Tonight on FOX Gordon Ramsay’s Masterchef Junior continues with a new Tuesday December 2, season 2 episode 5 called “Pop-Up Restaurant” and we have your weekly recap below. Tonight, the last six cooks split up into teams to compete in the inaugural restaurant challenge, with the winning group advancing to the semifinals.
On the last episode, the remaining eight junior home cooks had 10 minutes to fry as many perfect sunny side-up eggs as possible. Later, the kids dreamt big and imagined owning and running their own restaurant. With only one hour, they had to prepare their signature dishes that would one day anchor their menus. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the FOX synopsis, “the remaining six junior home cooks split into teams and compete in the first-ever “Junior Edition” restaurant. The team that wins the challenge will advance into the semi-finals, while the remaining home cooks will have to face elimination. Find out which four junior home cooks advance to the next round.”
Don’t forget to join us for our live recap tonight at 8:00pm when MasterChef Junior Season 2 episode 5 episode airs on Fox. While you wait for the recap, let us know how your enjoying this season of MasterChef Junior.
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On #MCJunior, the top six young cooks stream into the kitchen. Joe says they won’t be cooking in the MC kitchen today and says it will be in a professional kitchen. Graham tells the kids they’ll be taking over a pop up restaurant. Sean doesn’t know what that even means. They’ll be staffing the #JuniorPopUp and Joe says some restaurant critics, chefs and foodies will be their guests. They will compete in two teams of three.
Samuel and Abby serve as team captains for winning the last challenge. Abby chooses red and that gives Samuel blue. Oona hopes Samuel picks her. He gets to pick first since he came in first last time. He selects Sean and he’s glad to be picked. Abby chooses Adaiah. She says she can take orders from Abby even though she’s a lot bigger. Samuel chooses Oona leaving Logan with Abby. She’s glad to have him and say she feels good about her team.
Gordon personally drives the red team over to the pop up restaurant site at a vineyard. Graham drove the other kids. They head in to check out the menu. They must make tempura and prawn for appetizers. Graham demonstrates how to make the tempura and lets the kids ask questions as they watch him cook the appetizer and plate it. Gordon makes the prawns and shows the kids how to make them and plate them. He tells them to taste a lot while they cook.
Graham demonstrates the cook on the fish dish. Logan is freaked out because Abby isn’t taking notes. Samuel takes a ton of notes. Gordon demonstrates the filet mignon cook. Adaiah says Gordon is making it look a lot easier than it is. Joe tells the kids that the guests know they are kids but will not give them any breaks because they’re kids. Gordon says he’ll be expediting in the kitchen tonight. He says there may be raised voices and hurt feelings.
He asks them what’s the point of tonight and Abby says – making you look good – and he tells her that’s a perfect reason. The kids have one hour of prep and are immediately scrambling to get it together. The judges discuss the strategy and they wonder if Abby is up to being the team captain. Joe says he thinks Samuel will be a strong leader. Samuel is bossy early on. Abby is having a hard time getting the others to listen to her.
Logan says it’s very tense on their team and says it’s hard to listen to her squeaky voice. Gordon sees that Logan isn’t listening to her even though she’s telling him repeatedly. Gordon tells the kids they have just seven minutes left before service starts as guests start pulling up. There are 40 VIPS dining today. Half the dining room will get service by red and half by blue. One food blogger says she’s excited to see what the kids will do.
Gordon calls the teams over and tells them to peek around at their guests. He asks if the kids are ready and they tell him they are. Gordon calls out orders. They start on the apps. Oona says this is the hardest challenge they’ve done. Sean says this is very stressful. Gordon tells the blue team their plates are looking great but Oona is struggling with the squash blossoms. Samuel says she’s crashing and burning. She’s freaking out. Gordon asks about them and Gordon says they look terrible.
He calls Oona over and tells her to touch it. He shows her what’s wrong with it and says it’s an absolute mess. He asks if they would eat it and they say no. She apologizes and he tells her to get it together and start over. Until Oona can get her dish right, the other apps can’t be served. Over on red, Logan still doesn’t have the seasoning right. Gordon tastes and spits it out. He calls Abby over to taste it and he dumps it out and shows them it was over-seasoned.
She says first he had it under-seasoned and then he put too much on. Logan worries this seasoning could send him home. Gordon says to start over. He tosses out the plate. Logan starts over and says he doesn’t want to hold the team back. Gordon pulls him aside and asks why he didn’t come to him and ask him to taste. He tells him to communicate with him and let him help him. Logan says he’s there to get better and Gordon reassures him. He remakes and asks Gordon to taste.
