HappyDancex2

I’ve only seen this one episode but there are cats?! I can usually look past mispronunciations, not really, but the constant mar-scarponing in Italy of all places should be a “if you can’t pronounce it, you can’t use it.” Read a link to an article posted above where Gabe? the host was talking about the show and it’s merits etc. His description made me feel like the chefs should be of higher cooking skill…or maybe more reverent about their craft? Kinda of like the contestants they got for the early seasons of the great British bake off. This show definitely seems cast for snarky personalities and drama….despite what Gabe thinks I don’t get the feel that they care they are representing Puglian cooking. Oh Zev hates melting cheese and you were getting curry pizza whether you were in Puglia, Barcelona or Tampa.

Has Zev ever explained why he has such a disdain for melting cheese on stuff? Why is this such a badge of honor for him? How does this make him superior in any way? That was pretty odd. speaking of Superior did he say he knows 1500 different types of curry and is a curry king or something like that? I’ll throw my friend’s mom up against him tomorrow in curry throw down. Hell I’ll even pick a friend who isn’t from Thailand LOL

This is my first time catching this show and my first episode! I thought it was cool that the losing chefs decide who is going to go. I think I tuned in at the right time because that zev dude was straight up creepy. I was wondering how he/if passed the psych test to get on a show like this because he doesn’t seem super connected to reality. His walk off thru the lemon trees made me nervous. I’d be sleeping with BOTH eyes open if I were Fook. I can’t tell if Zev thought he was Jesus and fuke was Judas or Zev thought he was The Godfather and Fuk was every fooked person in the Godfather trilogy. Sheesh dude. Blonde chick was super annoying during the grape dessert challenge. Not sure what her backstory is but if I go back and watch the episodes I missed then I’m sure she’s a planted personality LOL. I enjoy Alex and she’s super qualified. My only suggestion for her is to get professional hair done for both this show and supermarket stakeout. It’s just lightened so it needs extra care with all of the HD cameras. Or really learn a sleek pony tail that reads well on TV. I love that she’s a real woman who isn’t the best at faking things for the camera and she’s also a shape that is realistic. She does seem to call the a guy co host a calzone a little too many times and I’ve only seen one episode lol. hello burnt ass pizzas! Who in their right mind would send those out??????? Question asked….question answered…

As someone who has an adverse reaction to seeing people brush their teeth and talk with a mouthful of suds, I was caught off guard at the tongue scraping and then the repeat slow mo close up. Gag to dry heave worthy. A talking point would have been more than sufficient. 🤮 I enjoyed the edit of the blind tasting when they layered all of their guesses of one item and then the montage of Dan thinking he nailed it. That was cute and whimsical.

I still don’t get Laura saying that she did similar challenges before but then didn’t cop to it when asked in front of the judges. Curtis Duffy brought it up on how impressive that was. I really don’t think it was much different than Grant Achatz’s dessert table. Smaller dry ice element and just substituted the “crunchy closer” with phyllo. It’s at least the formula per set of the dish. The sauces and swirls, dots and splots are just flavor choices. I’m actually surprised none of the judges made a point of the similarities. Either it’s been too long since the Alinea OG debut and they forgot or they were so thankful to have something pretty to eat. Even Grant changed up the dessert a bit with the fruit. For their service they rolled out a big rubber looking mat so it was quite sanitary. i really enjoyed watching Michelle cook. Her final mosaic was tortured and this challenge wasn’t in her wheelhouse, nor under pressure did it allow her to be out of her head and do something free. As a challenge I found it interesting to watch but I feel terrible for her. It’s like asking a mathematician to go on stage and play the harp with the instructions….” Don’t worry just plunk away…you’ll be great!!!”

I just rewatched the episode since it was a background thing the first time around….why did Soo get eliminated when he was in the top 2 with Savannah in the quickfire? And Manny was in the bottom with his aquachile? I also didn’t realize that when Torch did the demo, there was no lid on the pot. Now it makes sense…and makes it a bit grosser if the kerosene throw is off LOL. A couple cups of salt didn’t seem like enough flavor for fish and onions and potatoes. It’s just bland boiled food with a butter sauce? Maybe a hint of kerosene? 🤣🤣🤣

I actually thought there was going to be a twist where the returning chefs who were shopping weren’t going to buy any of the requested ingredients LOL. Am I just mean?! This would have also been a good time for a station swap too so they would have to work with another chefs ingredients. Dang I watch too much GGG. Loved seeing chefs come back! Not sure why a hand stab feels like searing a working organ but it does. Must be those meridian lines. It’s a pain that you can’t ignore either. Glad she won the quickfire! manny has been circling the drain and didn’t get punished for making uninspiring Mexican food. It’s not like he can’t, he’s just scared and doesn’t trust himself anymore. Makes for bad TV. Why are we keeping him around and hoping he will be bolder? That’s rarely a courtesy we extend to cheftestants. Are we watching for potential? Is this like a baseball draft?

