The next step of the Stagiaire reunites Soma with Shinomiya, who is opening a Tokyo branch of his French restaurant, Shino's. As the restaurant begins its first pre-open day, Soma witnesses firsthand the intensity of working in Shinomiya's kitchen and struggles to keep up with the rest of the staff. Thinking over his failures, Soma spends the rest of the week getting prep work done early so he can ask the other staff members for advice on how to become more efficient in the kitchen and learn new techniques. On the final day, Soma decides to enter a competition to create a dish for Shino's menu that he can call his specialty.