‘Yes, Chef!’ Exclusive Clip: Can Chef Julia Chebotar Chop 6 Shallots In 5 Minutes?

The contestants of Yes, Chef! are feeling the heat! NBC’s bold new cooking competition aims to reform hot-tempered chefs, who have been nominated by co-workers, friends and family and put through various challenges designed to push them to their limits. Hosts and EPs Martha Stewart and José Andrés are there to guide the volatile chefs and help them change their ways, if they’re willing.

In this exclusive clip, we see the chefs divided into the green team and the blue team. Chef Julia Chebotar, captain of the blue team, has stepped up for her team, volunteering to cut six shallots in five minutes in a grueling challenge. As the chefs watch , Chebotar stands ready at her cutting board facing Stewart and Andrés. “Chef Julie, your time starts now,” announces Stewart encouragingly.

Chebotar’s team cheers her on as she begins to make her cuts. “Go, go, you got this,” encourages Chef Lee Frank. “Plenty of time, make ’em perfect.” Chebotar begins to sweat as she lines up her first shallot. In her confessional, Chebotar provides commentary. “This is so hard only because Martha Stewart and José Andrés are standing right in front of you!” Back at her perch, Stewart watches Chebotar closely. “She’s nervous,” says Stewart with a twinkle in her eye. “I am! My hands are sweating,” replies Chebotar with slight laughter. 


“You’ve taken one whole minute to do one shallot,” says Stewart with a hint of judgement in her voice. As Andrés inspects Chebotar’s knife cuts on her first shallot, Stewarts calls Chebotar’s work “perfectly good.” Chebotar speeds up with her next shallot. In her confessional, Chebotar weighs in. “Martha is my queen; I’m really trying not to fuck up these shallots in front of her.”

Back in the kitchen, Andrés spurs Chebotar on. “You’re going to have to finish like Michael Phelps in the 100 meters.” Her team tries to assist. “You got a minute ten,” calls Frank as Chebotar finishes her third shallot and moves on to the fourth as her time dwindles down to less than 30 seconds . Chebotar moves swiftly , but the outcome looks bleak. From the green team, Chef Emily Brubaker weighs in. “I never thought how hard it would be to watch somebody else chop shallots. It’s the worst feeling on the planet.”

Though it seems unlikely that Chebotar will reach her goal, fans know that anything’s possible in the Yes, Chef! kitchen! Tune in tonight at 10PM ET/PT on NBC to find out what happens next.