Julia Williams was a contestant on Season 3 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 4th place.
Season 3[]
Episode 1[]
- Main article: Episode 301 - 12 Chefs Compete
The twelve new aspiring chefs were heading down to Hell's Kitchen in SUVs, while getting to know each other on the ride. Once they arrived at Hell's Kitchen, Jean-Philippe introduced himself, but before he could go into how he and Ramsay met, the latter appeared and told the former to cut the crap. Afterwards, Ramsay ordered the contestants to cook their signature dishes.
During the Signature Dish Challenge, Julia was the tenth person to have her dish judged by Ramsay. When she came up, she revealed that she was a short-order cook, and despite never going to culinary school, she felt confident. She made fried chicken penne, but Ramsay had Tiffany taste her dish with him. Both agreed that while the chicken was delicious, it was spoiled by too much pepper. Then, Ramsay had her taste Tiffany's seafood tostada, and both agreed that it tasted good.
During prep, Julia was ignored by her team despite her insistence to help but continued to try and ask her teammates. However, Joanna pushed her away from prepping items. When Ramsay asked both teams if they were ready, she admitted there was no communication in the women, but Tiffany argued that they were doing fine. Although Joanna agreed with her, she decided to say nothing as she wanted to appear confident.
During dinner service, Julia was on the fish station. Tiffany forced her to prep apples when she tried to offer help, much to her annoyance as she could cook eggs. When the red team struggled on their first order, she wondered why she was not asked to help as she could be of assistance instead of peeling apples, and asked Jesus to help them. Two hours into dinner service, the women's teamwork continued to sink as she once again offered help, but Tiffany continued to push her away. That caused her to break down in tears and told Ramsay about her dilemma, but Tiffany was annoyed that she blamed the entire team for her two minutes of fame. Ramsay gathered the women and noted that there was more infighting going on than cooking. She and Melissa were reassigned to the appetizers, and Ramsay told them to get some food out while asking them to work as a team. Together, the two were able to get 17 tables of appetizers out.
The red team lost the service, and Melissa was named "Best of the Worst". During deliberation, Julia came up to Melissa and admitted that while she was the least experienced of the women, she was bothered by the lack of communication. Melissa knew that she was a team player but also knew that going from a waffle house to a Ramsay restaurant was a big jump. Unknown to her, Joanna and Tiffany tried to convince Melissa to nominate her.
She was not nominated for elimination.[1]
Episode 2[]
- Main article: Episode 302 - 11 Chefs Compete
During the Dover Sole Challenge, Julia was able to get two of her fish cleaned properly, knowing she belonged in Hell's Kitchen. The red team won the challenge 9-8 and went fishing with Ramsay at the Pacific Ocean along with having lunch with him. Later that night, Aaron confided to her about his standing with the younger men as they knew more than him, but Julia told him not to worry about the men's experience.
During dinner service, Julia was on the meat station. She was not seen much as she did not have any major problems. The red team won the dinner service, and she knew they would have completed service.[2]
Episode 3[]
- Main article: Episode 303 - 10 Chefs Compete
Back at the dorms, Julia hoped the red team would keep winning since as the underdog as she wanted to learn more and eventually win the competition.
When Ramsay announced that Hell's Kitchen would open for breakfast, Julia got excited since she cooked breakfast food for a living. As the Army and Navy Service Challenge began, Sous Chef Mary-Ann urged her to step up as a leader since she cooked breakfast food for a living. She took the role seriously and delegated her teammates to different stations and food items. After getting the women refocused after Joanna's hash brown incident, they were able to complete the orders and won the challenge. Ramsay praised her for her performance and told her to go over to the blue kitchen and help the men get sorted out, though Brad knew that they lost because of that. She managed to get the men organized as Ramsay deemed it music to his ears, and she felt she proved to everyone she belonged in Hell's Kitchen. With her help, the men managed to serve all their tables, and during the post-mortem, Ramsay praised her for her outstanding performance.
The red team was rewarded with a helicopter ride and had lunch with Ramsay on the USS Midway. During the reward, Julia called it one of the best rewards yet.
