Alex Vs. America - General Discussion

[HappyDancex2]

15 hours ago, cameron said:

So glad that Michael won.  Got to meet him in his Cleveland restaurant years ago.  Not a fan of Alex.  Thought I spotted Jose using a jar of kewpie mayo in his aioli sauce.

I must be the only person who doesn’t care for kewpie mayo, gochujang or brioche buns.  Give me my sesame or potato buns back for hamburgers and get off my lawn!

[Bastet]

In the battle of NY chefs, I thought the guy who lost in the second round should have gone out in the first, so I was not at all surprised he once again completely ignored the brief.  Alex and the other woman (it was several days ago and I've already forgotten everyone's names) were so clearly one and two in both rounds.

[HappyDancex2]

Undeserved.  
 

That chef from Utah really did a great job and he deserved better.  The yellow haired chef talked a good game but didn’t get frozen right in either round.

[MerBearHou]

4 minutes ago, HappyDancex2 said:

Undeserved.  
 

That chef from Utah really did a great job and he deserved better.  The yellow haired chef talked a good game but didn’t get frozen right in either round.

Agreed.  I couldn’t believe Alex won with that old-fashioned, store-bought cone.  The first elimination made total sense to me, and the yellow haired chef’s 3rd place also made sense.  But Alex as the winner — nope, not this time.  They liked her Thanksgiving flavors but I thought Chef Adelberto’s desserts seemed divine and I wish they’d eaten further into his cone w the chocolate inside.  Oh well…

[lavenderblue]

Yeah.....if Alex had nailed her cone, I would accept her win. But Adelberto seemed to nail every aspect of the challenge, aside from not mixing his flavors sufficiently or something, and "cone" was one of the core components of the challenge. I'm a longtime _____ Baking Championship viewer so I did also have a soft spot for those contestants and hoped to see one of them beat her, as well. 

[tessabq]

Adelberto was robbed. A storebought cone for the win? I think not. 

Edited July 31 by tessabq

[mlp]

I hoped Adalberto would win as soon as I saw him because I remembered him from a couple other shows and liked him and thought he was very good.  When I saw his final dessert, I was sure he'd nailed it, especially after Alex used a store-bought cone.  Then Duff commented that he didn't think the cone was meant to be eaten and I immediately wondered if he was setting up an Alex win.  I thought the judging on this show was legit but now I have some doubts.

[Bastet]

I did not care for Adalberto, but that dish that won him the first round was stunning.  His second round dish looked really good, too (although it was foolish to put a component only down at the bottom of the cone, since judges only eat a couple of bites, unlike a regular ol' customer who'll eat the whole thing), and thought he would probably win despite Alex's being more Thanksgiving-y and using the jalapeño so well, until the judges mused that maybe the cone in her dish was meant to be a vessel, rather than eaten, since there was already another element giving that texture ("cone vibes").  I guess they thought no one cooking at this level (either someone who's specialty is frozen desserts or competition veteran Alex) would use an old school pre-made cone, and gave that dish too much credit, but that was also foolish since in a timed competition it's always possible someone ran out of time and couldn't get something done/couldn't do over something that went wrong.

Luke's concept for the second round sounded like a sure-fire winner, and I love when Eric understood what he was going for and said, "I think you cracked the code," but that just did not come out anywhere near as good as it sounded.

[cameron]

Not sure it's in the cards to let her lose to non famous chefs.  Think her personality wouldn't accept that.

[schnauzergirl]

Alex often seems to think she's lost.  Don't know if that's theatrics, false modesty, or legitimate sense that she didn't do well.  Bobby Flay, on the other hand, never gives the impression that losing is a possibility.  Full disclosure: I don't watch every Beat Bobby Flay episode so maybe I've missed that reaction from him.

 

 

[Bastet]

I think it's an honest reaction, since she lists the things that didn't go the way she wanted them to; in her head, a lot went wrong, and she's up against people who make this sort of food every day and whose dishes look delicious (since she sees them, but doesn't get to taste them), so she figures the judges are going to find more faults with her dish than theirs.

