WINNER!: Einat Admony
Age: 37
Chef/Owner - Taim
New York, N.Y. West Village
I'm a chef and owner of Taim. I grew up in Israel and always helped prepare a crazy five course meal for my family's Friday night dinners. After I left the military, I traveled around Europe and Thailand for five years and then went back to Israel to attend culinary school. I cook Middle Eastern food with a twist. I'm a very intense person, so cooking calms me down. I'm never too tired to cook. If I come home at 2am from work and my husband is hungry, I'll go and cook him a meal. I'm aggressive and pushy and faster than the guys. I would never serve anyone something that's less than perfect. Being in the military helps you be prepared for the unknown. I'm going to win because people flip when I serve my food. It's very unique and they say they've never seen anything like it before. If I lose this competition, I will pretend that it doesn't bother me even though I'll be dying inside.
Gavin Mills
Age: 31
Sous chef - Mas Farmhouse
New York, N.Y.
Honestly, I've always loved cooking. I'm from the UK, and Sunday roast is a big thing there, so as a kid I used to help my mom with that. I wanted to become a well-known chef, so I thought NYC was the best place to do that. I love to eat — food is a wonderful thing. If you're having fun preparing the food, that will come out on the plate. I think my mood reflects in the food I make. Oh, and I don't like to lose. I really don't. It makes me feel silly. In a competition people seem to make things too complicated for themselves, but I'm gonna keep it simple. That's why I'm gonna win.
Pippa Calland
Age: 43
Owner/Chef – Chef for Hire
Newville, Pa.
I'm 43-years-old and I'm the owner of Chef for Hire in Central Pa. My mother took me to numerous three star NYC restaurants when I was a kid and I've loved food ever since. After pulling years and years of 14 hour days in high-profile New York City restaurants, I moved to Pennsylvania and started my own company. I didn't want to be a general caterer — I don't do cold cut platters. What I create is as much for me as it is for my clients. I work with seasonal and local ingredients and maintain the integrity of each ingredient in my dishes. My nickname is "The Terminator" because I don't stand for nonsense and I'm very demanding. I always want everything to be just right. I'm a hedonistic, centralist chef. I expect to win. I want to showcase my ability to create something beautiful.
James Briscione
Age: 28
Chef Instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education
New York, N.Y.
I grew up in Pensacola, Fla. and started washing dishes when I was 16 because I needed a job. I moved to Birmingham for college and was studying sports medicine, but I missed the wild side of working in a restaurant. So I got a job at the fifth highest ranked restaurant in the country. By age 23 I was their chef de cuisine. At the Culinary Institute we teach all kinds of cooking because we're preparing our students for the top restaurants in NYC. But my favorite things to cook are French foods and traditional southern foods that I learned while working down south. I'm very competitive with everything I do. My big thing is fantasy sports. My friends and I are always trying to one-up each other. Also, my fiancée is a great home cook. We get very competitive and try to know more than each other about everything related to food. I'll beat everyone else because I have a very wide range of recipes to pull from and I can think very quickly on my feet.
