Yes, Chef! Competitors Battle It Out Over Lunch: The Winners & Losers (June 9, 2025)
The knife- and scissor-wielding chefs go outside their "comfort zones" in the hardest challenge yet.
The chefs have a three-course luncheon to prepare and get right to business in Episode 7 of Yes, Chef! after adjusting to the missing chef-testants Christopher Morales and Ronny Miranda, who were sent home last week. Two eliminated chefs, Julia Chebotar and Petrina Peart, have returned to the fold, but not without some bumps. Resentment is festering among the previous contestants, who feel they’ve paid their dues and deserve a spot in the final four.
“I can’t really understand how someone can be here after getting eliminated on the first challenge,” Chef Zain Ismail said, referring to Chef Petrina, whose lobster dish sent her home on day one.
“She missed the monkey wrenches and challenges, and stress and all of that,” quipped Chef Lee Frank. “All of that pressure has brought the four of us together… it’s time to send these two people packing again.”
But it’s hosts Martha Stewart and José Andrés who hold all the power. And as José said, “you’re only as good as your last dish” — so it’s anyone’s game.
The Challenge: The chefs had to pull together a “full-on lunch service” for 16 hungry guests, said Martha, who believed she and José had “gone too easy” on the competitors thus far. The six remaining chefs were divided into two teams with two team captains — returning Chefs Julia and Petrina.
Green Team: Chef Petrina Peart (Captain), Chef Zain Ismail, Chef Emily Brubaker
Blue Team: Julia Chebotar (Captain), Chef Jake Lawler, Chef Lee Frank
“Let’s see how you adapt and perform outside of your comfort zone,” said Martha.
Winning the Ingredients: Prove It Or Lose It
“Today you will be competing for ingredients to use in your upcoming service, through prep work and mise en place,” José said, explaining that the chefs would be wielding knives to show off their skills.
Martha and José devised a clever game to see who would fall victim to overconfidence. They had to bet on how many shallots, fish, or chicken they could prep in 5 minutes. The chef with the highest bet completed the task, and if they succeeded, they got the entire category of food, and the other team got nothing. The categories in play were alliums (flavorful ingredients such as onion, garlic, shallot, and leek), seafood, and meat.
Props go to Chef Lee, who faked everyone out by saying he could only butcher one chicken in five minutes. Chef Zain raised him to five chickens, thinking she would trip him up, but he took the challenge and easily sailed through.
Green Team: no meat, chicken, or seafood
Blue Team: no alliums
The Cooking Challenge: A Three-Course Luncheon for 16
With 10 minutes for meal planning and just one hour to cook and plate, the kitchen was a pressure cooker, and Chefs Zain and Lee tussled over some trumpet mushrooms in the walk-in refrigerator. But Chef Lee recalled José’s advice — “your first reaction is not always your best reaction” — and gave Chef Zain the mushrooms, showing some growth that would make the judges proud.
First Course: Julia Chebotar (no alliums) vs. Emily Brubaker (no meat, chicken, or seafood)
After her exciting return in Episode 6, Chef Julia was working hard to make an impression, but the attempt fell flat for some. After noticing an aftertaste in her borscht, teammate Chef Jake Lawler expressed concern: “I’m quite worried. Julia got sent home once, and if her dish fails again, I could be in trouble.”
Chef Julia Chebotar: Borscht with Cashew Cream, Toasted Croutons & Fennel Fronds
Without onions, Chef Julia substituted white pepper, which the judges found “overpowering,” but José enjoyed the “perfectly crunchy” croutons and noted the soup “had the right consistency.”
Chef Emily Brubaker: Roasted Carrots with Orange Labneh & Dukkah
The seafood-loving chef pivoted to a vegetarian dish, hoping the “profound” earthiness of her carrot chips would win over the judges. It worked: Martha was impressed by the variety of colored carrots and deemed the dish “excellent.”
