Sarah Jacobsen

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. In an attempt to complete some of the more arduous tasks prior to the dinner, the students gather the night before the gala for prep work. However, two students have a problem with their assigned dish thus the entire class falls behind. With graduation at stake, tensions arise between two students in particular, and everyone is worried about the final outcome of the dinner, especially the head chef. The result of this meal will determine who graduates, and who does not.

Tensions arise as one student begins to get on everyone's nerves. 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. Groveling at such a treasured opportunity, the students begin to battle for the winner’s attention. In their weekly test, the students are asked to recreate three vegetarian dishes. The students are divided into three teams of three, and must pass or fail as a team. Due to a low passing rate, Chef Novelli gives the two failing teams a chance to redeem themselves by competing to create a marzipan flower.

This week, Chef Novelli's lesson for his culinary students is on the ancient craft of bread baking. After the lesson, the students are given time to practice their newly acquired baking skills. 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. After the baby shower, it is yet again test time for Chef Novelli's students, who are asked to bake bread as they were taught a few days earlier. After completing their cooking test, one student is named "leader of the class."

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. Which dishes will measure up, and which will end up in the trash? 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.

It's Meat Week at the Novelli Academy! Students are taught to prepare chicken, lamb, and pork all in eclectic ways. While this may be the most anticipated lesson to date, it also ends up being the most challenging for many of the students. 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 problem? Two dishes means two opportunities to pass or fail. Some narrowly escaped elimination last week, but now others are on the line to be expelled from the Novelli Academy.