A 28-year-old kosher chef has made his primetime debut on Fox’s “Hell’s Kitchen” by bringing a dash of Jewish pride to the high-stakes culinary competition.

Uri Elbaum, who runs two kosher restaurants in New Jersey, faced off against 17 other head chefs in the season premiere on Thursday. The contestants were tasked with creating a signature dish in just 40 minutes, with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay as judge.

In no time he whipped up a handmade pappardelle pasta with umami cream sauce. Ramsay praised the dish’s perfectly cooked pasta and flavors, awarding it four out of five points. Despite Elbaum’s strong showing, his all-male Blue Team lost the challenge to the female Red Team.

 As typical for a Ramsay reality show, the winning team was rewarded while the losing team faced punishment. The Red Team was awarded the opportunity to dine at the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in Foxwoods Resort Casino, enjoying a meal with Ramsay himself. Meanwhile, Elbaum and his fellow team members were forced to work in the kitchen, cleaning dishes and stocking deliveries.

Still, despite all the ups and downs of Hell’s Kitchen, Elbaum knows its part of a greater plan.

“When I was a little kid, I used to watch Gordon Ramsay on ‘Hell’s Kitchen.’ I really wanted to be there. I saw myself doing it,” Elbaum tells YeahThatsKosher. “I felt honored to be selected, but it’s all because of *Hashem.* I used to say that one day I’d be on TV cooking with Gordon Ramsay. People looked at me like I was joking. It was like a kid who says they are going to be an astronaut and go to space.”

Elbaum, who was raised in the Chabad movement in Argentina before moving to the US, said he sought rabbinic guidance from the Lubavitcher Rebbe before entering the competition.

“My rabbi told me to both make the Jews watching at home proud of me and to remember that I should be proud to be Jewish,” he recounted. “It was my way of showing how thankful I was for the opportunity.”

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