I was speed watching to try to catch up with y’all but didn’t make it. What a strange season! since everyone here is way more knowledgeable than I am on Survivor history, my recollection is that early seasons definitely had less of a need to be fair. Meaning obviously we know now that the challenges are multi part so physical and mental advantages get watered down a lot. They are also now painfully formulaic and getting kind of boring. i guess part of the interest in the purity of the early seasons was that you didn’t know the type of challenges. It could be a strength challenge. But then it could be a quiz on how much you knew your tribe mates. You could be standing for a long time. You could be holding something. And people were ok with it. Meaning they knew some people had a physical advantage but they knew there would be mental or social or endurance ones that they might win. so my question to everyon here is that if they had a reboot season, mimicking an early season…sub season 10 for instance, what one would you pick and how would this cast fit in those old parameters? I’m starting to struggle with the challenges now….they aren’t interesting anymore. It’s like watching the same obstacle course that ends with a puzzle. If you have a mental block against spatial puzzles or slide puzzles or 3 D puzzles you may be at a severe disadvantage. A non athletic person can always put one foot in front of the other and move forward. Puzzles can be unsolvable for some. i was on team Charlie but they voted for who they liked and had the freest personality.

I hope Liz continues to explore her allergies and autoimmune issues as it relates to her mental state. She is kind of all over the place with what she thinks she can or can’t eat. With the gluten thing mentioned but she’s eating Chinese food…sure maybe they brought some tamari over for her, and a special rice flour batter….guess she will have gluten free crusts for pizza and gluten free pasta too? And what about the Exact Burger? That bun isnt gluten free. Nor is the bourbon sauce. And unless those were homemade Fijian licorice, Twizzlers have wheat flour in them. I’m still in awe with the pocket ponderosa immunity necklaces this season. Seems so unlikely to see a string and yet here we are.

As someone who is lactose intolerant I was thrilled to see a challenge with no dairy LOL. There is just so much milk, butter, cream and cheese snuck into everything….i cannot wait until the Brioche movement is over!!!! So many burgers are now served on brioche grrrrrrrr and look at me like I’m crazy when I ask if there is a plain or sesame seed bun on property. 😂

20 years?? Yikes. Well I would have to say I’d hate to be judged for the rest of my life for actions I did 20 years ago, especially if I was in my 20s. Reality TV never forgets though LOL. Carlos is getting better each year and we are all kinder gentler TV forum commentators now so I expect him to flip the switch from loud and obnoxious to….delightfully energetic! That was weird to see that obnoxious Matt guy reappear on the first episode….it’s been awhile and he was so cocky before….would have loved to see how that smirk has transformed.

Kudos to whoever pointed this out but whatever forces controls the editing and storytelling I can’t not see it now. Just in this last episode we have the cheftestants talking about how hard or unrealistic the concept of RW is and it’s unnecessary and redundant. We don’t need that part of the story arc crafted. What is left behind is more of the actual cooking or analysis of the food or restaurants or the drama that is going on to create interest or a hero or a villain. And now I think back to all of the guest judges at the elimination challenge whose opinions are not featured. That sausage challenge…..why not show more of their opinions? This season is edited oddly. The info we get we don’t need and doesn’t weave a story. It feels like too many people who aren’t even introduced, let alone featured for their food opinions and I’m left disjointed.

Other thing that just popped into my head was that this show is also another version of Food Network Star….play your cards right with some cooking chops and personality that is funny, intriguing or something that the viewer wants and you can be the next Aarti or Damaris or Carlos Anthony. Heck Guy’s shows have also populated the network with new faces! I found it endearing that both guys burst into tears at the end of the final cook. I found the relief and emotions genuine and the moment felt like respect of the sheer will needed for cooking and that was really cool to me. We all know how scripted and fake these shows can be but that moment was quite nice. Marcel was humble and even acknowledged his younger self was so showy and molecular and look at me and how smart I am and as he has grown up he just wants to cook tasty food with great technique and inspiration. Good for him….nice redemption arc.

This was a fun binge watch over the weekend! It’s way too long live but I was very much intrigued at the concept. I’m still confused by the casting since Marcel and Chris Oh and maybe Carlos could have been on the judging side. At the same time the other Added Demographic chefs didn’t seem to have quite the personality or cooking chops to hang with seasoned TV competitors. And also it would be so hard for the producers to build stories around them not knowing how they will react on TV. Season 2 using just no name chefs and everyone in their talking heads complaining about how tired they are will make me want to jump off a cliff LOL

Anyone else think it was odd that going into both top chef and assuming you were going to make it to RW that the Mexican Asian restaurant team didn’t have more desserts in their arsenal that they felt confident molding them to their concept? Especially when they had to nix their fish dish and they had to end up with a double tenderloin ending? I understand Kaleena saying that savory was more in their wheelhouse but dessert has often won/blown away the judges table. RW dessert is an opportunity to shine. Even a flan with a gochujang carmel spill would have been an obvious choice. Did they address the color difference of starter cocktail of the sparkling soda cha? The look on Tom’s face was HILARIOUS. 2 of them seriously looked like water sans cha.

