Hell's Kitchen (U.S.)

Eighteen chefs vie for a head chef position at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino. In part one of a two-part premiere, Ramsay splits up the contestants into two teams. They then prepare their signature dishes for Ramsay's refined judgment.

The chefs continue to feel the heat of the competition.

The two teams must cook a meal for sixty newly naturalized U.S. citizens. The winners go on a safari trip in San Diego while the losers do manual labor at the Ballona Wetlands.

The aspiring chefs create four different lamb dishes. The winners spend a day at the horse races while the losers first wash paint off the sheep, then clean and prep the kitchens for the dinner service.

The remaining contestants tackle Mexican cuisine in a challenge judged by executive chefs John Sedlar and Thomas Ortega. The winners dine at one of the judge's gourmet restaurants for lunch and take a salsa dancing class. The losers prep both kitchens, make homemade salsa and eat tripe for lunch.

Fashion and food mix when the contestants prepare an haute couture-inspired menu for designers. The winners get new wardrobes while the losers prepare a dinner service that coincides with a fashion show.

The runway show dinner proves distracting for some, while other contestants succeed despite the pressure to time the service perfectly with the show.

For the dinner service, the remaining contestants must serve Tito Oritz and Sugar Ray Leonard protein-packed dishes that'll knock their socks off.

The contestants must prepare a thirty-minute meal in which a slot machine randomly determines the ingredients that they can use. The winners go on a shopping spree for kitchenware and utensils while the losers prep beef for the dinner service.

The chefs continue to compete at Gordon Ramsay Steak at the Paris Las Vegas casino and hotel, but personal conflicts distract from their work.

For this episode's challenge, all of the chefs roll a twelve-sided dice to determine their ingredients. Each team produces one dish using all the ingredients named. The winners fly to Nevada and spend an evening at the Paris Las Vegas Casino and Hotel. Meanwhile, the losers spend the night barbecuing a pig to make pulled pork.

The teams submit to the annual blind taste test challenge. The winners spend a day at a water park in San Dimas while the losers make deliveries, grind peppercorn, change the oil in the fryers and peel potatoes.

The remaining chefs create their own menus in the biggest challenge the contestants have faced yet. To assist him in determining the winner of tonight's dinner service, Chef Ramsay relies on diner comment cards for his brutally honest criticism.

A southern gospel choir sings a rendition of "This Little Light of Mine" to the remaining contestants. Afterwards, for today's challenge, the teams must put a modern spin on a traditional southern dish in thirty minutes. The winners get a photoshoot in "Epicurious," then dine at The Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.

The two teams must prepare three dishes from the regular "Hell's Kitchen" menu in a tag-team race. Chef Ramsay judges the dishes on completeness, appearance and taste. Needless to say, things don't go quite as expected for the teams.

Split into three pairs, the contestants taste Chef Lefebvre and Chef Hatfield's dishes. This leads to a "taste it, make it" challenge in which the chefs must distinguish the ingredients in the meals and reproduce it in thirty minutes. The winners go jet skiing and enjoy a gourmet picnic while the losers clean the dining room.

The chefs must teach five Miss Teen USA winners how to cook a chicken parmesan dish using only words for guidance. The winner enjoys a gourmet Italian lunch and kayaking in the Venice canals; the losers prepare for the dinner service.

Loved ones visit the remaining chefs. For today's challenge, the chefs take a trip to Bristol Farms supermarket and have ten minutes to spend fifteen dollars on ingredients. The chefs must cook a dish in thirty minutes with the groceries they bought. The winner visits Manhattan Beach Post while the losers sort recyclable material from the trash and prep for the dinner service.

In one hour, the final two contestants prepare five entrées that are judged by five legendary chefs, including Wolfgang Puck.

The two budding chefs are placed in two separate teams made up of contestants eliminated from the competition prior to the finale. Organized, the teams prepare one last dinner service for Chef Ramsay that will determine the winner of this season's "Hell's Kitchen."