Tournament Of Champions - General Discussion

[mlp]

I love Amanda so I was very happy for her but I also like Darnell a lot so I was sorry to see him lose.  It was fair though because he left off a required component.  As he said at the end, he beat himself.

I also like Maneet so I was happy to see her beat Christian who seems to be a nice guy but always looks like a slob.  I don't care for Maneet's judging on Chopped because she always says the same things - it's amazing or it needs something fresh - but I like her and I think she's beautiful.

I hated seeing Jet lose.  Brooke always seems smug and like she has no sense of humor.  I just don't like her and I love Jet.  

I'm expecting Antonia to win the whole thing.  

[CrazyDog]

Meh. Kind of a disappointing episode.

I love Darnell and Christian, so I hated seeing them go. But Christian is getting to be an established presence, so he'll be back, and I really hope Darnell gets a ton more exposure from this. Love him, and his food is so creative.

I like Amanda OK, and I don't know a lot about Maneet, so I have no clue who might take their match.

Brooke seems super talented, and she cooked with a lot of confidence. That was one of the wider margin wins so far (though I was rooting for Jet) which was impressive. I hope she kicks Antonia's butt next week, lol. Otherwise I'm assuming another boring Antonia win. She's definitely the frontrunner.

[GaT]

Poor Darnell, that was such a "Chopped" mistake, I bet he would have won if he didn't screw up.

Still don't like Maneet.

[spiderpig]

I was so happy to see Jonathan Waxman judging.  I love him.  (Who was the third on previous eps?  I forget and I'm too lazy to go back and look it up but somebody here will know!)

Sad for Jet and Darnell.  They're both so laid back and darned cute.

I agree about Brooke having something of an off-putting personality that makes me disappointed when she beats a chef I like better.  She can cook alright, but she is a bit of a Debbie Downer.  She's my fourth choice in the next heat.

[jlc]

5 hours ago, mlp said:

hated seeing Jet lose.  Brooke always seems smug and like she has no sense of humor.  I just don't like her and I love Jet.  

I feel the same way about her. I didn't  see her on Top Chef, so this is the first time I've seen her, and I am not a fan. She is too smug, too vain. Don't like her, and I was shocked Jet did not win. His food looked really good. 

[Rammchick]

So the semi-final/final is Top Chef vs. Chopped.

[lucygoose]

I've never seen Brooke before this show, but I was thrown off at the end of her segment when Justin told her the time left she said don't yell at me??  And then she said it again when Guy shouted the time, like 10 seconds left?  It seemed so out of place.  

Edited March 26, 2020 by lucygoose

[roughing it]

2 hours ago, lucygoose said:

I've never seen Brooke before this show, but I was thrown off at the end of her segment when Justin told her the time left she said don't yell at me??  And then she said it again when Guy shouted the time, like 10 seconds left?  It seemed so out of place.  

I've never seen Brooke either.  I thought she said it once, then the second time I thought it was edited in.  I don't think she said it twice.  I don't blame her for saying it though, it was near the end of time and stress gets high level.

[Harry24]

Quote

I was so happy to see Jonathan Waxman judging.  I love him.  (Who was the third on previous eps?  I forget and I'm too lazy to go back and look it up but somebody here will know!)

IIRC, Ming Tsai did two shows and that blond Australian guy ...Travis something? ... did one show.

[suebee12]

4 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

blond Australian guy

Curtis Stone

[GaT]

I wonder why they keep changing the third judge? The show is only 5 episodes.

[JTMacc99]

I like Brooke very much. She is super talented. And while I like Jet, he's always a welcome person on my TV, she very much out-cooked him.  Only Antonia has been close to her two scores of 96 and 94.

I was (unsurprisingly) impressed with how well Darnell cooked on this show, and equally (surprisingly) impressed with Christian's cooking.  Darnell did well on the other shows he competed on for a reason, the kid is talented.  Christian, well, I guess I just have an opinion of him because of the show that started him on my TV.

