Andrew Forester quits, Mikey Termini ousted from 'Hell's Kitchen'

Hell's Kitchen's seventh season lost two more contestants during last night's broadcast of the Fox culinary competition series as Andrew Forester quit in the middle of dinner service and Gordon Ramsay still eliminated Mikey Termini afterwards.


"Chef Ramsay really didn't like my performance," opined Mikey after his ouster. "I know I did crappy but I still got my tattoo of Hell's Kitchen and I wear it with pride. I don't regret a thing. I accept my fate."

Hell's Kitchen's second seventh-season episode began following the elimination of Stacey Slichta, as the 15 remaining culinary contestants went upstairs to the dorms after the first dinner service.

Autumn Lewis, a 29-year-old personal chef from Chicago, IL who currently resides in North Hollywood, CA, continued to receive grief from the Red Team for not being a "team player."

"If people are upset or think that I'm bossy, I could care less," she said.


While the Blue Team remained in tact, Jason Ellis, a 37-year-old personal chef from Greenville, SC who currently resides in Suwanee, GA, felt that Mikey, a 29-year-old line cook from Santa Cruz, CA who currently resides in Kihei, Maui, HI, was on "borrowed time."

"He was one of the weakest cooks here," said Jason. "He's leaving sooner or later."

Mikey knew he "screwed up."

"I'm only going to get better," he promised.

The contestants were awoken by sous chefs sous chefs are Scott Leibfried and Andi Van Willigan around 5AM the next morning and rushed to the dining area. Once there they were met by Gordon, who said they would be going back to basics for the next team challenge.


The contestants would be working in pairs, and each pair would have to prepare four different egg dishes -- poached, soft-boiled, sunny-side up and scrambled. Because the Red Team was one person short, Gordon said Siobhan Allgood, a 25-year-old pub executive chef from Rockledge, PA who currently resides in Philadelphia, PA, would be on her own. The pairs had five minutes.

Autumn decided to help Siobhan because she was on her own in the Red kitchen. In the Blue kitchen, Scott Hawley, a 32-year-old executive chef from Modesto, CA who currently resides in New York, NY, was more focused on the eggs of Salvatore Coppola, a 35-year-old pizzeria chef from Monte Di Procida, Italy who currently resides in Laurel Springs, NJ, than his own.

While Mikey thought the scrambled eggs Salvatore made were fine, Scott instructed them to cook them a little bit more.

"I thought they were perfect," said Mikey.

The challenge ended and Gordon started with the Red Team pair of Nilka Hendricks, a 28-year-old line cook from Glen Cove, NY who currently resides in West Hempstead, NY, and Maria Torrisi, a 24-year-old kitchen supervisor from Scranton, PA -- who scored points for all four egg dishes.


Salvatore and Mikey went next, and Gordon criticized their scrambled eggs for being too grainy and soft-boiled egg for being too hard. However they still got two points for the eggs Mikey prepared.

Siobhan went next and was forced to reveal that she received help from her teammates.

"I asked you to work on your own," said Gordon.

"There was pressure from my team," said Siobhan. "Not from my team, from Autumn."

Siobhan then revealed she only prepared the poached egg dish and began to cry.


"I shouldn't have listened to the teammates that were forcing me to do something that I should have known was wrong to do," she said through tears. "I'm just so mad at myself."

Autumn felt Siobhan didn't have "a lot of backbone." Gordon said Siobhan would only get credit for the poached egg, which he liked, giving the Red Team a 5-2 lead.

Ed Battaglia, a 28-year-old high school cooking teacher from Burlington, NJ who currently resides in Edgewater Park, NJ, and Jay Santos, a 32-year-old executive chef from Melrose, MA who currently resides in Medford, MA, went next for the Blue Team and scored three points -- tying the score at five.

Autumn and Fran Klier, a 44-year-old catering chef from Rockville Centre, NY, went next for the Red Team and they only received one point for the soft-boiled, making the score 6-5.

Scott and Andrew, a 28-year-old farmer from West Babylon, NY who currently resides in Wake Forest, NC, went next for the Blue Team and scored three points, giving the men and 8-6 lead. Holli Ugalde, a 24-year-old banquet chef from San Bernardino, CA, and Jamie Bisoulis, a 26-year-old sous chef from Chicago, IL, went last for the Red Team and scored for all their dishes -- giving the Red Team a 10-8 lead.


Jason and Benjamin Knack, a 33-year-old culinary instructor from Elmont, NY who currently resides in Malden, MA, were the Blue Team's last chance. They scored for three of their four dishes and the Blue Team won the challenge 11-10.

For their reward, the Blue Team would take a helicopter tour of Los Angeles and enjoy a champagne lunch with Gordon and maitre d' Jean-Philippe Susilovic on top one of the skyscrapers. For their punishment, the Red Team had to take a tuna delivery and prep it for the next night's service.

