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Superchef Grudge Match - General Discussion


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The food world is filled with rivalries and in the new series Superchef Grudge Match hosted by Darnell Ferguson, some long-standing personal and professional feuds are settled in one-round, one-dish winner-takes-all heavyweight battles. In each episode, Darnell stages two different battles between chefs who have beefs with each other to finally bury the hatchet and win $10,000 cash, a prized knife from the losing chef and lifelong bragging rights over their food foe.

Airs Tuesdays on The Food Network

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I really like this show despite the non blind judging making the outcomes a little suspect. And all of the animosity disappears once the results are read. Still, the dishes are creative and look good. I'll watch anything Darnell is in.

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I watched at least part of all available episodes recently, and I cannot get into this.  If the chefs are obnoxious in their grudges (e.g. that lunatic who challenged her former employee), it's quickly unwatchable, and if they're not (e.g. Shota challenging Stephanie) I still have to fast forward through much of it.  The vibe of it is off-putting no matter who is competing.  I like Darnell well enough, but this seems like something Guy Fieri would host.  (And I can only handle Guy Fieri hosting in the specific circumstances of Tournament of Champions where it's good in spite of him.)  Not my jam, so I'll probably just check in occasionally to see who has competed, and when it's someone I really like - especially if up against someone else I really like - I'll fast forward to the presentation of dishes and see who won.

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22 hours ago, Bastet said:

  If the chefs are obnoxious in their grudges (e.g. that lunatic who challenged her former employee)

Robyn.  That match has been the only one I've taken seriously so far - as an actual, lasting grudge that is.  She was on Hell's Kitchen twice and she was awful, despicable, obnoxious.  Pick any negative adjective.  I don't know anything about the other chef but I was very relieved that he beat her.

 

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Of course Damaris is best friends with the person who has a grudge against her. I didn't think her trash talk would be too killer. Not sure about the judging. How biased was Rocco for women he's judged with on GGG? Thought the tacos would be closer in score to the cornbread. Network Star certainly knew what it was doing, both challengers' personalities were slightly off putting. Knew Aarti's dish was winning. Tom's didn't look like much. 

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I tried another one, but I'm still really turned off by this show and skipped one match entirely and fast-forwarded through most of the other one.  I can't stand Marcel and like Shirley, so I'm so bummed he won (that's the one I FF'd to the presentation and judging on).  What is it she'd said during the episode of ToC in which she beat him that he took offense to?  I saw that, and don't remember anything standing out.

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14 hours ago, Bastet said:

I tried another one, but I'm still really turned off by this show and skipped one match entirely and fast-forwarded through most of the other one.  I can't stand Marcel and like Shirley, so I'm so bummed he won (that's the one I FF'd to the presentation and judging on).  What is it she'd said during the episode of ToC in which she beat him that he took offense to?  I saw that, and don't remember anything standing out.

Marcel was missing his son's first birthday to compete at TOC. He was feeling super guilty, not that the kid would notice, and Shirley rubbed it in. Said she would send Marcel home so kid's name could have his daddy there. In the grand scheme of things, not so horrible. But a lot of these grudges are a bit silly.

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I didn't care for Nikki Dinki when she was on FNS so I was glad Damaris beat her.  The point spread was a lot larger than I expected based on the judges' comments (that we saw) so that cornbread must have been much better than the taco.  

Tom Pizzica didn't come across well at all.  I doubt he would have been anywhere near as successful as Aarti has if he'd won FNS.  

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On 3/4/2023 at 8:58 PM, mlp said:

Robyn.  That match has been the only one I've taken seriously so far - as an actual, lasting grudge that is.  She was on Hell's Kitchen twice and she was awful, despicable, obnoxious.  Pick any negative adjective.  I don't know anything about the other chef but I was very relieved that he beat her.