During prep, Julia confessed to Sous Chef Mary-Ann that she did not know how to make a crème brulée, causing her teammates to lose confidence in her. During dinner service, she was on the dessert station, but after Joanna's rancid crab incident, Ramsay had her and Jen over at the appetizer station. The two of them were able to get appetizers out, but she had to stop Jen from sending spaghetti that was in the trash moments ago as it was not acceptable.
The red team lost the dinner service, and they were asked to nominate two people for elimination. During deliberation, Julia was disappointed with Jen trying to recycle trashed pasta. Then, Bonnie and Melissa brought up her name since her inexperience with the fine-dining food made them believe she could not win. However, she called Melissa out for that, and Joanna defended her as she believed she could run a Michelin star restaurant.
Julia was the red team's second nominee for elimination, with Joanna being the first. They were eventually joined by Jen who nominated herself. During her plea, she did not feel she was out of her league, and Ramsay agreed with her, sending her back in line and therefore survived elimination. While being dismissed, she felt that she would be a major threat if she stuck around.[3]
Episode 4[]
- Main article: Episode 304 - 8 Chefs Compete
During the Blind Taste Test, Julia was the first person up for the red team and faced off against Brad. She was able to correctly identify American cheese and fried chicken. The red team won 5-3 and were rewarded with a special lunch excursion with Ramsay by eating in the dark. During the reward, she never knew people liked to eat in the dark.
During dinner service, Julia was on the fish station. Melissa told her that she needed two more minutes on her appetizers, though Bonnie found out that her scallops were overcooked. Despite telling Melissa about the problem, Melissa ignored her and Bonnie's pleas and still called for times. When Ramsay noticed the communication problem, she explained to him what happened. While Ramsay praised her for her honesty, he criticized Melissa's poor teamwork skills and threatened to kick her out if she did not improve. Melissa chewed her out since Ramsay expected more from her due to her skills. Later, she and Melissa went to check on Bonnie's Wellingtons, but they were both raw and medium. When both teams were clearing down, she tried to calm Bonnie down after having a moment of crisis. Both teams lost dinner service, and for the red team, Jen was named "Best of the Worst".
She was not nominated for elimination.[4]
Episode 5[]
- Main article: Episode 305 - 7 Chefs Compete
During the Wedding Planning Challenge, Melissa told the women to ask her for direction as that was what Ramsay wanted, but Julia snarkily said that helped them before. She decided to sear the duck breast, but Melissa butted in and told her to do something else while also insulting Bonnie by telling her not to listen to her. While she took the duck breast out of the oven to rest, but Melissa placed it back in the oven so it would stay warm. That caused more bickering, and an open-eared Rock hoped that the argument between Hell’s Bitches would be their downfall. Later, she and Melissa found out that the duck breast was overcooked, but the former refused to take responsibility for it, leading to an argument. When Ramsay asked both teams if they were happy, she said they were not and blamed Melissa for her dictatorship role. During the judging, she presented the red team's fish entrée, and went up against Josh. She presented their sea bass with collard greens and bacon. It was deemed delicious by the couple and she scored for the red team.
The red team eventually lost the challenge 1-2 because of the duck breast incident, and they were punished by decorating the dining room for the wedding reception, under the supervision of Francisco the Party Planner. Back at the dorms, Julia knew Melissa made the wrong decision to put the duck breast back in the oven, and asked the latter what she thought of that challenge as she talked too much. When Melissa deflected Bonnie's criticisms, she felt the former was disrespecting them. However, Melissa rudely told Julia to grow some balls next time, making Bonnie coming close to strangling her. During the punishment, she did not believe the women needed a plan when Melissa tried to make one and wanted her to shut up. Melissa argued that she was only trying to help, but she said she was doing more talking than helping.
During the Wedding dinner service, Julia was on the appetizer station. She was able to get all her dishes out with no problems, and Ramsay took notice that she was tasting her food more than when she started. That made Julia feel good to receive a compliment like that from Ramsay and thought she was getting the hang of high dining. Her team lost the dinner service, and Jen was named "Best of the Worst." During deliberation, she told Jen that if she were nominated, it would hurt them.
