About this season
Ginbayashi Yoko is a top-class chef at a high-end Italian restaurant, but her life is turned upside down when the owner runs away with all the earnings, forcing the restaurant to close. With two children to support, she takes a job at a local men’s prison as a nutritionist, where her main duties involve planning monthly menus. Encouraged by the warden, she resolves to pursue rehabilitation through food, questioning whether people can truly change and what she herself can achieve. Thus begins her new challenge—aiming for “three-star prison cuisine.”
Episodes (5)
1. Croquette Chaos
Aired 23 May 2026 • 44 min
Skilled chef Yoko Ginbayashi unexpectedly takes a job as a nutritionist at a men's prison. Though mainly assigned to desk work such as menu planning, she is also called into the kitchen to instruct inmates directly. As prison officer Sugiyama explains the prison's unusual rules, Yoko faces one surprise after another. On her first day, croquettes suddenly explode before her eyes.
2. Homemade Curry
Aired 30 May 2026 • 44 min
Yoko prepares for a monthly menu planning meeting. She must meet the daily budget of 543 yen per person for three meals, and not use ingredients like mirin. At the meeting, associate warden Irie opposes her fried squid with lemon idea, but warden Natori gives her the green light. Bito complains that Hamazaki Prison serves less barley rice than other prisons.
3. Donut Bonus
Aired 6 June 2026 • 44 min
Yoko plans to make donuts for inmates working long hours in the prison kitchen, but budget cuts force her to create tofu donuts from leftover ingredients. Meanwhile, tensions between the kitchen crew and other inmates lead to trouble, and the donut plan is canceled. As her daughter Akari continues staying out overnight without a job, Yoko faces problems at work and at home.
4. Episode 4
Aired 20 June 2026 • 44 min
5. Episode 5
Aired 27 June 2026