Chopped 2020: A Year Without Chopsticks ... Please??

[Rammchick]

Chris or Ted or someone stressed that they didn't have to make a burger.  But when Mitzi didn't, they complained that it wasn't comfort food.  Maybe salad isn't comforting to everyone, but I like it 😉

[sharifa70]

I liked that I wasn’t rooting against anyone in the comfort food burger feud. I was kind of pulling for Mitzi just because of how she tried to encourage the others, but I wasn’t mad when she didn’t win.

...Does anyone else feel a little twitchy every time they show the judges sitting so close together, and without masks? I get that they have to, like, eat, but it makes me very uncomfortable. 

[xaxat]

I'm not sure associating your name with Michael Jackson is a good move these days.

 

[emmawoodhouse]

7 minutes ago, xaxat said:

I'm not sure associating your name with Michael Jackson is a good move these days.

 

Besides, wasn't her last name hyphenated? She lost me with the MJ crap.

[iwantcookies]

On 10/18/2020 at 8:09 AM, cooksdelight said:

He cheated on Stephanie with January Jones, the chain-smoking yet beautiful wife on Mad Men. Compare the two and you’ll see he has a “type” he goes for.

Homely Bobby sure gets beautiful girls! 

[xaxat]

Mac and Cheese was a real disappointment. Too rich, not rich enough, busted roux and basket ingredients just placed on the plate.

[mlp]

43 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Mac and Cheese was a real disappointment. Too rich, not rich enough, busted roux and basket ingredients just placed on the plate.

Yep.  This is the first episode where I thought the wrong person won too.  I just didn't like the loud-mouthed woman who won and I thought her macaroni looked very dry in the second round but the judges didn't ding her for that even though they talked about the importance of creaminess earlier on.  I liked the guy whose roux kept breaking.  He's probably still kicking himself.

[Grizzly]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

 I liked the guy whose roux kept breaking.  He's probably still kicking himself.

I didn't like him because I thought he was loud and quite the braggart in his talking heads. Once the first round kicked his ass, he was a lot more tolerable during the show.

The fried mac n cheese between 2 slices of bread that Sarita made first round would've had me handing her the check right then.

Maneet looked haggard in this ep. Hope she's doing ok.

[Maverick]

Dear Chopped:. Bitch you ain't Project Runway.  Please stop with the weepy calls from home.  

[buttersister]

Watching now. Based on the set up, I’ve got a giant-ass hunch about the winner. But first, I have to sit through Tiffani, who I’ve never liked, acting the fool, dumping an alleged $25K on the stupid picnic table?

Did Santos just shout, “We need to taste that comfort!”? Oy.

[Maverick]

 It's worse than that. She interrupted Ted to dump that germ-ridden Monopoly money on the table they eat from.   

 Why are they doing a comfort food tournaments in December instead of something holiday themed?   I know they're filming outside due to covid but they have Christmas in warm climates too.  

[mlp]

I was happy that the two guys were the final two and I would have been happy with either winning because I liked both of them.  I thought the calls home (blecch) sort of telegraphed who was going next.  Chris never did get a call.  

Overall, I thought it was a good tournament with the exceptions of Ted looking like he'd suddenly become homeless and having to watch Tiffani every week.  She is so impressed with herself.  I just can't stand her.

 

[libgirl2]

11 hours ago, buttersister said:

Watching now. Based on the set up, I’ve got a giant-ass hunch about the winner. But first, I have to sit through Tiffani, who I’ve never liked, acting the fool, dumping an alleged $25K on the stupid picnic table?

Did Santos just shout, “We need to taste that comfort!”? Oy.

I rolled my eyes and almost turned it off. 

[buttersister]

Let me be clear, I’m glad Chris won. I wanted to eat everything he made.

This was the only ep in the tournament that I watched and it was telegraphed from the opening who was going to save his family’s home. Happy for him.

But I’m tired of skill competition shows framed by hard luck stories. In the long ago, Queen For A Day paraded women who suffered a loss or bad luck or something and the saddest story won prizes (a lot of new appliances). Bring back that show if you want—there are millions of potential contestants—but the only thing I want in a competitive cooking show is cooking. Talk about that. Enough of this.