Julia was not nominated for elimination and later, she said goodbye to Melissa, who has just been transferred to the blue team.[5]
Episode 6[]
- Main article: Episode 306 - 7 Chefs Compete (Again)
Back at the dorms, Julia agreed with Bonnie that it was their time to shine, and they needed to step up.
During the Lobster Challenge, Julia said she never ate lobster before. During the cooking, Jen had to coach her as the former was worried due to her lack of fine-dining knowledge. She was the second person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Rock. She made a lobster risotto, saying that she used the regular recipe and added in the lobster. While Ramsay liked how the lobster was tender, he called the risotto boring as he expected a little more excitement. She lost that round to Rock, but the red team won the challenge 2-1. They were rewarded with a photoshoot with Ramsay for In Touch magazine. During the reward, she liked being out of Hell's Kitchen inside a limo, and said the reward gave her a taste of being a supermodel.
During prep, Julia wanted to prove they could do service without Melissa. During dinner service, she was on the fish station. At one point, Josh sent the red team’s lobster to Julia, though she would have preferred it already dead for service. The red team sent up their first order of appetizers out of the kitchen, and Ramsay praised her for her scallops. Later, she got confused about the sea bass order and panicked, but Ramsay reminded her it was waiting at her station. When she looked unresponsive, Ramsay asked if she wanted to leave, but she retorted that she wanted to stay. She knew Ramsay was trying to make her better but argued that it was not helping. When the red team got to work on their last two tickets, an argument between her and Bonnie over the latter's meat erupted. Bonnie felt her inexperience was starting to catch up, and she broke down in tears over the stress as she hated to mess up and tried to pick herself up. The red team won the service.
After elimination, Julia was shocked that she was still here despite her limited education.[6]
Episode 7[]
- Main article: Episode 307 - 6 Chefs Compete
During the Leftovers Challenge, Julia was the final person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Rock. She made fish and chips dish and felt there was nothing wrong with her dish. While Ramsay said the dish was nice, it was only just fish and chips, and he expected more. She lost out to Rock, and the red team lost the challenge 1-2. They were punished by participating in spring cleaning and taking part in Delivery Day. During the punishment, she had had a bag spill on her when she picked it up, and after the red team took in deliveries, she noticed that they took in boxes of turbot skeletons instead of the whole filets. Once they figured out that Bonnie misread the invoice and took the wrong items, she deemed their mistake horrible as they should have checked the invoice better. When the blue team returned from their reward, she sarcastically called it perfect timing.
Before service, Ramsay announced that both teams would create their own menus. As the red team worked on their menu, Jen was concerned about Julia due to her position as a Waffle House Cook and felt she did not know fine dining. She pitched a New York striploin dish, but Bonnie was not convinced as she felt it was a copout. When Ramsay looked at the women’s menu, he noticed that she did not have any input. She revealed her steak and shrimp dish idea, and Ramsay told the women to put it on the menu. She knew that it would be a big seller as it would be the kind of dish she would order. During prep, she and Jen ignored Bonnie's questions about the bacon.
During dinner service, Julia was on the meat station and had her New York striploin dish on the menu. She told Ramsay that she needed five minutes on Bonnie's rabbit dish as it was not cooking right, and Ramsay had Bonnie help her. As Ramsay suggested an alternate way to cook the rabbit, she was upset about getting screwed by Bonnie. Still, she finally brought up the rabbit appetizer and Ramsay urged her to keep the momentum going. Now onto entrées, her steak dish was shown to be the most requested item on the women’s menu, much to the surprise of Ramsay and Jean-Philippe. She sent up her steak dishes, and Ramsay was impressed by the perfect cooking and the size of the portions while praising her for her excellent job so far. That made her happy as she knew what the customers liked despite her lack of culinary education. When the women were on their final ticket, she got confused as too many people were crowding her.
