Sookie V Luke: Who is the Better Gilmore Girls Chef
We have to talk about the octopus ice cream
As someone who has recreated over 230 Gilmore Girls dishes, I have the authority to discuss who is the better Stars Hollow chef: Sookie St. James or Luke Danes. I have spent countless hours inside the mind of both of them, and while I have a personal bias on who I think is stronger, I want to try to do this as objectively as possible (granted it’s still going to be my opinion here).
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Before we begin with the gauntlet style throw down, let’s examine their backgrounds as chefs. Luke is a self-taught diner owner. We don’t fully know why he decided to go down a culinary path, but it was a better fit than taking over his dad’s hardware store. Luke is determined and focused. We learn in "The Party’s Over” from Liz that he made lasagna a hundred times just to get it right. While his diner food may be simple, we do see him make more complex dishes throughout the series. Sookie, on the other hand, went to culinary school. She attended the Culinary Institute of America and likely trained under other chefs after graduating there. I’d like to know more of Sookie’s back story. How did she end up in Stars Hollow and cooking at the Independence Inn? We learn in “I Solemnly Swear” that she previously worked at the Deerhill Lodge. Has she always worked in hotel kitchens?
Here’s how this is going to work. For each season, I’m going to pit Sookie and Luke head-to-head based on the dishes that I recreated. I will give them a score for each season based on the following criteria: creativity (how unique their dishes and flavors are), ‘iconicness’ (how iconic their dishes are to the show, and yes, I made up that word), recreation (how easy or fun it was for me to recreate their dishes), taste (arguably the most important score). Each criterion can earn the chefs up to 10 points, for a total possible score each season of 40. I will also give a 5 point bonus at the end to the chef whose dishes I recreated more of. This will include all of my bonus and encore dishes but not A Year in the Life because Sookie is at a disadvantage there, having only appeared in one scene. Like I said, this is still all based on my own opinions, but I think establishing a scoring criteria should help keep me a little more objective.
Lastly, before we jump in, my predictions. They both have some of my favorite dishes from this project. I always had more fun making Sookie’s dishes. She is more creative with flavors and what she is able to come up with. Luke was more stable and consistent, though he did invent the Santa burger, which while one of the most iconic dishes, I didn’t like it. I predict Sookie will end up on top, but I’m ready to be surprised to see how this goes.
Drumroll please
Season 1:
Sookie:
Peach Sauce from 1.01 The Pilot
Oatmeal Cookies from 1.01 The Pilot
Blueberry Shortcake 1.03 Kill Me Now
Kiwi Ice Cream from 1.03 Kill Me Now
Magic Risotto from 1.04 The Deer Hunters
Hothouse Tomato Salad from 1.04 The Deer Hunters
Angel Wings with Chocolate Dipping Sauce from 1.06 Rory’s Birthday Parties
Birthday Cake with My Face on It from 1.06 Rory’s Birthday parties
Rocky Road Cookies from 1.08 Love, War, and Snow
Maple Sugar Snowflakes from 1.08 Love, War, and Snow
Stuffed Fried Squash Blossoms from 1.11 Paris is Burning
Strawberry Tart from 1.12 Double Date
Orange-glazed Muffins with Warm Cinnamon Butter 1.19 Emily in Wonderland
These were some incredible dishes from Sookie right out of the gate. She had some creative moments with rocky road cookies, kiwi ice cream, and the blueberry shortcake (though the last one was Jackson’s idea). In terms of iconicness, you have the peach sauce which is super memorable from the pilot and also special to me as my first dish. The magic risotto is one of her most well known dishes from the entire series. The squash blossoms were difficult to find and honestly to make, but she does get creativity points there. Another complicated dish were the maple sugar snowflakes from my encore. Homemade candy is actually pretty difficult. In terms of taste, overall, this season was really strong for Sookie. I wasn’t a huge fan of a tomato salad or the edible paper to get my face on a birthday cake, and the orange-glazed muffins were fine. However, I added coffee to the oatmeal cookies, and they were a hit! The strawberry tart was also perfect for summer and absolutely delicious.
