>> anthony: now, just to give you an idea of the standards here, the kind of traditional dishes baseline old-school fundamentals you're expected to master before you move on in becoming a creative genius all your own -- meet these guys. [ chefs speaking french ] >> anthony: mathieu viannay, joseph viola, and the institute's top dog, alain le cossec. chefs and m.o.f.s all. otherwise known as mofs. pretty much pay your flight home, private. master chefs. >> daniel: every four years they have this m.o.f. competition. >> anthony: m.o.f. is? >> daniel: meilleur ouvrier de france. >> anthony: the master craftsman of france. >> daniel: there's abo 30 discipline of craftsmen, where you can acquire the m.o.f. >> anthony: see that red, white, and blue around their necks? that means they made it through the brutally, unreasonably rigorous competition that pits hundreds of top chefs against each other, where only a handful survive. >> daniel: so there's basically four or five every four years. >> anthony: certified by the highest in the land as being at