Both teams were named joint-losers, but Ramsay named Julia the “Best of the Worst” for the red team as her steak dish was the most popular item on the red team’s menu, and she did not get one order ruined. She was asked to nominate one person elimination. During deliberation, she felt proud that Ramsay recognized her performance but weighed her options on who to eliminate. She knew that Jen was a great cook and knew her stuff well, but while she acknowledged that Bonnie knew her food, she felt the latter could have improved execution.
Julia nominated Bonnie, who was joined by Brad from the blue team.[7]
Episode 8[]
- Main article: Episode 308 - 5 Chefs Compete
As the chefs went back to the dorms, Bonnie asked Julia if Ramsay saved her for entertainment purposes. She expressed surprise that Ramsay kept Bonnie over Brad. Still, she knew it meant Ramsay saw something in Bonnie nobody else did. Then, she asked the men if Brad was a good cook.
The next morning, Ramsay announced that the red and blue teams would become the black team. Julia received her black jacket in the dorms. As the chefs drove to Alhambra High School, she thought the trendsetters were doctors.
During the Alhambra High School Lunch Challenge, she made grilled chicken and cheese sandwiches with onion rings. Still, she was concerned about the time limit as she feared it was not enough. She used a casual approach to serve her dish to the students. She won the challenge by receiving 51% of the votes and got excited as it proved she was a great cook. She was rewarded with an overnight trip to Las Vegas with Ramsay, and she was allowed to pick one of her teammates to come with her. Josh wanted her to pick him, but she picked Jen, and the three of them flew to Vegas on a private jet. Even though Julia had no idea what Las Vegas would be like, she was ready to do anything.
During the reward, Julia and Jen saw all the famous hotels on the strip as they went to the Green Valley Ranch Resort, which would be the grand prize for that season. They stayed in the villa for the night and had a spa treatment. Julia called it amazing and wanted to do everything to win. As the two received their spa treatment, she said she could get used to winning. The following day, they visited the Red Rock Resort, where they met Heather, the winner of Season 2, for some tips and recipes. When they went back to Hell's Kitchen, she was happy to meet Heather because it meant nothing was impossible. She and Jen made it back to Hell’s Kitchen, but showing pictures of their trip and describing it made the three other chefs annoyed at the two of them. Rock gave them a fake smile as she explained the hotel room.
During dinner service, Julia was at the garnish station. She did not have her fennel ready and was at a loss of where she placed it. An impatient Ramsay took the pan from her when she was slow on sending it up. When she gave a rude retort, Ramsay asked if she was taking the piss out of it and noted that she looked asleep. However, she argued that she never worked on garnish before and said it was hard. After witnessing Josh's mid-service elimination, she called it the worst way to see someone get fired and hoped she did not fall victim to that. Later, she admitted that she forgot about the monkfish garnish and did not know what was going on. Ramsay was shocked by that announcement and accused her of giving up. Then, she did not respond to Ramsay's request for the carrots, but she tried to bounce back.
After dinner service, Bonnie was named "Best of the Worst". Back at the dorms, Julia pleaded her case as she did not want to go home, but was not sure of what Bonnie would do. Still, she was confident she would not go home despite her struggles on garnish.
Julia was Bonnie's second nominee for elimination, with Rock being the first. During her plea, she said she did not want to go home, and she did not give up despite her problems that night. After much thought, Ramsay eliminated her for her poor performance on garnish and lack of experience. Before she left, Ramsay praised her by saying how proud of her he was and that he would personally send her to culinary school before inviting her to come back in Hell's Kitchen to compete once again. During her exit interview, she received a retrospective montage of her run.