FNS is a goofy show where I don't expect to actually find somebody who can cook. So this was nice for me. 

[HyeChaps]

Why must they eat standing up?

[Steph Sometimes]

I did enjoy when they panned a few times to the audience, and they kept getting shots of the most unenthused, annoyed looking woman. She was not into it.

[jcbrown]

I'm happy to see the four women in the final. I just wish it could be Brooke against Antonia in the final match-up but this way is okay, too. I watched the season of Top Chef with Brooke. I think she is just a reserved person who doesn't have the BIG personality that shows well on this type of show. I am like that, too, so maybe that's part of why I like her. And Antonia I've come to adore on these shows. And I like Amanda a lot. And respect Maneet, love her style, and her food always sounds good.

So I'm happy!

[jlc]

42 minutes ago, jcbrown said:

think she is just a reserved person who doesn't have the BIG personality that shows well on this type of show. I am

She might not have the big personality, but from what I have seen of her she definitely has a big ego.

[Ashforth]

25 minutes ago, jlc said:

She might not have the big personality, but from what I have seen of her she definitely has a big ego.

I don't see anything wrong with that if she has the chops to back it up, which she does.

[jcbrown]

1 hour ago, Ashforth said:

I don't see anything wrong with that if she has the chops to back it up, which she does.

Exactly. I don't see her as an egomaniac, at all.

[scarletine]

17 hours ago, jlc said:

She might not have the big personality, but from what I have seen of her she definitely has a big ego.

I honestly haven't met a really good chef who doesn't. I think big egos come with the job. 

[ShortyMac]

Final two was Brooke (west) vs Amanda (east). Brooke won by one point, 88 to 87.

[Mellowyellow]

That makes me a bit sad. I don't mind Brooke (she was an excellent chef on top chef) but I love love love Amanda. I think she's a great chef, great judge and all round good TV personality.

 

[MerBearHou]

4 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

That makes me a bit sad. I don't mind Brooke (she was an excellent chef on top chef) but I love love love Amanda. I think she's a great chef, great judge and all round good TV personality.

 

Same here.  Brooke does absolutely nothing for me (and I’m a devoted Top Chef fan) and Amanda is far and away my favorite.  I was hoping for an Antonia-Amanda showdown in the final 2.  It boggles me that out of all of that talent, Brooke won??

Edited April 2, 2020 by MerBearHou

[Mellowyellow]

1 minute ago, MerBearHou said:

Same here.  Brooke does absolutely nothing for me (and I’m a devoted Top Chef fan) and Amanda is far and away my favorite.  I was hoping for an Antonia-Amanda showdown in the final 2.  It boggles me that out of all of that talent, Brooke won??

I was hoping for Amanda vs Antonia too. That would have been epic.

My sister who only very recently got into Chopped loves Amanda as well. She's just very likeable as well as being a great chef.

[GaT]

I knew Brooke was going to win just because Amanda never wins. I can't think of a single time I've seen her compete & she won.

[KnotsLanding]

1 hour ago, GaT said:

I knew Brooke was going to win just because Amanda never wins. I can't think of a single time I've seen her compete & she won.

IIRC, in one of the recent judges episodes of Chopped, there was an episode where Amanda won. All I remember is thinking Maneet was robbed. The entire episode they kept hyping that Amanda always loses so the momentum was definitely on her side. Interesting she ends up against Maneet again and beats her lol.

Overall I have enjoyed this show and hope it comes back. Even with the spinning wheel the things they're tasked with seem manageable and the food in the end is generally good. Because the standard was high I didn't really care who won unless a personality really spoke to me like Darnell. 

[Ellee]

Does Darnell forgetting an ingredient set him up for a return to Season 2 or do you think it will be all new chefs?  
 

Also is anyone else interested in seeing these very same chefs come back for Season 2 to see how it would shake out?

I like all of these chefs. 
 

I’ve always felt that there was a hierarchy of the chefs as to who would win.  ICAG has been the chosen one for some time.   (Not taking any ability away from her.).  She wasn’t herself against Darnell.  Have to admit I wondered if the fix was in for her to go because of how she behaved.  
 