[nitrofishblue]

I played the drinking game last night. I took a drink every time they said $25,000.  I was a tad tad bit drunk by the end of the show. Should have drunk wine instead of dark rum.

[FormerMod-a1]

I'm not going to get mad at Tiffany interrupting Ted and dumping the cash on the table.  That had to be scripted.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

I'm not going to get mad at Tiffany interrupting Ted and dumping the cash on the table.  That had to be scripted.

It was so obvious that it was, hence I rolled my eyes. 

[xaxat]

It's about that time! Any nominations for the name of the 2021 thread.

Chopped 2021: Please tell me it's going to be better than 2020

[buttersister]

Quote

Chopped 2021: Please tell me it's going to be better than 2020

Chopped 2021: Stop serving up emotionally manipulative stories

[Maverick]

Chopped 2021:. Martha's Out But You Gave Us Tiffani??

[Ashforth]

Chopped 2021: Out of the Studio, Into the Weeds, er, Woods

[mlp]

On 12/11/2020 at 3:53 PM, xaxat said:

Chopped 2021: Please tell me it's going to be better than 2020

I sort of chuckle every time I see the name of this year's thread - written back when chopsticks were worth worrying about.  Little did we know..........................

[Gramto6]

2 minutes ago, mlp said:

I sort of chuckle every time I see the name of this year's thread - written back when chopsticks were worth worrying about.  Little did we know..........................

LOL, I hear you...I still don't want to see any chopsticks, but I'm hoping: Chopped 2021 is in all ways better than 2020.

[Maverick]

Ok then, how about Chopped 2021: Leave the Chopsticks, Take the Corona

[Gramto6]

14 minutes ago, Maverick said:

Ok then, how about Chopped 2021: Leave the Chopsticks, Take the Corona

Good but we don't want  the Corona... how about the  Bud Lite?

[sharifa70]

Tiffani is the Richard Blaise of the group. She tries way too hard to be one of the cool kids and she needs to chill out a bit. 

Chopped 2021: Less Sobbing, More Cooking. Please!

Or:

Chopped 2021: Stop Saying “Ooey-Gooey.”

Edited December 13, 2020 by sharifa70

[Gramto6]

Gahhh and GZ is there with chopsticks!! Pleeeeze no more chopsticks...pleeze! We may have to go int 2021 with this lament

Edited December 16, 2020 by Gramto6

[emmawoodhouse]

I remember Ariane from somewhere. Was she on Top Chef? 

[Maverick]

Yes.  Top Chef New York (Season 5 I think).  

[mlp]

I enjoyed tonight's show - after they chopped that obnoxious first guy.  I liked the remaining three, especially the two finalists.  The woman (Dana?) looked very familiar to me but I don't know why.  She was good but I was happy that the English fellow won.  

I wonder why they started having no chairs in the green room.  I noticed that during the last tournament and thought it was odd.  After a tense round in the kitchen, you'd think the chefs would want to sit down while they wait.

[DanielleBowden]

8 hours ago, mlp said:

after they chopped that obnoxious first guy

He made me nervous. Delusional.

[Darian]

But...but...the judges were jealous of him. That's why those rich, successful judges chopped him! Ugh, I don't think I've ever rooted as hard against anyone before, and there have been some arrogant jerks on this show. The whole atmosphere improved when he huffed out of there. 

Dana was on Hell's Kitchen but I can't remember which season or how I felt about her.  She and the other two chefs were fun. 

[Rammchick]

10 minutes ago, Darian said:

But...but...the judges were jealous of him. That's why those rich, successful judges chopped him! Ugh, I don't think I've ever rooted as hard against anyone before, and there have been some arrogant jerks on this show. The whole atmosphere improved when he huffed out of there. 

Dana was on Hell's Kitchen but I can't remember which season or how I felt about her.  She and the other two chefs were fun. 

We haven't had this much of a jerk on this show in a long time (thankfully).

I just remember Dana being very loud and shouty.  But she seems to have mellowed since then.

[mlp]

3 hours ago, Darian said:

Dana was on Hell's Kitchen

Thanks.  I knew she looked familiar although I don't really remember much about her.  Most of the cooks on HK aren't very likable but Dana was good on Chopped.  I'm still glad the guy won.

