnie's was Franks and Beans, and Jen's ended up being Fried Chicken. Bonnie carried on for several minutes about not knowing what Franks and Beans even was. After having 1 hour to complete their dishes Chef Ramsay brought in their mothers to judge. All three contestants were in tears at this surprise. Their mothers were sat with their backs to the chefs so that they did not know who made which dish which made the judging unbiased. Jen won the challenge after all three mothers chose her stuffed fried chicken breasts as the best dish.
• Reward/Punishment: Jen got to go out with her mother, Chef Ramsay and his mum for lunch. Ramsay then dropped her off at a kitchen supply warehouse and gave her $1000 to go "hog wild". On a deleted scene, Jen said that she spent $300 buying Bonnie and Rock Kasumi steak knives. Jen felt like she really gained an edge in the competition by having this alone time with Chef. Rock and Bonnie had to work together to clean the dormitories where Bonnie complained the whole time. Rock noted that Bonnie knew surprisingly little about cleaning for being a professional Nanny. Bonnie admitted that she is really only a "Nanny" in that she sometimes watches her clients' kids while performing as their personal chef.
• Dinner Service: Before dinner service, Chef Ramsay had each contestant practice their angriest dressing down to his face. Bonnie noted how satisfying it was to have the rare opportunity to curse at Ramsay for a change. Jen struggled being serious but included many expletives to get her point across. Rock also struggled with coming across effectively. During service, Chef made each contestant work the pass, calling out orders and putting the finishing touches on dishes before handing them off to the servers. Chef tested each contestant on their leadership, time management, and quality control. He had sous-chefs Scott and Mary Ann deliberately sabotage dishes to see if the contestants would catch the mistakes. Jen was the first to work the pass, where she missed a spaghetti dish that went out without any crab, though she recovered her composure and caught a poorly prepared risotto. The others passed their quality control tests, though there were some problems as Rock was slow to pass dishes to servers and Bonnie became flustered when calling out orders. Nevertheless, Chef Ramsay did not criticize the contestants as harshly as he had in the past and they completed the service effectively.
• Elimination: Chef said that their service was the best ever in Hell's Kitchen and he would have a very difficult decision. All three went back to the dorm and Jen questioned Bonnie's motive for wanting to stay asking her if this is really what she wanted. Jen didn't feel as though this was a serious dream for Bonnie. All were called before Chef Ramsay and explained their reasons to stay. Chef called Rock's name first, giving everyone the impression that he was about to be sent home, and said that he had made the final two. Chef then decided to eliminate Jen, recalling memories of her fine performances in the latter half of the season. After the elimination, Chef Ramsay surprised Rock and Bonnie with a visit from Rock's wife and kids and Bonnie's parents. A tarp rolls down from above, symbolically splitting the restaurant into two sections for the next show.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: (No formal reason was given for her elimination, though the episode showed Jen missing an error in a dish made by Chef Scott from the hot plate, also she ruined a risotto.)

Episode 10

Part 1

• Original Airdate: August 6, 2007
• Remodeling: As with the previous seasons, Hell's Kitchen is separated into two sides, red side for Bonnie and blue side for Rock. Both chefs begin planning for their side of restaurant, including decor, staff uniforms and menus. Both chefs get to meet an architect which would help them complete what they want for their side of the restaurant, while Jean-Phillip assists both with selection of their servers' uniforms. Bonnie wants to go with a French bistro feel where nothing matches, there are no booths, and servers are required to wear all black. Rock wants a simple black/white design with servers in jeans which Jean-Phillip quickly dismissed. Bonnie's menu is reflective of her favorite dishes with her signature dish being her Prawn Fettucine while Rock's is based on southern food with his Surf and turf of fried chicken and crab cakes as his starter. Bonnie seemed to flow with ideas about her restaurant while Rock struggled with deciding on most of the aspects.
• Challenge: After they have selected their restaurant's decor, the two chefs travel to Las Vegas with Chef Ramsay on a private plane and are given a tour of the Green Valley Ranch Resort. In a surprise challenge, Chef Ramsay tells the final two they have thirty minutes to create their specialty dish (listed above) and present it to the top chefs of Las Vegas. The dishes are judged by seven judges, including other chefs from Las Vegas restaurants, Robin Leach, seasons one and two Hell's Kitchen winners Michael Wray and Heather West, respectively, and the duo of the owner and head chef of the Green Valley Ranch Resort who cast the deciding vote. Bonnie wins the challenge four votes to three.
• Reward/Punishment: The last six eliminated chefs (Julia, Jen, Brad, Josh, Melissa and Vinnie) are reunited with the final two. Julia was very emotional, struggling with the disappointment of not making it to the finale, and she privately admitted that she was rooting for Rock. Rock and Bonnie chose their team for the Season Finale, with Bonnie selecting first for winning the previous challenge. Jen is chosen first, followed by Brad, Melissa, Vinnie, and Julia. Ending up both retain the same team members they had from the start of the season and resulting in all-male and all-female teams. Rock passed over Julia knowing he would end up with Josh, saying that he understood Josh and more importantly because Julia's feelings could be a liability even though he considered her better than Josh.