Ramsay's comment: "To become a great chef you must have a natural ability. Clearly, Julia does have it. All she needs is a little more experience. After that, she will be ready to run her own restaurant." [8]
Episode 10/11[]
- Main article: Episode 310 - 2 Chefs Compete
- Main article: Episode 311 - Winner Announced
Julia was one of the six chefs who returned for the final dinner service. When she returned, she ended up breaking into tears, much to Brad and Rock's concern. Rock knew she was only eliminated a few days ago, and he felt she was hurting from the fact she was so close to winning but ended up losing. She went into the bathroom to calm down, and Brad asked if they should say something to cheer her up. She regretted not winning, while Bonnie knew that the former was triggered seeing her in the final two. When she came down in the kitchen, Ramsay reminded her victory in the Alhambra High School Lunch Challenge but was concerned when he saw her crying and asked if she was okay. While she claimed she was, she stated that her low point was being here right now and seeing the finalists. She was Bonnie's final pick, following Jen and Melissa. While Bonnie wanted the girls back together, the former was unaware that she was secretly rooting for Rock to win.[9]
Even though Julia said she would work for Bonnie like any other boss she had, she was still rooting for Rock to win. During prep, she and Bonnie argued as she thought the latter was treating her like an idiot. While Bonnie knew she thought she would be in the final two, the former hoped she would put her problems aside for that night. During dinner service, she was at the garnish station. Bonnie asked her for a time on the cauliflower soup, but she refused to answer until Bonnie called her name several times. Still, she wanted the dinner service to be over with and said it was nothing personal. Then, Bonnie ignored her warning that she did not have the okra ready. She accused Bonnie of going into her own head for not listening to her. When Bonnie was still not listening, Ramsay warned her she was losing momentum because she was not listening to her. Later, she rudely retorted that she was only doing her job of cooking Bonnie's food. When Bonnie's team was getting desserts prepared, she ignored Bonnie's orders to wrap up the goat cheese and told Jen to do it. That angered Bonnie, and it led to an argument between both of them, which led to Bonnie believing she was really bitter about the situation. After service, she apologized to Bonnie and the two of them made up. Bonnie eventually lost the finals to Rock.[10]
Nomination History[]
| Week 1 | Safe |
|---|---|
| Week 2 | Win |
| Week 3 | Nominated |
| Week 4 | Safe |
| Week 5 | Safe |
| Week 6 | Win |
| Week 7 | BoW |
| Week 8 | Nominated |
Post Hell's Kitchen[]
- After her appearance on the show, she ran the kitchen at Ocean 66, in College Park.
- As of February 2019, she still works at Waffle House.[11]
- She took up Ramsay's offer to go to Culinary School, but hasn't returned to Hell's Kitchen since.[12]
Trivia[]
- She is the first ever female black jacket contestant to be eliminated via nomination on the first night of individual service.
- She is the only contestant to date be eliminated after the first black jacket service to be 4th placed.
- She and Rock (also from Season 3), are the first and second African American contestants to get Black Jackets.
- She and Joanna (also from Season 3), are the first and second African American female contestants of the show.
- She is the first contestant ever to received a personal offer from Ramsay after being eliminated.
- She is the last black jacket of the season to receive the portrait and burning sequence.
Quotes[]
- (About Tiffany) "I'm trying to help her with her eggs, but she don't want me to fix it. That's all I'm saying."
- (After Tiffany declines her help on appetizers) "I don't understand how I could be needed nowhere and yet nothing is getting done."
- (Regarding Jen's trash pasta incident) "Who in the world picks food out of the trash? You can't just do anything in the heat of the moment."
- (After being eliminated) "I'm just trying to do my best. I think that people underestimated me. I know that Chef Ramsay is only hard on us to make us better, because it made me so much better. I know that great things will come on this, you know? Just starting with culinary art school. I made it really far, but I don't want to go home."
Gallery[]
.png "Julia's Confessional (Red Jacket).png (271 KB)")
.png "Julia's Confessional (Black Jacket).png (298 KB)")
.png "Julia's Confessional (Returning Chef).png (221 KB)")
References[]
| Hell's Kitchen Season 3 |
|---|
| Staff |
| Gordon Ramsay (Head Chef) • Scott Leibfried (Blue Team Sous Chef) • Mary-Ann Salcedo (Red Team Sous Chef) • Jean-Philippe Susilovic (Maître d'hôtel) |
| Contestants |
| Joanna Dunn • Vinnie Fama • Melissa Firpo • Rock Harper • Eddie Langley • Brad Miller • Bonnie Muirhead • Tiffany Nagel • Aaron Song • Josh Wahler • Julia Williams • Jen Yemola |