Lauren Lawless

Hit culinary competition series HELL’S KITCHEN returns for its 19th season in a flashy new setting, as Chef Gordon Ramsay takes the show to Las Vegas, the city that’s home to Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen restaurant at Caesars Palace. For the first time ever, 16 aspiring chefs from around the country will roll the dice and head to Sin City in the hopes of winning big.

In their first individual challenge, the chefs are tasked with creating a shrimp dish worthy of the Hell’s Kitchen opening night menu. As further incentive, the winner of the challenge also receives a punishment pass from Chef Ramsay to be able to skip a future punishment. Then, both teams are put to the test as they take on their first dinner service with the most expansive menu Hell’s Kitchen has ever seen.

After watching a demonstration by Chef Ramsay, the chefs are tasked with perfectly re-creating his take on Caesar salad, which they then need to deliver to him on a scooter. Later, a scrambled dinner service leads to Chef Ramsay kicking a team out of the kitchen for the first time this season.

Chef Ramsay opens up Hell’s Kitchen to 15 lucky couples who will get married in the restaurant. The teams are tasked with preparing a post-wedding brunch for the couples, with the winning team getting a trip to Lake Tahoe to experience all that the location has to offer, including Gordon’s prize-winning restaurant, HELL’S KITCHEN Lake Tahoe, at Harvey’s Hotel and Casino. Then, when one of the chefs is rushed to the hospital, the teams undergo a shake-up, which completely changes the dynamic in the kitchen.

Each team is tasked with creating four Mexican dishes from a food truck and elevating them to restaurant-quality dishes worthy of Hell’s Kitchen. In order to get their ingredients, each team must corral live animals into pens to pick their proteins. Meanwhile, tensions rise on the blue team and one member walks out of the competition during dinner service.