OFTV’s This Is Fire Recap: Season One

By OFTV Editor

January 3, 2023

3 Minute Read

Whether you’re a respected Chef de Cuisine or a humble home cook, the kitchen can be a very stressful place. Add TV cameras, a ticking clock, fierce competition, and a grand prize of $10,000, and the pressure couldn’t be higher. At least the contestants of OFTV’s This Is Fire have Grandmaster Chef JoJo there to guide them.

On the first season of This Is Fire, Chef JoJo gathered eight home chefs (who are also OnlyFans creators) for a head-to-head battle to see who can deliver the tastiest take on some of his favorite dishes – from tacos, to Monte Cristos, to old-fashioned mac and cheese– in 30 minutes or less. Ultimately, the two finalists got the chance to throw down one last time for a chance to win the money and the bragging rights as champion. If you missed season one, read on to find out who had Chef JoJo saying, “This Is Fire!”

Warning: spoilers ahead.

E1: Monte Cristos

Air Date: May 13, 2022 | Watch on OFTV

In the debut episode, Chef JoJo welcomes singer Jacky Romero and model/actor Eric Guilmette into his kitchen. Although both contestants admit to being culinary novices, Eric still manages to flash a confident swagger.

Chef JoJo kicks off the first season of This Is Fire with a special challenge for Jacky and Eric: create the perfect Monte Cristo sandwich.

The Monte Cristo is typically layered with turkey, ham, gouda cheese, and strawberry puree, deep fried, then dusted in powdered sugar- it’s the ultimate comfort food.

With 30 minutes on the clock, Jacky and Eric spring into action in the kitchen. Before long, the two begin improvising their own twists on the classic Monte Cristo.

Eric attempts to up his sandwich’s “crunch factor” by throwing in some pistachios, while Jacky opts for some toasted coconut to add more sweetness to her questionable puree.

After sampling both sandwiches, Chef JoJo has a tough choice to make. Finally, he declares Eric’s Monte Cristo to be the winner due to the consistency of the powdered sugar, the beautiful plating of the strawberries, and the flaky texture of the crust.

Eric will be coming back for the semifinals and a shot at the $10,000 grand prize.

E2: Tacos

Air Date: May 21, 2022 | Watch on OFTV

It’s a battle of vegan versus carnivore as the omnivore model Linda Vo and vegan astrologist Cerissa Sustainable go toe-to-toe to deliver everyone’s favorite: tacos.

Although both Linda and Cerissa enter the challenge with an impressive amount of home cooking experience, Linda is especially secure about her abilities to cook steak.

Linda gets to work immediately on her carne asada taco meat with mango salsa taco, while Cerissa works up a crispy tofu and cauliflower taco.

Linda’s initial confidence is shaken a bit when she notices that not only is Cerissa two steps ahead of her, but she’s already planning a return trip to Tulum with her prize money.

But Cerissa’s Tulum planning may be a bit premature, since being the only vegan in a taco competition comes with its own pressures and challenges.

Cerissa admits that she’ll need to take her flavors to the next level if she wants her tofu and cauliflower to win out over Linda’s steak.

Ultimately, Chef JoJo chooses Linda’s carne asada taco (with a cheesy jalapeño popper on the side), despite a snafu with her tortilla.

Linda’s heading to the semifinals, and Cerissa is heading home.

E3: Fried Chicken Sandwiches

Air Date: May 27, 2022 | Watch on OFTV

Chef JoJo welcomes entrepreneur and podcaster Tori Green and model and nutritionist Mars to the kitchen. This episode is bound to pack some extra spice, since Tori and Mars are friends in real life.

Chef JoJo allows no time for these two pals to catch up and announces their challenge: creating a mouth-watering fried chicken sandwich. This is a tall order for both Mars and Tori, who don’t have a lot of experience performing under pressure in the kitchen.

Tori even admits that her culinary training is mostly a mixture of trial-and-error, and late nights on YouTube.

As the clock begins to tick down, Tori and Mars get to work on crafting their coleslaw garnishes.

Things appear to be evenly matched overall, as both Tori and Mars are confused by the oven and wind up burning their sandwich buns. The pressure is on.

Although the contestants wind up in a mad dash to get their fried chicken sandwiches finished before the thirty minutes are up, they both complete their cooks with time to spare. Chef JoJo can’t help but be impressed with how delicious their sandwiches look, despite all the kitchen mishaps.

Unfortunately for Mars, Tori pulled through with the upset victory.

E4: Mac and Cheese

Air Date: June 3, 2022 | Watch on OFTV

Chef JoJo introduces model, business owner, and “Harvard’s Asian Dropout” Kazumi to creator Adriana Chechik and sets up his most decadent challenge thus far: lobster mac and cheese.

And while both contestants should be using their time to strategize, Kazumi becomes noticeably distracted by Chef JoJo.

Shortly into the cook, things start going haywire for Adriana. What should be her smooth, cheesy roux is starting to look far too thick for a mac and cheese… and that’s before she adds any cheese.

