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The Best Episodes of Chef

Every episode of Chef ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Chef!

Binge this in 10h 0m•Peaking at 8.8/10

Sharp knives and even sharper tongues! Meet Britain's finest, most short-fused chef, Gareth Balckstock.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Chef Season 1 Episode 4 - The Big Cheese
    8.8/10(59 votes)

    #1 - The Big Cheese

    S1:E4

    Gareth is busy perfecting his salmon mousse to prepare for a visit to Le Chateau Anglais by celebrity chef and gourmet Albert Roux. At the same time, he is trying to find a source for unpasteurized stilton cheese. His search leads him to an encounter with the local police, when he learns that the farm where he found the cheese is also growing marijuana, and selling it to an employee at Le Chateau. Gareth assumes that Everton is the culprit, but discovers that his assumption was incorrect.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  2. Chef Season 2 Episode 7 - England Expects
    8.6/10(43 votes)

    #2 - England Expects

    S2:E7

    Gareth is invited to a cooking contest in France. He's forced to use English ingredients and needs English wine.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  3. Chef Season 1 Episode 7 - A Bird in the Hand
    8.4/10(44 votes)

    #3 - A Bird in the Hand

    S1:E7

    Gareth and Janice are worried over Le Chateau's high expenses. Janice complains about the prices of Mrs Courtney, the herb supplier. Gareth dismisses Mrs Courtney with his usual shower of abuse. They also decide to open the restaurant for Christmas, which requires purchasing numerous turkeys for Christmas dinners. A frantic search for the best turkeys available leaves Gareth and Janice lost in the middle of Wilts, where they get caught off the road in a rain storm. They hope for rescue when they see someone walking through the fields, but their hopes are lowered when it turns out to be Mrs Courtney, whose boyfriend owns the turkey farm, still furious at her treatment by Gareth. Eventually they agree to buy the turkeys at a price even more excessive than what they've been paying her for herbs. The purchase proves to be wasted when their main Christmas party cancels and is replaced by a group of vegetarians.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  4. Chef Season 2 Episode 5 - Masterchef
    8.4/10(36 votes)

    #4 - Masterchef

    S2:E5

    Everton makes a partridge terrine that is so good, Gareth has to put it on the menu. The chef of Le Chateau doesn't like it all that Everton's star is rising.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  5. Chef Season 1 Episode 1 - Personnel
    8.3/10(64 votes)

    #5 - Personnel

    S1:E1

    The premiere episode serves primarily to set up the series and introduce the main character, Gareth Blackstock, a master chef with an obsessive drive for culinary perfection, no friends or outside interests other than his wife Janice, and remarkable verbal talents used primarily to creatively abuse his unfortunate staff of assistant cooks, although he is perfectly prepared to give the same treatment to waiters, management, suppliers, bankers, and, occasionally, customers. As the show opens, Gareth is shown verbally lacerating his kitchen staff as ""easily the most bone-idle bunch of useless toe-rags I have ever encountered in any kitchen anywhere. You are sloppy, lazy, half asleep, late, and, at the moment, only giving about 12 1/2 per cent."" Gareth is then shown with the restaurant manager who insists that he must reduce his staff to save money. He replies that the staff is dedicated, superbly efficient, and already impossibly overworked and underpaid. Gareth announces he is quittin

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  6. Chef Season 1 Episode 6 - Rice and Peas
    8.3/10(45 votes)

    #6 - Rice and Peas

    S1:E6

    Gareth's father, who left the family when Gareth was a child and has never been close to him, stops by the restaurant. He makes fun of the French high cuisine style of Le Chateau and taunts Gareth into declaring a special 'Jamaican Cuisine' day. That's trouble because Gareth, although raised in Jamaica, is trained in European and particularly Franch gourmet cooking and doesn't actually know how to do Jamaican dishes. He is forced against his better judgment to turn to Everton, who has cooked in a family Jamaican takeout restaurant and knows the food. Everton helps Gareth prepare the Jamaican menu, but refuses to tell him the secret ingredient for his Uncle's famous dumplings, the mainstay of the family restaurant. Gareth's father stops by for the Jamaica Night at Le Chateau only to announce that he won't be eating there, but is going to a local curry house instead.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Chef

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  7. Chef Season 2 Episode 6 - Private Lives
    8.3/10(38 votes)

    #7 - Private Lives

    S2:E6

    Gareth has to spend the entire day sorting out the private lives of his staff.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  8. Chef Season 1 Episode 2 - Beyond the Pass
    8.2/10(49 votes)

    #8 - Beyond the Pass

    S1:E2

    After Le Chateau Anglais is forced into receivership, Gareth and Janice prepare to buy the restaurant. To make the purchase, they have to sell their home and car, as well as meet with a banker to arrange a loan. Janice's fears that Gareth's notorious temper will be unleashed on the banker prove justified.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  9. Chef Season 1 Episode 3 - Subject to Contract
    8.2/10(46 votes)