The red team starts sending out appetizers. Abby says they’re all communicating well now and is feeling more confident. The blue team still hasn’t served any apps because of Oona’s squash blossom. He asks Samuel if he has any control over his team. The judges talk and say the red team is outperforming them now. Gordon says Sean has shut down and Oona isn’t listening. Graham comes over to help. He shows Oona again how to cook the blossoms. She thanks him.
Samuel is freaking because he can see how many tables red has already served. They finally start serving. The judges will decide the winner of the challenge based on diner feedback and their own observations. The red team gets positive feedback. The blue team also gets good feedback. The blue team is still behind and their guests are getting impatient. Joe goes to Samuel and tells them they have to pick it up.
Gordon tells Samuel he needs to multitask. The red team is also done with apps and Gordon yells at them to get moving. He sounds like he’s going to have an aneurism. He calls the blue team over and chastises them about multitasking. Instead of working two dishes at once, they are only doing one at a time. He tells the blue team they need to take off their aprons and go home now. The kids freak and asks if he means right now. Oona starts to untie his apron.
Samuel is terrified because he doesn’t want to go home. They tell him they can do it and he sends them back to cook. The blue team is regrouping as the red team finishes app service. Oona says this has shown her she doesn’t want to own a restaurant. The blue is finally on their last app. Gordon tells Samuel he’s off to a dreadful start as a captain and tells him to pull it together. Samuel really wants to prove himself.
The kids start entrees cooking. Samuel is cooking the fish, has Sean on steaks and Oona on fries. Over on red, Abby is doing fries, has Adaiah on steaks and Logan the fish. The fish must be crispy on the outside and the steaks must be medium rare. Graham coaches Logan on the cook of the fish and tells him to be one with the fish. Samuel is confident as they send out their first table of entrees. Abby is also doing well. Joe says her tiny size is a challenge but she’s stepping up.
Adaiah is getting overwhelmed on steaks. She has never cooked that cut of steak before and is nervous. One red team diner shows Joe that the steak is almost raw on the inside. They get good reviews on the fish. A blue team diner says the plating was good and the taste was good as well. The blue team is on their last table and Samuel thinks they bounced back well. They high five to a flawless finish. Over on red, they are backed up. Gordon yells at them to serve up the proteins.
Abby calls for the proteins and they try to get their final plates out. Logan says this is a nightmare. They get their last table done and Gordon high fives the red team and tells them well done. Adaiah says it’s pretty even since they beat blue at the appetizers. Sean says he got used to Gordon yelling and says he’d make a good alarm clock.
The judges say the red team had a good cook on the fish and Joe says he’s impressed with Logan’s job. The blue team’s fish isn’t as even as on the red team. Samuel was cooking that and they’re disappointed. On the steak, they say Adaiah’s steak looks good on the inside but isn’t properly seasoned. Over on blue, the steak looks good as does the cook. The seasoning is also good. They agree the steak was better for the blue.
The VIPs fill out comment cards that the judges will use to help reach their decision. The winning team moves to the finals while the losing team will see at least two kids go home. Joe thanks them all for coming. Gordon calls out the kids for everyone to see. The diners say the kids are adorable. Abby says she feels good because she’s only cooked for her family and the judges. Logan says the app seasoning was a challenge.
One diner asks the kids how it was working for Gordon. Sean says it was traumatizing. The judges tell the kids they have to make a decision but they won’t tell them until they are back in the MC kitchen tomorrow. Oona says she thinks it could go either way since blue started horribly and finished strong and the red team started strong and finished horribly. Next day, the judges greet the kids and call them down for the big decision.
Joe tells them they all did an incredible job at the pop up kitchen. Graham says the losing team will face elimination where at least two will be sent home. Gordon tells the red team they did a good job overall. He tells the blue team that they also did a good job. Gordon says one team did slightly better and congratulates the winning team – the red team! Woo hoo Abby! Samuel is in shock that he didn’t win. Sean says the red team did better than them so he gets it.
Gordon tells the blue team that not all of them will be leaving tonight. He says one will be safe from elimination and one will leave. Samuel worries he’s leaving since he was team captain. Graham says this was their toughest decision. He says the one who is safe and moving on to the top four is Samuel. Graham says his leadership skills saved him and he was operating confidently. Samuel says he’s sorry his fellow team mates are going home and hugs Oona and Sean.
Oona is full on crying and Sean is teary. Gordon tells them they did great work. Joe asks Sean to bring back some of his cupcakes when he comes to visit and tells Oona he’s put one of her dishes on his menu and named it after her. Joe picks up Oona and holds her like a baby. Oona says Adaiah or Sam will win it. They leave. Sean says this is just the beginning for him. Oona says this is the coolest thing that has ever happened to her. She says she’s very proud of how she did in the competition. Oona says this is more than just a cooking show – it’s a place where her dreams happened.
THE END!