Another cooking show to watch-my wife is happy.
Thought the show was pretty good. NIce matchup for the first duel.
The first episode started slow but then gained some momentum during the third challenge.
I think they slotted their best duel first. I would expect some of the remaining match-ups to be lackluster.
Hated the way they edited the first episode – too many quick cut/artsy shots instead of letting you get a good look at what the chefs were doing to create their dishes.
Agree with this. What was with the fast motion into slow motion shots? I also thought too many cut-aways to trash talking and not enough focus on the cooking. Not everyone is good at trash talking.
Ate dinner last night at Ivan Ramen in NYC. Sat next to Padma Lakshmi. I think the more important question is why do they have the Aussie surfer chef instead of the absolutely gorgeous Padma?
Mike, I’m going to disagree with you (albeit not on an aesthetic basis). I’ve come to find Padma pretty annoying. She thinks she has a lot better food insight than she does, which is bad enough, but then she also picks favorites for reasons having nothing to do with their skill and worse yet, she picks chefs to advocate against. Padma is a lovely hostess, but I think the Curtis/Gale combo is an excellent compliment to the Tom-led main show.
I thought that it was a good episode. Marcel’s challenge left a lot to be desired, showing that he still lacks for something. Richard gets sullen whenever he loses something, which is nothing new. Overall the initial challenges were probably decided correctly (as near as I can tell from a spectator position). But the actual courses, the main challenge, was very close. I didn’t know who would win before the discussion started, though I suspected Blaise. His dessert looked so much stronger.
A thought on Marcel though: his shellfish and pork belly soup looked like the strongest thing on the show by a good bit. The “vapor” may have detracted a bit but it was very in keeping with the challenge. That seems to be very Marcel, he’ll frequently make the best dish of the show but lacks focus on other courses and ends up losing. His abrasive personality tends to make any truly close call fall for the opponent. Still, if I get one dish from that show, that’s the one I’d pick. His burger might be the runner up. Yes, it was obvious, but sometimes a ton of delicious stuff stacked up together just works.
As an aside, I don’t like Knife Fight, too produced and too forced. And I can’t stand Elan, he has always seemed like a whiney tool ever since TC season two.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
If I didn’t write this…I should have! My feelings exactly!
Cheers!
Marshall
+2. I really dislike Padma. When she initially started on the show, she’d occasionally say something about salt, but usually would look to Tom like a safety blanket in lieu of offering up anything interesting to say. Now, she’s more confident, but does not appear to be any more knowledgeable about food. Let’s be serious, she’s eye candy, but in all other ways a lousy host.
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I didn’t really care for the first episode. I find Richard very entertaining because he’s a crazy combination of cocky and self-doubting. But I didn’t really get any great insight into the food. If you’re going to spend an hour with two accomplished chefs, why not spend more time exploring how/why they composed their dishes?
Agree with all written re: Padma. I’ll also add that I don’t even think she is eye candy. I just don’t see what those who find her attractive see.
The shows have already been produced, so I think we’re gonna get what we’re gonna get regarding focus on cooking. I think the producers may (wrongly) think that there are more of us who give a damn about the people than we do about the food.
This. Only way to explain Dale (total tool), Art Smith (flamboyant), Jennifer (hot, but crazy), Mike Isabella (because I’d think of Mike Isabella after I put David Burke on the roster), etc.
AK
I fell asleep.
I may try to rewatch to see if the episode deserved that fate.
I think you may be mistaken about whether people care about the contestants as much as the food. The more hard core your interest in food the more the balance may swing, but I’m sure TC’s success is built upon a synthesis of the two. And to that end I think they’ve balanced those objectives well. Some seasons swing more towards sensationalism and overproduction, but they manage to stay out of the morass that is the Gordon Ramsey-Fox school of reality cooking show.
Re. Padma: What I can’t imagine is what Sunday dinner with her and Salman Rushdie was like.
As an aside, this made me look to Wiki to see how long they were married. The most interesting thing was his most recent romantic link to Indian model Riya Sen, who said “I think when you’re Salman Rushdie you must get bored of people who just want to talk to you about literature.”
She’d offer a significant diversion from thoughts of literature. Hey, maybe she’d want to host the show…
You may have a point, Michael, about the viewers interest in the personalities. After all, The show is aired on Bravo, home to The Real Houswives of Who-Gives-A-F___.
So I’ve seen three episodes now. Can’t really call myself a fan. The trash talking seems too forced and gets old quick. And next week sees the return of Stefan Richter. I’ll have to pass on what could be the most annoying episode ever.
I saw the first two and thought it was ok. Is it just me or are they trying to fit too much into one episode and as a result, we don’t get enough detail on the cooking and also not enough of the commentary and judging on the main challenge. Just seemed like everything was given short shrift because there wasn’t enough time to cover everything without rushing. Seems to me that they need 90 minutes to do this show properly.
Totally agree with everyone who said that Padma doesn’t bring any food knowledge or pertinent criticism or dialogue to TC. Completely disagree with anyone who said she isn’t hot. 
Totally agree with Brad. How about some new blood? Bravo has its’ repertoire of chefs, many recycled, and frankly, lots of them are boring. Stefan? ![[smileyvault-ban.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/426cc97ad8dd530c8304b0918ca75ff841d4d950.gif "[smileyvault-ban.gif]")
Please…who cares?
Cheers!
Marshall
I did not see the original season with Stefan, but I had heard he was a good chef from the board. After watching him in season 10, I was unimpressed. He also battles one of the most annoying chefs ever in CJ. Yes, he is back again with new skills that he worked on abroad and has a new approach on cooking, as he always does.
CJ seems to be the kind of chef that really blows in the wind. What I mean by that is if sous vide is popular, he is mr sous vide. If it is organic, he is only organic. Now, he is all about foraging. He doesn’t have his own identity, he just latches onto the cooking zeitgeist.