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Tournament Of Champions - General Discussion

crimsongrl

By crimsongrl
in Tournament Of Champions

JTMacc99
Message added by JTMacc99,

Spoiler Policy: Any information about an episode posted before it happens on the East Coast Food Network broadcast should be put under spoiler tags. 

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bad things are bad

Forgive me if it's been mentioned but Marc Murphy went to Poland to work with Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen,  feeding refugees.  I was annoyed by him last year, but this utterly redeems him 

Lady Jane
Lady Jane

I saw this on my DVR, and said, "oh good! That Guy Fieri show is on! And it's two hours! Yay!" Please send help. I don't know who I am anymore.

springbarb
springbarb

I guess I'm one of the few who likes Alex; she seems to be a legitimately good chef who has a good attitude. She clearly deserved to lose--her dish had no cohesiveness, and Darnell was smart with the

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HappyDancex2

HappyDancex2

 Mei’s food looked amazing but she doesn’t quite have the personality that connects on TV,  even years later after Top Chef.  It does fall in line with constantly chasing her parents validation for her career path, which we know is just her being OK with herself regardless of their opinions.  
 

what happened to Aarthi Sampath who won her first round in a previous TOC season?  With the judges not knowing who is on the competition I can see them putting Indian dishes through just as easily as Asian dishes, especially early on.  Part of me kinda wondered if Britt used the tactic of Asian food confusion in her last round.

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Salacious Kitty

Salacious Kitty

19 minutes ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Well, the other chefs should already know who the #1 seeds are, barring Jet not returning to TOC 5.  They will see each other at the beginning of the next season to see who comes in and who dropped out.

I meant how much time between rounds? Is there time to course correct to Indian, Thai, or whatever cuisine? 

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Stardancer Supreme

Stardancer Supreme

(edited)
On 4/13/2023 at 10:14 PM, Salacious Kitty said:

I meant how much time between rounds? Is there time to course correct to Indian, Thai, or whatever cuisine? 

 
 
 

According to what we are shown in the show, the chefs are shown who is in the bracket and where they are positioned before the first battle.  So if you know that you are going up against Jet or Maneet, then you can quickly formulate a game plan to use Asian or Indian type flavors in your dish. Only Randa and her foolishness could either mess you up or deliver complimentary ingredients to your dish!  Other than Aarthi, Maneet is the only one making Indian adjacent dishes.  However, Jet isn't the only Asian chef in TOC, so his opponent could get away with parroting an Asian style dish like Adam Sobel did.

Edited by Stardancer Supreme
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Salacious Kitty

Salacious Kitty

(edited)

Sure, some chefs have more time to think about the first battle after they all assemble to view the initial bracket. My question is, in real time, how much time do they have in between rounds to prep? The timeframe obviously shrinks the farther along one makes it. For instance, how much time did they have between the last semifinal cook and the final? I can't imagine they filmed those on the same day.

Edited by Salacious Kitty
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Evenshorter

Evenshorter

On 4/11/2023 at 12:36 AM, Stardancer Supreme said:

I'm okay with the winner. I feel for Jet and wonder if he will come back for TOC 5?

Someone let Guy know not to call Shota "The Ninja" next year...

*hopping on my feminist soapbox*  I love that the winners of TOC have been women! 

Agree with you re: Shota. Also, it bugged me Guy kept calling her "Mei Lin" like that was her first name. It's just Mei.

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Ellee

Ellee

5 hours ago, Evenshorter said:

Agree with you re: Shota. Also, it bugged me Guy kept calling her "Mei Lin" like that was her first name. It's just Mei.

I hated the Mayday Mei Lin.  Or was I hearing wrong? 

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Ellee

Ellee

26 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I think that's what he said. But I hate most of his names. "Dancing Spice Queen"? WTH?

