Tournament Of Champions - General Discussion

[Ellee]

Is Giada a judge throughout the season?   Rocco?

I so liked the three judges from the first season.   
 

[dleighg]

1 hour ago, Ellee said:

Is Giada a judge throughout the season?   Rocco?

I saw shots in the intro and there were other judges. In particular I know I saw Nancy Silverton.

[Ellee]

Glad to hear about Nancy Silverton!  

[JTMacc99]

My gut feeling after seeing the four people who competed in the first episode was "I'm going to be annoyed that chefs like either Chris were eliminated in the play-in round, and Nyesha had to earn her spot, when [some FN chump] was given a 5-seed in this tournament." 

At least for the people who have to go through this, they get the opportunity go get a couple extra $10K prizes as the reward.

[Ellee]

My bet would be Chris’ 10K recipient got paid for Chris to lose.  Chris Oh received $10K before he lost to Nyesha.  
 

Chris grating his over charred bread.  Yeah ... no. 
 

I’ll be interested to see the other 14 and how they are ranked.  

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, Ellee said:

I’ll be interested to see the other 14 and how they are ranked.

Based on what I remember from last year, it was a little goofy and weighted heavily by how much time a person has spent competing on Food Network shows.

Food Network does have the other 14 chefs up on their site if you're curious. To be honest now that I've seen the other 7 West Coast chefs, I guess that I'm fine with the four extra chefs they have fighting it out for the 8th seed. Most of the other chefs have a lot of experience and TV time, so it probably would have been strange to see any of them asked to fight it out for the last spot.

HAVING SAID THAT, I'm not sure how fair it's going to be to the person getting the #1 seed. That person's first draw in the tournament is somebody who already won two rounds and is inherently dangerous.  And because I'm "that guy" when it comes to stupid stuff like this, I would have suggested that the four chef play-in rounds would have been for the 6th seed, kind of like the way the NCAA basketball tournament has play in games to determine the 11 seeds as opposed to the 16th seeds. 

[Maverick]

 The rankings last year were based on how they had done in "culinary competitions".   It was largely how well they had performed on shows like Iron Chef, Chopped and Guy's Grocery Games (which is turn was driven partly by how often they were on those shows) but they also included non-Food Network shows.  Most notably Top Chef which this show--unlike most everything else on FN--doesn't pretend doesn't exist.

[HyeChaps]

There are quite a few Top Chef people in this Tournament.

[Grizzly]

For the steakhouse challenge, could they have gotten some steak and mixed it in with the sausage?

[Rickster]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

For the steakhouse challenge, could they have gotten some steak and mixed it in with the sausage?

It seems like the only protein they can use is what comes up on the first wheel, while they’re flexible on the vegs. Otherwise, you could cook a filet mignon and throw a slice of sausage on top.

I don’t see tri-tip in stores in the Northeast.

[Bastet]

I thought this show was new when it turned up last week in place of more Beat Bobby Flay reruns (which irritated me), so apparently I completely missed coming across/hearing about its entire first season.

I saw bits and pieces of that episode, and watched tonight's.  I like Tiffani (and the more people hate her, the more I like her), but laughed at her tri-tip aversion; I have one roasting right now.  If she lived here in CA, she'd have plenty of ideas for it (especially when tasked with making a hot lunch with it).  It was an "Oh, yeah - East round" moment.

I was glad she and Elizabeth won their first rounds, as I did not like the guy Elizabeth was up against and Cliff is always going to be the guy who assaulted Marcel on Top Chef.  (And I couldn't stand Marcel, either, and Cliff wasn't alone [I'm with Tom Colicchio in wanting to boot them all], but - damn.  To get physical like that?)

It was good to see Tiffani get the win again in round two; I'd have happily devoured both sandwiches, but her combination of ingredients sounded just a bit better.  (And that meat didn't look any under-cooked to me.)

I love watching the chefs' reactions to watching the judges critique their food - some really funny, honest stuff that so far I like almost as much as the food.

I also love that judging is blind - they don't even know who's competing, let alone whose dish is which. 

I looked up the full bracket, and I "know" most of the chefs and, of those, like more than I dislike, so I'm in.

Guy's son seems as pointless as his dad so far, but if I can ignore the father to enjoy the cooking (I can't watch DD&D unless it's a place I've been, but he's not as prominent here so far), I can ignore the son who appears far less.  (But, seriously, someone at FN gave him a job?  Based on what?!)