With no time to start over, Chef JoJo encourages Adriana to push forward and work with what she has.

As Kazumi and Adrianna move on to cooking their lobsters, Kazumi decides to infuse in some flavors from her east Asian upbringing.

Though it may be a risk to add ponzu to her hot lobster pan, it’s one Kazumi thinks will pay off when Chef JoJo finally gets to taste it.

When all is said and done, it’s clear that Adrianna overcorrected when she attempted to thin out her roux. Her mac and cheese turns out watery, and with a combination of flavors that don’t quite work for Chef JoJo.

Meanwhile, Kazumi’s extra-crunchy Asian-inspired mac secures her a spot in the semifinals.

E5: Fish (Semifinals I)

Air Date: June 10, 2022 | Watch on OFTV

As the winning chefs move into the semifinals, it becomes obvious that the playful vibes from the previous challenges are gone from Chef JoJo’s kitchen.

There’s a lot less joking and self-deprecating quips from contestants Eric Guilmette and Linda Vo as they learn that they’ll need to pull off a flaky fish dish to get closer to winning $10,000.

Despite the added pressure, Eric continues to rely on his improvisational skills in the kitchen and more or less wing it. On the other hand, Linda jumps into the challenge with a much more methodical approach.

The kitchen is much more quiet than before with Linda and Eric fully focused on executing their recipes to perfection.

After a while, it’s clear that Linda’s skills in the kitchen are superior to her competitor’s.

Eric’s simple asparagus-and-fish dish is shaping up to be uninspiring, compared to Linda’s herb and spice-infused fish and pasta.

Realizing he’s outmatched when it comes to his cooking prowess, Eric attempts to throw Linda off her game by turning on his flirty charm and chatting her up during crucial moments of the cook.

It doesn’t work. Linda is fully committed to moving on to the finals and orders Eric back to his station.

Despite entering the competition as a sympathetic underdog, Eric’s journey on This Is Fire must come to an end.

At the end of the day, Linda’s vast expertise and raw talent was too much for him to overcome with his “shoot from the hip” approach.

E6: Steak (Semifinals II)

Air Date: June 17, 2022 | Watch on OFTV

The stakes are raised in the second half of the semifinals as Kazumi squares off against Tori Green to see who can deliver the tastiest, juiciest steak to Chef JoJo’s. Both contestants arrive in the kitchen with a lot of energy and confidence, and are determined to compete in the Finals.

With no time to waste, Tori and Kazumi get straight to work on their steaks. Tori credits her recipe idea to her Nana who taught her how to cook. Kazumi, who mostly eats seafood, begins to feel a little out of her depth having never prepared steak before.

However, when Chef JoJo observes Kazumi executing a reverse sear, he is blown away. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

While the steaks cook, Tori and Kazumi begin attacking their side dishes. Kazumi opts for asparagus and roasted potatoes, while Tori plans to serve broccoli and mashed potatoes with her steak.

Unfortunately for Tori, her mash is taking much longer than she anticipated and she quickly scraps them for roasted potatoes.

After soaring through their cooks with only a few snags, Tori and Kazumi manage to put together two immaculate-looking plates. Since only one of them can advance to the finals, Chef JoJo’s deliberation is difficult.

After a few tense moments, Chef JoJo makes the decision to send Kazumi to the finals, crediting the flawless execution of her steak and the delicious east Asian flavors she incorporated.

E7: Pasta  (Finale)

Air Date: June 24, 2022 | Watch on OFTV

In the final episode of season one of This Is Fire, Linda Vo and Kazumi return to battle it out for $10,000. But to figure out which chef is worthy of all that prize money, Chef JoJo has planned his toughest challenge yet: homemade pasta.

Though neither contestant feels like pulling off pasta from scratch will be easy, Kazumi’s experience seems to give her a slight advantage.

Chef JoJo starts the clock, sending Linda and Kazumi to work on their noodles. Linda opts to craft a rose-shaped mascarpone-filled ravioli stuffed with garlic butter sauce, while Kazumi goes for something a bit more classic: traditional Italian spaghetti noodles garnished with a little Sriracha oil twist.

As Kazumi overhears Linda explaining her high-concept dish, she starts to wonder if she’s playing it too safe.

Kazumi breezes through plating her simple dish with plenty of time to spare. Meanwhile, it’s beginning to look like Linda has bitten off more than she can chew with her complicated stuffed ravioli.

Linda’s blender won’t cooperate while she’s pureeing her beets, and her dough falls apart in the pasta maker. Will Kazumi’s humble spaghetti win the day?

Linda barely gets her one rose-shaped raviolo on the plate as the timer hits zero. Chef JoJo confirms Linda’s fear when he bites into her dish: the pasta is undercooked.

In the end, it’s Kazumi taking home the $10,000 prize and bragging rights as season one champion of This Is Fire.

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What was your favorite moment from This Is Fire season one? Sound off below!