Creativity: 5 ⏐Iconicness: 7 ⏐Recreation: 6 ⏐Taste: 7
Total: 25
Luke:
Coffee Cake from 1.06 Rory’s Birthday Parties
Santa Burger from 1.10 Forgiveness and Stuff
Crazy Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Extra Whipped Cream from 1.17 The Break-up Part 2
We have a lot less to work with for Luke from season 1. He will still receive a fair scoring. For creativity, the Santa burger is one of his most creative dishes on the show. It’s also one of the most memorable. However, as I mentioned before, it was one of my least favorite dishes. On the other hand, the coffee cake was one of my top 10 dishes in terms of taste. I have been wanting to make the chocolate chip pancakes again, so hopefully soon. The Santa burger was a little tricky to figure out how to make, and I decided to use mayonnaise instead of cream cheese. The other two dishes were pretty easy to recreate.
Creativity: 7 ⏐Iconicness: 8 ⏐Recreation: 7 ⏐Taste: 4
Total: 26
Season 2:
Sookie:
Heart-shaped Pastries from 2.02 Hammers and Veils
Chocolate Praline Cookies and Coconut Macaroons from 2.02 Hammers and Veils
Gourmet Grilled Cheese from 2.05 Nick and Nora, Sid and Nancy
Apple Cider Ice Cream from 2.09 Run Away Little Boy
Butternut Squash Soup from 2.10 The Bracebridge Dinner
Wassail from 2.10 The Bracebridge Dinner
Plum Pudding from 2.10 The Bracebridge Dinner
Chocolate Chip Milkshakes from 2.11 Secrets and Loans
Pretzel Picnic Basic with 4 Kinds of Pesto from from 2.13 A-Tisket, A-Tasket
Mushroom Soup from from 2.17 Dead Uncles and Vegetables
Chocolate Espresso Graduation Hat Cake from 2.21 Lorelai’s Graduation Day
Two of my favorite dishes from the entire project were Sookie dishes from season 2: the apple cider ice cream and the pretzel picnic basket. She also received high creativity points for that basket and the graduation hat cake. However, the cake was the most challenging dish I made and took 5 attempts. And even though I was able to get the basket right the first time, it was difficult to create. I wasn’t a huge fan of the coconut macaroons, but the chocolate praline cookies were magnificent. Both of the soups were easy to recreate and were full of flavor. Sookie had some very iconic moments this season with the basket and graduation hat cake. I would even give the apple cider ice cream points for iconography. From the Bracebridge Dinner, my favorite was the wassail, but I could have passed on the plum pudding. I decided to make a plum bread pudding because the alternative made me a little nervous.
Creativity: 9 ⏐Iconicness: 7 ⏐Recreation: 5 ⏐Taste: 8
Total: 29
Luke:
Chai Latte from 2.06 Presenting Lorelai Gilmore
Homemade Bagels from 2.14 It Should Have Been Lorelai
Pancakes with a Side of Pancakes from 2.15 Lost and Found
Mac-and-cheese from 2.16 There’s the Rub
Luke’s Special Omelet from 2.18 Back in the Saddle Again
Triple the Chocolate Brownies from 2.19 Teach Me Tonight
Donuts 6 Ways from 2.22 I Can’t Get Started
On the show, it’s clear that Luke’s chai latte wasn’t very good, however, the version I made was top notch. The homemade bagels were a pain to make and same with the 6 different types of donuts, but I did have fun coming up with all the flavors. The special omelet is pretty iconic because of Jess’s handwriting on the specials board, and I love how much Paris loves her mac-and-cheese. The brownies were delicious, and I had fun coming up with two unique pancake flavors. I did bourbon pancakes with a side of Easter candy pancakes. There was some creativity with the donut and pancake flavors, but nothing too out there. For taste, nothing was unenjoyable, but the bagels and omelet didn’t blow me away.
Creativity: 3 ⏐Iconicness: 4 ⏐Recreation: 6 ⏐Taste: 7
Total: 20
Season 3:
(note: this season contains a dish that Sookie and Luke collaborated on: cajun eggs benedict. In fairness, I’ve eliminated it from the competition.)
Sookie:
Pancetta and Chestnut Stuffing from 3.09 A Deep-fried Korean Thanksgiving
Chocolate Amaretto Mousse Cake from 3.10 That’ll Do Pig
Warm Potato and Chorizo Salad from 3.11 I Solemnly Swear
Fried Marshmallow Pie from 3.11 I Solemnly Swear
Bananas Foster Waffles from 3.17 A Tale of Poes and Fire
Sookie doesn’t have anything that’s super iconic from this season. When we think of the Thanksgiving episode, it’s typically the tofurkey or the deep-fried turkey. However, she gets high creativity points for the chocolate amaretto mousse cake and the fried marshmallow pie. Unfortunately, I will dock her on recreation points because I wasn’t about to make my cake in the shape of a G and the fried marshmallow pie was actually pretty challenging. The chocolate amaretto mousse cake was a top ten dish for me in terms of taste, and I really loved the bananas foster waffles. The salad was fine, but not incredible, so she won’t get a perfect score on taste here.
