This Yes, Chef! Competitor Is Now Chef Michelle's Surprise Text Buddy: "Know Your Worth"
Plus, Chef Michelle gives an update on her daughter: "She's the best part of me."
After a tumultuous three weeks of cooking and verbal sparring on Yes, Chef!, NBC’s newest culinary competition series, Chef Michelle Francis was eliminated by fellow chef Ronny Miranda based on the merits of her last dish. But arguably, the frequent confrontations between Michelle and outspoken personality Chef Katsuji Tanabe really determined her fate.
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Going back to the Yes, Chef! premiere and ousting of Chef Petrina Peart, Chefs Michelle and Katsuji often battled as team captains, differing in their leadship styles but both proving their cooking prowess. As a career chef and the recent sous chef at Jarin Los Angeles, Chef Michelle signed up for the series to work on her stubbornness and to hopefully win the $250,000 prize to help with her daughter Sophie’s medical treamtments.
Chef Michelle told NBC Insider that the one-two punch of being a competition cooking show newbie and the diabolical machinations of Chef Katsuji made for the disappointing outcome of going home early. Read on to learn more.
Steak, eggs, and consommé — oh, my!
"Most of the people that were on that show had already done cooking competitions in the past. I think it was me, Chef Jake, and Chef Peter were the only three that never have done a cooking competition, so I didn't really know what to expect,” Chef Michelle said of her TV show experience going into Yes, Chef!
Because of that, she said she was not prepared for Chef Katsuji’s outsized persona, especially when he actively tried to sandbag opposing teams.
"We were just deflecting him all the time, like he would be a little gnat,” she joked. "He would constantly be there, and we would just be trying to swat him away. I was kind of taken aback saying, 'Wow, this would never fly in a real kitchen. Like, what is going on here?’"
She admitted that he definitely got under her skin like no other: "Believe me. I wanted to throw an egg on his head,” she said. "Yeah, I was so mad. I don't know if the camera really picked it up, but I was extremely mad.
"There's this antagonistic side of him, yet he literally won with guacamole,” she added, referencing Chef Katsuji's premiere-episode win when they went head-to-head in a Greek cuisine-off. "Really? This is not a blender show. It's a cooking show. On any other show, they'd be like, 'This is not a dish. This is not a composed dish.' Or, 'This is not even a cooked dish.' So, it's very strange to me ... [what] got by, and what didn't get by."
Even with all of the pushback, Chef Michelle said she was proud she kept going even after some tough rounds: "I kept picking myself up, dusting myself off, and just kept on going,” she said. "In general, being my age, that's what you just have to do. That's what's instilled in us."
Chef Michelle's advice to the next generation of cooks
One half of the Yes, Chef! experience is based in self-awareness and, ideally, self-betterment. With years of elite restaurant experience, Chef Michelle said she hopes that her fellow competitors, colleagues in the business today, and foodies around the globe take away from the show just how much passion is involved in cooking for the public.
“The biggest thing that I hope people understand is that the people in the back that are making your food, they're amazing people,” she emphasized. "They have families and they have different things that they've gone through in their life. Just respect the food and everything that they do.
"Like, when they see different fruits and vegetables, they're automatically sitting there, going, 'Wow, what can I make amazing with that?' We are so creative and full of passion,” she continued.
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"We love what we do. We love each and every one. We have so much respect for each other... well, some do and some don’t,” she joked.
She was also quick to heap praise on her fellow competitors.
"Chef Emily Brubaker was awesome,” she said. "She's a great chef. She's classically trained, and she worked for Rubicon and Leek. She gave me a big, gigantic hug. And Chef Peter was, like, my little brother because he's from Long Island. It's kind of like a little family now."
Chef Michelle’s battles with Chef Katsuji led to eventual Zen
Chef Michelle said she wished she had been able to cook without the speedbumps Chef Katsuji laid out for all of them. Despite the feedback of judges Martha Stewart and José Andrés, who said she could have cooked the steak or clarified her broth with gel, Michelle said actual cook time was not on her side.
“But, I didn't lose my cool,” she said of her responses. "Usually, I would be yelling and screaming and saying unchosen words. I really wanted to go off, but I really try to keep my grace. I kept saying in my head, 'My daughter said, be nice and kind to everyone.'
"It's funny, because after the show, she watched that one show, and she's like, 'Maybe you shouldn't have been nice and kind, mama. Maybe you should have been exactly who you are,'” Michelle added, laughing.
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Asked her assessment of Katsuji the man vs. the TV chef, and if she met both, Michelle said, "It's funny because when I got kicked off, I said to him, 'Come here, you big pain in the ass,' and I hugged him. And he said, 'I'm so sorry this happened.' We've talked since and we've texted each other. He's actually a really, really nice guy. He was just [in] that persona."
She added, "The person that gave me the most learning experience is Katsuji. He just said, 'Don't let these people bother you. They're nothing compared to you. Know your worth.' So, I learned if I could keep my cool in front of him, I could keep my cool in front of anybody. It made me feel like, if I could take him on, I could take anything on."
Chef Michelle's update on daughter Sophie and Traitors intentions
Most importantly, Michelle said Sophie is doing great now.
"She’s just killing it. She's feeling really good. She's doing really, really good. She's the best part of me. She's just amazing," she said. "We had Mother's Day at José Andrés' restaurant by the pool, and we had the best day."
Asked if Sophie sees any new change in her, Michelle said, "She was really impressed that I had such grace. She said, 'If it was usual Mama, you would have been throwing stuff at somebody,' so she was impressed. She said, 'You have grown... a little bit.'"
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Now, Chef Michelle is catering for high-end clients, consulting for three Pasadena-based restaurants, and is eyeing the potential of being cast in different competition reality shows.
"I would love to do another competition, like Chopped or 24 in 24. But I would really love to be on The Traitors. That's my favorite show. I would love to be a Traitor. Who would think I would be a Traitor, a mother with their kid? I would like totally plan it and be on the down low. I would rock it!"
New episodes of Yes, Chef! premiere on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, following The Voice. Each episode will be available to stream on Peacock the next day.