Siobhan continued to cry about the eggs and Autumn said she was aware she'd be the Red Team's "fall guy for a lot of things that go wrong."

"Strong people can take a lot, and I'm ready to take it," she said.

With the rewards and punishments in the books, both teams rushed to finish preparing their kitchens for the next night's dinner service. Gordon then revealed the chefs would be doing a tuna ta-ta table side -- assigning Fran for the Red Team and Scott for the Blue Team.

Salvatore had some problems when he couldn't name any of the desserts at Gordon's request.


"Get out!" ordered Gordon, sending him upstairs to review the menu.

The Red Team had some pre-service problems of their own when Gordon found their water was over-seasoned. He asked who was responsible, and Autumn said it was her.

The dinner service then commenced, and Gordon sent Jay upstairs to get Salvatore -- who was immediately asked the desserts upon his return. While he initially struggled, he was eventually able to do it.

Mikey served his first risotto and Gordon quickly sent it back for over-cooking it. In the Red kitchen, Autumn helped Siobhan with her risotto -- teamwork Gordon didn't appreciate. Siobhan accused Autumn of "butting in" and Gordon asked her to be a little more independent.

Mikey's second attempt at the risotto finally arrived at the pass after 43 minutes, however it was immediately sent back by the diners for being under-cooked.

"I'm pissed off!" yelled Gordon, who was also upset that Mikey wasn't communicating with him.


The Red kitchen moved onto entrees, however Nilka was having problems on the garnish station.

"She froze," commented Holli. "She wasn't talking and she wouldn't answer. She was just like, dead."

The Blue Team also moved onto entrees and Salvatore's beef Wellington was praised for being cooked perfectly. However Jason tried to rush his chicken and Gordon caught him, forcing him to start over.

Ninety-minutes into the dinner service, the Blue Team's diners started to get a bit restless while the Red Team's diners were receiving all of their entrees. However Gordon smashed Jamie's salmon for being too crispy and criticized the team's overall lack of communication.

In the Blue kitchen, Andrew started to talk to his garnishes and eventually began to panic. His mashed potatoes went to the pass incredibly soupy and Gordon called him an "idiot." Andrew gave Gordon lip, which he didn't appreciate.

"I'm losing my temper with you," Gordon told Andrew before throwing him out. "You've got nothing right. You don't care. You've got respect. You're a f--king joke to the industry. F--k off."


Jean-Philippe stopped Andrew and asked what he was doing.

"I'm walking out the damn door!" responded Andrew. "That man asked me to leave and you expect me to stay here?"

"He's just testing you," replied Jean-Philippe.

"Right, and if I walk back in there, I don't want to hear him yell at me again," said Andrew. "I don't need this."

Andrew added in a confessional that he "doesn't really care" what Gordon thinks of him.

"I'm done," said Andrew -- becoming only the second Hell's Kitchen contestant to quit in the middle of a dinner service.


The Blue Team continued without him and actually caught up with the Red Team. Both teams subsequently completed dinner service. Gordon criticized Jason's chicken, Mikey's risotto, Nilka on garnish and Jamie's salmon.

"Winning team? Not tonight," said Gordon. "Each team, come to a consensus on the one person from their team that should go home tonight."

Jay wanted to nominate Jason, and it didn't sit too well with him. Benjamin agreed with Jay.

"Clearly these guys are intimidated to work with me," said Jason, who added he'd be nominating Salvatore.

Mikey agreed Salvatore was the right choice.

"I'm surprised nobody said me," added Mikey in a confessional.


The Red Team discussed their decision, and Nilka's name was the brought up the most. Autumn also received some heat for her problems during the service.

The two teams then reconvened in the kitchen and Maria revealed the Red Team was nominating Autumn.

"We began the service with very salty water," explained Maria.

"She's not a team player," added Siobhan. "She cannot communicate with her teammates."

For the Blue Team, Benjamin said they chose Jason.

"He's not a team player and he makes it difficult for us to work with him," added Benjamin.


Gordon called Autumn and Jason forward before asking Autumn to plead her case.

"I do not feel like I should be sent home for salty water," she said. "I think it's personal."

Gordon then asked the Red Team if Autumn was their worst cook, and they all said no.

"Who is it?" he asked.

Jamie's name was then given to Gordon by Maria, and he put Autumn back in line and called Jamie out to stand next to Jason. Jamie said she has "so much heart." Jason admitted to messing up the chicken but said he was passionate about working for Gordon.

"Okay, the person leaving Hell's Kitchen -- all for the right reasons -- is Mikey," said Gordon. "You backed your team up, but not just one service -- for two services!"


Mikey then left the kitchen.

"Mikey was all about appearances," said Gordon. "Unfortunately for him, it didn't appear he could cook."

Hell's Kitchen's next seventh-season episode will Tuesday, June 15 at 8PM ET/PT.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio