St. Paul’s hottest new chef is a culinary natural. He specializes in Asian fusion, but deftly handles styles from around the world. He can finesse the finest-quality ingredients and also transform an ordinary dish into something suitable for a fine-dining restaurant. He’s a master at tackling challenges and remains calm and in control under the most stressful conditions. And in an industry overflowing with huge egos, he’s confident in his abilities but never cocky.

All that and he’s still in the eighth grade.

Meet Milo Fleming, a 13-year-old cheftestant on “Top Chef Junior,” the marquee show on Universal Kids, a new cable network that launched in September.

Milo didn’t win the season, he was actually sent home twice (more on that later) and placed third overall. But he set the bar high from the start and won the very first quickfire challenge, landed his recipe for elevated nachos on Buzzfeed and beat nine other talented young chefs.

“I never imagined I’d make it on to ‘Top Chef Junior,’ but I work hard, cook as much as possible and learn as much as I can,” Milo said over a piece of cake at one of his favorite St. Paul spots, Cafe Latte on Grand Avenue. “That’s all you can do. If you are learning and you are trying, you can reach for the stars.”

Don’t be surprised to see Milo pop up again on the season finale, which airs at 7 p.m. Friday. And given how easily his warm personality and obvious cooking skills translated to television, it seems likely a savvy producer will cast him on one of Food Network’s many kid cooking competitions or Fox’s ratings smash “Masterchef Junior.”

A childhood in the kitchen

A longtime fan of “Cake Boss” and a constant presence in his family’s kitchen since he was 6, Milo has spent the last few years watching both the traditional and junior versions of the cooking shows, in part to sharpen his skills and increase his knowledge, and in part to dream about competing himself.

“I was always interested in helping my parents out in the kitchen,” he said. “Once I realized I could make stuff on my own, I started with eggs. Eggs are the basics, but they can teach you timing, consistency, seasoning, all the fundamentals.”

In sixth grade, Milo began taking culinary classes and honed his skills working as a prep cook a day or two each month at Tilia, the Linden Hills Minneapolis restaurant run by three-time James Beard semifinalist and 2017 nominee for Best Chef: Midwest Steven Brown. (Milo’s mom, Stephanie, is a server there.)

That experience and growing love of food led Milo to audition for “Masterchef Junior.” He didn’t make the cut, but a producer remembered him and offered him a shot at trying out for “Top Chef Junior.” Milo landed the gig and spent most of the summer in Los Angeles, where he filmed the season six days a week.

“We’d wake up at 7 a.m., go to set, cook all day, come home, cook all night, go to sleep and do it all again the next day,” Milo said.

The production housed each contestant and a parent in an apartment building with a courtyard and pool that fostered fast friendships between the cast members. Not that it was necessary, though, as the cheftestants on the junior cooking shows often clearly form meaningful bonds with each other, unlike their older counterparts.

“With ‘Masterchef’ or ‘Top Chef,’ you see a little bit of camaraderie, but it’s still a pretty cutthroat competition,” Milo said. “We’re all kids. Even if I have nothing else in common with some of them, we’re all obsessed with cooking. After minutes of knowing each other, we became friends.”

Milo glowed when he spoke about the experience — his on-camera time and the after-hours bonding with the other kids. “It was like summer camp,” his mom, Stephanie, suggested. “But more stressful.”

“It was more fun and more rewarding,” Milo added. “Over that three-month span, I learned more than I have in my whole life. It was incredible. It sharpened my leadership skills, helped me cook under pressure and become a better chef in general.”

It may be ‘Junior,’ but that doesn’t mean it’s easy

Foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsay helped usher in the modern era of competitive cooking shows when “Hell’s Kitchen” premiered in 2004 in his home country of England. An American version followed the next year on Fox, with Bravo debuting “Top Chef” — essentially a reworking of the network’s hit “Project Runway” with food instead of fashion — in 2006.

The idea of cooking-themed game shows quickly took off, with much of Food Network’s primetime schedule now devoted to the likes of “Chopped” and “Guy’s Grocery Games.” Ramsay launched “Masterchef Junior” in 2013, ushering in a second wave of similar shows, this time with teens and tweens doing the cooking.