Winner: Chef Emily Brubaker
Second Course: Chef Jake Lawler (no alliums) vs. Chef Zain Ismail (no meat, chicken, or seafood)
Though no animal protein might seem like a disadvantage, Chef Zain was meat-free for many years, and had access to alliums (onion, garlic, shallot, leeks), which are the key to flavor. “Even though we have fish and beef, I think we’re the underdogs,” said Chef Lee after the ingredient challenge.
Chef Zain Ismail: Green Curry with Trumpet Mushrooms, Broccoli, Rice, and Quinoa
“You’re going to your roots, chef. Coconut milk is in the house!” exclaimed José while she was cooking. Both judges were impressed by the perfect crisscross grill marks on the mushrooms. “Take a look at this,” remarked José. “She was patient.”
Chef Jake Lawler: Seared Scallop With Orange Apricot Marmalade & Sunchoke Chips
Chef Jake was sweating the last-minute plating, so Chef Julia jumped in to help, but he felt she was “messing up my plating and not paying enough attention.” Both judges enjoyed his scallop, however, José said it needed a good sear to “elevate” them.
Winner: Chef Zain Ismail
Third Course: Chef Lee Frank (no alliums) vs. Chef Petrina Peart (no meat, chicken, or seafood)
Martha and José had concerns with both dishes even before they hit the table.
Chef Petrina’s choice to make Kataifi (shredded filo dough) made José visibly wince. “If it’s done properly, it’s crunchy, elegant, fluffy,” he said, otherwise it’s a “messy disaster.” Meanwhile, Chef Lee’s plan to create a fennel sauce that looked “marbled or broken” set off alarms with Martha, who quipped, “broken sauces are not usually good.”
Chef Lee Frank: Strip Loin With Smashed Fingerling Potatoes & Fennel Cream
“The fennel cream was superb, and the potatoes were tender and nice,” said Martha.
Chef Petrina Peart: Knafeh with Pistachio Cream and Elderflower Syrup
Chef Petrina needed help with plating, enlisting her teammates to frantically scoop quenelles, but it wasn’t enough. “The filo today didn’t cut it” said José, though he enjoyed the dessert’s other elements.
Winner: Chef Lee Frank
Challenge Winner: Chef Petrina’s Green Team won two out of three courses, making them the overall winner of the luncheon challenge. Emily was named MVC (Most Valuable Chef) for a second time, and picked the two chefs from the Blue Team to battle it out in the cookoff: Chefs Jake Lawler and Julia Chebotar
The Elimination Cookoff
Chef Jake, who once worked at a Michelin-starred restaurant, was confident going into the cookoff against Chef Julia, but his ego threatened to get the best of him. “You’re a personal chef, I mean, c’mon,” he said in the confessional.
The chefs had 20 minutes to make a “tartare,” which is typically made up of finely diced raw meat or fish. This time, however, they would dice ingredients using only scissors, and MVC Emily would decide what kind of tartare they would make. She chose fruit “tartare” for the meat-loving Chef Jake and raw beef tartare for the vegetable-loving Chef Julia.
Chef Julia Chebotar: Beef Tartare with Olive Tapenade, Egg Yolk, Mustard & Fried Crostini
Putting tartare on “salty” pre-made tapenade was a misstep in Martha’s mind, but José said he “applauded” the unconventional addition of black olives to the classic.
Chef Jake Lawler: Strawberry & Cream Tartare With Blackberry Sauce, Balsamic & Graham Cracker Crumb
José hardly recognized Jake’s dish as a tartare, and wished he had incorporated more of the dish’s classic flavors. “I know you’re going to say ‘are you crazy?’… You should’ve put in tiny pieces of anchovy. Because these strawberries, they lack salt.”
Who went home on Yes, Chef! this week? (June 9, 2025)
When the Judges compared notes, they both felt each dish “played it safe,” and the winner won by a small margin — “the etch of the scissor blades” as José put it. Chef Jake Lawler won the cookoff and Chef Julia Chebotar was sent packing a second time, this time going home for good.
New episodes of Yes, Chef! premiere on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Each episode will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