    #9 - Subject to Contract

    S1:E3

    Chef's plan to buy Le Chateau is stalled by inability to sell the house. A sentimental conversation about living in the house turns into an argument between Gareth and Janice when Janice finds out that Gareth remembers exactly what she ordered the night they first met in a restaurant but can't remember what she wore. The kitchen is in disarray when Everton loses a band-aid and thinks it might be somewhere in the food he's prepared. The purchase of the restaurant moves forward again after an article about the house in a local publication brings in new buyers.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  10. Chef Season 1 Episode 5 - Fame is the Spur
    8.2/10(43 votes)

    #10 - Fame is the Spur

    S1:E5

    Gareth does interviews with journalists and agrees to have a documentary filmed in the kitchen to publicize the restaurant. When Everton accidentally releases some live crawfish, Gareth's vigorous and obscene rant is caught on film, drawing further media attention.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  11. Chef Season 2 Episode 1 - A River Runs Thru It
    8.2/10(42 votes)

    #11 - A River Runs Thru It

    S2:E1

    Le Chateau is in desperate need of new personnel and Gareth stumbles upon the name of a chef he once ate at. He decides to visit him.

    Director:John Birkin
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  12. Chef Season 2 Episode 3 - Do the Right Thing
    8.2/10(42 votes)

    #12 - Do the Right Thing

    S2:E3

    After an argument with a health inspector, Gareth goes with Everton and Janice to buy game birds from a poacher. After buying the birds, Gareth is stopped by a policeman. He is certain they are about to be arrested, but instead the policeman tells Gareth he can provide birds and other game animals at a lower price. A salmon Gareth buys from the policeman is tagged and traced to Le Chateau by a warden from the National Rivers Authority.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  13. Chef Season 2 Episode 4 - A Diploma of Miseries
    8.2/10(36 votes)

    #13 - A Diploma of Miseries

    S2:E4

    Janice arranges for Gareth to appear on a popular television chat show (talk show in American), whose host is a fan of Gareth's cooking. Gareth's remarks about her on the show leave Janice furious, and Gareth is forced to stay temporarily at Everton's apartment. Gareth makes up by having an apology to Janice broadcast on the show.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  14. Chef Season 3 Episode 6 - Paris? Jamaica?
    8.0/10(33 votes)

    #14 - Paris? Jamaica?

    S3:E6

    Gareth is at a cross road. He must decide whether to accept Rochelle's invitation to join her in Paris for the weekend or to fly off to Jamaica to try to patch things up with Janice. Gareth foolishly relies upon the advice of Everton to help him make a decision on his future.

    Director:Dewi Humphreys
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Chef Season 3 Episode 3 - Lessons in Talking
    7.9/10(26 votes)

    #15 - Lessons in Talking

    S3:E3

    With Janice having moved out on him and with talk of divorce in the air, Gareth takes his temper out on the diners when Cyril has made a policy decision that Gareth should mingle and chat with the diners at La Chateau Anglais. This is decidedly not what Gareth would prefer.

    Director:Dewi Humphreys
    Writer:Geoff Deane

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  16. Chef Season 2 Episode 2 - Time Flies
    7.7/10(40 votes)

    #16 - Time Flies

    S2:E2

    Janice is late and tells Gareth she may be pregnant. The revelation sets off inquiries into the cost of private school and other child-related expenses. Janice and Gareth discuss bringing in outside investors for Le Chateau to ease their own burdens. Meanwhile, Gareth is working on perfecting a signature dish, Ouef le Chateau Anglais.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Peter Tilbury

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  17. Chef Season 3 Episode 1 - Gareth's True Love
    7.6/10(31 votes)

    #17 - Gareth's True Love

    S3:E1

    What changes at La Chateau Anglais! Gareth has to transfer ownership to a loudmouth named Cyril. Savanna is a new American chef in his kitchen. Janice really turns Gareth's life around when she decides Gareth loves the restaurant more than her and leaves him.

    Director:Dewi Humphreys
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Chef Season 3 Episode 4 - Love is in the Air
    7.6/10(29 votes)

    #18 - Love is in the Air

    S3:E4

    The arrival of Gareth's father is not the tonic he needs to help him overcome his failed marriage. Especially when he brings along his new, very attractive and very young, girlfriend.

    Director:Dewi Humphreys
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Chef Season 3 Episode 5 - Rochelle
    7.6/10(33 votes)

    #19 - Rochelle

    S3:E5

    Gareth meets up with a childhood sweetheart when a wedding reception is held in the restaurant. This just further complicates his already precariously balanced emotions. A romantic evening between Gareth and Rochelle is interrupted by Janice, who has some very surprising news to share with them.

    Director:Dewi Humphreys
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Chef Season 3 Episode 2 - Reeny/Renee
    7.0/10(33 votes)

    #20 - Reeny/Renee

    S3:E2

    When Renee, Cyril's spoiled daughter arrives at the restaurant, Gareth is forced into letting her help out in the kitchen. Everton is smitten by Rene and will do anything to keep her from being removed from her position

    Director:Dewi Humphreys
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Big Cheese" is the best rated episode of "Chef". It scored 8.8/10 based on 59 votes. Directed by John Birkin and written by Peter Tilbury, it aired on 2/25/1993. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "England Expects".