Chef Academy

French born and currently residing in London, Chef Novelli - along with his executive chef, Steven Kitchen, and pregnant fiance, Michelle - comes to Los Angeles to establish his first American based culinary academy, which is renowned across Europe. The first order of business is for Chef Novelli and Mr. Kitchen to interview and screen potential students. As part of the admissions process, the hopeful students are asked to perform a simple, yet surprisingly nerve-racking task: cook an egg, any way they want.

As an introduction into the culinary world, each of Chef Novelli's students is presented with the honor of their very own embroidered chef jacket. Chef Novelli then gets down to business, teaching his students their first lesson on desserts. If the student passes, they are granted permission to attend the open house party at the academy, but if they fail, they are asked to leave and only have two more chances to hold their spot at the esteemed Novelli Academy.

With lessons in full swing, Chef Novelli teaches his students how to make the perfect risotto accompanied by his grandmother's famous tomato sauce. For their end of week test, the students are asked to recreate the Chef's risotto and tomato sauce dish under strict time constraints. While three greatly exceed expectations and are invited to join Chef Novelli, Steve, and Michelle at a Malibu red carpet party, the other students are left waiting to hear the results of their test until after the weekend.

This week, Chef Novelli's lesson for his culinary students is on the ancient craft of bread baking. With the imminent arrival of Chef Novelli's new baby, Suzanne decides to throw his fiancée, Michelle, a baby shower at her home in Mission Viejo. She ropes her fellow students into helping with the shower, and together they create food for the party.

Well into their studies at the Novelli Academy, tight alliances are forming between the students. Further testing these relationships, one of the students is awarded a dinner cooked by Chef Novelli and is granted permission to invite two other students to join. In their weekly test, the students are asked to recreate three vegetarian dishes.

Chef Novelli arranges for the students to take a field trip to Long Beach to go out on a fishing boat and learn how to catch fresh fish. Unbeknownst to Novelli, two of the students have issues with boats, and one refuses to go on the trip in exchange for cleaning and performing undesirable tasks back at the Academy. After returning to the Academy, the students are given a lesson in other seafood dishes such as scallops and squid.

It's Meat Week at the Novelli Academy! With only two weeks to go until graduation, Chef Novelli decides to put the students to their hardest test to date. Not only are the students asked to make one of the three meat dishes, they are challenged to make one of the fifteen dishes learned earlier in the class.

The mood at the Novelli Academy is somber in the aftermath of one student leaving after failing three tests. But there is no time to dwell because Chef Novelli has announced that as their final, the students will collectively prepare a gala dinner for local esteemed chefs and other VIPs. Chef Novelli chooses one of his students to be the head chef for the gala dinner.

The gala dinner has finally arrived and the students are scrambling to finish their dishes. In a classic Chef Novelli move, he announces that he will be standing at the end of the assembly with a trash bin tasting the food prior to it leaving the kitchen. The pressure is intense as the students present their dish to their esteemed guests, and wonder if Chef Novelli will allow them to finally graduate.