Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 9) Hell's Kitchen (U.S. season 9) Season 9 of the American competitive reality television series "Hell's Kitchen" premiered on July 18, 2011, on Fox and concluded on September 19, 2011, with a two-hour season finale. Jr. sous-chef Paul Niedermann won the season and was awarded a "head chef" position at BLT Steak in New York City, New York. Gordon Ramsay returned as head chef, as Scott Leibfried and Andi van Willigan remained as sous chefs, as did James Lukanik as the maître d'. The entire season took about six weeks to film. It also saw the show return to its original
Kitchen Nightmares public service" that "will make you laugh, make you sick and make you think". Randy Cordova of the "Arizona Republic" found Ramsay "just as blustery and foul-mouthed here as he is on "Hell's Kitchen." But he is also oddly endearing, mainly because he genuinely seems invested in the fate of each restaurant". Critics have commented that Fox's adaptation of "Kitchen Nightmares" strayed from the strengths of the original Channel 4 series. Maureen Ryan of the "Chicago Tribune" said, "Leave it to Fox to take something the Brits did pretty well and muck it up". She added, "Never mind the cooking;