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What’s the Story?

Reviewed byKari Croop
In CHEF ACADEMY, world-renowned French gourmand Jean-Christophe Novelli welcomes nine culinarily minded students into his shiny new cooking school in Venice, Calif., and attempts to transform them into well-oiled professionals. Some have training; some don't. But they're all trying to impress Novelli by mastering his culinary techniques and passing every new test that's put in front of them. (After all, once a student fails three times, he or she is sent packing.) Meanwhile, the head chef is settling his pregnant fiancee, Michelle, into their swanky West Coast apartment with help from his "temporary" American assistant, Joel.

Is It Any Good?

3

You could make the argument that we don't really need another reality-style cooking competition on television -- and on the same network as genre stalwart Top Chef, no less. But Chef Academy at least makes the attempt to switch it up by offering a glimpse of Novelli's personal life and including several relatively inexperienced home cooks among its slate of competitors. In that sense, it's much easier for viewers at home to relate and feel like they, too, could give it a go ... which could be precisely what Novelli has in mind.

Orange County housewife Suzanne Winn is a surefire standout, and it's not just because her platinum hair and cleavage make her look like a casting reject from The Real Housewives of Orange County. As it turns out, the woman can make some delicious fruit compote. But she's also the most entertaining person on the show by far, given her habit of spouting random one-liners at the camera, including "Film at 11!" "I'm a ci-vil-i-an" and "Will Rogers! [sic] Emergency! Emergency!" Novelli's own fondness for old episodes of Columbo (and his Peter Falk impersonation that goes along with it) is also kind of endearing. So we'll keep watching ... at least until Suzanne serves up that third fail.

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