Season 5 - Episode Guide

HELL'S KITCHEN is heating up and the pressure is on, as sixteen new contestants step into the restaurant for the first time. Immediately after the contestants' arrival, they are sent to the kitchen to prepare their signature dishes. During the presentation of the dishes, Gordon finds himself pleasantly surprised with what he sees until one contestant goes too far and instantly puts Gordon in a foul mood. During dinner service a fight breaks out in the kitchen before the doors even open! Emotions are running high because the contestants know that at the end of the journey Chef Ramsay will pick one lucky chef who will win the grand prize, a "Head Chef" position at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the East Coast's leading resort destination.

Chef Ramsey puts the Red and Blue teams in a new challenge, which causes tempers to flare and will result in the dismissal of one more contestant.

Chef Ramsey has the remaining 14 chefs make a visit to the meat locker to learn about every cut of beef, then gives them a challenge by declaring the kitchen a steak house for the night.

50 young football players and cheerleaders will be served breakfast by the 13 remaining chefs. One team runs short on eggs, and 1 more chef is released.

After sending the chefs to an Asian market, Chef Ramsay challenges them to create three Asian-fusion dishes utilizing poultry, seafood and beef. The teams then present their dishes for judging by Chef Ramsay and Tanya Steel, Editor-in-Chief of Epicurious.com. The following night, the teams go head-to-head at dinner service, and tensions run high as chefs from both teams crack under pressure. Chef Ramsay throws in a last-minute twist before sending the losing chef home.

The remaining 11 chefs are challenged to cook variations of the three favorite foods of the honoree for his Bar Mitzvah. The dinner service seems to go well, but not for one contestant.

The remaining 10 chefs are challenged to use leftovers to create tapas-styled dishes (aka, small plates). Both teams are nearly derailed at dinner by one chef's mistake, and the lack of cohesion within the blue team steams chef Ramsey.

The nine remaining chefs feel the pressure with the presence of guest diners Eric McCormack and Robert Patrick, plus they also face a taste-test competition.

The remaining 8 chefs will be working with king crab, and each team will show Chef Ramsey their strongest presentation. Dinner service will find the teams creating a menu.

The seven remaining chefs are on their own now that Chef Ramsey has dissolved the teams. This week's challenge is for the chefs to use 14 simple ingredients in a dish. Later, the chefs will once again need to work as one for dinner service, but things heat up and one chef finds themselves in need of medical attention.

The remaining six chefs head to the Borgata Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, where the show's winner will be named a top chef, and are challenged to create a signature dish in which would be served at the Borgata.

The four remaining chefs have a meal cooked for them by Chef Ramsey, then are challenged to recreate what he had prepared. Later, a surprise proposal is planned for the dinner service's desert course.

The remaining three chefs will be cooking up a meal for the 100 top chefs in L.A. The winner will make an appearance on FOX's local morning show, while the losers must clean and iron the Hell's Kitchen's linens and watch the winner on TV. At dinner service, each of the three must "run the pass," a test which only two can pass.

It's back to Atlantic City for the final 2 chefs as they discuss their possible menus with the chief operating officer of the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa. But first they must discuss their space designs at the restaurant with an architect for the final dinner service competition.

The season 5 finale finds the remaining two chefs competing in their final dinner service competition. The winner will be named head-chef at a new restaurant at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City.