Absolutely love Darnell. Love Brooke too.   Wonder how Kristen Kish would do.  
 

Hope they don’t tweak the show to beyond what it is. 

[jlc]

1 hour ago, Ellee said:

She wasn’t herself against Darnell.  Have to admit I wondered if the fix was in for her to go because of how she behaved.  

Oh I think she was totally her arrogant, condescending, egotistical self. She thinks she is better than everyone. She acts like she is better than everyone, and she expects to be treated better than everyone. I really hope that this is the start of her exit from Foid Network and Cooking Channel dominance. I am so over that smug look she keeps plastered on her face. Sorry about the rant. 

[FormerMod-a1]

So happy that Brooke won, but I would have been happy with any of the top 4.  I couldn't decide who I wanted to win most, so it was always going to be a win for me.   

[dleighg]

I was happy Brooke won. Her three meals looked better to me-- Amanda's had a *lot* of duck fat greasiness I thought.

Some other thoughts--as soon as Amanda put those pine nuts in a pan I thought "you're gonna burn them!" (Don't we all burn nuts-- like nearly every time?)

In all of these shows, there is always the scene of at least one of the chefs putting the last plate on the table LITERALLY as time is called? I really wonder if that's sound vs visual funny business.

Anyone else roll their eyes at the whole squab ice cream that Guy mentioned-- and then lo and behold, they get squab ice cream?

And there definitely is some funny business between the randomizer and starting cooking. I mean the whole dang refrigerator was full of all sorts of different cuts and forms of goat-- no squab in THOSE refrigerators. So clearly there's some time for stocking (and time for the chefs to think a bit). Not that that's unfair-- just not what it seems on TV.

[suebee12]

My only problem with the final 4 is that I am so sorry that Darnell forgot his bread! He would have beaten Amanda and I think he could have gone all the way. I would have loved to see him make the breakfast, lunch and dinner. He did something similar on the Thanksgiving show and I think he would have done well....darn that piece of flatbread!!!!!

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, suebee12 said:

My only problem with the final 4 is that I am so sorry that Darnell forgot his bread! He would have beaten Amanda

I agree- Amanda was very weak that round and he certainly would have beaten her.

[Ilovecomputers]

I enjoyed the shows, but I despised having to watch Guy and his son watch the show. I would have liked to hear the chef talk about his experience cooking with a Moroccan cooking vessel, but it was drowned out by Guy’s blather with his son. FN has been taken over by Guy Fieri and his penchant for “Triple D,” “Triple G,” and now TOC. I made that up. Listening to him makes my head hurt. Loved Marcus’s hat. 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Ilovecomputers

[dleighg]

4 minutes ago, Ilovecomputers said:

but it was drowned out by Guy’s blather with his son.

where was his son? I missed that.

I did hate the way he introduced the chefs like it was a WWE pro-wrestling tournament. I guess that was the idea but it was stupid as far as I was concerned.

Glad that FN finally decided that the words "Top Chef" could be uttered on the network.

[roughing it]

What I really, really liked about this tournament is that is was completely blind judging - both that the judges didn't know who prepared the dish, and that the chefs didn't know who the judges would be (so as not to "play" to any of them).

I love Amanda and wanted her to win, but one point difference, wow.  Those ladies cooked their asses off.

[Rammchick]

2 hours ago, dleighg said:

where was his son? I missed that.

I did hate the way he introduced the chefs like it was a WWE pro-wrestling tournament. I guess that was the idea but it was stupid as far as I was concerned.

Glad that FN finally decided that the words "Top Chef" could be uttered on the network.

They did a pre-show show.  My DVR picked it up but I didn't watch it -- this TOC is enough Fee-eddy for me without having to watch him AND his son.

Poor Amanda.  Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

[Stardancer Supreme]

I went to watch the show at 9:00 pm before the finale and they had Guy and Hunter talking about the previous show.  I didn't mind Guy too much; I was amused watching their dog jump all over the couch.

