Hell's Kitchen: Head Chefs Only episode 2 recap: Scallop troubles and flambé fun

The first episode of Hell's Kitchen ended with Chef Ramsay holding a blow torch. Ramsay used it to fire up the HK’s pitchfork for the cameras set out in front. Ramsay used the blow torch again to light up the second episode's challenge, which was a flambe competition.

The flambè competition was a punishment pass challenge, so it was essential for the chefs, especially the blue team, who had to do delivery day in the last episode to win. While cooking, Whit picked salmon and had trouble when the salmon skin was burnt. However, she removed the skin, which worked out for her because it was a delicious dish for Chef Ramsay.

Despite Magali having a good halibut and Meghan having an excellent hangar steak with puree, Whit won the one punishment pass for the woman. Brandon had a superb seabass for the men, putting him in contention for the punishment pass. Even with Joe and his salmon and Michael with his pan-seared chicken, both impressing Ramsay, Brandon, and his seabass won the only punishment pass for the men.

When asked about the bottom two dishes and a person going home,  Whitt explained the women didn’t like Britany’s chicken ballotine and Ann Marie’s pork. However, things began to get confusing when Brittany’s ballotine needed a lift on the garnish, and Ann Marie’s pork was delicious, but only a few women said the dish was undone. For the men, Egypt tenderloin and Shant’s hangar steak were put in the bottom, even though both ended up after Ramsay tasted them. After that, Ramsay decided no one would go home after the challenge. Egypt, who wasn’t happy about his teammates picking his dish to go up, exclaimed he needed to push his dish to the top, which annoyed his teammates.

In the opening night dinner service, things immediately began to spiral when Amber, who was on fish with Magali, put the scallops in too early on the first ticket. It would be an awful night at the fish station, and Amber sent the second attempt at scallops up to the pass raw when attempting to refire them. Amber would have had more scallop troubles when she sent up nine instead of 10 scallops for an order. Amber wasn’t the only problem for the fish station that night, as Magali refused to listen to her teammates and would send two bad salmons in the service, one of them being raw. When Hannah sent up raw chicken, the women would be kicked out of the kitchen on the first night of service.

For the men, Corbin and Shant would have an awful night on the appetizers when Corbin sent up a carbonara that was too watery. Shant would take over for Corbin. However, Shant would make his own mistakes, like having water in a risotto instead of wine. Also, despite Egypt saying the risotto was bland and needed flavor, Shant sent up the risotto anyway and was chastised by Ramsay. The men also suffered a lot of communication issues. Michael would also have problems cooking the lamb when he sent up two raw and one medium lamb, which got them sent to the back room. What got the men kicked out of the kitchen, however, was when Egypt sent up a bad Wellington, and Joe sent up a cold salmon and halibut.

When both teams were asked to choose two nominees for elimination, the women nominated Megali and Amber, who made many mistakes on the fish station that night. The nominations for the men were Michael and Shant for having undercooked proteins and for the bad appetizers. All four made their plea, but when Ramsay asked Amber who was the weakest chef on the red team, Amber explained it was Megali, who expressed that she was willing to nominate herself. Megali reclaimed that she did that to prove she could own her mistakes, unlike Amber. Ramsay sent Megali and Michael back in line, leaving Amber and Shant to decide who went home. Ramsay eliminated Amber due to her messing up and her inability to count scallops.