Edited March 15, 2021 by Bastet

[GaT]

I don't understand why this show has a 30 minute recap of what we just watched at the end. 

[buttersister]

Guy can stop trying to make lame nicknames happen. Sweet T? 🤮 Or Hunter. 😝 Although there’s a teeny bit of entertainment to be had watching whichever chef he’s “interviewing“ try taking him seriously.

Tiffani can’t get knocked off soon enough for me. 

[Rickster]

4 hours ago, GaT said:

I don't understand why this show has a 30 minute recap of what we just watched at the end. 

Me neither. I don’t remember this from last season. I’m wondering if it was just a time slot filler since they had only three short competitions. I assume it might disappear next week they will do four matches and they might be longer and more involved.

I turned off the show when the recap came on.

[dleighg]

Justin saying that piercing the sausages when grilling them is a "real pro move"?

Seriously? I think anyone who's ever grilled a sausage knows to do that.

Why do people hate Tiffani? I can't remember TC season 1 at this point, but that was a LONG time ago. I was rooting for her. Something about Elizabeth just rubs me the wrong way, though I did think her sandwich looked better than Tiffani's. I agreed though that it was a lot of kimchi.

Glad the DDD guy didn't make it.

[KayVeeTeeVee]

1 hour ago, dleighg said:

Justin saying that piercing the sausages when grilling them is a "real pro move"?

Seriously? I think anyone who's ever grilled a sausage knows to do that.

Why do people hate Tiffani? I can't remember TC season 1 at this point, but that was a LONG time ago. I was rooting for her. Something about Elizabeth just rubs me the wrong way, though I did think her sandwich looked better than Tiffani's. I agreed though that it was a lot of kimchi.

Glad the DDD guy didn't make it.

My dislike of Tiffani is how she comes off as a judge on Chopped.  Quite pompous with just a tad of arrogance.  Not necessary.  Having said that, I did think her reaction at winning was genuine.  And this from an Elizabeth Faulkner fan.

[Darian]

9 hours ago, Bastet said:

I saw bits and pieces of that episode, and watched tonight's.  I like Tiffani (and the more people hate her, the more I like her), but laughed at her tri-tip aversion; I have one roasting right now.  If she lived here in CA, she'd have plenty of ideas for it (especially when tasked with making a hot lunch with it).  It was an "Oh, yeah - East round" moment.

I was glad she and Elizabeth won their first rounds, as I did not like the guy Elizabeth was up against and Cliff is always going to be the guy who assaulted Marcel on Top Chef.  (And I couldn't stand Marcel, either, and Cliff wasn't alone [I'm with Tom Colicchio in wanting to boot them all], but - damn.  To get physical like that?)

Yeah, I'm with you, though I was fine with Marcel. It will always bother me that the only person to face repercussions was the Black man, but I get that he was also the only one who got physical. The whole situation just still bothers me. I saw one of the others involved recently (Sam?) and I got mad all over again. Cliff seems to have gone on to have a successful career, fwiw. 

Love Tiffani, a local chef to me, so am pleased for her. Have liked her since her Top Chef season. This is the second wild card where one of my favorites won! I love Nyesha and have been so glad to see her popping up on other guy shows. 

Simon and Justin do a pretty good job in their roles. While I understand I'm a very easy audience during a pandemic, I've really been enjoying this and expect when it moves to the regular rounds it will be even more fun!   

[bad things are bad]

Quote

I don’t see tri-tip in stores in the Northeast.

I see it at Trader Joes'  (Detroit area) but not commonly at other stores except maybe the fancy butcher

Tiffani has had a pretty solid redemption arc since "I'm not your bitch, bitch", and I like her in this format. As I observed last year, it's interesting how well the women do in a blind tasting format. Watch any episode of Chopped with one female contestant and lay odds on who gets chopped first. 

[buttersister]

Quote

Justin saying that piercing the sausages when grilling them is a "real pro move"?

LOL, well that's a matter of opinion. Some pros thinks piercing a decent sausage is the fastest way to serve dried-out sausage. One of the downsides of this play-by-play format is a lot of lame and/or questionable comments get voiced. 

