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The Worst Episodes of The Mind of a Chef

Every episode of The Mind of a Chef ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The Mind of a Chef!

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Go inside the minds of some of the world's top chefs. Narrated by Executive Producer Anthony Bourdain, The Mind of a Chef is that rare and beautiful thing: an intelligent show about cooking.

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 1 - Genesis
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Genesis

    S6:E1

    Nobody gets a say in the life they’re born into. Thrust into a body, a family, a country and a history, the story of our lives are merely the sum of an endless combination of circumstantial factors determining who we will know, how we will fare, who we will become. But for those adopted, their origins are complicated as the where they were born fuses with the world in which they’re raised. Danny Bowien was born in Korea but only spent the first 3 months of his infant life there. He was adopted and raised by American parents in Oklahoma — religious, hard-working folks – and instead of a life in Seoul, Danny grows up in suburban middle-America. Adapting to this life was easy, for it was all he knew, but he constantly carried traces of his past with him, superficially and also buried deep below.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 2 - Threshold
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #2 - Threshold

    S6:E2

    Danny spends the bulk of his time obsessing over the future – there is urgency in him that needs to be on top of everything, ahead of every trend, aware of what lies beyond the curve. But it would be impossible to know where he’s going without first examining where he came from, and from where that drive was borne. Once he committed to leaving Oklahoma, Danny emerged in San Francisco as a human tabula rasa, open to all of the experiences the city laid before him. It was here that Danny formed who he was as a person and as a chef, and the grassroots movement of Mission Street Food blossomed into what is now his greatest success.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 3 - Mentor
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #3 - Mentor

    S6:E3

    Danny has been to China several times, but he’s visited Chengdu (the geographical and spiritual capital of Szechuan food) only once. He’s returning here to reconnect with the place, the food and the person – renowned chef Yu Bo – that have influenced him the most. Szechuan food has been the greatest source of inspiration for Danny, and consequently his life. This episode is about the dishes, cooking methods, unique flavors and stories (both his and Yu Bo’s) that have driven Danny on a quest to master this style of food.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 4 - Family
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #4 - Family

    S6:E4

    For better or worse, we do not get to choose the family into which we’re born. In Danny’s case, nor did he get to choose the family that adopted him. He had no say in where he would live or how he’d be raised. After his mother’s death he felt a bizarre combination of liberation mixed with guilt, and he desperately wanted to hold on to – or recreate – the familial feel of togetherness.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 5 - Risk
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #5 - Risk

    S6:E5

    Without risk, there would not be the valuable by-products of risk – success and failure. Danny Bowien has learned that there is power in taking chances, and risk can be virtuous when it comes to navigating the creative process. Now more than ever, he has gained confidence in taking these risks, and grown more comfortable with both of its outcomes.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 6 - Unexpected
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #6 - Unexpected

    S6:E6

    Danny Bowien does not cook authentic Chinese cuisine, but he cooks genuine Danny Bowien cuisine – food that is inspired by his love of Szechuan food and New York City and his family and new experiences. He is 100% himself, and is constantly in search and awe of others who are the same.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 7 - Classics
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #7 - Classics

    S6:E7

    Continuing on the Hero’s Journey, if Korea was his starting point and San Francisco was his first threshold, New York City is where Danny’s adventure reaches the apex. Danny really believes that if you can make it in this ultra-competitive town with its even more competitive dining scene, then there’s nowhere you can’t succeed. While he never readily admits to long-term goals, there was a desire backed up by a strategy to prove himself as one of the Greats.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The Mind of a Chef Season 6 Episode 8 - Multiverse
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #8 - Multiverse

    S6:E8

    What would have happened if Danny never left Oklahoma, or was not adopted at all? Instead of looking at life as a series of “what ifs,” the lens of the multiverse allows us to see a reality with infinite possibilities and infinite selves. In this, Danny is still an orphan, and is not an orphan, he opens a Chinese bakery, he grows up in Korea, and he is even a puppet.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 16 - Restauranteur
    6.0/10(2 votes)

    #9 - Restauranteur

    S2:E16

    Chef Bloomfield wrestles with the questions every aspiring new or expanding veteran chef has to confront. April and her business partner, Ken Friedman, explore the challenges of opening their first out-of-state venture in San Francisco: Tosca. April is inspired by a local morning bun, and she’s busy in the kitchen testing and tasting dishes for her new menu.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The Mind of a Chef Season 4 Episode 1 - Prune
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - Prune

