Was Raj A Real Chef? – Celebrity
Matthew Elliott
Updated on January 17, 2026
Despite having more kitchen experience than even Ramsay himself, Raj quickly showed that his experience as a chef did not translate well to the kitchen. While he wasn’t entirely incompetent in the kitchen, he is slow in services, talked back to orders, and made strange and straightforward mistakes.
After Hell’s Kitchen, Raj returned to his career as a personal chef. Raj has been named the worst chef to appear on Hell’s Kitchen and has somewhat of a fan club. Rob McCue was a Chef for a Law Firm from Brooklyn, New York.
Raj was known as a chef who ate a lot on the job. At first glance, Raj seemed like a front-runner in Season 8. The guy had spent more years plying his trade than anyone in the competition including Chef Ramsay himself. Raj was not exactly a team player. He showed no ability to lead a brigade nor to successfully communicate with his team.
I’m being targeted, I’m being harassed, and I am really at the point where I don’t know what to do. Ranjit “Raj” Brandston was a contestant on Season 8 of Hell’s Kitchen.
What did Raj do during the reward?
During the reward, he entertained his team by doing drunk karate. During dinner service, Raj was assigned as a waiter. He stumbled on explaining the specials to his first table and was seen writing the orders at the pass, causing Ramsay to ask why he didn’t do so at the tables.
Post Hell’s Kitchen. After his appearance on the show, Raj returned to his previous career as a personal chef. As of 2021, he is working at Frankel’s in Brooklyn and for various venues as a catering chef including Rockefeller Center. Later on, he had lost weight.
Back in the dorms, Raj was extremely happy to have survived elimination twice in a row and mocked Vinny for his malicious decision to tell the diners not to order sides. Later that night, at 2:18 am, he was still celebrating but Trev told him to calm down.
They only had 4 of their 9 pieces accepted because he failed to put wasabi in three of his tuna nigiri pieces.
Later, Ramsay told him to either help the blue team in the kitchen or fuck off. So, he came back into the kitchen and was sent to help Boris at the pizza station. However, he was unable to follow Boris’ instructions and instead began to cut the mozerella cheese instead of rolling the pizza dough, like Boris asked.
Ramsay called for the Dover Sole, but he revealed that there was no more left despite the fact there were three on order. That horrified Ramsay and the rest of the blue team, and after much thinking, Ramsay ordered him to go out to the dining room and inform the diners who ordered the Dover Soles what happened.
During the Paramedic Service Challenge, Raj was on the scrambled egg station. He brought up his scrambled eggs, but Ramsay found out that there was no seasoning in them, forcing the blue team to taste them. When he was about to argue with Ramsay about the seasoning, he got chewed out for it.
Where is Chef Russell now?
He also helped open a number of successful restaurants and is currently Executive Chef at Gibsons Steakhouse.
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Raj has been named the worst chef to appear on Hell’s Kitchen and has somewhat of a fan club. Rob McCue was a Chef for a Law Firm from Brooklyn, New York. He was eliminated in Hell’s Kitchen season 8 episode 9 for his consistently poor performances, Gordon felt he had kept him in the show too long.
She was the Hell’s Kitchen season 8 winner due to her impressive improvement during the series and her passion for cooking. After Hell’s Kitchen, Nona took up the Head Chef position at LA Market, with her winning menu being add to the restaurant menu.
Vinny Accardi was a Line Cook from Queens, New York. He was eliminated in Hell’s Kitchen season 8 episode 10 due to his deteriorating performances.
Trevor McGrath was a Line Cook from Chicago, Illinois. He was eliminated in Hell’s Kitchen season 8 episode 14 but was praised by Gordon for his determination shown during his time on the show.
After Hell’s Kitchen, Jillian returned to the kitchen at Plaza Grill and briefly worked at Freddy’s Steak house before resigning. She intended to open her own restaurant. Lewis Curtis was an Executive Chef from Beebe, Arkansas.
Boris Poleschuk was a Catering Chef from Manalapan, New Jersey. He was eliminated in Hell’s Kitchen season 8 episode 8 due to the inconsistency of his performace. After Hell’s Kitchen, Boris became Executive Chef at The Loft Steakhouse in Brooklyn, New York, with excellent reviews on the food. Emily Kutchins was an Executive Chef in …