chefs-related stories
Posted Nov 23rd 2009 12:27PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Watercooler Talk
So last night was the big battle between Chef Garces and Chef Mehta, the two finalists on Food Network's
Next Iron Chef with two very different cooking styles. I didn't watch much of this season, but judging from
last night's episode I wish I had. Jeffrey Steingarten is one of my favorite judges, and it's interesting to see other iron chefs in the judging chairs.
Did the right chef win?
Posted Nov 19th 2009 1:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Top Chef
(S06E12) When I saw that the title of tonight's episode was "Culinary Olympics," I didn't really imagine what the chefs would be going through. Were they going to be pole vaulting into the kitchen, did they have to prepare a meal on an ice skating rink? What could be the Olympian angle? Well, apparently there's a culinary competition that's as intense as the Olympics -- and it's not held in a kitchen stadium with Alton Brown doing play by play.
That said, this may have been one of the toughest assignments ever on
Top Chef. I tried to envision how past season winners -- let alone the runners up -- would have done in the same circumstances that these final five faced. I can't say for sure that I can think of one that would have aced it ... and for how this five did, read on.
Continue reading Review: Top Chef - Culinary Olympics
Posted Nov 10th 2009 4:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY
It was just a matter of time before Food Network showcased people who actually can't cook. On January 3, the new food competition show
Worst Cooks in America will debut. The winner gets $25,000!
Just so we're clear, the winner doesn't get $25,000 for making worse food than their competitors. No, the show will put the contestants through a boot camp where they will learn to take their skills (which probably consist of boiling water for pasta and microwaving Boston Market frozen dinners) and actually become better cooks. The food will be judged by a panel of food experts (of course) and whoever is the most improved wins. The two chefs leading the teams will be Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan.
Continue reading If you're a bad cook then you'll love Food Network's new show
Posted Nov 9th 2009 1:35PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Vs.
The only things I know about umami comes from those Kikkoman commecials, the ones that talk about umami being the fifth taste (after sweet, salty, sour, and bitter). Last night's
Next Iron Chef was all about that, and they even had Iron Chef Morimoto as a judge.
What did you think? The show is down to its final three contestants. Can you picture one of them standing next to other Iron Chefs like Morimoto, Flay, Cora, Batali, and Symon in Kitchen Stadium?
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 2:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, Top Chef
As far as I can tell, from comments on this site and other sites I've looked at,
Top Chef Masters wasn't loved by fans half as much as fans love the original
Top Chef. I think fans want two things from their food competition shows: more conflict and a sense that the contestant isn't necessarily a "master" at cooking (though being a chef is fine). For the most part, the chefs on the first season of
Masters were nice and professional, and I think that the fact that they're all great chefs already zapped some of the tension that usually comes with the judging segments of the show. Plus the chefs competed in sections, not usually all against each other.
Continue reading Top Chef Masters coming back for season two (with a new judge)
Posted Oct 15th 2009 1:10AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Top Chef
(S06E08) Well, things have certainly heated up on
Top Chef, haven't they? Oh, I'm not talking about in the kitchen; I'm talking about in the house. These chefs are getting testy, or some are. Eli mentioned in the open that there was a lot of "emotional stress." Well, he should know because he's behind some of it. Then there's motor mouth Robin. Could she really be as yappy as she appears to be on camera?
Continue reading Top Chef: Pigs and Pinot
Posted Oct 14th 2009 1:24PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Watercooler Talk
I haven't watched this season of
Hell's Kitchen since the second episode. But I have them all recorded just in case I wanted to get back into it and maybe I'll take one of these weekend days and do a marathon. Of course, since I'm writing this post I already know who won, but it won't ruin the season for me. It's all about the journey (and a chef yelling at people).
So were you surprised by who won?
[Watch episodes and clips of
Hell's Kitchen and other shows at
SlashControl.]
Posted Oct 5th 2009 8:01AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Watercooler Talk
I'm of two minds about
The Next Iron Chef. I love a lot of food competition shows and this one is enjoyable, but at the same time I've always thought that being an Iron Chef was something important, something big, something you couldn't become just by competing in some reality show. But then I remembered that it was a reality show and that I'm overthinking it and I should just shut up.
Last night was the season premiere. Thoughts?
