'Hell's Kitchen' has a Philly accent this season

Season 13 of Fox's Hell's Kitchen launches at 8 p.m. Sept. 10, and four women from Eastern Pennsylvania will be among the 18 chefs competing under the watchful scowl of Gordon Ramsay.

They're a diverse bunch: self-taught and schooled, seasoned and rookie.

One - Jennifer Salhoff - will host a viewing party  at her restaurant, Cuba Libre, which will serve comp Duck Breast Spring Rolls, filled with shredded duck confit, bok choy ragu, wild mushrooms, and spiced cranberry served with a kabocha squash dipping sauce.

They are:

Sade Dancy, 26, of University City, is a line cook at The Treemont in Center City and a grad of the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill and a veteran of Paramour in Wayne. She tells me that she had left the 12-page application for Hell's Kitchen on her phone - "I didn't have time" - and shortly after learned that she could simply waltz into a live audition. So she did, got the callback and decided to go for it. "A learning experience," she calls it. At home, she cooks soul food. Her goal is to be happy and to open a few restaurants in the city, where "I want to cook food that I enjoy cooking." Her signature dish: Pea and Mushroom Risotto with Goat Cheese. See a video clip here.

Denine Giordano, 24, of South Philadelphia, attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia, where chef-instructor Dan D'Angelo heard about an open call and told her: "You can cook and you're obnoxious." (Giordano said this with pride.) She has worked the line at Local Tavern, the Jose Garces-branded bar at Philadelphia International Airport, for a year. Her goal - after getting all the kitchen experience she can - is to host her own TV show - "Rachael Ray meets Gordon Ramsay. Her signature dish: Chicken Parmesan. Video clip here.

Jennifer Salhoff, 33, of Roxborough, is executive chef at Cuba Libre after stints at Restaurant Cerise in Bryn Mawr, Fork under Terence Feury and the late Meme with David Katz and the former Farmer's Cabinet. She grew up in Fredonia, N.Y., and was an art student until she realized that "instead of canvas and a brush, I could do this with food." With her two kids, she moved to Philadelphia and private-cheffed in Bryn Mawr. She said she applied to HK to "gain exposure, to get my name out there and to test myself. ... This was hard-core intense. It ended up boosting my confidence, Now, pressure doesn't bother me." Her signature dish: Pan Roasted Striped Bass Succotash of Crab with Wild Mushrooms, Bacon, Fava Beans and Corn in a Spicy Charred Corn and Tomato Saffron Broth. Video clip here.

Ashley Sherman, 30, originally from New Jersey, cooks at ArtsQuest, a performing-arts venue in Bethlehem. She started at age 16, in pizza shops, "and I just kept doing it." Along the way, she has worked for Aramark at Citizens Bank Park, in the pastry shop at Buddakan but considers her "shining moment" a bit of praise from Ramsay. "He told me my beef Wellington was perfect!" she said. "That was intense." Her signature dish: Chipotle Chicken and Chorizo Deconstructed "Taco." Video clip here.