''Chef Academy'' is a
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
series which premiered on November 16, 2009, on
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
* Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
* Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...
and ran for nine episodes until November 1, 2010.
The show followed
Jean Christophe Novelli, a chef with restaurants in London, France and South Africa. On the show, he opened a test program for a culinary institute in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
Contestants
There were nine students competing in ''Chef Academy''. Names, ages, and hometowns below are from the Bravo website.
*Carissa St. Aubin, 26 – Charlotte, N.C.
*Emmanuel DelCour, 27 – Bordeaux, France and residing in Venice, California
*Kyle Daley, 29 – Salt Lake City, Utah and residing in San Diego, California
*Kyle Kupiszewski (Kup), 27 – Allentown, Pennsylvania
*Leonard Goodloe (Leo), 28 – San Antonio, T.X.
*Sarah Jacobsen, 28 – Wheeling, Illinois
*Suzanne Winn, 47 – Mission Viejo, California
*Tracie Norfleet, 46 – Venice, California
*Zoe Feigenbaum, 26 – New York, N.Y.
Although ''Chef Academy'' never had a true winner of the show, Kyle Daley was announced Best Chef of ''Chef Academy''. It was announced on the final episode of the season.
The series gained some attention with respect to contestant Emmanuel DelCour, who was described as being a graphic designer and having studied graphic design for five years in Bordeaux, France. Over the course of the show, his identity as an adult film performer, under the name Jean Val Jean, was discerned by his fellow competitors, which the network then capitalized on.
Format
The students are assessed weekly tests varying from preparing desserts to gutting a fish or usually recreating one of Novelli's dishes. At the end of the test, Novelli determines who passes and who fails. If a student fails three tests, they are dismissed from his Academy.
Location
The building used to house the academy is 1304 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice, CA.
Contestant table
;Notes
1 The students who failed the first episode did not count as their first failure.
2 Chef Novelli did not reveal the results for all the chefs except for the three who performed the best (Zoe, Kyle, and Kup) who were invited to join him at a beach party.
3 The chefs who passed each made a
croque-em-bouche for extra credit. Tracie was declared 'Head of the Class' because she impressed Chef Novelli the most this week.
4 Although both Sarah and Suzanne received their third failures, Chef Novelli decided to give them another chance.
5 Although Suzanne had failed the ''Chef Academy'', Chef Novelli asked her back for Episode 9 to host the gala for the final challenge.
;Key
The student passed that episode's test
The student failed that episode's test
(FAIL) The student received three strikes and failed Chef Academy
(PASS) The student passed Chef Academy
Episodes
References
External links
Official website*
{{Food Network (Canada) series
2000s American reality television series
2009 American television series debuts
Food reality television series
Bravo (American TV network) original programming
2010s American reality television series
2010 American television series endings
Television series about chefs