Hell's Kitchen, episode 4: Local cook's skill with salmon comes in handy in upstream swim

WOLFEBORO — Nikki Hanna, a Kingswood graduate whose culinary education consisted of a couple of years as a line cook at Wolfe’s Tavern, dodged elimination in the first three episodes of Hell’s Kitchen. In the fourth, though, she stood strong and proved an asset to her team.

The episode didn’t start off promisingly for Hanna, though. In the prior episode, her fellow red team members nominated her for elimination, even though she had performed well during the third day of the competitive cooking show. Host and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay chastised the team for that move, and instead sent another cook packing.

At the start of the fourth episode, as the red team members were lounging in a break room, contestant Amber made it clear that she felt Hanna didn’t deserve to compete for the ultimate prize, a job as head chef in a new Hell’s Kitchen restaurant Ramsay was planning to open in Lake Tahoe.

“It’s frustrating having people around me that do not believe that I am capable of doing what I know that I am capable to do,” Hanna replied, defending herself. “You guys don’t know me. You don’t what I have to (expletive) offer.”

Amber, an executive chef, continued her offensive. “You are young, you haven’t managed a staff that large, you are stepping into your first sous chef role. You are not going to beat everybody in the end and get the job.”

Speaking on Friday, after the episode aired, Hanna said the affront seemed to come out of nowhere.

“I didn’t see it coming, although I was not surprised when she said that,” Hanna said. “She’s taking it seriously. She’s highly experienced. A very seasoned chef. I was a little alarmed that she came at me right out of the gate.” However – and she said this happened a few times during the episode – scenes were cut that would have told more of the story. After the tense exchange, Hanna said she and Amber ended on good terms.

“Immediately after that conversation we squashed it, had a hug and moved on.”

In fact, the red team as a whole grew closer over the course of the episode, titled “Wedding Bells in Hell” and which honored the more than 300 weddings that take place each day in Las Vegas, where the television show was filmed. Ramsay challenged the red and blue teams to make a wedding day brunch for a dining room full of newlyweds. The red team, made up of the female contestants, finished all of their dishes first. The men on the blue team, as punishment for losing the challenge, had to bake 600 cupcakes from scratch. Meanwhile, the women were whisked to Lake Tahoe for a day of snowmobiling and partying in a swank suite.

“That was so fun, the best prize ever,” Hanna said, noting that the snowmobiling made her homesick. The trip also brought the red team together, she said, describing a mountaintop scene that was cut from the episode. “It was a full moon, we were standing up there and howling at the moon, throwing snowballs at chef Christina, bonding and getting to know each other,” she said.

The team was dealt a shock when they returned to Hell’s Kitchen the next day, though. Blue team member Drew had dropped out of the competition due to a medical concern, leaving the men outnumbered by the women. Ramsay decided to even the odds, and asked the red team for a volunteer to switch sides. Hanna said this moment wasn’t shown on the episode, but Amber sheepishly raised her hand when she saw that no one else did, then Ramsay laughed it off as though it was a joke. That’s why it was even more surprising when he told Amber to join the men.

“It was a little bit shocking, especially after going to Lake Tahoe and feeling good about our teammates and feeling that support,” Hanna said.

That night’s dinner service was a rollercoaster in both kitchens, and Hanna showed herself to be a valuable team member. She and Cory were assigned to the meat station, but Hanna left the grill – which is really a one-woman job, anyway – to support other stations in need.

“I was kind of all over the place,” Hanna said after seeing the episode. “I noticed myself doing that more and more, going wherever help was needed.”

It was Brittani that needed Hanna the most. A cook from Kentucky, Brittani was struggling to pan-sear salmon. Hanna, who said she cooks salmon every day, took her under her wing.

It was the station Hanna left, though, that sank the team, as Cory ended up sending undercooked steak to Ramsay.

It was Brittani that Ramsay chose to send home, though. Which, Hanna said, turned the ratchet on the stress level.

“It’s hard to see any of your teammates go. She handled it with a lot of integrity,” Hanna said. “I don’t think we were used to the idea of, everyone is going to leave eventually. That fear sort of builds every time someone leaves.”

Hell’s Kitchen episodes air at 8 p.m. on Thursday nights on FOX, and earlier episodes are available through Hulu.