Creativity: 7 ⏐Iconicness: 4 ⏐Recreation: 4 ⏐Taste: 8
Total: 23
Luke:
Chicken Noodle Soup with a Side of Mashed Potatoes from 3.02 Haunted Leg
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from 3.15 Face-Off
Monte Cristo Sandwich from 3.16 The Big One
Luke was also not super iconic from this season either. The mashed potatoes with the soup was kind of creative, but that was Lorelai’s idea. Taste was okay, but I didn’t particularly care for the monte cristo that much. I don’t love ham. The chicken noodle soup was good, but I’d rank it in the bottom of soups from this project. You can’t go wrong with mashed potatoes, however. I really enjoyed the lemon poppy seed muffins, but they were just middle of the road compared to other dishes from this project. Everything was easy to make, so I’ll give Luke some recreation points.
Creativity: 2 ⏐Iconicness: 3 ⏐Recreation: 8 ⏐Taste: 4
Total: 17
Season 4:
Sookie:
Fruits De La Terre Jam from 4.01 Ballrooms and Biscotti
Mac-and-cheese with a Jalapeno Chipotle Cream Sauce from 4.03 The Hobbit, the Sofa, and Digger Stiles
Brie with Lavender Honey and Bourbon Sugared Pecans from 4.03 The Hobbit, the Sofa, and Digger Stiles
Broccoli Tarts from 4.06 An Affair to Remember
Lobster Pot Pie from 4.06 An Affair to Remember
Mock Turtle Soup from 4.17 The Reigning Lorelai
Caramel Marshmallow Chocolate Chunk Cookies from 4.19 Afterboom
Zucchini Soup from 4.20 Luke Can See Her Face
The marshmallow chocolate chunk cookies also ranked in the top ten of this project for me. They were also my most viral TikTok, when I was still on there, so I’d have to give points there. I’d say the jalapeno mac-and-cheese is an iconic dish for Sookie, however, it was impossible to make green organically, so I’d have to deduct some recreation points for her this season. Rory’s room filled with broccoli tarts is very iconic. The zucchini soup is a dish I’ve actually made more than once, and it’s so flavorful. The jam was a fun dish to recreate and get creative with flavor profiles and you can never go wrong with baked brie in my book (but the lavender honey and bourbon sugared pecans took the dish to a new level). Mock turtle soup is also one of Sookie’s most iconic dishes from the show, but I was too scared to recreate the real dish (i.e. cow brains), so she will lose some points on recreation.
Creativity: 5 ⏐Iconicness: 6 ⏐Recreation: 5 ⏐Taste: 8
Total: 24
Luke:
Rory’s Yale Special from 4.02 The Lorelais’ First Day at Yale
Pumpkin pancakes from 4.09 Ted Koppel’s Big Night Out
Onion muffins from 4.11 In the Clamor and the Clangor
Breakfast Quesadilla from 4.16 The Reigning Lorelai
Turkey Sandwich on Homemade Rye Bread from 4.18 Tick, Tick, Tick, Boom!
Peach Pie from 4.20 Luke Can See her Face
The pumpkin pancakes were also in my top ten dishes and another viral video. I had fun figuring out how to create Rory’s Yale special: sausage wrapped in a pancake tied together with bacon. I dipped sausages in pancake batter to fry and made little bows out of bacon. I’ll give Luke creativity points for that dish even though it was Rory’s idea. Making my own rye bread was difficult, and the sandwich wasn’t anything special (leave it to Taylor). The onion muffins weren’t technically on the show; Rory ordered onion rings and a muffin, so I got a little creative by combining the two. The breakfast quesadilla and peach pie were both delicious dishes from my encore for this season. Even though Luke’s dishes were tasty this season, only the pumpkin pancakes were iconic.
