OAKLEAF – Oakleaf Village Elementary’s Landon Brown put his young culinary skills on the international stage with a fourth-place finish on Gordon Ramsay’s “MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays” special on Fox.

Brown, just 9, was one of 12,00 applicants for the show. He completed a video interview and was selected to compete with eight other aspiring chefs for $25,000, a trip to Mexico and other prizes.

The finals started with a one-hour show on Sunday and a pair of one-hour shows on Monday. A group of friends, classmates, and family met at Jimmy Hula’s on Monday night for a watch party. Since the show was taped nearly nine months ago, Brown and his family were the only ones who knew how it turned out.

Brown told his classmates he was “away on business” for a month in February. He was prevented contractually from talking about the show. Two weeks ago, the show allowed the contestants to say they were part of the show but couldn’t discuss the finish.

Landon and his friends stayed well past bedtime to take in the huge moment. Sunday Night Football, step aside.

Sitting with a close friend, Chris Perotta Jr., 9, Landon sported his classic cooking apron from the show. The group looked on in awe and laughed along as Brown cracked jokes, smiled and cooked hard-to-master dishes against the clock, along with the scrutiny of Ramsay, his daughter, Tilly Ramsay, and celebrity judges Daphne Oz and Aaron Sanchez.

“I’m just so proud of him,” Perotta said.

“We’re really excited about it. A lot of people are (posting about it) on (Facebook and social media), saying, ‘Congratulations, Landon, and ‘that’s so exciting,’” his mother, Ashley Brown, said. “They are saying he is going to own his own restaurant one day.”

“It’s really nice to see Chris’s good friend up there on TV, just for the world to see. It’s pretty cool,” said Chris Perotta, Chris Jr.’s father.

Throughout the competition, Brown’s warming, affectionate persona seemed to warm Ramsay, much to the approval of the Oakleaf community. Brown advanced to the semifinal round after cooking a winning holiday pie with teammate Rae, a skilled 11-year-old chef from Oakville, Texas, in the partner round.

During the show, the pair enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa on the balcony with Ramsay, taking a breather and relaxing as other contestants scrambled to the finish line. With his trademark personality on display, Brown laughed and joked with the international celebrity and his teammate.

In Monday’s final, he got a mystery box containing items the judges randomly selected. Brown was required to cook a challenging street steak taco, with thick steak to cut into small strips and grilled. He knew he could have been eliminated if he overcooked the steak by the thinnest of margins. Additional ingredients were a spicy cricket salsa with chili peppers and tomatoes, salt, pepper, guacamole and garlic powder.

Landon also made Jewish-inspired cookies with blue sprinkles.

He barely missed the final cut.

“Young man, cooking these tacos was a bold move. The tortilla tastes beautiful. What you did on those things, getting them nice and crispy, that was delicious. But one skirt steak was a little bit rare, and another was a little bit well-done,” Ramsay said. “It tastes good, but (the presentation) does not look as good. The salsa is super hot. It just needs a little bit of a cooking-down agent. You nailed the cookies. The cookies were beautiful. Really good job,” Ramsay said.

Landon also had to create a dish with crickets, which earned a compliment from Tilly Ramsay.

The journey included room and board, three meals daily, home-schooling, an on-site tutor and a game room. He also took trips to world-famous Los Angeles landmarks like the Hollywood sign, the Los Angeles Zoo and others.

Landon said he considers other contestants Colbie, Rae and Elijah as good friends.

“It doesn’t matter if you get eliminated or not. You’re still a good chef,” Elijah said as he hugged Landon before leaving the show.

Ramsay put the strong relationship he and Landon formed on the center stage. He congratulated Brown, one of his favorites, for an epic performance and admirable personality.

“Young man, you did amazing. Honestly, me personally, I’m going to miss you. I love your spirit. Give credit to your parents and, most importantly, yourself. Come on up here,” Ramsay said.

After the two embraced, Brown walked out of the studio to begin his 2,100-mile journey home.

On Monday, Brown was back at his favorite place – the kitchen.