Jean Christophe Novelli, the dean of "Chef Academy." [Photograph: Bravo]

Are your Wednesday nights feeling a little sad? Soon Bravo will premiere Top Chef: Just Desserts and another round of Top Chef Masters to keep loyal TC viewers satiated all year round. But in the meantime, I needed something to fill the void.

Midway through the season, I discovered Bravo's newest entry into the food TV genre, Chef Academy (Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET). Although I was skeptical at first, chef Jean Cristophe Novelli and his quirky group of culinary students soon had me hooked.

Novelli is a French-born chef who made a name for himself in London, where he worked with Marco Pierre White and earned his Michelin stars, which are mentioned at least once an episode.

The Daily Mail has called him "the world's sexiest chef." He's got the dark and handsome thing working for him (his mother's side is Italian), as well as a strong Eric Ripert-style French accent. In fact, the students sometimes can't understand him--and his English is often subtitled for us viewers at home.

Novelli is no stranger to TV--he did two seasons as head chef on Hell's Kitchen UK, and also appeared on Top Chef as guest judge on Season 4 (Chicago).

The show's premise is as follows: Novelli runs a cooking school in England and is opening a branch in Los Angeles. For the inaugural class at Novelli Academy LA, he selects nine diverse students who cameras follow as they work their way through ten weeks of culinary instruction in a mod Venice Beach kitchen complex.

Since competition fares so well on television, of course this had to be incorporated somehow. At the end of every week, there's a cooking test which each student will pass or fail. Three fails and "You will not graduate from zee Novelli Academy." These dreaded words from Novelli are this show's lame version of "Pack your knives and go."

But after this week's episode--the last before the two-part finale--Novelli still hasn't kicked anyone out. He threatens often, but he's a softie at heart and seems to truly bond with this group of eclectic Americans (and one fellow French dude). Seeing who will pass or fail really isn't a crucial aspect of the show, at least for me. It's fun to watch these students of varying culinary experience improve their skills, and I've even picked up a few along the way.

For those who haven't been watching, it's a show that's easy to jump into. Plus, Bravo constantly runs marathons of every show for quick catch-up. Here's a brief rundown on the nine students:

Emmanuel, the token Frenchie. In one episode, his fellow students did a little googling of their hottie classmate and discovered that he's a former porn star.

Zoe, a born-and-raised New Yorker who trained at Manhattan's French Culinary Institute (and now cooks at the National on the Lower East Side).

Suzanne, a middle-aged bottle blonde from Orange County who seems like she was plucked from the Real Housewives cast. But she quickly proved to be much more than a ditz; she's been deemed "den mother" of the kitchen.

Tracie, the only LA native, a funny straight-shooter who Novelli convinces to quit smoking and rewards with a Michelin-caliber dinner.

Leo, so far the top of the class. He went to culinary school in Italy and is a nice guy and a solid cook, if slightly boring.

Kyle, a professional sous chef in San Diego who couldn't afford culinary school. He talks a lot and over-defends his food, so Novelli loves to make him sweat.

Kup, the tattooed "bad boy" who cooks on a Navy submarine. He wants to learn to cook more refined food.

Sarah, a former wedding caterer who seems to be the crier of the bunch. She gets on the other students' nerves, especially after asking Novelli to re-take the bread test because she didn't realize that she was supposed to actually cook the bread in the time allotted, not just show him the raw dough. Seriously?!?

Carissa, a sweet and spunky young gal from North Carolina who wants to learn to cook for her husband-to-be. She flashes her engagement bling regularly.

On to last night's episode. Each week has a theme and this time it's meat. Some aspects of Chef Academy really do remind me of my own time in culinary school, such as the students gathering around taking notes as Novelli demoes how to butcher a chicken, and scrubbing down the kitchen after class.

Other parts certainly don't ring a bell, like the lavish multi-course meal Novelli prepares in his apartment as a reward for winning a challenge. The camera-free version of cooking school doesn't offer those kinds of perks, trust me.

For the meat class, Novelli demos several of his own signature dishes. One is an interesting-sounding chicken braised in a red wine sauce with chocolate, a French-y version of mole. Then there's what he calls lamb souffle--lamb chops coated with chicken mousseline and wrapped in caul fat. Beef "Mich Mich", a filet topped with spinach and tomato sauce over a crouton, is named after Novelli's (very pregnant) fiance Michelle.

There's always some out-of-kitchen stuff thrown into each episode, and this time it's Kup and Carissa heading to a tattoo parlor. Kup has decided to tattoo "Novelli Academy" prominently on the back of his neck. This is a realistic storyline since chefs are notoriously ink-happy: a student at my school did in fact tattoo the Le Cordon Bleu logo on himself--unfortunately, he (mis)spelled "blue" the American way.

Sweet southern Carissa decides to get her first tattoo. Novelli praises Kup's (Tracie calls him a kiss-ass) but corrects the spelling of Bonne Vivante that now graces Carissa's lower back--it should be Bon Vivant. Carissa looks absolutely crushed, and Novelli changes the subject and quickly moves on to the lesson on rack of lamb.

We learn that the test this week will be a two-parter. First up is one of the three meat dishes: chicken, beef or lamb. The students can decide who makes which. The second test will be tougher, a mystery grab bag of 15 dishes from throughout their time at the Academy. So now there's potential for two fails. Leo, with no fails yet, is the only one "safe."

Not surprisingly, Leo, the only one not in jeopardy, is the meat test's only failure with unevenly cooked beef, salty spinach and off-tasting tomato sauce. Novelli praises Tracie for making "the most "f-ing" sexy chicken." Carissa's lamb doesn't look pretty, but it's delicious. Emmanuel has a little bit of uncooked caul fat on his lamb, but Novelli lets it slide. Leo justifies his first fail: "If I was perfect, that means he didn't teach me anything." Um, sure.

Now it's time to draw randomly for the second test. The dishes seem to range too widely in degree of difficulty: Tracie gets a Parmesan basket, which should take all of five minutes, while Sarah draws the choux puffs with creme and painstaking marzipan flowers. I'm predicting some crying in her future.

Suzanne draws the sea bass, the only dish she didn't practice because she had an allergic reaction to squid during the fish episode. Just when I'm starting to wonder whether this is an extra-long episode, out comes the cliffhanger: "To Be Continued".

In the teaser for next week, we see glimpses of people (Sarah!) crying and Novelli actually telling someone "You will not graduate from zee Novelli Academy." Will he really go through with it this time?