All of them here. You’d think the chefs would hate them too.  Would love to hear a chef or two come up with a nickname for him … wait … better not…  😁

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Stardancer Supreme

Stardancer Supreme

The thing is, most of the chefs already had nicknames coming into TOC. Maneet is the Dancing Spice Queen, Shirley Chung is the Dumpling Queen.  It's just when Guy tries to "Guy up" the nicknames or give a chef a nickname that they didn't have previously.   Shirley is the Dumpling Queen whose fans are the Dumpling Mafia; what does Guy do? "Dumpling Mafia Queen", which is a no from me, dawg.  Shota Nakajima doesn't have a chef nickname, so why does Guy go to the lowest point of his imagination to come up with "The Ninja"? Because Shota is Japanese? That's the best you could think of?  If the chef doesn't have a nickname (or you can't use the name of their restaurant like Guy did for Tobias Durzon), let them be Chef Whoever you are talking about unless they do something noteworthy in the competition, say "Bracket Slayer" Britt Rescigno....

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mlp

mlp

5 hours ago, dleighg said:

But I hate most of his names. "Dancing Spice Queen"? WTH?

This one is especially curious because Guy has been calling Aarti the Spice Queen for years.  What does Maneet have to do with dancing?  Nothing AFAIK.

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dewelar

dewelar

16 hours ago, Ellee said:

I hated the Mayday Mei Lin.  Or was I hearing wrong? 

Especially since it's a re-used nickname (Aaron May was also Mayday in a past season). Bad form, Guy.

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pdlinda

pdlinda

15 hours ago, mlp said:

This one is especially curious because Guy has been calling Aarti the Spice Queen for years.  What does Maneet have to do with dancing?  Nothing AFAIK.

I honestly don't think that Guy can help himself☺️

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schnauzergirl

schnauzergirl

This may have been asked and answered earlier in the thread, but do we know if the chefs are paid to participate on ToC?  The exposure is great for the up-and-coming (Britt) or those who haven't been on FN, Top Chef, etc., while Jet, Antonia, Tiffani, Maneet, and many others are all over FN.  

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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)

It bugged me we didn't see the breakdown of their scores, so I appreciated this from that interview with Mei:

Quote

Mei beat Maneet by two points, 91 to 89, but Tournament of Champions did not show us the final scorecard, as it had for every other battle in its four seasons.

Mei told me she was given the scorecard (“I don’t know where it is!” she laughed), but she did know that the two points of difference came in two different categories. “I beat her in both taste and presentation, I believe,” she said. “I think I beat her one point on both presentation and taste.”

She also talked about what we already knew from last year's interview with the executive producer, that they have a couple of minutes to think between seeing the randomizer results and heading to the pantries and refrigerators (while the ingredients are stocked and the equipment placed on their stations), but I think this might be new information: 

Quote

Also during that time, the chefs can get help with specialized equipment. “If you’re unfamiliar in using that certain type of equipment, you can definitely ask the culinary team to walk you through it,” she said, but again, those lessons take place in minutes, so it’s not a lot of time.

I liked her thoughts on whether it's best to be judged first or last, and, of course, on how important this show's blind judging is.

Edited by Bastet
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Harry24

Harry24

I’ve been wondering if this show has prompted discussions, formal and informal, in the industry about discrimination against women chefs.  I mean, the results are incontestable, and it’s not like the male chefs were weaklings.

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dewelar

dewelar

17 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Do you mean Chris "Boomer" Berman? 😃

Since Boomer's nicknames were pretty much all puns, and I'm one of those weird people who actually appreciate those, I obviously meant his lesser-known brother Craig. Duh. 🤡

(Man, my brain has obviously gone kaput the past couple days.)

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eelpout

eelpout

am I mistaken or in past seasons weren't the judges present to see who the finalists were at the very end and who won? 

Ours cut out early after Mei was handed the belt (sigh) so maybe they were there and we missed it. 

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candall

candall

On 4/5/2023 at 5:47 PM, Yeah No said:

Oh I know she didn't say it, I was referring to her "bitch, bitch days" because it became identified with her because Dave said it to her.  She was that season's villain, which I know was probably mostly undeserved, but her behavior on screen was pretty unsavory and I know a lot of people still remember that including me.  I don't know anything about the Andy Cohen thing so I can't comment on that.  She does seem to be much nicer and more mature now so that's good but I'm still not a big fan.  I think my point, (which probably got lost) was that I don't just find the male chefs annoying or "dickish" or whatever and that most of these chefs have bugged me for one reason or another at various times.  I just don't dislike any of them enough to want them off my screen and I guess I can't wrap my mind around that, but that's just me.  🤷‍♀️

 

I just watched a 2020 episode of Chopped and it was "Beat the Judges:  Tiffani Faison."