Creativity: 4 ⏐Iconicness: 4 ⏐Recreation: 6 ⏐Taste: 8
Total: 22
Season 5:
(note: this season contains a dish that Sookie and Luke collaborated on: walnuts in the bechamel and goat cheese in the fennel salad. In fairness, I’ve eliminated it from the competition.)
Sookie:
Cranberry Squares from 5.01 Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller
Jackson’s Stew from 5.04 Tippecanoe and Taylor Too
Pork Chops Brined in a Bourbon Saltwater Solution from 5.09 Emily Says Hello
Homemade Pork Potstickers from 5.13 Wedding Bell Blues
Overall this season was pretty fine for Sookie, nothing particularly wowed me. The cranberry squares allowed me to get creative as I determined what kind of square I wanted to make (I went with cheesecake). Her pork chops were a fun challenge to think through and pretty creative. Stew is never something I’ll get excited for, but it was easy to throw everything into my Instant Pot to make. The potstickers were incredible, but a pain to put together.
Creativity: 3 ⏐Iconicness: 2 ⏐Recreation: 5 ⏐Taste: 5
Total: 15
Luke:
Wink Winker Fries from 5.02 A Messenger, Nothing More
Boysenberry Ice Cream from 5.05 We Got Us a Pippi Virgin
Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Focaccia from 5.08 The Party’s Over
Amaretto Cookies from 5.08 The Party’s Over
Mud Pie from 5.16 So…Good Talk
Lemon Pie from 5.20 How Many Kropogs to Cape Cod
I had a little bit of fun with making my fries in the shape of eyes for the wink winkers, however they were tricky to cut out. The boysenberry ice cream was actually me trying to save a fail. The dish mentioned on the show is technically boysenberry pie with ice cream. There was nowhere for me to find boysenberries, so I ended up finding boysenberry jam online. However, when I tried to make a pie, I could not get the filling to set, so I ended up just using it to make boysenberry ice cream instead. I’ll need to deduct recreation points here. For the mud pie, I made a kahlua chocolate mousse pie because any time I can flavor with coffee, I’m going to! I also made the crust out of cookies and cream Pop-Tarts, and it was divine! This is Luke’s strongest season so far in terms of taste. Everything was delicious! However, nothing really stands out in terms of iconography.
Creativity: 4 ⏐Iconicness: 2 ⏐Recreation: 7 ⏐Taste: 9
Total: 22
Season 6:
Sookie:
Dark Chocolate S’mores Wedding Cake from 6.03 the Ungraduate
Potato Salad from 6.04 Always a Bridesmaid Never a Bride
Salsa Verde from 6.06 Welcome to the Dollhouse
Summer Fruit Kebabs from 6.10 He’s Slippin’ ‘Em Bread…Dig
Valentine’s Burritos from 6.15 A Vineyard Valentine
Octopus Ice Cream from 6.15 A Vineyard Valentine
Taquito Blinis from 6.17 I’m Okay, You’re Okay
Eggplant-Shaped Cookies from 6.20 Super Cool Party People
The wedding cake was a fun challenge and also tasted incredible. I’d like to give an extra recreation point here because a follower recreated my recipe for this dish for her friend’s bridal shower, and that was such a special moment to be a part of. The rest of Sookie’s dishes from season 6 were mediocre on the taste scale. A quick story on the fruit kebabs: one thing I loved about my encore was getting to cook dishes in season rather than go in chronological order (this potato salad actually was put together in December). I originally wanted to make Luke’s peach pie from season 4 this particular week and accidentally wrote down that it was from 6.10 (which happens to be a Thanksgiving episode). I already did fashion polls and trivia on my Instagram story for that episode when I realized there wasn’t actually any peach pie in that episode. I had to figure out something to make in the middle of summer that was easy to put together. Sookie declares she’ll make kebabs upon Lorelai and Rory’s reconciliation, so I thought it would be a fun twist to host a summer fruit kebab bar!
I enjoyed recreating Valentine’s burritos and trying to only use red and white ingredients for the filling. However, the taquitos as blinis were a bit of a conundrum as they aren’t similar dishes at all. Blinis are closer to mini pancakes, and I decided to use blinis as a substitute for tortillas when making my taquitos. They turned out great, but were challenging to figure out how to recreate. The eggplant cookies were the result of trying to keep my page PG, a little nod to what the eggplant emoji is used for.
