Serious Eats
Chef Academy Finale: Ze Graduation
Jean Christophe Novelli, the dean of "Chef Academy." [Photograph: Bravo]
The double-episode finale starts where we left off last week: the students drew dishes from throughout the course for their test, and we're worried about Suzanne and her fish. Everyone quickly gets to work on their assigned dishes.
Kup is assigned the baked scallops that he already perfected, having cooking this dish 15 times for a charity event in a past episode. Tracie is, as predicted, seemingly finished with her Parmesan basket in five minutes.
It seems that Suzanne got the toughest pick, even if she had been there for the fish lesson. She has to clean the whole sea bass and has no idea where to start. She gets a 30-second fish cleaning tutorial from Kyle that might save her.
Leo has a souffle in a baked apple and as always, there's no drama with him. Novelli loves Zoe's risotto and is pleased with Emmanuel's minty pea soup. He fawns over Kup's scallops and says Tracie's basket is better than his original example. Novelli is loving Tracie lately, as am I—her sarcasm is refreshing and she's quickly becoming one of my favorites.
[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.]
Sarah presents her choux puffs with a marzipan flower, but Novelli tells her she's missing the caramel. Since she still has eight minutes left, this warning was a gift--but Sarah still falls apart over it. Tears. She manages to pull it together and throw some caramel on the plate.
Carissa's bread has a good crunch factor and Novelli praises her seasoning. Kyle presents three orange creme brulees even though this wasn't required, and shoots himself in the foot because one of them is a bit soupy and underdone.
Suzanne's fish looks absolutely disgusting--there are unmistakable guts left in it. As soon as we see that, we know she's the one ousted. She cries too, but doesn't blame anyone but herself for screwing up.
So Novelli finally has to cave and sends Suzanne home. We hear the dreaded "You cannot be graduated from ze Novelli Academy." It's a tearful goodbye for everyone. I'm just happy that I only have to watch one hour of the show without her--it's much less fun and lighthearted.
Viewers and fellow students alike would have much rather seen Sarah get the boot for throwing a fit over her missing caramel. At least this does show that Novelli is making decisions based on merit, not personality (he also loves Suzanne). Kyle squeaks by with the undercooked creme brulee and everyone else passes.
With that, Novelli announces that the final will be a gala dinner for some of LA's top chefs and journalists. His next order of business is to pick a chef de cuisine for the gala. Each student will come upstairs for an individual evaluation to help him decide.
In his interview, Kup admits that he "can't stand" Zoe. Zoe feels the same way about him, although she puts it a little more delicately. Emmanuel says he's been "enlightened" by the Academy. Kyle reveals that he lived on his own since age 14 because of his parents' drug problems. Novelli tells Leo he's a little bit too reserved (read: boring!), calls Carissa "really, really smart", and informs Tracie that she's turned it around completely since she stopped smoking. We learn that she also lost weight while going to cooking school and quitting smoking--truly an impressive feat!
Novelli asks each student who should be chef de cuisine, and it looks like the contenders are Kup, Leo, and Kyle--unless Novelli throws a curve ball and picks Tracie.
Which he does. "Chef de cuisine? I thought it was like me being a size 2--not going to happen," she quips. "Is this a pity vote or something?" But once they get going on planning the menu, it's clear that Tracie means business and her high-powered day job as a TV exec will serve her well in this role.
The students pick their favorite dishes from the course to make for the gala dinner, all Novelli recipes, of course. Tracie elects Kup and Kyle as her sous chefs and everyone gets to work on some advance prep the night before.
Zoe screws up the pork belly dish--she doesn't get enough of a sear on it before putting it in the oven. Tracie says "it should look like my belly after a long day at the beach before it goes in the oven." Kup starts talking smack to Zoe and goes a little overboard. Tracie looks stressed.
On to Part Two, which starts on the final day. Tracie shows up early to tell Novelli that the creme brulees they made the night before need to be re-made; they're not setting. Novelli warns that if the dinner's not to his standard, they're not graduating. He psyches them out about who will be coming; of course, there's talk of "Michelin chefs".
Tracie is starting to sound like a real chef--she's not taking any crap. She assigns each dish to a member of the group. Last night's pork belly is still proving to be a problem, it looks legitimately burnt now and Tracie is not happy.
Novelli tells Kyle that every "F-up" at the gala will be two fails. Thus, anyone who makes one mistake will not graduate. The whole graduation thing shouldn't matter much at this point since the course is all but over, but all of the students seem to really care about the diploma.
Moving on. Tracie asks everyone to make a sample of their dish to make sure it's all perfect. She's sounding really chef-like now, and everyone's annoyed.
Suzanne is back! Novelli has asked her to come in for a "meeting" and asks her to be the host of the event. Perfect! We know this woman can host a party, as does she: "This is one test that I cannot fail."
While the others toil down in the kitchen, Suzanne is thrilled to wear a party dress and play hostess instead. She's read up on the guests "because that's what a good host does", and seems utterly charming. Love her!
The party's up on the roof by the pool, very LA. There's a Bon Appetit editor present, "the youngest French chef to win two Michelin stars" Christophe Eme from Ortolan, chef Mark Peel of Campanile (and Top Chef Masters), a food stylist, and family members of the students.
The parade of courses begins with shooters of the chilled pea soup with mint, made by Emmanuel. Next comes a duo of appetizers: Leo's Parmesan baskets filled with a little salad, then the problematic pork belly dish that ended up being a team effort. Novelli pronounces it overcooked; it still goes up to the tables. Mark Peel is generous in his critique; he says the pork was a little overcooked but "not badly." Christophe Eme likes it; apparently his piece was better.
The fish course is up next--Kup's baked scallops, Emmanuel's squid stuffed with prawns, and Zoe's sea bass casserole (all Novelli signatures). All are perfect; the chefs and writers are raving about the sea bass. Props for Zoe. Dana Dickey, the Bon Appetit editor, pulls Kup aside to say how much she loved the scallops. Flirting, a little?
For the meat course, it's Carissa on lamb and Kyle on filet. Both home runs. Peel loves the lamb.
Finally, the desserts: orange creme brulee from Sarah and a chocolate pot de creme by Leo. Emmanuel overcooks the tuiles for the chocolate pot, but saves himself by re-making them at the last second.
With a few minor glitches, the dinner went over well, everyone's happy, and it's time for the oh-so-momentous diploma presentation. Ze graduation they have all been working towards.
All of the dinner guests are watching. Suzanne looks on like a proud mama, she says she's so happy to see "the kids" graduate. When his name is called, we see Leo's real mom smiling ever so proudly. Emmanuel looks like might join the crying ranks as he rolls open the semi-official-looking diploma, since he never graduated from high school.
For dramatic effect, there's one diploma left on the table and two students waiting for their names to be called: Tracie and Kyle. Novelli calls Tracie, leaving Kyle to sweat it out a little longer. Close-up on his girlfriend and brother. Kyle tears up. Novelli starts to mess with him a little bit about the pork belly, but then calls Kyle's name and pronounces him "Officially Graduated". He says Kyle reminds him of himself as a young cook, and he really wanted to push the kid to excel.
In the exit interviews for the camera, most of the students are pretty cheesy, but no-nonsense Tracie puts it best: "I hate to use stereotypical lines like He Changed My Life, but god dammit, he has, and it kind of pisses me off."
Reactions to Chef Academy have been mixed (see last week's comments), but I sat through two hours of it last night and I have to say, I'm still a fan. Will we see Novelli again for another season? Or maybe a follow-up about what the students are doing with their newfound cooking skills? I for one would tune in to watch Suzanne and Tracie cook anytime.