There were two competitors working like crazy in a 30-minute entree round to see which one would go against Tiffani for the final round.  Suddenly Tiffani walks into the middle of everything from somewhere off-set.  One guy is stirring something on the stove when Tiffani sticks a spoon in, tastes it, makes a "yuk" face and says something like "You're going to have to do better than that."  Either Scott Conant or Mark Murphy says, "Come on, he just started!  It's going to come together!"

Then she wanders over to the other cheftestant and asks her "What happened?  It looks like a bomb went off at your station."

One of the judging panel people asks Tiffani if she's worried about competing in the next round and she says, "I don't think I have anything to worry about."  Then she walks off-camera.

 

I was astonished at how much rudeness she was able to cram into a 45-second appearance.  She could have been gracious enough to say, "I see some serious talent here; I'll need to bring my best."  Alex Guarn. is self-deprecating like that, week after week, to her competitors on Alex vs. The Universe, or whatever that is.

 

Anyway, I remembered there was a discussion on this TOC thread about how much Tiffani had changed her style and stopped being such a Mean Girl.  Well, as of 2020, not so much.

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Maverick

Maverick

 Tiffani is better than her Top Chef days, but I'm not a fan.   When she's judging on Chopped, she'll gush over a contestant (or especially their requisite story) so hard that it comes off as completely fake and disingenuous.   It's like a carefully crafted front, which sometimes cracks and we see a glimpse of the old Tiffani.  They had Dave from Top Chef on as a contestant on Chopped and suffice it to say she didn't take the high road.   She does seem more genuine if coaching someone and took being beaten by Britt on this show way better than I thought she would so I'm sure she's had some legitimate growth but I'm neutral on her at best.

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Daisychain

Daisychain

I'm having an old-timey sick-day today.  I'm 56, but back when I was in school, if my parents were both at work, I got to watch Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, One Life to Live and General Hospital (if I was lucky).  Today I was rewatching TOC and I do think it's a great show!  Uncontroverted women winners.  Still a fan of Tiffani, she's made her peace with me, but very happy for Britt, coming from behind!

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Catfi9ht

Catfi9ht

On 5/9/2023 at 7:35 PM, candall said:

I was astonished at how much rudeness she was able to cram into a 45-second appearance.  She could have been gracious enough to say, "I see some serious talent here; I'll need to bring my best."  Alex Guarn. is self-deprecating like that, week after week, to her competitors on Alex vs. The Universe, or whatever that is.

This is how I feel about everyone who appears on Chopped. I feel like the producers on Chopped ask everyone to ask like an asshole when they're on. If you look at Tiffani (and others) on other cooking competitions, especially GGG, she's not that way. Both Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay don't appeal to me because egos are the driving force of the shows. 

TOC does have trash talking, but you can see quick edits where the contestants are laughing and having fun with one another. Guy definitely curates a fun atmosphere with little ego on all his shows. I remember seeing Michael Voltaggio for the first time on TOC (I will never watch Master Chef or Top Chef). He acted like a stuck up snob who was too good to be on the show. I think it's maybe because he was used to that vibe after being on other cooking competitions. After seeing him appear on Guy's other shows, I really like his actual personality.

I agree with you though. Some people, like Tiffani on Chopped, get a little too into the asshole persona. I'll never root for them if it's that easy for them to flip on a switch and talk to other people like that.

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Jaded

Jaded

On 6/27/2023 at 6:21 AM, Catfi9ht said:

This is how I feel about everyone who appears on Chopped. I feel like the producers on Chopped ask everyone to ask like an asshole when they're on. If you look at Tiffani (and others) on other cooking competitions, especially GGG, she's not that way.