Posted Sep 4th 2009 4:25PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Video
Remember when Tek was voted off of
Hell's Kitchen a few weeks ago? Then what the hell was she doing working in the kitchen on this week's episode?
This wasn't one of those deals where a former contestant comes back to help the remaining contestants for some reason, this was... odd. They didn't interview her or point her out and Ramsay didn't say "Tek, what the hell are you doing here, you donkey?! Didn't I kick you out? And how did you get your chef's jacket back? Jean-Philippe, what's going on?"
Continue reading Is Hell's Kitchen doing some creative editing?
Posted Aug 13th 2009 8:01AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Watercooler Talk
Last night's episode of
Top Chef Masters upped the "reality show" factor on the show, as former
Top Chef contestants came back and controversy was injected. This was most evident in the confrontation Dale had with Michael Chiarello (KEY-a-rello). More controversy isn't necessarily a good thing when it comes to a cooking show (it's been good to see civility), but it certainly spiced things up.
I thought this was the finale, but it's not. The finale is actually going to be aired next Wednesday at 10:15 PM,
after the premiere of
Top Chef: Las Vegas. That's confusing.
Posted Aug 3rd 2009 8:30AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Watercooler Talk
So, did the person you thought was going to win
The Next Food Network Star actually win, or are you steaming mad right now? After the jump, a quick analysis of last night's season finale.
Continue reading The Next Food Network Star: Finale (season finale) - open thread
Posted Jul 20th 2009 8:12AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Food/Home/DIY, Watercooler Talk
"They haven't seen me at my very best." - Jamika
Really, Jamika? Really? We're down to the final four and you still don't think the judges have seen the best you can do? You should have thought about that maybe two or three episodes ago.
Of course, just because Jamika said that doesn't mean she was the one shown the door this week. After the jump, the person who won't be back for the final two episodes.
Continue reading The Next Food Network Star: Wood Fire Grill Challenge - open thread
Posted Jul 15th 2009 11:06AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Early Looks
Every single season - hell, every single episode - the dramatic announcer of
Hell's Kitchen tells us that "this will be the most explosive episode of
Hell's Kitchen ever!" or "for the first time on
Hell's Kitchen..." But this season, all of those proclamations might actually be true.
Of course, that's not necessarily a good thing, because it could easily turn into
The Real World or
Big Brother and be more about the confrontations and the personality conflicts than the actual cooking and choosing of a chef. I mean, in the first two episodes alone there are more confrontations and yelling and accusations and fisticuffs - yes, fisticuffs - than in whole seasons of other cooking reality shows.
Continue reading Hell's Kitchen season six -- An early look
Posted Jul 8th 2009 7:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows
Top Chef Masters returns to Bravo tonight (after a week off), but some fans aren't into this more "professional" edition of the reality show and are waiting patiently (or maybe not too patiently) for the "real"
Top Chef to return. You only have about six more weeks to wait.
Top Chef Las Vegas will premiere on August 26. According to the press release, we're going to see a lot of stars in this season too (only not as contestants, of course), including Penn & Teller, Todd English, Natalie Portman, Wolfgang Puck, Charlie Palmer, Daniel Bouland, and Nigella Lawson. Padma Lakshmi will be back as host, along with judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Toby Young (who a lot of fans don't seem to like that much, at least in his role here).
This could be a very fun season, considering what Las Vegas is like (as famous now for its restaurants as its gambling).
Posted Jul 1st 2009 3:01PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming
Later this afternoon I'll have my What's On Tonight picks posted, but I did want to give
Top Chef Masters fans a heads up about tonight's episode: there isn't one.
For some reason, Bravo is replacing this week's episode of the cooking competition show with a special episode of
The Fashion Show. And this isn't one of those deals where one show is put in place of another show but that other show is rescheduled to another night during the week, maybe in the slot of the first show. No,
Top Chef Masters won't be seen at all this week (except for reruns of previous episodes, of course).
Fans will have to wait until next week for the next new episode. (And if you're wondering what's on tomorrow night at 10 in the regular time slot for
The Fashion Show, it's a repeat of tonight's episode.)
Oh well. I'm not watching
The Fashion Show so I guess I'll catch
The Philanthropist.
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