The One With The Cooking Class

"The One With The Cooking Class" is the twenty-first episode of the eighth season of Friends, which aired on May 2, 2002. In it, Monica gets a terrible and harsh review of her restaurant and she heads to his cooking class to give him a piece of her mind, Rachel freaks out when she realizes she's due to give birth in a week, and Phoebe helps Chandler with a job interview to mixed results.

Plot[]

Monica is upset when a food critic gives her restaurant a horrible review. She finds out that he teaches a cooking class and goes to his class to confront him. She has him try her bouillabaisse again, but he still hates it. Another class comes in and it is Introduction to Cooking. The teacher asks a cooking question beforehand and Monica is able to answer it, allowing her to move to the head of the class. Soon her and Joey are involved in the whole class, and Monica is loving the praise from her teacher. When Joey's cookies beat Monica's, however, she is offended and reveals that she is a professional chef. The teacher says that she has been to Monica's restaurant and loves the food, giving Monica the boost of self-esteem she needed. On the way out, they stop at an introduction to acting class, thinking Joey will feel good about himself too. Joey doesn't know the answer to the teacher's question.

Rachel is freaking out because her due date is one week and her and Ross haven't gotten any baby supplies yet. They go to a store and get A LOT of stuff, but Rachel is upset when the salesgirl flirts with Ross. Phoebe accuses her of being jealous. When the salesgirl stops by the apartment to ask out Ross, Rachel makes it apparent that she is not ok with it. When Ross returns from his date, she tells him that she doesn't want him to date because she wants him to be constantly available to her. Despite her being unreasonable, Ross agrees to put dating on hold to be there for her and the baby.

Meanwhile, Chandler is interviewing for a new job. Phoebe helps him practice his interview skills, encouraging him to fight his urge to constantly make jokes and come on too strong. She purposely practices by putting in the term "do-do," which Chandler has to sidestep without making an inappropriate joke. In the actual interview, the businessman talks about Chandler's "duties," but Chandler is able to resist making jokes. Afterwards, the man tells him to relax, and he mentions that he was really nervous and it was hard to resist the joke about "duties," which blows the interview.

Cast and Crew[]

Main Cast[]

Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller

Supporting Cast[]

Molly Hagan - Sarah
Rena Sofer - Katie
Tucker Smallwood - Mr. Tyler
Tim Maculan - The food critic
Scott Richards - The acting teacher
James Michael Tyler - Gunther (uncredited)

Crew[]

Directed By:
Gary Halvorson

Written By:
Dana Klein Borkow, Brian Buckner & Sebastian Jones

Trivia[]

General[]

In the United Kingdom version, Rachel does not say "horny bitch" but it is heard on the DVD version.
There's an extra scene of Ross, Rachel and Katie shopping for baby stuff on the DVD version.
In this episode Monica gets a bad review of her cooking at Allesandro's, interestingly enough she first got her job at Allesandro's after she wrote a bad review of the previous chef at the restaurant.
After Rachel asked Ross about how he feels about keeping Ben in his life, Ross replies he wants to. Interestingly enough, we never see Ben for the rest of the series. Although, he is still occasionally mentioned.
Ross and Rachel continuously goof on each other about possibly wanting something more than them just living together and having a baby together, but they are both only kidding because they haven't gone out in five years and it ended a nightmare when they did. However there are hints that they still have feelings for each other.
Phoebe uses her alias "Regina Phalange" when she pretends to greet Chandler.
The shop assistant initially mistakes Ross and Rachel to be a married couple. Janice will do the same shortly after their daughter's birth.
This is the second time Chandler tries to get a better job, having quit and then returned to the same company after he got promoted seven years ago. Chandler finally quits next season when he can't face being away from Monica for Christmas after getting posted to Tulsa.
Little Stars is located at 1512 East 5th Street, New York.
The answer to the teacher's question about upstage and down stage is that downstage is the part of the stage nearest the audience while upstage is at the rear of the stage behind the actors. The origins are that stages starting in the Middle Ages used to slope downward towards the audience.
At one point in Central Perk, Rachel is holding a visible Aquafina® water bottle.

Goofs[]

When Monica is cooking, the kitchen towel appears from nowhere and then disappears again.
When Rachel is telling Ross that she does not want him to date Katie, there is no book on the cushion next to her. However, when the camera comes back to Rachel, a book appears and then disappears again a bit later.
In the scene where Ross returns from his date with Katie, the boom mic can be seen at the top of the screen. In the same scene when Rachel stomps over towards the window, the mirror can be seen shaking.
The Kitchenaid mixer in Monica's apartment is pink in this episode as opposed to the normal yellow.
After Rachel says "I'm just kiddin', you can go pee!", the World Trade Center is visible in the transition shot.
- This is likely stock footage from before 9/11.
When Monica is talking to the food critic, the cooking class instructor enters twice.
When Joey leaves the cooking class, he doesn't take off his apron. However in the shot showing him and Monica by the acting class, it's disappeared, although he's probably taken it off after leaving the cookery class.
When Rachel says "horny bitch" she's standing by the bedroom door but in the next shot she's standing behind the sofa.
When Phoebe asks Chandler how long he's got until his interview, he looks at the time on the wall but there's no clock there.

Episode Navigation[]

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Preceded by "The One With The Baby Shower"	Season Eight Episodes	Followed by "The One Where Rachel Is Late"


<< Season 7		Season 8				Season 9 >>
#01	"The One After 'I Do'"		#09	"The One With The Rumor"	#17	"The One With The Tea Leaves"
#02	"The One With The Red Sweater"		#10	"The One With Monica's Boots"	#18	"The One In Massapequa"
#03	"The One Where Rachel Tells..."		#11	"The One With Ross's Step Forward"	#19	"The One With Joey's Interview"
#04	"The One With The Videotape"		#12	"The One Where Joey Dates Rachel"	#20	"The One With The Baby Shower"
#05	"The One With Rachel's Date"		#13	"The One Where Chandler Takes A Bath"	#21	"The One With The Cooking Class"
#06	"The One With The Halloween Party"		#14	"The One With The Secret Closet"	#22	"The One Where Rachel Is Late"
#07	"The One With The Stain"		#15	"The One With The Birthing Video"	#23	"The One Where Rachel Has A Baby, Part 1"
#08	"The One With The Stripper"		#16	"The One Where Joey Tells Rachel"	#24	"The One Where Rachel Has A Baby, Part 2"