I will say upon rewatching this without distractions I will say I credit Kaleena for being extremely decisive from the jump on what she wanted or did not want to do. I can now see why she was so OK with her exit because she seemed sure of all of her decisions along the way so that’s a solid way of exiting. Also as an aside I did happen to buy the Whole Foods version of corn flakes she used in her episode of crappy hard cheesecake crust and that product was ODD. Very thick and corny despite being light, zero sugar flavor and formed a thick unpleasant doughy carby mess in your mouth as you chewed. She now gets a pass from me on how that crust ended up so hard and nasty. also aquachile is the new risotto.

Is it me or is manny always making beef with mole? This season doesn’t have a clear winner but seems like a season where the winner would be upper part of the pack in stronger seasons. A few chefs, including eliminated Rasika, have had some nice high moments but by chance it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to push themselves out of their comfort zone. Even Soo seemed unusually exhausted and lacking a twinkle in his eye.

I thought the restaurants came out nice and had similar color schemes. A long way from clunky decor from pier one. Not sure why Laura was FOH when all I picked up on was a terse RBF. She didn’t seem charismatic at all. Speaking of not charismatic I was fine seeing kaleena go mostly because she thought they did great and no one was going to convince her otherwise.

Dan’s languaging is getting more and more dour. I think his ailment just makes him more tired than the rest and when your body doesn’t feel great well it’s hard to keep any positive state up to persevere. Just in this episode he said he sucked at quickfires, he should just sit out, he was just going throw stuff together and hope for the best and then get something on the plate that doesn’t embarrass himself in front of voltaggio. Pretty defeatist like a tired person. I think he’s done well all things considered. Let’s see some energy!! love KK’s tracksuit!

Not sure why Danny kept talking about his wife laying into him if he wasn’t perfect at dessert. He’s not a pastry chef, she’s the best in New York so I’m sure she’s fine with it Dano. What’s more troubling is his necessity to make steel grey food 2 episodes in a row LOL at the specialty store Dan said his favorite ingredient at Mo’s Asian food store was Aji Moto or haji moto? Is that supposed to be Aji no moto? So he just loves MSG? LOL you can get that anywhere Dan.

In the beginning I was OK with the quick fire twist of no immunity but as the season has worn on it’s contributed to the “the show seems off” element. I didn’t think it was important but turns out that even I’m less interested in the quickfires because they don’t seem to have that bearing weight to them. Money is great but it’s not the same incentive as immunity on a show where longevity breeds more after show options, let alone winning. And it makes the elimination challenge immediately a puzzle depending upon the parameters because someone already has immunity. Now it seems like because KK is hosting by herself they didn’t want to give her and the guest judge sole control of dispensing immunity. They leave that to Tom in the elimination challenge and LCK. But in doing so they’ve added a Meh factor to an already muddled season.

I’m hoping for a surprise 17th contestant introduced in LCK so we can get some better chefs in here. Soo 2 Get rid of Laura, Kev’’’’in and then any combo of kaleena, manny, Amanda and/or Savannah. Rasika and 17 return LOL. Manny lost me when he screwed up a churro. Somewhere Buddha weeps into his custom molds and tuilles.

Rasika was both a contender and a personality that was fun to watch. Guess Tom is going to send her back through LCK a la Kristin Kish? I’m still not sure how Soo’s dish was anymore chaotic than the “concept” of Michelle’s. He made a firecracker shrimp with salsa verde and salsa roja. Tasty? Of course. Who doesn’t like crispy shrimp?! Rasika should have said “this dish is chaotic because it will be completely devoid of flavor and the most unpleasant texture because I made it up for this challenge.” LOL

Bummer the quick fire winner didn’t get immunity. Laura getting the selfish edit…from throwing back her first recipe card for tartar sauce and then hogging the budget for her 1.5 dishes for the “experience.” I’m sure it wasn’t as cutthroat as it seemed but that was an unlikeable edit. Every week I become less impressed with this group though. There aren’t any drama whores (dang did I say that?), villains, look at meeeeees, stellar savants, modern masters….I’m not intrigued by the dishes. Katsu…..big deal. They make more innovative food on Guys Grocery Games. And certainly a lot of katsu.

I get it. You can name your fear whatever you’d like but you are essentially choosing therapy in the form of highly pressured situations involving other people. If she does well then she can be all smiles and gracious but when it goes wrong she is bursting into tears, telling someone to not touch her foot, leave her alone, shutting down etc. She’s electing to challenge her anxiety by food competitions which is fine but doesn’t excuse her behavior when it goes wrong imo. Many people have fear of failure or not being enough. And only one person is going to get the title of TC. isn’t the opportunity to compete it’s own victory? This is still a very prized show for chefs!