Young chefs Dylan Russett, Emmalee Abrams, Estie Kung, Cloyce Martin and Holden Dahlerbruch take on their adult counterparts in Lifetime’s “Man vs Child: Chef Showdown.”
Can highly trained, professional kitchen veterans take the heat from pint-sized culinary prodigies?
A+E Networks’ Lifetime ups the pressure as it kicks off a brand-new competition series where adult and young chefs go head-to-head in a battle for cooking supremacy.
“Man vs Child: Chef Showdown,” which premieres in Asia on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. with replays at 10 p.m., boasts a successful debut in the US and other parts of the world.
The 13-episode series hosted by chef and television personality Adam Gertler follows a team of five cooking wunderkinds who face off against different executive-level chefs each week.
The youngest chef on the show, 8-year-old Estie Kung, who is born and raised in Hollywood and is half-Chinese, has been cooking since age 3.
Estie first learned how to cook from her mom. “She allowed me to be creative and she’s really awesome,” she tells Inquirer.net in an interview during her promotional tour recently.
Her favorite dish to prepare is filet mignon or tournedos Rossini, which took her a year to learn to make.
Describing her experience doing the show, Estie said “awesome, wonderful,” words she also used to describe her teammates in the competition: Emmalee Abrams, 12; Cloyce Martin, 13 (“I think he’s one of our best chefs”); Holden Dahlerbruch, 14; and Dylan Russett, 11.
“We’re really good friends and we stay connected. They all know I’m in Asia right now,” Estie said.
She also said she learned a lot from the adult chefs who worked with them in the show.
Chefs Sau del Rosario and Estie Kung pose with their culinary masterpieces.
Each episode is made up of three rounds, with the kids nominating a teammate to face off against the expert in each challenge.
In the first two rounds, judges restaurateur Mike Isabella and chef to the stars Alia Zaine will determine which contender has created the winning dish.
The winner in each of the first two events will have an advantage in the next round, which includes preventing their competitor from tasting their food while they prepare it and forcing them to take a 10-minute break during the allotted cooking time.
The final round will feature a blind taste-test by world-renowned master chefs, like Hubert Keller and Ludo Lefebvre, who will determine the winner.
In the series premiere, titled “Don’t Under-Estie-mate Her,” the then 7-year-old whips up a Korean fried chicken dish with kimchi mayonnaise and a gochujang gastrique.
“‘Man vs Child: Chef Showdown’ is an A+E Networks original format and we think it will really resonate with the audiences in Asia,” said Michele Schofield, senior vice president, programming and production, A+E Networks Asia.
Schofield says the show offers wholesome entertainment for the entire family in a region where people are passionate about food.
She also says Lifetime is launching their “More Than #JustAKid” campaign in celebration of children.
“Our aim is to showcase exceptional kids who prove that what young ones lack in experience, they make up for with creativity and enthusiasm.”
Estie is excited that the show is finally airing in Asia. “I’m excited that a whole continent will get to see it now.”
Her message to viewers, apart from encouraging them to watch the show? “Be friendly and be awesome.”
“Man vs Child: Chef Showdown” airs every Tuesday starting Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. with replays at 10 p.m. Lifetime is available on Sky Cable Channel 65, Sky Cable HD Channel 199, Destiny Cable Channel 44 (analog) and Channel 65 (digital) and other select provincial channels.