[Grizzly]

I'm not buying that those judges were seafood experts. However, I have no issue with the outcome.

[Bastet]

This was another one where I wanted the chef who came in last in the second round to go out in the first, but this time I completely understand why he didn't -- the other chef served undercooked lobster because she had to start over after dropping her originals (something you very much cannot serve in a competition, but something I'd have eaten the hell out of in my own kitchen), so she's out.  But if not for that accident she'd have had a better dish than him, so that was a bummer.

I wanted all the food, and enjoyed Alex's strategy in the second round, so this was a good episode for me. 

[lavenderblue]

I didn't initially recognize the chefs in the Alex vs. Fruit episode until Eric said that Kyle won $25,000 on Cutthroat Kitchen -- and then I knew him! As a consequence of my years-long respect for his truly epic victory there, I was rooting for him here. Would've been nice if he'd pulled off the win, but Alex had good gamesmanship going with a tomato-based soup.

[Bastet]

I was rooting for the indigenous chef from CA.  I liked all the first round dishes, but nothing in the second stood out to me.  (I'd happily try all of them, just nothing had me wanting to reach through the screen.)

[AZChristian]

I was totally unimpressed with both of Alex's dishes in the Japanese food challenge.  How on earth is an "ice cream sandwich" made with noodles a "high-end" dish????  Nothing fresh looking on the plate.

I'm beginning to suspect that the judges know who NOT to eliminate.

[ILuvShibaInus]

7 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I was totally unimpressed with both of Alex's dishes in the Japanese food challenge.  How on earth is an "ice cream sandwich" made with noodles a "high-end" dish????  Nothing fresh looking on the plate.

I'm beginning to suspect that the judges know who NOT to eliminate.

I just saw the Mediterranean episode and was it really “blind” judging to have her co-host from Ciao House there? He knows her style of cooking and you could tell he figured out what dish was hers. It was such a gimme but funny how lately this season the third place finisher really screws up bad enough that it is really just a two person race. Hmmm…🤔

[cameron]

10 hours ago, ILuvShibaInus said:

I just saw the Mediterranean episode and was it really “blind” judging to have her co-host from Ciao House there? He knows her style of cooking and you could tell he figured out what dish was hers. It was such a gimme but funny how lately this season the third place finisher really screws up bad enough that it is really just a two person race. Hmmm…🤔

That's why I stopped watching the show.  The only good thing about it is Eric.  Too much Alex.

[Bastet]

On 8/26/2024 at 7:42 AM, AZChristian said:

I was totally unimpressed with both of Alex's dishes in the Japanese food challenge.  How on earth is an "ice cream sandwich" made with noodles a "high-end" dish????  Nothing fresh looking on the plate.

I thought that was a really fun idea, and Shota did, too.  I'm sure the guy with the salad would have won if he hadn't forgotten a component, since his dish was great but as a result of that omission didn't use the banana thing enough.

[cameron]

After watching the egg challenge last night; really think that the judging and outcome is biased in favor of Alex.

[Bastet]

I could not decide which way Brooke and Mike were going to go, since they were having such a hard time deciding between those two egg dishes, so I wasn't terribly surprised by the tie.  I like egg whites, but hate yolks, so I didn't want to eat a single thing in this entire episode, but still enjoyed it because there was a lot of creativity going on.  And a lot of the dishes were visual delights, so appealed to me on that level, at least.

[schnauzergirl]

Sunday's show proved Alex isn't invincible.  Loved the interaction between Jet and Sugar.  

I love rice in any form so wish I could have sampled every dish.

[Gramto6]

11 hours ago, schnauzergirl said:

Sunday's show proved Alex isn't invincible.  Loved the interaction between Jet and Sugar.  

I love rice in any form so wish I could have sampled every dish.

Yes that is true, no one is invincible.  However I think she may have just made it had she not cut herself so close to the end. The law of averages just caught up with her via the cut, proving she isn't invincible.

