Hell's Kitchen star Gordon Ramsay narrowed the Fox culinary competition's eleventh season to its Top 5 finalists during Thursday night's broadcast.
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Gordon decided to oust Zach Womack, a 34-year-old head line cook from Philadelphia, PA, from the competition after his Blue Team nominated him for elimination alongside the Red Team's nominated member Susan Heaton, a 29-year-old culinary student from Whittier, CA.
"I got to work side by side with one of the greatest chefs of our time. So I'm going to still continue my culinary dream, and hopefully if Chef Ramsay needs me in the future, he'll pick the phone up and call me. If you call, I'll be there, not a problem," Zach said following his ouster.
Zach was cut following a dinner service in which each of the six remaining finalists took turns running the kitchen and manning Gordon's usual hot place position. Gordon declared both teams winners but still needed to cut a finalist, and Zach apparently had an issue with his rack of lamb multiple times and there was a breakdown in communication on his part.
Earlier in the episode, the Blue and Red teams competed in the eleventh season's final team challenge. For the three-entree challenge, each team had 30 minutes to cook three "stunning" entrees from the regular menu, but the catch was that only one person could be in the kitchen at a time.
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The rules required one person from each team to start cooking for five minutes and then the next person would come in when that time was up, but the pair would only have 15 seconds to communicate before switching. Whichever team delivered the most precise, accurate entrees at the end of the 30 minutes would win the challenge.
The teams had to prepare a roasted chicken, rack of lamb and halibut, which have vastly different cooking times and techniques.
The Blue Team ended up winning the challenge, which was only their second win of the season, and received an exclusive tour of Los Angeles from their own helicopter and the chance to indulge in over $20,000 of the world's rarest caviar.
As a result of losing, the Red Team had to prep a truck load of potatoes and onions and then send them to the Los Angeles Mission. Afterward, they had to prep the kitchen for the night's dinner service.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski