Christina Machamer defeats Louis Petrozza to win 'Hell's Kitchen'

Christina Machamer was the Hell's Kitchen fourth-season contestant with the least amount of experience, but Gordon Ramsay rewarded her on potential.

The 25-year-old culinary student from St. Louis, MO was revealed to be Hell's Kitchen's fourth-season champ during last night's finale broadcast on Fox.

She claimed the position of executive chef at Gordon's recently opened The London West Hollywood -- a job that comes with a $250,000 salary.

"Oh my goodness. Holy f**king s**t! I am like so happy on 10 different levels, I can't even explain it," exclaimed Christina after her victory. "I'm really happy. It's almost like a fairy tale. I guess it really does happen to people, even big goobers like me... Mostly what I'd like to say to Chef Ramsay is thank you for your faith and your trust in me."

Christina defeated Louis Petrozza, a 47-year-old catering director from Charlotte, NC, during the finale broadcast.

"It's been a tough journey. It's been hard, it's been painful, it's been long but it's been good. It's been good," said an emotional Petrozza. "I've met so many beautiful people, so many beautiful people. How priceless is that?"

Hell's Kitchen fourth-season finale began where the previous episode left off with Petrozza having to choose between Matt Sigel and Jennifer Gavin for the last spot on his team for the final dinner service.

"Matt, he's a freaking lunatic, and Jen, she can be a bitch," opined Petrozza.

He chose the bitch, who joined Bobby Anderson and Ben Caylor on Petrozza's team. Christina go Matt, who joined Corey Earling and Louross Edralin on her team.

With 10 hours to go before the service commenced, Petrozza and Christina went over their menus with their teams. Petrozza was confident thanks to his buds Bobby and Ben while Jen sulked about not being in the finals. Matt had a problem respecting Christina as his leader, and she tried to compliment his risotto to get in his good graces. It worked.

"You earned my respect just now," he told her.

"He bought it hook, line and sinker," she said in a confessional. "It was great."

Petrozza then told his team nothing was prepped, and they were frustrated by his lack of organization.

"I'm a tiny bit overwhelmed," he said.

Prep work began with six hours to go before the doors opened, while construction continued in the restaurants. Designer John Janavs then met with Christina about the color of her half of the restaurant, and she was frustrated it still wasn't done and she wasn't in control. Petrozza's booth upholster also wasn't ready, which had him nervous.

During prep work Jen asked Gordon for a letter of recommendation, which Christina called "classless." Meanwhile Matt was screwing around in the kitchen and Corey complained to Christina about how he wasn't taking it seriously. Corey and Matt bickered as Jen copped an attitude with Ben after he called her "sweetheart. Jen pouted and told Petrozza he couldn't trust her.

"She's doing the same dance we all know her for," said Petrozza. "If Jen smarts off, I'll throw her out in a second."

With an hour to go, Gordon was ready to review Christina and Petrozza's dishes. Each finalist prepared three appetizers, three entrees and three desserts.

Christina's appetizers featured a trio of beef sliders, her entrees included a New York strip steak with succotash, while her deserts featured a tropical sundae. Gordon thought the appetizers were "very delicious" but wondered where the variety was and suggested she "sex them up." He complimented the dessert and implored some innovation.

"It was my strategy to be reasonably simple. I don't like things that are overcomplicated," she said.

Petrozza's appetizers included a lobster strudel, his entrees featured a filet mignon with risotto and onion ring, while his desserts included a vanilla souffle. Gordon thought the texture of the appetizer was "overcooked and terrible," complimented his beef but wasn't a big fan of the risotto, and called the dessert brave before liking the way it was made.

Gordon thought they had "two completely different menus" -- with Petrozza going for "highly imaginative food," which was dangerous; while Christina "played it safe," like a "plain Jane." Petrozza's booth upholstery arrived with a half hour to go and the paint was done on Christina's half. Gordon liked the mood Christina created with her design and also enjoyed the comfort of Petrozza's.