We have to talk about the octopus ice cream. If you didn’t know, my Eating Gilmore project was inspired by Brad Bakes. He used to recreate every dish mentioned in the Harry Potter books. This was before JK Rowling revealed that she was a big horrible transphobe, and he has since ended the project. I used to say, I wasn’t going to recreate every dish mentioned in Gilmore Girls in the same way because 1) it was a lot of food and 2) Lorelai mentioned Sookie making octopus ice cream in ‘98. When I had the chance to meet Brad in real life on a trip to London, I mentioned this, and he made it his personal mission to get me to make octopus ice cream. Prior to announcing my encore, I reached out to some friends I made through this project and asked them to pick out a Gilmore Girls dish I hadn’t made yet. I should have seen this coming, but Brad asked me to make the octopus ice cream. And so, I had to do it. When I painfully recreated this “disaster” as Lorelai puts it, I made it two ways. One was a sour gummy octopus ice cream and the other used real canned octopus with a sesame seed ice cream base. This is the only dish I’ve tried live on camera (and you can watch on an Instagram reel). Recreation points for this dish will be deducted, but I will give it to her for creativity.
Creativity: 7 ⏐Iconicness: 4 ⏐Recreation: 5 ⏐Taste: 4
Total: 20
Luke:
BLT Sandwich from 6.02 Fight Face
Blueberry Pancakes from 6.16 Bridesmaids Revisited
Well in comparison to Sookie this season, this explanation is going to be short and sweet. Both of these dishes tasted great and were easy to recreate. Nothing was really that creative or iconic for Luke in season 6.
Creativity: 1 ⏐Iconicness: 2 ⏐Recreation: 9 ⏐Taste: 6
Total: 17
Season 7:
Sookie:
Gourmet Peanut Butter and Jelly from 7.03 Lorelai’s First Cotillion
Ratatouille from 7.06 Go Bulldogs!
Spaghetti Yarn Ball from 7.09 Knit People Knit
Muffin Bottom Pie Two Ways from 7.12 To Whom it May Concern
Apple Cinnamon Walnut Muffins from 7.12 To Whom it May Concern
Pecan Squares from 7.13 I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia
Lemon Bars from 7.13 I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia
Lobster Bisque from 7.14 Farewell My Pet
Pork Tenderloin with Apple Chutney and Sweet Potato Biscuits from 7.14 Farewell My Pet
What a fun final season for Sookie! When she made PB&J sandwiches for Emily, I knew I had to go all out with homemade bread, homemade peanut butter, and homemade jelly. While this was fun, it definitely was a challenge to recreate. The pecan squares and lemon bars from 7.13 were pretty easy and turned out delicious. The lobster bisque was in my top 10 dishes and the pork tenderloin meal was a surprisingly incredible dish for me. I made both of those dishes for my family for Christmas, so I’m giving her some bonus recreation points for those. The spaghetti yarn ball was a fun challenge to figure out, especially when Sookie herself couldn’t do it! She’s going to get creativity points for thinking of that dish and for the famous muffin bottom pie, obviously! I ended up making two different flavors of that pie because it’s such a fun idea (and honestly, very iconic)! The first time, I made a double chocolate muffin bottom pie and the second time, I made apple cinnamon walnut muffin bottom pie. Both were amazing!
Creativity: 8 ⏐Iconicness: 7 ⏐Recreation: 7 ⏐Taste: 9
Total: 31
Luke:
Luke’s Classic Burger from 7.22 Bon Voyage
Even with my encore, I only made one Luke dish from season 7, but what a great one to do. It doesn’t get more iconic than a burger from Luke’s. It was really fun to make and I even made my own burger buns. It was absolutely tasty, of course!
Creativity: 1 ⏐Iconicness: 10 ⏐Recreation: 7 ⏐Taste: 8
Total: 26
The winner
Sookie subtotal: 167
Luke subtotal: 151
And now for the 5 bonus points for the chef I recreated the most dishes.
Total number of Sookie dishes: 58
Total number of Luke dishes: 28
Sookie will receive an extra 5 points, making her our winner with a grand total of 172 points!!
While I did think Sookie would come out on top, I do believe Luke put up a good fight. If creativity wasn’t a factor, Luke may have had a stronger chance of winning. I think both are incredible chefs, but in my book, Sookie is stronger.
Let me know who you think is the better Gilmore Girls Chef!
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Genuinely what a fun read. I feel like you had to channel Sookie for the creativity of this