    S4:E1

    With every chipped plate and hand-written to-do list, Gabrielle Hamilton’s “presence” is all over her NYC restaurant, Prune.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. The Mind of a Chef Season 4 Episode 2 - Garbage
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - Garbage

    S4:E2

    Having been raised in a large family with many mouths to feed, to then needing to fend for herself from a very young age, Gabrielle Hamilton is the master of utilizing scraps.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The Mind of a Chef Season 4 Episode 3 - Rome
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Rome

    S4:E3

    Explore Gabrielle’s deep love with this ancient city.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. The Mind of a Chef Season 4 Episode 4 - Hunger
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - Hunger

    S4:E4

    From a very young age, Gabrielle Hamilton was left alone in her home to fend for herself. She rummaged through what was left in the pantry and refrigerator and satisfied her hunger with what she could scavenge. At 16, she moved to New York City where she used her jar of change to feed herself. All her experiences with hunger made her the chef she is today.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The Mind of a Chef Season 1 Episode 2 - Pig
    6.2/10(5 votes)

    #14 - Pig

    S1:E2

    In San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, David Chang discusses pork bushi and prepares pork belly and tonkotsu. Later, he and comedian Aziz Ansari head to Montreal to enjoy a fried bologna sandwich at Wilensky's.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 2 - Seeds
    6.5/10(2 votes)

    #15 - Seeds

    S2:E2

    It all began when Sean Brock went looking for Jimmy red corn. That simple journey turned into a lifetime of searching, archiving and reviving lost crops of the South. His partners in crime are legendary owner and operator of Anson Mills, Glen Roberts, and University of South Carolina professor David Shields — a trifecta of seed nerds hell-bent on preserving Southern food heritage.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 8 - Senegal
    6.5/10(2 votes)

    #16 - Senegal

    S2:E8

    The influence of West Africa on Southern cuisine is explored during a visit to Senegal. Historian and chef Fati Ly leads a tour of the markets in Dakar and M'Bour; and cooks theibou yapp, a traditional Sengalese dish.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 14 - Farmer
    6.5/10(2 votes)

    #17 - Farmer

    S2:E14

    April travels four hours outside London to Cornwall to visit and cook with farmer and chef Tom Adams on his farm. Tom raises the cute, furry and delicious mangalitsa pigs. April and Tom butcher and cook the entire pig piece by piece: loin, shoulder, belly and head.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 15 - Leftovers
    6.5/10(2 votes)

    #18 - Leftovers

    S2:E15

    This episode aims to prove that nasty bits have been given a bad rap and deserve to be on the kitchen table along with meatloaf and mashed potatoes. In the kitchen, April cooks faggots, bubble and squeak and pig parts; Fergus Henderson works his offal magic on kidneys.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. The Mind of a Chef Season 3 Episode 9 - Winter
    6.5/10(2 votes)

    #19 - Winter

    S3:E9

    Explore the ways that the Scandinavian people have survived winter through the practice of preservation and aging with Chef Magnus Nilsson.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. The Mind of a Chef Season 4 Episode 15 - New Orleans
    6.5/10(2 votes)

    #20 - New Orleans

    S4:E15

    When your first restaurant job is Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, you are inevitably destined for great things. As a high school student in New Orleans, David’s eyes were opened by the glamorous Crescent City institution, and a long career in cuisine followed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 1 - Southerners
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #21 - Southerners

    S2:E1

    A spotlight on the regional variations of southern cuisine. Chef Steven Satterfield makes okra and grits. Chef John Currence makes tamales. Chef Ed Lee creates a dish using bourbon, sorghum and country ham. Pastry chef Lisa Donavan makes a buttermilk pie. New host Sean Brock is joined by the Lee Brothers to make deviled crab

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 4 - Louisiana
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #22 - Louisiana

    S2:E4

    A look at Louisiana cuisine features a visit to Middendorf's Restaurant in Akers, La., with food writer John T. Edge; and a frogging excursion with chef Donald Link.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 9 - London
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #23 - London

    S2:E9

    Chef April Bloomfield visits London, where she began her cooking career. Cooking walnut tagliatelle with chef Ruth Rogers. Making rabbit pie with chef Fergus Henderson, and enjoying a pint and scotch eggs with chef Rowley Leigh.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 10 - Sea/Salt
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #24 - Sea/Salt

    S2:E10

    Focus on April’s love of the sea, which is deep and fully realized.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The Mind of a Chef Season 2 Episode 11 - Curry
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #25 - Curry

    S2:E11

    Explore the origins of curry and England’s versions of this historic cuisine.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Genesis" is the worst rated episode of "The Mind of a Chef". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 11/13/2017. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Threshold".