‘Hell’s Kitchen 23’ recap: ‘Five Comedians Walk Into Hell…’ and for one chef it’s no joke

Tonight on Hell’s Kitchen — the top five’s first challenge as Black Jackets is no joke. Each chef will be assigned to hilarious comedians including Druski, Jeff Dye, Judy Gold, Jim Norton and Yamaneika Saunders. They will be tasked with teaching them a signature Gordon Ramsay recipe — but do the remaining chefs have what it takes transform these unruly class clowns into professional chefs?

Next, the top five will be cooking out of the same kitchen for the first time as they compete for a spot in the final four. The all-new “Five Comedians Walk Into Hell…” episode of Hell’s Kitchen: Head Chefs Only airs Thursday, Jan. 16 (8-9 PM ET/PT) on Fox.

Here are the top five chefs: Brandon, Egypt, Hannah, Kyle, Whit

The Challenge

Gordon reveals the chefs must each teach an aspiring cook how to make his famous lobster ravioli. However, these students are a bit unruly and disruptive. Five popular comedians enter the kitchen and get paired up with one of the Black Jacket chefs. Below are the teams:

Hannah & Yamaneika
Whit & Druski
Kyle & Judy
Brandon & Jim
Egypt & Jeff

The comedians had 45 minutes to cook Gordon’s lobster ravioli under the instruction of their Hell’s Kitchen partners. Egypt couldn’t manage Jeff’s chaotic behavior and they clearly had the worst-looking plate of the bunch. Gordon complimented Kyle & Judy’s dish, calling the ravioli “delicious” and the seasoning “on point.” Brandon & Jim’s ravioli looked good as well — with sauce “in abundance.” More impressive was the taste — which Gordon ranked above Kyle & Judy’s. Next, Egypt & Jeff bring up their ravioli with no sauce — just caviar dumped all over the top of the pasta. Gordon calls the dish “a shame.” Whit & Druski’s dish was visually stunning and the filling of the ravioli was perfectly packed. Last, Hannah & Yamaneika served up “beautiful” ravioli that was “very good indeed.”

The winner of the comedian cook-a-long challenge was Whit & Druski. As the winner of the first individual Black Jacket challenge, Gordon sent Whit on an amazing shopping spree at a kitchen supply store. She chose Kyle to join her on the reward. The other three chefs stayed back to clean up the kitchen for dinner service.

Dinner Service

Expectations were high as all Black Jacket chefs cooked out of the same kitchen for the first time. Appetizers went relatively smoothly, but the stress levels rose as tickets for the entrees poured in. Brandon served up raw chicken from the meat station, which did not go over well with Gordon. His struggles continued on the next ticket when he sent up an unsatisfactory rack of lamb. Gordon finally lost his cool when Brandon put overcooked beef Wellingtons on the pass. The Black Jackets finally finished their first dinner service, but Gordon wasn’t happy with their performance.

The Big Winner

The standout of tonight’s episode was Whit. After a tough couple of weeks, she rebounded to win this week’s challenge and was never called out at dinner service.

The Big Loser

Brandon was the weakest link at tonight’s dinner service and gave his worst performance to date. Gordon eliminated him without even thinking about another option. At the close of the episode Gordon stated, “Throughout the competition, at times I could see Brandon as my next head chef. But after tonight’s performance, I could only see him going home.”

Next Week

When the final four take their turns running the pass, who will rise to the occasion? And who will crack under the pressure? We’ll find out on the next episode of Hell’s Kitchen airing Jan. 23 on Fox.