While “Top Chef Junior” does make some concessions to its younger chefs and home viewers — the set is brighter and more welcoming, while one challenge asked the chefs to make gourmet dog treats with a pack of rescue puppies “judging” the winner — the show still demands quality food from its contestants under restrictive time deadlines. Host Vanessa Lachey, of “Dancing with the Stars” fame, and head judge Curtis Stone (“Top Chef Masters”) treat the kids fairly, but aren’t afraid to point out their faults.

“They were trying to help us, but they realized how hard we were working and didn’t want to put us down,” Milo said. “It was constructive criticism.”

Still, it was clear at times the judges — particularly when there were four or five at once — began to forget they were dealing with kids, instead homing in on the food itself. “It was, like, no B.S.,” Milo said. “Some of the times, they were going hard and you’d have five people tell you you did a bad job. ‘Jeez, OK, I get it.’ ”

Not that Milo had too many complaints thrown his way. He excelled at challenges, ultimately winning 11 of the 24 contests in which he competed. Throughout, Milo mostly kept his cool, to the point his fellow contestants marveled on the air about how he rarely made mistakes.

Milo’s first major hiccup occurred in the ninth episode and its challenge to elevate a traditional kids’ menu. The judges deemed his pot pie too spicy for young palates and Milo was sent home. However, the show offered four seemingly random saves during the season, giving a second chance to Milo and three others.

Overthinking that challenge, Milo said, led to his defeat. “I wasn’t getting into my groove like usual. I find when I come up with things quickly, I do better work.”

Last week’s 13th episode proved to be particularly unlucky for Milo. The task called for feeding a crowd of 40 and Milo encountered a fate similar to many adult “Top Chef” contestants.

“I was the last person to serve the judges and while the dish I made was really good, I had run out of sauce. When I made more, instead of spending time to develop the flavor, I over-salted it. I was devastated. I knew I could do it, I just fell short.”

Milo has gotten over it, though. He beamed when he talked about the famous chefs (Stone, Graham Elliot, Cat Cora), “Top Chef” vets (Antonia Lofaso, Richard Blais, the Voltaggio brothers) and stars (Marcus Scribner of “Black-ish,” the cast of “Will and Grace,” comic actor Nick Offerman) he got to meet through the experience.

Who impressed him the most? Emeril Lagasse, the Creole and Cajun master whose sharp skills and infectious personality made him one of the country’s most recognizable chefs.

“Emeril really wanted us to learn,” Milo said. “After the challenge, he came and talked to us for an hour, answered any questions we had and gave everyone an autographed cookbook. He was the best, I love Emeril.”

Don’t worry, he still has time to be a kid

Milo comes across as mature for his age. Yet he’s still a kid. Lately, he’s had to cut back on his work time at Tilia for basketball. He also likes making surreal pop songs with a friend. They record as the Tummy Brothers and recently shot a video at St. Paul’s Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.

“Don’t get your hopes up, it’s not Grammy-winning stuff or anything,” he said with a laugh. “It’s completely for fun and goofing around.”

That lighthearted sense of play transferred to the show. The contestants cooked with and for each other at night, but kept talk about the actual competition to a minimum when the cameras weren’t rolling. “Once we were done each day, we just wanted to relax, go to a restaurant, cook or hang out by the pool. We tried to keep filming for filming and relaxing for relaxing.”

Milo is already plotting his culinary future, which might start with a food truck after he finishes high school.

“I want to call it Hot Diggity Dog and have 10 gourmet hot dogs on the menu at all times,” he said. “One would be, say, a banh mi dog or an Italian hoagie dog or a chicken curry dog. All different cuisines, styles and flavors can be wrapped up within the idea of a hot dog. It’s a good starting point to branch out for people who are pickier eaters or who just like to stick to what they know. Everybody at least kind of likes hot dogs.”

From there, he wants to attend culinary school, intern with as many chefs as possible after he graduates and eventually open his own restaurant.

“Hopefully I can get a restaurant of my own at some point, I just have to take it one step at a time,” he said. “The key is to always be learning. You’ll never know everything and you can always get better.”