It was too hot in the kitchen Wednesday night for Gadsden native Savannah Miles.
The Etowah County produce farmer was eliminated from Fox’s “MasterChef” in an episode dubbed “Restaurant Takeover — Hell’s Kitchen.”
The six contestants remaining in Season 13 of the popular reality show managed a dinner service at chef Gordon Ramsey’s Los Angeles-area restaurant.
It was fast-paced and intense.
The crew was split into two teams. Miles joined Grant Gillon and Jennifer Maune on the Red Team. The Blue Team was comprised of Wayne Lewis, Reagan Sidney and Kennedy U.
Ramsay showed everyone how to make two appetizers and two main dishes. And they were off as the guests filed in.
There was shouting. Dishes going out, a few coming back. Some mangled scallops by Miles. Burned risotto by Maune.
“This is insane,” Miles said.
The Blue Team seemed to have a rhythm going. (Even if Sidney’s dish rag caught on fire.)
The Red Team was struggling. “Nobody’s talking,” Ramsay shouted at them.
The entrees had some issues as well. Maune undercooked a filet mignon and some salmon. Miles didn’t catch it as she plated the food. This may have been her downfall.
“My inexperience got the best of me,” Miles said after the judges made their decision. “I came here to give it my all and I did that.”
Ramsay agreed and told her she had just lost her confidence. As she hugged the other contestants goodbye and walked away, there were calls of “Roll Tide Roll.”
Wednesday night was another double episode, and a crucial one, determining who made it to the final three.
The second hour had two challenges. The first, making a stuffed pasta dish, had Lewis going home.
The second, “Keeping Up with Gordon,” involved recreating a Ramsay signature dish, coffee crusted venison, and following his instructions and movements as he cooked at the front of the kitchen.
It proved to be Sidney’s undoing and she was sent home. That leaves Maune, Kennedy U. and Gillon in the finale.
It’s been a jam-packed season with many nights of double episodes. Miles survived the State Fair challenge, a series of Mystery Box surprises, cooking a meal at Dodger Stadium and the fan-favorite Tag Team event, where contestants created a star quality three-course meal.
Miles, who runs a subscription produce business from her farm in Ballplay, had been at the top a few times, winning the tag team with Madame Donut, and she earned compliments in last week’s challenge called “The Wall” with teammate Kennedy U.
Miles, who loves to cook at home, said she was happy with how far she had gotten: from 20 original contestants on the show to six. At one point she told Ramsey, “I can’t believe I’m still here.”
“It’s given me a whole different look at food,” the 27-year-old said from Tuscaloosa where she’s attending her first year of law school at the University of Alabama. Taping of the show ended in March.
“I knew how to cook my Southern staples, but the fine dining concept is a whole other way,” she said.
She’d planned to open a farm-to-table restaurant at her farm, In the Pines, with the $250,000 prize money. She says that’s still a possibility even when she becomes a lawyer.
“Why can’t I do both?” she said, laughing.
The show continues at 7 p.m. CDT Sept. 20.
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