That is so true about Chopped. That was the first show I had seen Maneet on and thought she was acting like a bit of an asshole which made me wonder if she was like that all the time. Once I started seeing her on other shows it was like I was watching a completely different person.

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DEL901

DEL901

4 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

According to the FN website, the new TOC season starts on February 28.

Wonder if Jet will finally make the finals?

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Grizzly

Grizzly

(edited)

And now Guy is having a whole TOC  qualifying tournament. Nothing about it on the FN page but I've seen commercials. Starting Feb 7th. 

Edited by Grizzly
Added date
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dleighg

dleighg

(edited)
9 hours ago, HyeChaps said:

We know Darnell won’t be participating 

If others are as clueless as I am:

https://people.com/darnell-ferguson-food-network-star-accused-of-strangling-wife-case-to-grand-jury-8431885

8 hours ago, Salacious Kitty said:

This was filmed months ago. It will be interesting to see how they edit out Superchef. 

Here's the lineup. I don't see his name (though note that there are 15 from the east and 16 from the west-and yes, Jet is back): 

The chefs representing the East Coast are: Eric Adjepong, Karen Akunowicz, Kelsey Barnard Clark, Maneet Chauhan, Leah Cohen, Madison Cowan, Tobias Dorzon, Graham Elliot, defending Tournament of Champions III winner Tiffani Faison, Jose Garces, Ilan Hall, Stephanie Izard, Christian Petroni, Britt Rescigno, and Jonathon Sawyer. The chefs showing off their chops from the West Coast are: Carlos Anthony, Nate Appleman, Shirley Chung, Tiffany Derry, Elizabeth Falkner, Timothy Hollingsworth, Mei Lin, Antonia Lofaso, Brian Malarkey, Shota Nakajima, Viet Pham, Joe Sasto, Tracey Shepos Chanami, Adam Sobel, Jet Tila, and Lee Anne Wong.

Edited by dleighg
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DEL901

DEL901

49 minutes ago, dleighg said:

If others are as clueless as I am:

https://people.com/darnell-ferguson-food-network-star-accused-of-strangling-wife-case-to-grand-jury-8431885

Here's the lineup. I don't see his name (though note that there are 15 from the east and 16 from the west-and yes, Jet is back): 

The chefs representing the East Coast are: Eric Adjepong, Karen Akunowicz, Kelsey Barnard Clark, Maneet Chauhan, Leah Cohen, Madison Cowan, Tobias Dorzon, Graham Elliot, defending Tournament of Champions III winner Tiffani Faison, Jose Garces, Ilan Hall, Stephanie Izard, Christian Petroni, Britt Rescigno, and Jonathon Sawyer. The chefs showing off their chops from the West Coast are: Carlos Anthony, Nate Appleman, Shirley Chung, Tiffany Derry, Elizabeth Falkner, Timothy Hollingsworth, Mei Lin, Antonia Lofaso, Brian Malarkey, Shota Nakajima, Viet Pham, Joe Sasto, Tracey Shepos Chanami, Adam Sobel, Jet Tila, and Lee Anne Wong.

Isn’t that last year’s lineup?   It references Tiffany Faison as the defending champ.

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dleighg

dleighg

 

37 minutes ago, DEL901 said:

Isn’t that last year’s lineup?   It references Tiffany Faison as the defending champ.

you're right- I searched including "2024" and the article I saw on FN didn't have a publication date.....

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Yeah No

Yeah No

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

you're right- I searched including "2024" and the article I saw on FN didn't have a publication date.....

I searched for a while and couldn't come up with any info. on season 5 including lineup or premiere date.

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Mondrianyone

Mondrianyone

People needs to step up its editing game. I just read that article linked above, and they keep referring to his wife as "St. Matthews," which isn't her name--it's the name of the suburb where she lives. Her last name is Ferguson. Which is also a town in Missouri.

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pdlinda

pdlinda

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I searched for a while and couldn't come up with any info. on season 5 including lineup or premiere date.

I keep getting notifications of posts to T of C board and I don't understand why as I have it on "auto record" for my DVR and it's not on any lineup that I can see.

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