Hell's Kitchen star Gordon Ramsay narrowed the Fox culinary competition's eleventh season to its Top 4 finalists during Thursday night's broadcast.
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Gordon decided to oust Susan Heaton, a 29-year-old culinary student from Whittier, CA, from the competition after her fellow contestants nominated her for elimination alongside Ja'Nel Witt, a 31-year-old executive chef from Houston, TX, and Mary Poehnelt, a 26-year-old butcher and cook from Belchertown, MA.
"Coming into the competition, I realized that there were some people that were going to be much more experienced than me. I'm in culinary school and this was my very first experience working on a line. I'm most proud that no matter what challenge was thrown at me, I did not back down. I had a black jacket! I made it very far in this competition, so I'm going to be ready for whatever comes my way," Susan said following her ouster.
Susan was cut following a dinner service in which each of the five remaining finalists took turns running the kitchen and manning Gordon's usual hot place position.
Gordon declared the dinner service "a disaster." Susan accidentally sent out a few entrees before the appetizers, Mary burned a piece of fish and Ja'Nel wasn't cooking great risotto and had her "worst performance yet," according to Gordon.
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Earlier in the episode, the five finalists competed in a cooking challenge. For the task, each chef had 30 minutes to cook 10 of their most "stunning" gourmet burgers for a room full of diners. Susan finished in last place, while Jon Scallion, a 27-year-old chef de cuisine from York, PA, came in first place after 40% of the guests agreed he had created and executed the best burger.
For winning, Jon got to enjoy a spa day which he chose to share with Cyndi Stanimirov, a 25-year-old head chef from Queens, NY. The rest of the finalists had to complete a list of odd chores for losing.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski