In the premiere episode, Anne and Cliff have their work cut out for them as they welcome the kitchen chaos, food fumbles and culinary confusion of the twelve new boot camp recruits.  While some of the competitors know each other, they are all strangers to the culinary arts. To start the competition, the recruits must cook a loved one's favorite dish to show their skills, or lack thereof, in the kitchen.  For the main dish challenge, they must replicate Anne and Cliff's takes on a surf and turf dinner – and the mentors are shocked by the disastrous results, but still must pick their teams.

Boot camp becomes a beachside resort, and chefs Anne Burrell and Cliff Crooks ask the recruits to explore some iconic summer dishes and ingredients. To start, the teams face off in a head-to-head relay race to make a beach picnic basket, and they're tasked with making crab cakes with a sauce and salad. In the main dish challenge, the chefs fire up the grill and have the recruits cook grilled fish dinners. It's smooth sailing for some, but the recruit with the least successful dish must sail off into the sunset.