Edited September 11 by Gramto6
typo

[cameron]

Do they ever have Alex coming in third place?  Her smug attitude is getting to be a little much.  But then again, the show is called Alex vs America.

[schnauzergirl]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

Do they ever have Alex coming in third place?  Her smug attitude is getting to be a little much.  But then again, the show is called Alex vs America.

On Sunday Erich commented that her coming in third was a first. I agree that for the past couple of episodes Alex has come across as pretty entitled and that in spite of her insisting she didn't do as well as she could have, etc.

Edited September 11 by schnauzergirl

[Grizzly]

I think the bragging thing is just for the cameras. She is hyper competitive but still is very gracious and complimentary about the other chef's food. Always tells the eliminated chefs that it was great to have them and leads the clapping. She does not give off sore loser vibes. She knows she didn't deserve to win and is her harshest critic.

[schnauzergirl]

31 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

I think the bragging thing is just for the cameras. She is hyper competitive but still is very gracious and complimentary about the other chef's food. Always tells the eliminated chefs that it was great to have them and leads the clapping. She does not give off sore loser vibes. She knows she didn't deserve to win and is her harshest critic.

I hope you're right and my reaction is wrong because I like Alex a lot and don't like being disappointed in her.  Sunday she just got on my last nerve -- maybe it was me???

[cameron]

29 minutes ago, schnauzergirl said:

I hope you're right and my reaction is wrong because I like Alex a lot and don't like being disappointed in her.  Sunday she just got on my last nerve -- maybe it was me???

Same here on the brunch episode that was on Tuesday morning.  Somebody should tell her that you don't make crab cakes with dungeness crabs either.  Proper way is with blue crab.

[jcbrown]

On 9/11/2024 at 8:16 AM, cameron said:

Same here on the brunch episode that was on Tuesday morning.  Somebody should tell her that you don't make crab cakes with dungeness crabs either.  Proper way is with blue crab.

I make crab cakes with Dungeness when I make them, but then I am on the West Coast so Dungeness are local to me.

[HappyDancex2]

Things I’d like to see for the next season.  More whammies.  Much less time as a whammy, especially in the second round.  But they will never get Alex out in round one with these lack of constraints….her technique is just too good.  I get the need for the cheftestants to get a feel for the kitchen though.

if they aren’t going to handicap her more than she might as just sit out round one like BBF.  Let the contestants go thru each other.  I’m trying to think of more things but at some point you don’t want to get too weird like it’s chopped.  But if the themes are just regional cuisine it’s going to be hard to eliminate someone with such good technique, competition skills and flavor knowledge.  And 3 people isn’t helping…her being out cooked by all of them just seems statistically unlikely unless she has less than 15 minutes to cook and the cuisine is Vegetables of Antarctica.

[Maverick]

Alex was really being really childish toward the chef who won round 1 because he had the nerve to not consult her and the other chef about his round 2 choices.  Hey Alex, the rules don't say he has to run it by you.  If she wants to consult the other chefs when she wins, good for her.  But if a chef wins and doesn't want to then don't act a spoiled 10 year old.  

[Bastet]

I wasn't expecting to enjoy the rice episode so much, as I'm not a rice person.  I don't dislike it at all, but I'm not excited by it, so prefer to get my carbs elsewhere.  But I agree that Jitlada has the best Thai food in L.A., so I was rooting hard for Sugar and it was great to see her win.  I love larb, but have never had it with rice.  I worried about her garnishing it with chiles rather than incorporating them, but thankfully it wasn't an issue.

That floppy dosa was embarrassing, and add in not enough spice and round one had a clear loser.

I was surprised when Alex didn't finish plating in the final round; it seemed like she could have at least tossed the third one on the plate uncut, but I'd have to go back and check.

I don't like beans or egg yolks, so Alex's roll was the only final round dish I'd have actually wanted to eat (especially because she used jasmine rice).  If she'd gone with shrimp or even pork instead of duck, upon worrying about it being all vegetables, I think she'd have had time to plate and come in second.  But third, wow. 