Hell's Kitchen's final tenth-season dinner service then commenced with Christina concerned about Matt being "unpredictable" and Bobby worried about Jen's bad attitude disturbing Petrozza's team. Each kitchen would serve 13 tables and 50 diners. Customer reviews and Gordon's observations would determine the winner.

Orders came into both kitchens with Petrozza and Christina communicating well with their teams, and Gordon was excited to see if they could keep up the momentum.

Christina's appetizers were enjoyed by the customers while Bobby had problems executing Petrozza's difficult strudel. Petrozza criticized it for being cold and asked Bobby to redo it. Gordon was impressed with the way Petrozza handled the situation and Bobby corrected the mistake, with the patrons enjoying the dish.

Christina continued to push her team to the limit and she got antsy, wanting to jump in and personally help Louross instead of controlling the pass. She sent Matt to help Louross, which wasn't exactly the biggest help.

"Working with Matt, it was like really frustrating," said Christina as Matt asked tons of questions about the salad he was making. "I have no idea how we're going to get through service."

Petrozza's appetizers were out to half his customers before his kitchen ran out of the cheese for his salad. Jen blamed Petrozza in a confessional for the station not being properly prepped before Bobby dropped the bomb that they were also out of strudel.

"What can we do? We can't take two of the appetizers off," said Gordon. "I swear I'll stop it."

Petrozza was angry and didn't know what to do, so he asked Bobby who compromised with a lobster risotto. The quick thinking led to food once again going out of the kitchen, and the appetizer worked as the patron's liked it. Some of Christina's entrees then returned to the pass when they weren't warm enough, which further delayed the kitchen.

"Come on, now we're backed up now!" said Gordon, asking Christina to turn up the volume a bit with her communication.

She did so and Gordon thought it made her team "on top of their game." The effort was reflected in Christina's satisfied patrons. Petrozza was plating the food too slowly, unwilling to pull others off their stations. He relented and took help from Ben and Jen who quickly rectified the situation, pushing the entrees out.

Christina criticized Matt for his monk fish being raw and Gordon reiterated the complaint. Matt began to mumble under his breathe at Gordon.

"F**king useless," said Gordon, who called Matt over and told him to concentrate.

Jen's "crummy attitude" compounded the fact that she was slow delivering an onion ring, and then when she did, it had to be redone. Petrozza implored Jen to move more quickly and Gordon backed him up by encouraging Petrozza to remind her who was boss. He did so and she delivered the onion rings.

Petrozza was up 10 tables to eight over Christina, who pressured Matt to deliver the monk fish. Once again it was undercooked and Christina was cursing Matt for landing on her team. When Christina couldn't straighten Matt out Gordon offered to do it for her.

"I'll f**king tell him if you want me to," he told her. "I'll run it! Run your brigade!"

Christina was more assertive and Matt continued to mumble under his breath about wanting to be left alone.

"I don't know what Matt's problem with the monk fish was," she opined. "This is my night and I'm not going to let him ruin it."

She pushed him forward as both kitchens reached the homestretch, with Gordon describing the competition as neck-and-neck. The desserts were sent out to compliments from the patrons and Hell's Kitchen officially came to a close for the fourth-season.

Gordon congratulated both kitchens for having "more highs than lows" but reminded them their would be only one winner. Petrozza and Christina then said goodbye to their teams before retreating to the dorms.

"I really do feel pretty good about it. I feel like I've got a good shot at this. I think I've got an edge," aid Petrozza. "But you can never be certain."

Gordon poured over the comment cards and reflected on the recently concluded dinner service before calling both Petrozza and Christina downstairs.

"Making this decision has been shear agony for me. I went back and forth a number of times," Gordon told them. "Clearly you both have strengths and without a shadow of a doubt are two very worthy finalists. After getting to know you both and watching you grow through Hell's Kitchen, I know both of you are going to go on to great success."

Christina was then revealed to be Hell's Kitchen's fourth-season winner and she celebrated the victory with her parents and her teammates from the final dinner service.

"Oh my God I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you guys," she exclaimed as she gave Corey a hug. "If it wasn't for you guys I wouldn't be here."

"Christina had the least amount of experience coming into Hell's Kitchen," said Gordon at the finale's conclusion.

