Sixteen-year-old Sophie Nicolaids lives in Washington, D.C., with her father, brother Raffi, and best friend Alex.  She has been working in the kitchen of her parents' Italian-Greek restaurant, Taverna Ristorante.  Alex persuades her to compete in a teen reality show called Teen Test Kitchen.  Sophie is hesitant at first, but then agrees to do it. 

Sophie gets an opportunity to spend the summer in Napa, California.  The prize is a scholarship for a culinary cooking institute.  She goes to Napa and competes with other chefs.  She is thrilled about it.  She cooks a lot of dishes from a lot of different cultures, like Mediterranean, Italian, Greek, etc.  The judges and customers love them.  She wants to be a chef.  

Her roommate Shelby is nice to her and helps her with her dishes.  They talk and spend time together.  

Sophie meets Luc, a foreign student who goes to school in Napa.  He takes her on a picnic, which she enjoys very much.  They talk and spend time together. 

At the end, Sophie goes back to Washington.  She and her family watch the show on TV, and they are all proud of her.  She gets an opportunity to return to Napa for the finale.  All of the cooks get to have a su-chef for the finale, so her su-chef is Mario, and they get to help them on their dishes.  Shelby helps Sophie with her dish. 

Her father, Raffi, and Alex fly out for the show, which makes Sophie happy.  They all are happy for her and congratulate her.  Phillip wins the finale.  Sophie is disappointed she didn't win, but she congratulates him and is happy for him.   

The book includes recipies of the different foods Sophie makes.