Other than the egg, though, I wanted to devour Sugar's dish.

Once Jet was announced as a judge, I figured he had to know Sugar, so it was sweet to confirm he's known her since she was a kid, and was so happy to see her win.

Edited September 20 by Bastet

[cameron]

I wish that Eric didn't sing the praises of Alex all the time.  It does get a little old after a while.

[Bastet]

I wanted all the food in the southwest episode.  The losing dish in the first round didn't excite me (I'd have happily eaten it and I'm sure enjoyed it, but it had no "wow" factor for me), but everything else I very badly wished I could eat.  I like how Alex preferred Jenny, because I did too, strongly.  Yet she still gave Roberto his props when he came in second.  I was a little surprised he did, because his aguachile looked delicious, but does not at all say smothered to me.  Alex's, on the other hand, is pretty much exactly what would have sprung to mind if you asked me to picture a smothered southwestern dish.

Edited, because I forgot to say how much I enjoyed seeing Maria again.  I loved her on Top Chef, because of her personality and because I always wanted her food.

Edited September 18 by Bastet

[schnauzergirl]

Am I being too much of a purist here or maybe uninformed, but in the first round "Meat" was the chosen protein, but one chef (sorry -- brain freeze on his name) used seafood,  Beau commented on that, but it clearly didn't affect the scoring. 

[Bastet]

31 minutes ago, schnauzergirl said:

Am I being too much of a purist here or maybe uninformed, but in the first round "Meat" was the chosen protein, but one chef (sorry -- brain freeze on his name) used seafood,  Beau commented on that, but it clearly didn't affect the scoring. 

I think there are two schools of thought on that -- some use meat only in reference to land animals, and some for any animal.  The choice was between meat and vegetarian, so I think once meat was chosen any animal was up for use.  They've done other cloches were the choice was between land and sea, I believe.

[Bastet]

On 9/15/2024 at 8:04 PM, Maverick said:

Alex was really being really childish toward the chef who won round 1 because he had the nerve to not consult her and the other chef about his round 2 choices.  Hey Alex, the rules don't say he has to run it by you.  If she wants to consult the other chefs when she wins, good for her.  But if a chef wins and doesn't want to then don't act a spoiled 10 year old.  

Eric had asked him if he was going to consult them and he said an immediate, emphatic yes, and then never did.  That's why they were riffing on him.  If he, like some other contestants, had not been asked the question or been asked and said no, they wouldn't have brought it up.  But because he changed his mind (which he's free to do, of course), they did.  And I'm glad, because their faux conversation, chatting amongst themselves while he decided because he wasn't going to speak to them, amused me, especially the part about the cousin's toenail operation.

On 9/13/2024 at 5:19 PM, jcbrown said:

I make crab cakes with Dungeness when I make them, but then I am on the West Coast so Dungeness are local to me.

Same here.  Only if my seafood market is out of (dungeness) crab do I go to Costco and get their (blue) crab.

[cameron]

On 9/17/2024 at 10:59 PM, Bastet said:

Eric had asked him if he was going to consult them and he said an immediate, emphatic yes, and then never did.  That's why they were riffing on him.  If he, like some other contestants, had not been asked the question or been asked and said no, they wouldn't have brought it up.  But because he changed his mind (which he's free to do, of course), they did.  And I'm glad, because their faux conversation, chatting amongst themselves while he decided because he wasn't going to speak to them, amused me, especially the part about the cousin's toenail operation.

Same here.  Only if my seafood market is out of (dungeness) crab do I go to Costco and get their (blue) crab.

Blue crab doesn't require any binder nor should their be any bread binder in crab cakes.  Chesapeake blue crab cakes are the standard when it comes to crab cake making.

[jcbrown]

14 hours ago, cameron said:

Blue crab doesn't require any binder nor should their be any bread binder in crab cakes.  Chesapeake blue crab cakes are the standard when it comes to crab cake making.

How about you do your East Coast crab cakes and let those of us on the West Coast enjoy our Dungeness? I think both are good.