Yes, Chef! Winner Emily Brubaker Reveals Show Bestie, Martha Invite Backstory & Ideas for Season 2
Chef Emily of Yes, Chef! shares what she learned and if she’d like to be back in potential future seasons.
Over 10 Yes, Chef! episodes, multiple challenges and cook-offs against 11 incredible professional chefs, Chef Emily Brubaker was triumphant as the first winner of the series.
The last challenge had Chef Emily creating a 3-course meal that best represented her career. Chef Emily’s own husband, Jake Brubaker, and recently eliminated Chef Jake Lawler worked as her sous chefs.
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In the end, co-hosts/judges Martha Stewart and José Andrés, and guest judges Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Zimmern, and Top Chef host extraordinaire Gail Simmons, decided that Chef Emily’s meal was better than the menus of Chef Lee Frank and Chef Zain Ismail.
In our last NBC Insider exit interview of the season, Chef Emily let us know what she learned from Yes, Chef!, the closest friend she gained from the cast, the back story about that Martha invite after she won and some advice she gave to the producers if they make a Season 2.
Yes, Chef! winner Emily Brubaker has no regrets
Nominated to the show because of her own self-doubt, Chef Emily said it’s “surreal” to come through the show gaining confidence, while shedding some of her stubbornness and winning because of it.
“I learned so much about myself, not only through my own recognition, but through the other contestants,” she said. "We did bond and we laughed because it was like, trauma bonding. And a new show, it's hard. Everything's brand new. During the show, everybody's like, 'Oh, these rules are so crazy.' But I'm like, 'Yeah, but when Top Chef came out, it was the same idea. We don't know what's going to happen!' So, by Season 22 of this, everybody will know what's going to happen. This was just such a great experience. I am so glad that I did it."
Chef Emily said Gail Simmons’ emotional praise about being a good mom and being a great chef meant a lot to her because she really was adrift when she left her cooking career to full-time mom for awhile.
"I try to be a good person. I try to be a nurturer. I try to lift those around me,” she said of her personal goals. "Watching the show, I was focused on the food and I wasn't focused on drama. I wasn't focused on how to better myself against someone else. I was just bettering myself."
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She said the two best examples of how she changed because of the show came in the finale.
“It made me so happy when Chef Jake from the show overcooked the foie gras,” she said of the potential crisis for her meal service. "Old me might have lost my temper and been stubborn and maybe berated him. But instead, I looked at him, and he was just, so upset for me. And I was like, 'We're gonna fix this.’ And that summed it all up for me, because there were times when Peter was down on himself, or Lee and I were talking terribly about our own issues. So, I really tried to mentor myself, and I try to mentor those around me."
She said not yelling at her husband about the undercooked bread pudding also marked “huge growth” for her.
"Jake and I do really well with working things out together,” she said. "I will say my stubbornness has held things against him at times when I shouldn't have, which isn't healthy. But we really do focus on how we can always be stronger together."
"We laughed because both of us knew the temperature was wrong, and neither of us fixed it,” she added of the prep problem that was her husband’s responsibility. “But we knew how to fix it the next day. And that was the greatest part, is that we both looked at each other and said, 'We have time to fix it and there's no reason to hold this against each other and to dwell on it...' even though both of us didn't sleep well the night before."
The friends Chef Emily made along the way and that Martha Stewart invite
After her big win, there was a moment in the edit where she specifically asked judge Martha Stewart if she’d come visit her now. We asked what the back story was on that comment, and Chef Emily explained it went back to Episode 3.
"Martha asked where I had worked, because she and I have crossed paths before in 2018, long ago,” she explained. "I told her I was at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa and she goes, 'If you win, I'll come visit you.' So, I kept joking about it the whole season, like, 'Are you gonna come see me?' She's like, 'You have to win!' So after I won, I was like, 'Will you come see me now?’"
Chef Emily chuckled, "I'm waiting, still."
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However, she has made a forever friend in Chef Lee Frank. They bonded immediately over sharing a boss in San Francisco, and then many common professional experiences.
"Chef Lee and I are very, very close,” she said with pride. "He's like the brother I never had. We still we talk every day. He'll be coming out here to help with an anniversary party for Omni. We're turning 60, so I invited all the Yes, Chefs! to come and cook with me. There's going to be about seven of us total on July 11 through the 13th and it’s open to the public." (Get tickets here!)
Chef Emily’s advice for Yes, Chef! Season 2: “They need a me"
Having lived inside the inaugural season of Yes, Chef! and then watching it every week like the audience, Chef Emily said a permanent mentor figure would help the contestants a lot if the show returns for a second season.
"In Season 2, I think it'd be really helpful to have somebody like me or Lee as a mentor to the contestants,” she said. "Martha and José are iconic and amazing, and the words that they said were wonderful. But there's so much downtime that you are beating yourself up or over analyzing. We did it to ourselves. And maybe because I'm older, I kept saying, 'You should be really looking from within.’ So, I think for them to have a person that is there to help with that, along with maybe judging, would be really great. So I've raised my hand every time I can."
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In the meantime, the $250,000 win is going to allow her family to embrace their relocation from Las Vegas to San Diego without the oppressive financial stress.
"Honestly, this win puts us back to the level where we're comfortable again in our life,” Chef Emily confirmed. "We would never change the fact that we are here in California because we're happier, the kids are happier and the schools are great. We miss Vegas. We miss our community. But this was the right move for us. But, this [win] is just taking all that weight off our shoulders. It's a starting point."
Yes, Chef! Season 1 is available to stream on Peacock.
