Exeter chef Lee Frank on 'Yes, Chef!': He didn't win — but found something bigger

Exeter Chef Lee Frank may not have taken home the $250,000 grand prize on NBC’s “Yes, Chef!,” but he says the experience changed him in deeper, more lasting ways— making him a better husband, father, and chef.

"(The competition) has been a rollercoaster of emotions," Frank said on the NBC show hosted by Martha Stewart and José Andrés. "Patience is not my number one virtue. I have worked on it, and I think it's going to carry over into my life. When I think back on all the times my wife said to me that she 'sometimes walks on eggshells.' It's sad. She doesn't deserve that. So, it's to be able to leave here a better husband, a better father, a better person."

Chef Lee Frank, owner of Otis restaurant in Exeter, is one of 12 contestants competing in the new NBC television show "Yes, Chef!"

Frank, along with chefs Emily Brubaker and Zain Ismail, made it to the final three of the cooking competition, which premiered April 28 with 12 contestants described as having "natural talent, but their egos, intensity, stubbornness, or short fuses are holding them back from reaching their full potential."

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Over 10 weeks, competitors worked through their challenges while honing their culinary skills.

"We have noticed tremendous personal growth and also a great improvement in your culinary skills," Stewart said.

Frank, owner of Otis restaurant in Exeter, as well as Lee Frank's classic burger joints in Exeter, NH, and Wells and South Berwick, Maine, was nominated for the show by his sous chef, who said the James Beard Award nominee holds resentment for being "overlooked in the past."

"I came in with an anger issue," Frank said. "Besides anger, there is a great amount of self-deprecation. For so long, I looked at chefs… and always told myself 'I would never get there.'"

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What was the final challenge on 'Yes, Chef!'?

The final three contestants were asked to cook a "meal of their lifetime" with the challenge titled "Cook from the heart."

Each chef was tasked with preparing a three-course meal for 25 guests, including the judges and guest celebrity chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Zimmern, and Gail Simmons of "Top Chef" fame. The chefs were given three hours for prep, and the first course had to be served within 90 minutes.

"We want you to cook your best three-course meal that you feel represents you as a chef and as a person," Andrés said.

Martha Stewart, who co-hosts the new cooking show "Yes, Chef!" with Chef Jose Andres, says she was eager to share how she overcame her life's trials and tribulations with the contestants.

To help them with the challenge, Stewart and Andrés surprised the chefs by bringing out the people who had nominated them for the show.

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For Frank, it was his sous chef Jonathan Vasquez.

"Johnathan has been with me for five years," Frank said in his confessional. "He's seen the best of me, he's seen the worst of me. He is also my best friend, and I love him."

Brubaker was joined by her husband, Jake, and admitted their last time working together in a kitchen was “difficult.”

"I was above him, and we vowed never to work in the kitchen together until we were equals," Brubaker said in her confessional.

Ismail was reunited with her executive chef, Cole Lawson, who nominated her for her bad attitude and communication.

"It's not always what she says, but how she says it," Lawson said.

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Each finalist also had the chance to choose an eliminated contestant to assist them in the final cook. Frank selected chef Ronny Miranda.

"He's a book of knowledge, and there is a reason why they call him the professor," Frank said. "He's also very Zen, and as stressed out as I may be, he will be able to mellow me out."

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What did the final three chefs serve?

Frank picked a three-course menu that represents his "past, present and future."

"The past is where I'm from, the present where I live, and the future what I think my food is," Frank said.

To represent his past, he served a pastrami-spiced trout tartare with a quail egg atop a potato kugel —a nod to his Jewish heritage.

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"I come from Holocaust-surviving grandparents," said Frank, explaining why he selected the dish. "My father passed when I was 8 years old, but was the general manager of a Jewish deli. So, I'm kind of bringing those flavors."

Marcus Samuelsson, Andrew Zimmern, Zain Ismail, Lee Frank, Emily Brubaker, José Andrés, and Martha Stewart on "Yes, Chef!."

His second dish was striped sea bass with lobster and scallop agnolotti and cauliflower puree, which he said represents his restaurant, Otis.

His final course was a glazed pork belly and cabbage-wrapped loin served with red cabbage and mustard.

"The last course was the future," Frank said. "Focused on technique."

Brubaker created a menu that "speaks to her technique" and "screams I know what I'm doing." Her dishes reflected her time at Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Lark Creek Steakhouse in San Francisco and the now-closed Sage at Aria in Las Vegas.

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Ismail, known as "a spice queen," said the theme of her menu is "Zain"

"I represent so many flavors and cultures," she said. "My mom is from Mauritius, and my dad is Indian. I was raised in Houston, Texas, but I also live in Los Angeles. So, I have wonderful spices and flavors in my life."

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What did the judges think of the meals?

Frank got mixed reviews on his first dish, with Samuelsson saying while he loved that he coated the tartare "it gets a little muddy in the middle."

"I wished he had tossed the tartare with salmon roe and made it just a little bit more of a cohesive dish," Stewart said.

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His second course, however, drew high praise, with Stewart calling it “superlative.” Samuelsson said after the final dish, “I know after three courses who chef Lee is.”

"If I just looked at the dishes, one, two, three, second course, and third course, Emily won for me," Samuelsson said. "But the one I know I'm going to go back to eat is chef Lee because there is… an honesty, soulfulness."

Ismail wowed with her scallop with crab corn cake and smoked mussel hot sauce even though she ran out of time and was unable to plate Stewart's plate.

"Fortunately for you, I'm a generous man, and Martha ate half of my plate," Andrés said.

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"I liked it very much," Stewart said.

However, they were not fans of her grilled lamb chop, which Simmons said "was not cooked properly at all," or her latte cake with pumpkin spice foam and chocolate tuile straw, which Stewart called "a little sloppy, and not a favorite kind of dessert."

Who won "Yes, Chef!" and $250,000?

In the end, it was Brubaker who took the title after earning raves for her American wagyu New York strip with potato pavé and tarragon demi-glace— deemed a favorite among guest chefs— and a foie gras bread pudding with honey gastrique and candied hazelnuts.

"I love fois gras," Andrés said. "Fois gras speaks to me every hour of the day."

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Brubaker said she entered the contest with being stubborn and having insecurity.

"My nominator is my husband," she said. "We have two children, and I did this for them. Stubbornness for a home or in a kitchen is a big deal. I listen a lot more since I got here… I'm just going to keep on moving forward. My ceiling is gone."

As for Frank, "Am I disappointed I didn't take the title, obliviously. But I'm very proud of myself, and you know the accolades that have come my way, I am worthy of them."

His sous chef agreed.

"I definitely see that Lee has changed," said Vasquez. "The level-headedness that he's exuding is definitely different."

"It's been a great journey, and I feel like I can be a better chef, mentor to my staff, and be the best person that I can be," Frank said.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter chef Lee Frank found more than a prize on NBC's 'Yes, Chef!'