[torontomeridith]

11 hours ago, buttersister said:

Guy can stop trying to make lame nicknames happen. Sweet T? 🤮 Or Hunter. 😝 Although there’s a teeny bit of entertainment to be had watching whichever chef he’s “interviewing“ try taking him seriously.

Tiffani can’t get knocked off soon enough for me. 

Honestly. Especially since Faulkner's first round was The Butcher vs. The Falkster???

C'mon Guy, The Butcher vs. The Baker was right on the table! She's easily the only prominent chef who is also world-class in desserts.

And Hunter is the earning his spot in the Nepotism Hall of Fame. Stop trying to make Hunter a thing.

Edited March 15, 2021 by torontomeridith

[dleighg]

13 hours ago, Rickster said:

I don’t see tri-tip in stores in the Northeast.

I live in the NYC suburbs and the only place I've seen it is at a small chain of specialty grocery stores that has an especially good meat section (Adams Fairacre for those who might live in the Hudson Valley area). It was definitely a common thing when I lived in the Bay Area 30 years ago now. 

[Rickster]

45 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I live in the NYC suburbs and the only place I've seen it is at a small chain of specialty grocery stores that has an especially good meat section (Adams Fairacre for those who might live in the Hudson Valley area). It was definitely a common thing when I lived in the Bay Area 30 years ago now. 

I know Adams, although it’s pretty far from me. Stew Leonards had it once, but they sold it in slices, like thin steaks.

I just think it’s odd to have a regional cut of meat in this day and age.

[Grizzly]

I wish the show wouldn't give away winners in the preview. I knew Elizabeth was making the second round since they showed her vacuum sealing her kimchi in the preview but didn't happen in the first round. And I knew Tiffani was getting to the main bracket because they've shown her cooking in a completely different outfit.

[jlc]

13 hours ago, buttersister said:

Guy can stop trying to make lame nicknames happen. Sweet T? 🤮 Or Hunter. 😝 Although there’s a teeny bit of entertainment to be had watching whichever chef he’s “interviewing“ try taking him seriously.

Tiffani can’t get knocked off soon enough for me. 

I think I am over Guy Fieri and his litany of shows designed to find something Hunter might actually be good at. It is time to move on

 

[Stardancer Supreme]

I have got to stop watching this show before lunch. I actually liked all of dishes! Now to head to the kitchen to make cauliflower steaks...

I'm okay with Tiffany Faison. I'm glad Bobby Marcote lost; he was low key hating during the judging.

Hunter is looking extra creepy in this show. He looks so awkward in those mini interviews! EF and TF was clearly giving him side-eye backstage.

"Sweet T" didn't come from Guy. That's one thing I learned in the Post Show! 

[dleighg]

5 minutes ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

"Sweet T" didn't come from Guy

and isn't one of her restaurants named "Sweet Cheeks"? I figured that's where it was coming from

[Ellee]

Lol and I figured Sweet T came from the fact that during TC1 she was anything but sweet.   

[mlp]

10 hours ago, dleighg said:

Something about Elizabeth just rubs me the wrong way, though I did think her sandwich looked better than Tiffani's. I agreed though that it was a lot of kimchi.

I've never cared for Elizabeth Falkner but I was hoping she'd beat Tiffani whom I just can't stand.  I also thought her sandwich looked better but, of course, I couldn't taste it.  Tiffani's looked like there was too much bread for the amount of filling.

I was ready to throw something if Guy called Tiffani "Sweet T" one more time.  There's a young woman associated with American Ninja Warrior who actually goes by that nickname and she's actually nice.  There's nothing sweet about Tiffani.

I was hoping Bobby would prevail.  I've seen him on GGG several times and he seems like a nice guy.  He always plays for St. Jude's because his older daughter was a patient there (and died).  I've wondered if he's a little bit cross-eyed because there's something peculiar about his expression.  

Hunter serves absolutely no useful purpose on this show.  He's just there because his father is trying to advance his career.  The aftershow can go away too.  I suppose it was developed just to use up 30 minutes so GFTR can start on the hour but I really don't need a recap of something I just watched.  

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, mlp said:

Hunter serves absolutely no useful purpose on this show.  He's just there because his father is trying to advance his career. 

As a 20-something (I'm guessing), he should be embarrassed to be being put forward in this completely useless way.

[Machiabelly]

Embarrassed all the way to the bank.

