RamsayRobertThe absentee Robert was not missed much by his Hell’s Kitchen teammates on episode 7, which opened with a new group challenge. The competitors – minus hospitalized Robert – lined up before a large, covered object. One chef guessed that perhaps it was a lobster tank.

It was anything but. Ramsay unveiled the object, revealing a craps table. Two dice covered in letters and this furnishing created one of the most interesting HK challenges yet. Each team member took a turn at the die, rolling a letter apiece. The challenge was that every chef had to pick a food item starting with the letter they rolled; the entire team would then have to band together to create a dish with the resulting products.

The red team ended up with rabbit, green beans (haricot vert), potatoes, garlic and ham hock (a pork fat). The male blue team went down a different path, choosing haddock (a type of fish), figs, angel hair pasta and tomatoes. Two very different dishes were shaping up even before a bit of cooking began.

Surprisingly, however, the blue team managed to combine their tomatoes and figs into a successful sauce. In the end, their meal was more appealing to Gordon Ramsay than the ladies’ rabbit entrée and garlic puree. As a reward, the men headed off to a fabulous Las Vegas suite (where they stayed the night) while the ladies worked to re-stock the restaurant all day.

Robert returned from the hospital during the next day’s prep session. He remained cool and collected as the rest of his team completely froze him out during prep.

The dinner service brought a new, never-before-seen addition to the kitchen: chef’s tables. Each one was situated in the blue and red kitchens respectively, with two of Ramsay’s own chefs seated right at the heart of the action. Both sides managed ably through the appetizer round, but Van and Robert on the blue side found trouble serving their entrees. Finally, Ramsay was pushed to his breaking point and forced to shut their service down early.

Obviously, they were the losing team. The men took the opportunity to nominate Robert for elimination. Van, who’d served plastic-covered fish to more than one diner, was also nominated. Ramsay wasted no time calling Andy to join them.

Van was quickly sent back to his teammates, leaving Ramsay to deal with Andy and Robert. The latter became a little over-excited, using his moment to speak to bash Andy’s culinary skills (though much of the argument was valid, if a little over-done). Regardless of Robert’s rage, Ramsay was not prepared to excuse his poor performance on the meat station. After two seasons, Robert was banished from Hell’s Kitchen…and suddenly an element of fun was just sucked out of the show.

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