‘Next Level Chef’ recap: Gordon, Nyesha, and Richard throw on their aprons, join teams as sous chefs in ‘The Menu’
Tonight on Next Level Chef, the chef-testants work together to create a cohesive five course meal — with the help of a few surprise sous-chefs. To succeed in this challenge, the chefs must count on one another's culinary and communication skills in the all-new "The Menu" episode of Next Level Chef airing Thursday, March 27 (8 p.m. ET/PT) on Fox.
The Teams
Each week professional chefs, home chefs, and social media chefs have seconds to grab, minutes to cook, and moments to deliver their dishes to mentors Gordon Ramsay, Richard Blais, and Nyesha Arrington. Who will rise to the challenge? And who's dream will go up in smoke? See the teams (with previously eliminated contestants crossed out) below.
Team Ramsay
| Name | Age | Background |
| Arnav | 19 | Home Chef |
| Beatrice | 18 | Pro Chef |
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| Ryan | 22 | Pro Chef |
Team Arrington
| Name | Age | Background |
| Becca | 27 | Social Media Chef |
| Bobby | 38 | Social Media Chef |
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| Iman | 35 | Pro Chef |
| Natalia | 38 | Home Chef |
Team Blais
| Name | Age | Background |
| Austin | 30 | Pro Chef |
| Brandon | 36 | Pro Chef |
| Jeff | 35 | Social Media Chef |
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| Megan | 37 | Home Chef |
The Challenge
The chefs have just 30 minutes to work together in creating a Next Level five-course tasting menu. To give them a little help, each of the mentors will throw on their aprons and act as sous chefs. It's about time they got their hands dirty!
The five-course menu will consist of a hot shellfish appetizer, a poultry dish, a meat course, a fish course, and a stunning dessert. Since Beatrice won last week's challenge, Team Ramsay is cooking in the Top Level, Team Arrington is in the Middle Kitchen and Team Blais is in the Basement. Each team comes up with a menu theme and decides which chef will cook each item. Team Ramsay chooses modern European, Team Arrington chooses Mexican, and Team Blais is cooking up a Downtown bistro theme.
Nyesha Arrington on Next Level Chef (Photo credit: Lorraine O’Sullivan / FOX)
All the teams worked well together and the chef-testants seemed to have a boost in morale while cooking alongside their mentors. Each dish successfully made it to the platform without issue.
Top Dish
This week's challenge will be judged as a team, not an individual. The team with the best tasting and most cohesive menu will win. For the third week in a row, Team Ramsay comes out on top, leaving Team Arrington and Team Blais to duke it out in elimination. Team Ramsay's top dishes included scallops sat on caviar beurre blanc, pan-seared salmon with a fennel puree, guinea hen with truffles, roasted ribeye with parsnip puree, and a fig tart tatin.
Ryan on Next Level Chef (Photo credit: Lorraine O’Sullivan / FOX)
Elimination Cook-Off
Chosen to face off in this week's elimination were Jeff from Team Blais and Bobby from Team Arrington. Bobby declines to use his immunity pin and heads into the hot zone. For this elimination cook-off, Jeff and Bobby are challenged to cook with wine.
Jeff on Next Level Chef (Photo credit: Lorraine O’Sullivan / FOX)
Jeff's rack of lamb sat on a bed of creamy potatoes with a port wine reduction is "beautiful," but the texture of the mashed potatoes is off. Bobby's halibut with sauce and glazed with butter is "elegant," "simple," and has "great depth of flavor," but it's not plated well. In the end, the fifth chef eliminated this season was Jeff, a 35-year-old social media chef from Fountain Valley, Calif.
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