I wish Darnell hadn't forgot the flatbread! I'm not a fan of "Chef AF". The fact that the women knocked all the men out of the competition was good enough for me.

I don't want them to mess with this show next year. Bring on new chefs and I will enjoy it immensely. 

[GaT]

8 hours ago, Ellee said:

Does Darnell forgetting an ingredient set him up for a return to Season 2 or do you think it will be all new chefs?  

 

I was wondering that too, because I would think that they would quickly run out of chefs that people know, but Guy said something to Brooke about coming back next year to defend her title, so my guess is some chefs will return.

3 hours ago, Ilovecomputers said:

I enjoyed the shows, but I despised having to watch Guy and his son watch the show. I would have liked to hear the chef talk about his experience cooking with a Moroccan cooking vessel, but it was drowned out by Guy’s blather with his son. FN has been taken over by Guy Fieri and his penchant for “Triple D,” “Triple G,” and now TOC. I made that up. Listening to him makes my head hurt. Loved Marcus’s hat. 

I didn't watch this because I saw my DVR was going to record it FOUR TIMES & cancelled them all.

[Darian]

I can take or leave Guy, but weirdly, I enjoyed the show with him watching with his son. I love hearing about anyone's creative process for pretty much anything, and it was interesting to hear how he pulled ideas together. He might be hogging the credit, but it sounds like he was very involved in this and justifiably proud.  I know, it surprised me, too. I had Food Network on and almost changed the channel, but it caught my attention. 

 

[Sew Sumi]

I'm pretty sure he was listed as Executive Producer. 

[susannot]

Liked the fact that the finale was essentially Top Chef vs.  Food Network.  As I anticipated, Top Chef won.  Brooke's dishes were just more inventive and creative and the judges liked her kohlrabi better.

[Ashforth]

4 hours ago, Darian said:

I can take or leave Guy, but weirdly, I enjoyed the show with him watching with his son. I love hearing about anyone's creative process for pretty much anything, and it was interesting to hear how he pulled ideas together. He might be hogging the credit, but it sounds like he was very involved in this and justifiably proud.  I know, it surprised me, too. I had Food Network on and almost changed the channel, but it caught my attention. 

 

I really loathed Guy when he won NFNS (RINGER) and went on to dominate FN with the horrific "Guy's Big Bite" and the first seasons of "Triple D" but over the years he has grown on me. Maybe he's that cousin who is such a turd but also really fun.

It seems to me, though, that over the years he has (maybe subversively) made a gradual change from the "Always Over the Top!" FN mantra and food-wise, everything fried and smothered in a sweet sauce to a fairly sophisticated approach to food. DDD has gone from being a sort of "Wow! Look at this crazy giant burger!" to a show that introduces a wide variety of food cultures and dishes in a respectful way. 

I have to admit that I love Guy's Grocery Games. Kill me now, LOL.

Anyway, I said all of that to give a hearty second to @Darian

And I thought TOC was excellent.

[susannot]

Just now, Ashforth said:

And I thought TOC was excellent.

Yes.  And I was impressed with the stellar quality of the chefs Guy was able to recruit to compete and judge.  Apparently he has cred in the food & chef community.

 

The one dish I WANTED was Amanda's duck Cubano.  As she said, who doesn't love a good Cubano?  And I'm with Jonathan Waxman:  "Pickles!  All day long."

Edited April 3, 2020 by susannot

[JTMacc99]

25 minutes ago, susannot said:

 

The one dish I WANTED was Amanda's duck Cubano.  As she said, who doesn't love a good Cubano?  And I'm with Jonathan Waxman:  "Pickles!  All day long."

I had the opportunity to eat at a Waxman restaurant. He has down pat the idea that food should be delicious. And I thought that Cubano and the pickles both fit that idea. 
 

Brooke made delicious beautiful food the whole way through. So did Amanda. This was fun!