[libgirl2]

6 hours ago, CeceliaBedelia said:

He made me nervous. Delusional.

I cheered when he got chopped. I did NOT like him at all. 

1 hour ago, mlp said:

Thanks.  I knew she looked familiar although I don't really remember much about her.  Most of the cooks on HK aren't very likable but Dana was good on Chopped.  I'm still glad the guy won.

I thought she looked familiar. I was glad he won too. 

[buttersister]

It was fun* watching Dana and the guy who won (Thomas? William?). Focused folks who knew what they were doing, didn't panic or overdramatize anything. I was fascinated by his dessert. That rarely happens to me watching this show!

*Not fans of Geoffrey or Scott, either, so that's how much I liked the cheftestants (TM, somebody on TWOP).

Edited December 16, 2020 by buttersister
I prefer chefs who don't try to stiff their staffs.

[schnauzergirl]

I'm trying to remember when I disliked a chef as much as I disliked Raphael.  For me the handwriting was on the wall when the judges reacted to him putting the whole pizza burger in the blender.  One of them said something like "that's a mistake."  Happy to see him go first.  The other three were likeable and I really didn't care who would win after the first round.

[xaxat]

Raphael was definitely a Chopped Hall of Shamer. It looked he was compensating for. . . something in his personal life.

And for all of his braggadocio, his performance was clearly not on the same level as the other chefs. And I laughed when the two women chef called out his BS.

Did Conant have an orgasm when the one chef was salting his halibut?

[sharifa70]

My absolute favorite part about that arrogant “I’m Mister Seafood” a-hole chef getting chopped in the first round? 

Round 2 was halibut! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[RealityCheck]

CHOPPED: GRUDGE MATCH Premieres Tuesday, January 5th at 9pmET/PT

Quote

Five-part tournament features sixteen chefs, made up of Chopped judges and former champions compete for $100,000.  They are judged by a rotating panel at the Chopped judges’ table, including Michelle Bernstein, Nilou Motamed, Christian Petroni, and Geoffrey Zakarian.

 

[emmawoodhouse]

Looks like they're going to let Mark Murphy cook again. He's always entertaining.

[Maverick]

 Well Scott just gave us our new thread title:. Chopped 2021: You Could Have Sexed That Up a Little Bit

[mlp]

Tonight's show reminded me of last week........................... Three nice chefs and one arrogant, obnoxious one who went out in the first round.  I thought the judges made the right decisions again too.  

Did anyone recognize Joe?  Once again, I'm sure I've seen him before but I can't remember where.

[Ashforth]

Just changed the channel to find a rerun of a Chopped Ultimate Champions from 2014 with Fatima (from Top Chef). She was chopped in the first round and in her exit she said something like, "you'll be seeing me." 😢 RIP, Fati. You are missed.

[Grizzly]

I totally didn't need to see these Grudge Match chefs again so soon. And didn't like the female judges they brought in for this first episode. I don't mind Christian since I didn't see his Network Star season. I hope the finale is a blind judging.

[Rammchick]

And did I see that jerk who beat Bobby Flay as one of the competing judges?!

 

[Koalagirl]

7 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I totally didn't need to see these Grudge Match chefs again so soon. And didn't like the female judges they brought in for this first episode. I don't mind Christian since I didn't see his Network Star season. I hope the finale is a blind judging.

Production must have sent Christian a memo telling him for wear a suit and not look like he’s on a perpetual vacation.  The female judges were excessively nasty, especially the one all the way on the right. She even snarled at one of Christian’s critiques.

[nitrofishblue]

Here we go again with the constant repeating of "$100,000" as the reward. Time to start a new drinking game. Take a drink of your favorite adult beverage every time you hear $100,000. Believe me when I say you will be very tipsy by the final round. I did this for the last big challenge when the reward was $50,000. What a hangover I had the next morning.

[schnauzergirl]

Please tell me last night's three judges won't be around for this whole competition.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, schnauzergirl said:

Please tell me last night's three judges won't be around for this whole competition.

tell me too. I couldn't stand those two women.