House Of Food

"The Real World" meets "Top Chef" in this part-competition, part-reality documentary series. Eight aspiring chefs -- all in their 20s -- who have no formal culinary training, live together in Los Angeles while competing against one another in weekly cooking challenges. At the end of the competition, one of the contestants wins a career-launching apprenticeship with top LA chefs Casey Lane, Brendan Collins and Brooke Williamson, who serve as teachers and judges on the show. Mentoring the students -- a varied group that includes a tattooed fashionista rebel, a Midwesterner with a Mexican food specialty, and a native of Gambia, West Africa -- is Chris Nirschel, an executive chef and catering company CEO. …