"But I saw something in her that was quite special. She had the best potential across any other chef in Hell's Kitchen, and in my business, I think long term. I definitely, definitely made the right trust. I feel like I've been on a roller coaster the last three months. Of all the Hell's Kitchens, this has been the one with the most ups and downs. But we ended on a high note, and now it's time for me to get the f**k out of Hell's Kitchen."

Rock - Hell's Kitchen Season 3 Winner

The stupid battle of the sexes continues on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ this week, with both Rock and Bonnie picking teammates of the same gender. It makes sense, I suppose, since they’re used to working with each other, but it still annoys me. Back in the dorms each team organizes in their own, gender-stereotyped way, with Rock organizing like a military commander and Bonnie lounging on a couch and giving vague instructions. Rock has a game plan; Bonnie doesn’t even have recipes. On a happier note, though, Melissa is looking much better since her freakout-induced hair disaster days. Julia, on the other hand, is still half-crying and half-shooting death rays at Bonnie. Apparently they served bitterness with a side of hashbrowns back at the Waffle House.

They immediately head to the kitchen—no challenge this week, which makes me realize what a waste of time those challenges were to begin with—and Julia continues snapping at Bonnie. Rock, on the other hand, does a complete turnaround from his usual teamwork skills, pulling Josh aside to explain that he only needs confidence to put together a good dinner service. Where on earth did that come from? Does being in the top two come with a shot of maturity?

As the food starts to come out, Melissa is consistently burning the prawns, but pretty much everyone is on top of it. Bonnie and Rock present their dishes to Ramsay, and their appetizers and entrees—goat cheese salad and her signature fettuccine for Bonnie, surf and turf and then a rib eye for Rock—pass muster, but each dessert isn’t quite enough. Bonnie’s truffle assortment looked dandy to me at least, but Rock served a giant tall milkshake—anathema to the skinny L.A. women who usually show up in the restaurant.

The redesign of the restaurant that both Bonnie and Rock got to do turn out to be not all that exciting; if I hadn’t seen a side-by-side comparison, I never would have known they had renovated. Still, each of them feels a little fresher than the super-stuffy décor from before; simpler chairs, less carpet and gold embellishment. Bonnie’s idea for a “corner restaurant,” though, just can’t fly in that kind of huge, cavernous space.

Ramsay presents Bonnie and Rock with their own head chef’s jackets, and the race is on! Bonnie lays on the “master and commander” thing pretty thick, explaining that her teammates are not her friends, “they’re my brigade.” Julia continues to be the bad apple of Bonnie’s team—we barely hear a peep out of Jen or Melissa—ignoring Bonnie’s commands and saying she just wants to get through service. She may not be competing anymore, but wouldn’t she want to look good on national television for the sake of, y’know, real jobs?

Josh, in the meantime, continues to be the complete screw-up he was on every single other episode of the show—remember all that undercooked risotto? Every crabcake he puts out is overdone, and Rock is gentle with him for a while until Ramsay pulls him aside and points out the obvious—Josh is ruining everything, and Rock can’t let that happen. “I will work any station by myself to make sure that food is perfect,” Rock explains right before he pulls Josh aside to switch him to Vinnie’s section.

Bonnie’s section, whether from her lack of planning or from her team’s lack of communication, is constantly running out of key ingredients, like the fettuccine and prawns for the, uh, prawn fettuccine. Even though some of the dishes come back because they’re undercooked or cold, though, they somehow pull it off. Julia continues to wear her ass on her shoulders and pick fights with Bonnie, but at the end of dinner service she even concedes “You know I don’t hate you.” Not exactly an “I love you,” but for now it will do.

Rock, who eventually jumped in and started cooking dishes himself when no one else could handle them, used the talkback with Ramsay to point out that he would rather have not had Josh on his team. Um, duh. Bonnie on the other hand took the fall for her lack of ingredients, which is less dramatically fun but, well, true. Ramsay isn’t really willing to give substantial criticism to either of them, since that would obviously ruin the suspense, so all we’re left with before commercial is the knowledge that “You both came out with leadership qualities.”