[TexasTiffany]

28 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

I really loathed Guy when he won NFNS (RINGER) and went on to dominate FN with the horrific "Guy's Big Bite" and the first seasons of "Triple D" but over the years he has grown on me. Maybe he's that cousin who is such a turd but also really fun.

It seems to me, though, that over the years he has (maybe subversively) made a gradual change from the "Always Over the Top!" FN mantra and food-wise, everything fried and smothered in a sweet sauce to a fairly sophisticated approach to food. DDD has gone from being a sort of "Wow! Look at this crazy giant burger!" to a show that introduces a wide variety of food cultures and dishes in a respectful way. 

I have to admit that I love Guy's Grocery Games. Kill me now, LOL.

Anyway, I said all of that to give a hearty second to @Darian

And I thought TOC was excellent.

ITA. Those first years Guy was another bobble-head talking to us about how great he thinks he is.

Fast forward to GGG and I like him now and I like the show. He showcases other people, sharing the camera and wanting to show people at their best. That's what I appreciate about him now. Everyone comes out in a positive way. It's fun, lighthearted, with some silly thrown in. We got introduced to people like Carl Ruiz and Aaron May.

I like some of the switchups, too, like when some of the judges are cooking one round then Guy switches the roles and the other judges are now cooking. The "cooking for charity" events and "watch your favorite personalities lose their cool" shows the best. 

I do think that ICAG is jealous of Guy's popularity. Alex's Supermarket show screams copy cat to try and make her as well liked as Guy. It's just not working for her. 

[MerBearHou]

10 minutes ago, TexasTiffany said:

do think that ICAG is jealous of Guy's popularity. Alex's Supermarket show screams copy cat to try and make her as well liked as Guy. It's just not working for her. 

That could very well be — Alex G just cannot muster up a genuineness and relatability whereas Guy seems all about his fellow chefs and joy and a down-to-earth vibe even with all of his success.  He seems to genuinely be pals with so many of these chefs.  I’ve met Alex G in a very small setting and let me tell you, she is NOT warm or interested in connecting with her viewers.  

[GrannySmith]

9 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

That could very well be — Alex G just cannot muster up a genuineness and relatability whereas Guy seems all about his fellow chefs and joy and a down-to-earth vibe even with all of his success.  He seems to genuinely be pals with so many of these chefs.  I’ve met Alex G in a very small setting and let me tell you, she is NOT warm or interested in connecting with her viewers.  

I’ve met her too, and you’re right. 

[jlc]

10 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I’ve met Alex G in a very small setting and let me tell you, she is NOT warm or interested in connecting with her viewers.  

Somehow, this statement does not surprise me. She definitely gives off the "you are not important enough to be near me " vibe, which is why I am so surprised that Guy seems to like her so much. He seems the exact opposite of her. But, has she been asked to cook at his ranch? That may be a sign of his real feelings towards her. 

[Ashforth]

42 minutes ago, jlc said:

Somehow, this statement does not surprise me. She definitely gives off the "you are not important enough to be near me " vibe, which is why I am so surprised that Guy seems to like her so much. He seems the exact opposite of her. But, has she been asked to cook at his ranch? That may be a sign of his real feelings towards her. 

Oh, yes, she's been on Guy's Ranch Kitchen at least once or twice. Another Fieri show that I really enjoy. What has become of me that I like Guy so much? LOL

[jlc]

2 hours ago, Ashforth said:

Oh, yes, she's been on Guy's Ranch Kitchen at least once or twice. Another Fieri show that I really enjoy. What has become of me that I like Guy so much? LOL

Lol!! I know what you mean. I love his shows!! Lol

[JTMacc99]

4 hours ago, Ashforth said:

Oh, yes, she's been on Guy's Ranch Kitchen at least once or twice. Another Fieri show that I really enjoy. What has become of me that I like Guy so much? LOL

It's probably because he really does love food, talking about food, and he's genuinely enthusiastic about talking to the people making the food.

I think for me, it took me a little time to get used to his energy, and at the same time, he's definitely dialed down the schtick while not actually losing any of that energy.