Part 2

• Original airdate: August 13, 2007
• Preparations: Rock organized his team like a military commander while Bonnie took a relaxed laid back approach. In the kitchen while planning recipes, Julia frequently snapped at Bonnie, while Rock convinces Josh that he is capable and just needs self-confidence to perform well. The two finalists present their appetizers and entrees to Ramsay; Bonnie's goat cheese salad and her signature prawn fettuccine, Rock's surf and turf (fried chicken and crabcakes) and rib eye steak, and Ramsay has only a few minor suggestions. However, he tells Bonnie that her truffle assortment is on the small side, while advising Rock to serve his milkshake (and cookies) in martini glasses instead of a huge tall glass. Ramsay then toured their halves of the restaurant asking for their redesign explanations and had no complaints. Before service starts, Ramsay presents Bonnie and Rock with their own head chef’s jackets.
• Dinner Service: The Blue team struggled early with Josh overcooking the crabcakes and putting them 30 minutes behind. After a warning from Chef Ramsay that Josh was ruining everything, Rock made a decisive move and switched Josh and Vinnie's positions, and from then on there were no more major problems. Rock pledged that he would work every station to make the food perfect and even started cooking dishes himself when the others couldn't handle. The Red team started out strong on the appetizers, save for Melissa overcooking the prawns. However, they were soon plagued by lack of communications, particularly as an emotional Julia defied Bonnie's orders. They also began running out of fettuccine and prawns for the prawn fettuccine, while some dishes being returned because they were undercooked or cold. Dessert went smoothly for both sides.
• Ultimate decision: During the debrief, Ramsay asked each chef what they would have changed. Rock stated that he would have picked Jen as a station chef instead of Josh, who "really screwed up". Bonnie admitted that she was not careful in monitoring portion sizes and thus running out of ingredients. Ramsay has no substantial criticism for either chef, only saying that “You both came out with leadership qualities”, noting that Bonnie has improved her assertiveness while Rock was considered "rock-solid". Ramsay considered all aspects in making his decision, including how each chef ran the kitchen and every customer feedback card. Rock broke down in tears when he was declared the winner of Hell's Kitchen Season 3.
• Chef Ramsey's Reason: Bonnie's leadership was weak compared to Rock's, her kitchen ran out of ingredients, and one of her dishes was sent back.
• "Rock deserved to win Hell's Kitchen because he's a very confident cook, and he has become a really good leader. He can motivate staff; he can create. All those qualities are not easy to find in one chef. Rock holds all of them."

Epilogue

• Rock began working as the head chef of Green Valley Ranch's Terra Verde restaurant on September 10, 2007. He later appeared during the show's fourth season on the June 3, 2008 episode, having dinner at his restaurant with that season's contestants, Jen and Corey.
• Aaron, who left the show early in the run for medical reasons, became a regular at the Saddle Ranch Chop House, a western-themed restaurant on Hollywood's Sunset Strip. On the April 15, 2008 episode, Chef Ramsay, along with members of Season 4's Red team, paid a visit to the Saddle Ranch during the show's fourth season and ran into Aaron there.

External links

• Rock Harper's website
• Brad Miller's website
• Melissa Firpo's website