Rock and Bonnie are sent back to the dorm while Ramsay makes his decision, and they behave and talk to each other nicely, which is more than could be said were pretty much any other contestants in the final two. Rock even tells Bonnie, while he appears to be half-asleep, that he thinks Bonnie won. They walk to the room where all the poor losers have had to hang up their jackets, and Ramsay compliments them both one more time before crushing one of their dreams forever. “I can see why you’re called Rock, because you’re rock-solid,” he tells Rock, which honestly sounds like the opening to a gay porn. Let the straight-to-video adult film parodies begin!

Rock Is Hell's Kitchen Season 3 Winner
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They stand before their respective doors—one will be locked, one will open “to their future”—and after a ridiculously-overedited and long sequences (it spanned an entire commercial break!), it’s…. ROCK!

He breaks down in tears as he walks out, and even Bonnie seems genuinely happy to see him win. As my boyfriend pointed out, she actually seemed afraid to win. There’s a veritable orgy of champagne being shot everywhere, champagne sticking to people, and more happiness than has been seen all season.

Even though I was rooting for Bonnie, I think the best man really did win. Rock learned to control his temper and actually work as a part of a team in the last few weeks, and he seemed more driven than anyone else on the show. If you can put up with Josh burning everything he’s ever given to cook, you can definitely run your own Vegas restaurant. Can’t wait to see him come back on season four!

Chef Ramsey Fires Josh Wahler from Hell's Kitchen

Josh, a 26-year-old junior sous chef from Miami Beach, FL, was kicked out of Hell's Kitchen restaurant during last night's dinner service challenge for a variety of reasons that infuriated Gordon.

Chef Ramsey Fires Josh In Hell's Kitchen
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Hell's Kitchen 3's eighth dinner service challenge commenced, and Josh immediately boasted how he was "100% confident" he'd do well at the appetizer station. However it didn't take long for him to get yelled at by Gordon for preparing way too much risotto when it hadn't even been ordered yet. While the attention fell to Rock for a few minutes when he overcooked the scallops, Josh was in trouble with Gordon for once again overcooking spaghetti because he wanted to get ahead. Bonnie was complimented by Gordon or her "nicely cooked" beef Wellington and Julia struggled at the garnish station.

But it was clear things were quickly falling apart for Josh who was caught cooking spaghetti for the third time when it hadn't been ordered yet.

"We cook spaghetti to order! Even the dirtiest, scummiest Italian restaurant in Venice Beach cooks spaghetti to order you donkey!" yelled Gordon at Josh. "You're pushing me to the f**king limit big boy!" An hour into the service and appetizers were finally getting pushed out, however Josh's overcooked risotto was being quickly sent back by customers and he was apparently out of chances.

"You're standing there, you're screwing me, and you're f**king useless! What are you doing?" Gordon asked Josh, who promptly apologized. It didn't matter. "Do me a favor, take that off," said Gordon to Josh as he ripped of the finalists' jacket. "Get the f**k out of here! Get out! Get out! Get out!" So Josh packed his bags and left Hell's Kitchen.

"I would have given my right arm to stay in the service and keep fighting because I came here with a dream to win," said Josh. "It appears it's over. It appears Green Valley Ranch is not in my future. The dream's over guys..."

Hell's Kitchen on its Hottest Ever!

Chef Gordon Ramsay is a former soccer player who is much better known for his top star ratings worldwide as a chef. Having a highly successful show in the UK, Fox brought him to their network with 12 hopeful apprentices vying to win a new restaurant of their own. If it were just about their cooking talents, it might be easy, but this isn’t called “hell’s kitchen” without the devil himself in the person of Ramsay, making incredible demands for perfection, something he himself provides as is proven by his many years of winning top worldwide awards for his magnificent cuisine and presentation. If you can stand the heat, welcome to Hell’s Kitchen.

On its 3rd season, episode 3 has been the most stressfull ever. Chef is on the verge of loosing his sanity with the under super stressed season 3 contestant.

Hell's Kitchen on its Hottest Ever!
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