 

I tend to root against Elizabeth Falkner because any time I see her lose a competition, I feel like she believes she only lost because the judges don't get her.

[Rammchick]

2 hours ago, Machiabelly said:

Embarrassed all the way to the bank.

 

I tend to root against Elizabeth Falkner because any time I see her lose a competition, I feel like she believes she only lost because the judges don't get her.

This is marvelous, you're so right.  Every time I see her, I think of that hideous cave thing she made on one of the FN shows (the one Kerry Vincent used to judge).  This may have been where that attitude started because that was her absolute reaction to the critique she received.

[eclectcmoi]

What was up with Guy's voice on the first two shows?  He was really hoarse.  Not sure if he mentioned something and I missed it.  

Please... no more Hunter.  He is wooden beyond belief with zero personality.  Everything he says is like he's reading from a 2nd grade primer. 

Edited March 17, 2021 by eclectcmoi

[MerBearHou]

42 minutes ago, eclectcmoi said:

What was up with Guy's voice on the first two shows?  He was really hoarse.  Not sure if he mentioned something and I missed it.  

I heard that too and really wondered why he was so hoarse.

I'm in the minority apparently but I don't mind Hunter's presence a bit.  If he's interested in cooking, how incredible to be around all of those amazing chefs and just absorb what they're saying and doing.  No, he doesn't come close to having his father's big personality but that's OK.

Edited March 17, 2021 by MerBearHou

[Rammchick]

17 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I heard that too and really wondered why he was so hoarse.

I'm in the minority apparently but I don't mind Hunter's presence a bit.  If he's interested in cooking, how incredible to be around all of those amazing chefs and just absorb what they're saying and doing.  No, he doesn't come close to having his father's big personality but that's OK.

Probably from all the shouting he does on this and his other shows.

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by Rammchick

[Ellee]

I don’t mind Hunter either.  Give him a bit of a break please.  The kid is probably afraid to let his personality out.  
 

Can’t you hear Guy saying ‘Just follow my lead’ or ‘just do what I do’. 

[buttersister]

Quote

He is wooden beyond belief 

Maybe one day, he’ll be a real boy?

Quote

The kid is probably afraid to let his personality out.  

Now you’re scaring me.😉

[HyeChaps]

Hey, I saw Giada actually take a whole mouthful of food!

 

[eclectcmoi]

3 hours ago, Ellee said:

I don’t mind Hunter either.  Give him a bit of a break please.  The kid is probably afraid to let his personality out.  
 

Can’t you hear Guy saying ‘Just follow my lead’ or ‘just do what I do’. 

Is 24 years old still a kid? This isn't Hunter's first time on a TV show where he'd deserve to be cut some slack. He's been on many, many episodes of Guy's other shows and his delivery or presence is the same on all of them. Maybe he just doesn't have the personality for TV?  Just my opinion... 

[Gramto6]

4 hours ago, eclectcmoi said:

Is 24 years old still a kid? This isn't Hunter's first time on a TV show where he'd deserve to be cut some slack. He's been on many, many episodes of Guy's other shows and his delivery or presence is the same on all of them. Maybe he just doesn't have the personality for TV?  Just my opinion... 

Does he work in a restaurant? Other than his Dad's? In my mind he needs to get some cooking chops outside of the family if he really wants to garner respect in the cooking world. Right now he seems somewhat uncomfortable in front of the camera. IMO , he needs to grow beyond GGG/DDD/TOC and make his own name. He is an OK guy but he is definitely not Guy personality-wise. He needs to find his own style and grow from there 

[Grizzly]

IMHO Guy and Hunter seem to enjoy each other's company. And what parent wouldn't be delighted to have their 20 something year old want to spend time with them and learn what they do?

[mlp]

14 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

IMHO Guy and Hunter seem to enjoy each other's company. And what parent wouldn't be delighted to have their 20 something year old want to spend time with them and learn what they do?

I don't have any problem with that aspect.  I also don't have a problem with Hunter on the GGG home version they're doing now.  They're filming on Guy's property and Hunter is an appropriate sidekick there.  What bugs me is when he is shoehorned in where he's not needed in any way like on TOC.  Last year one time Hunter was even seated as a judge on regular GGG.  That actually made me mad.  There is no way he has earned the right to sit in judgment on working chefs.  He needs to accomplish something in his own right first.

