At the entrance ceremony, Soma declares that he will become the top student at Totsuki using the other students as stepping stones, drawing animosity from the students. On the first day, Soma is paired up with Megumi, who has the worst grades among the admitted students and is one E grade away from expulsion. The challenge is to make Beef Bourguignon to satisfy the teacher Roland Chapelle, who is said to never smile and has a strict standard of grading giving students E grades to anybody whose dish does not earn an A grade. Soma and Megumi encounter a setback when a student sabotages their dish by throwing in lots of salt, but Soma comes through by using honey to quickly tenderize the meat, bringing a smile to Chapelle and earning an A grade.