TV Show Review: Next Gen Chef. Cooking shows are a dime a dozen, but…

Cooking shows are a dime a dozen, but with $𝟓𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 as the prize and the coveted title of the next chef of the generation, and chefs from different walks of life competing at the 𝐂𝐈𝐀, this Netflix show piqued my interest. Yes, CIA.

SPOILER AHEAD!

Overview

Twenty-one professional, non-professional, private, classically trained, and self-taught chefs go to the CIA, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂, to compete over the course of 21 days. First of all, I had never heard CIA used in any other way except in connection with crime, and it drew a giggle from me every time they mentioned it, and they did so with some seriousness.

On arrival, the chefs compete in an entrance examination before they can even unpack. The result leads to 12 moving forward and the rest turning right back around and boarding the train. As the competition advances, contestants win badges, with Courtney, a fan favourite, gathering up to four unique badges for having the best meals throughout the competition.

The show treated chefs like students, as they were enrolled for 21 days after all. Faculty heads oversaw their kitchen and cooking management, and those faculty heads reported to the main judges to shed light on the other side of the chef in the kitchen, allowing the judges to arrive at a final decision. I particularly loved this idea of getting a behind-the-scenes opinion from the kitchen because many chefs bring out meals inspired by others and win, but not here. Everything counts, even the backdrop.

With time, I could almost determine who would leave and who would win a badge, and I applauded myself for my judging ability. 😂😂😂😂

The Ads

I have never watched a show where an advertisement was so consistent, not just in placement, but in making the contestants affirm the awesomeness of the product. 𝑬𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒃 is now stitched in my brain for good.

The Final Three

Through many gruelling stages of cooking, the chefs were reduced to the final three: Andre, Ilke, and Courtney. For their final examination, each was required to cook for 70 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 10 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑-𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒔, the main VIPs whose opinions would determine the winner, including Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, the late Anne Burrell, and Dr Ryan, President of CIA.

To help with their task, each finalist was allowed to pick two evicted chefs as sous chefs, and this was a funny turn of events. In the previous task, they had worked with one another, and to a certain degree, the chefs knew what each was capable of.

But when it came to picking, Ilke picked a chef, Abby, who was slow. She argued that Abby had attention to detail, and she regretted it in less than 24 hours after Abby burned her food, making it too hard for the judges to cut through.

Courtney had more fun in the kitchen, vibing with the sous chefs and prepping her meal. There was no tension, just minor issues with the peaches she had forgotten to check overnight.

Then there was 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰. His entry into the show and workplace drew a lot of criticism from viewers who insisted that the show was rigged to favour him, with a former boss and a present boss on the judging panel.

Many argued that it should have been a blind taste test to prevent any form of bias. Andre was strict in the kitchen, cancelling every singing and chit-chat. On the day, he sidelined a sous chef who was slowing him down, and this did not go well with many viewers.

I understand what he did. Over the episodes, this sidelined chef, Sydney, showed that his cooking and engagement style involved talking, cracking jokes, and making fun while cooking. Andrew is more serious while at task and relaxed outside of the task. He had tried to caution Sydney many times, but Sydney didn’t take it to heart, even costing him a batch of peaches and cornbread.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 $𝟓𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧? I think not. I would have done the same thing, maybe not sideline entirely, but given him a low-priority task. The issue is that even with low priority, Sydney still found a way to make it not work.

Back to the results

I knew Andrew would win. Besides working at Per Se and having Thomas Keller as a boss, he made fewer mistakes than the other finalists over the course of 20 days. From the very first task, he stood out in leadership and cooking, but had one major issue: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. This was the main issue judges had with him, but no matter how many times they mentioned it, he barely brought himself to the table and instead stayed on the professional edge at all times, excluding when he presented a meal inspired by his father.

The Winner

When the stakes are this high, the selection of judges should be top-tier. Maybe they shouldn’t have enlisted someone who worked for one of the judges to prevent prejudiced and biased views. Not saying the result was biased, but if you were competing against someone whose ex- and present bosses were on the committee, wouldn’t you think it was off? And that the game was rigged? He did show dexterity throughout the competition, but I had my eyes on Courtney.

𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 $𝟓𝟎𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎, 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 𝐍𝐚𝐡. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫. 𝐀 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭-𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐥𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

If you’re in need of a good cooking show to watch while eating or relaxing, then yes, this will do just fine. The editing, the finesse, the delivery, the overall production had a class to it that was unlike many cooking shows on Netflix, and this is coming right after watching 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. It’s an amazing show and was very delightful, and though the choice of winner may not be generally accepted by all, the competitions and tasks will leave you very impressed.