[Gramto6]

20 minutes ago, mlp said:

I don't have any problem with that aspect.  I also don't have a problem with Hunter on the GGG home version they're doing now.  They're filming on Guy's property and Hunter is an appropriate sidekick there.  What bugs me is when he is shoehorned in where he's not needed in any way like on TOC.  Last year one time Hunter was even seated as a judge on regular GGG.  That actually made me mad.  There is no way he has earned the right to sit in judgment on working chefs.  He needs to accomplish something in his own right first.

Totally agree with this. He has to earn his own chops before he is a judge of anyone!

[jcbrown]

On 3/15/2021 at 4:01 AM, dleighg said:

Something about Elizabeth just rubs me the wrong way, though I did think her sandwich looked better than Tiffani's. I agreed though that it was a lot of kimchi.

Glad the DDD guy didn't make it.

Agree on both counts. Not a fan of that DDD guy, no matter how much Guy tried to make him happen, and I've never like Elizabeth Falkner.

14 hours ago, mlp said:

I don't have any problem with that aspect.  I also don't have a problem with Hunter on the GGG home version they're doing now.  They're filming on Guy's property and Hunter is an appropriate sidekick there.  What bugs me is when he is shoehorned in where he's not needed in any way like on TOC.  Last year one time Hunter was even seated as a judge on regular GGG.  That actually made me mad.  There is no way he has earned the right to sit in judgment on working chefs.  He needs to accomplish something in his own right first.

This is exactly why I don't like Hunter in these roles. Thank you for putting your finger on it.

[Ellee]

Hunter is getting experience in all aspects of these shows.  Same way as Ryder will and/or is.   It’s experience any kid would be lucky to get.   
 

Any one of us would do this for our kids. 

[Stardancer Supreme]

8 hours ago, Ellee said:

Hunter is getting experience in all aspects of these shows.  Same way as Ryder will and/or is.   It’s experience any kid would be lucky to get.   
 

Any one of us would do this for our kids. 

True, but Hunter is not necessary on this show.  He is not comfortable here and it shows. 

[Grizzly]

Good competitions tonight. Except Marc didn't really want to play the randomizer's game. Ok by me since I'm a big Darnell fan.

[bad things are bad]

13 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Except Marc didn't really want to play the randomizer's game

Yup. He wanted to make what he wanted to make. You have to deal with what you get and he just chose not to. Aleppo pepper is not "spicy", dude--it's a spice, so technically, I guess (but then you could use just about anything that's a spice and that clearly was not the intent), and fried capers?! C'mon, man

[FormerMod-a1]

The weird thing is Marc has played Guys Grocery Games and went along with all the crazy restrictions and curve balls and done well.  Then again, maybe he thought the taste would overcome any game play deficiencies.  I see nothing wrong with using the fryer for the capers, but that coupled with the lack of spice was too much to overcome.  

Man, Brook's must have tasted incredible for the judge to ask for a doggie bag to take it home.  And a 92 is such a great score!  I'm kind of hoping for a Brooke vs Tiffani finale, but I've probably just jinxed it by saying so.  I also loved Marcus' (was it him) reaction after the first round (Malarkey v Antonia) "are all the dishes this good?!" - he's judged a lot of different types of cooking competitions, he's probably had to eat some real subpar food.  All these chefs are really good, it must be a treat to judge this quality food.

[dleighg]

I thought that was a big mistake for Antonia not to put any spice at all in her hummus. Doesn't it almost always have cumin in it? The judges remarked on it (but she got away with it anyway).  I thought Malarky's dish looked under-sized-- one little pork medallion on a skewer? Otherwise I thought his dish looked a little more unexpected and interesting, but his technique was off.

So Marc Murphy, while cooking says "I know these judges, they are going to expect......" So do they actually know the lineup of judges (even though they pretend to be surprised?)

Edited March 22, 2021 by dleighg

[buttersister]

I think Mark has judged with or FN-club hung with the judges. Was his idea that he didn’t have to follow the rules a defense mechanism in case he got chopped? Makes no sense. But would anyone other than circus-barker Guy describe him as legendary?

All in all, this show reminds me of watching old-time wrestling on TV with my grandpa. Except I like watching cooking instead of throwing competitors out of the ring.