 

Interesting. I did not know about her reality show history. Hers was the first episode of this show I watched and I very nearly cancelled any subsequent recordings because I hated the mean-spiritedness so much. Gave it another shot to watch the one with Shirley and Marcel and Maneet and Christian and found them much more tolerable. I agree with @Bastetthere is something tonally off-putting about the show for me, still.

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6 hours ago, aquarian1 said:

I can totally see Ilan being a little punk ass to a chef from the midwest. 

Absolutely but I'll bet he wouldn't have picked on someone the size of Aaron May if their positions had been equal.  He's a twerp.

I've always liked Aaron so I was relieved when he won.

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I have not seen any episodes of this, but have been subjected to endless commercials for it.  It appears to be a direct rip off of a show on the Esquire channel, hosted by Ilan Hall, called Knife Fight.  Maybe he sold it to Food Network?  Or the production company did.

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40 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

It appears to be a direct rip off of a show on the Esquire channel, hosted by Ilan Hall, called Knife Fight. 

I can see the similarities but the "feel" of the show is quite different IMO.  I liked Knife Fight better despite Ilan Hall.  It had a gritty, bar crowd feeling that was more real than Darnell and the audience all screaming on cue.  Grudge Match is more stylized to FN's taste.

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I knew Icklan would lose when they introduced the judges. Krista wouldn't let her fellow GGG regular down.

I didn't see the scoring breakdown, but I imagine it wasn't even close. Ilan won Top Chef cribbing the menu from Casa Mono (where he worked with May). I've never seen anything original from him. 

Edited by Salacious Kitty
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1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

So Viet, which woman was your mom and which was your wife?

Glad Chris won, I remember him from Chopped.

I had to look hard at the women to see which one was younger.  LOL

I remembered Chris from Chopped too.  I didn't recall anything about him though, just what he looked like.  I also remembered Chad from FNS.  I wouldn't have recognized him though.  He's really aged well.  He's more attractive now than he was all those years ago.

I found it hard to believe that no one complained about the smell of the durian.  No one even mentioned it.  The people in the audience seemed oblivious which is very odd.  If there's a non-offensive version of durian, I'm not aware of it.

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Was this the pilot? It's different, cooking outside, only $5,000 prize, audience decides the challenge. Had no idea Greenie used to work for Rocco. Oh second match winner gets $10,000. Did Rocco just admit to being a jerk? Great looking dishes.

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I have a feeling this might have been the very first episode and changes to the format were made afterwards.  I think the show is filmed in the same place as TOC so maybe they shot the first one outdoors while waiting for TOC to wrap.  I know nothing.  I'm just guessing.

I was rooting for the Italian guy in the first round.  I liked him and couldn't stand her.  

I've always liked Eric Greenspan but he looks awful with all that black stubble on his neck and jowls.  I try not to look at him too closely.  He was quite a contrast to good-looking, slimmed down Rocco in his pristine white chef's coat.  I would have been happy with either one winning. 

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On 4/18/2023 at 7:02 PM, Grizzly said:

Was this the pilot? It's different, cooking outside, only $5,000 prize, audience decides the challenge. Had no idea Greenie used to work for Rocco. Oh second match winner gets $10,000. Did Rocco just admit to being a jerk? Great looking dishes.

I was wondering why the format was so different.  The audience were sure all bundled up and looked cold. I have to say it was nice to have a more subdued Darnell without the yelling.  That gets so old. 

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I am catching up and stopped an episode in the middle last night. I'll finish it later but it included two of Guy's pet chefs from GGG, Crista Luedtke and Tracy something or other. They were billed as though they were battling to be found the best chefs in Sonoma County. My eyes rolled so hard I had to pause playing it and watch something else.

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2 hours ago, jcbrown said:

I am catching up and stopped an episode in the middle last night. I'll finish it later but it included two of Guy's pet chefs from GGG, Crista Luedtke and Tracy something or other. They were billed as though they were battling to be found the best chefs in Sonoma County. My eyes rolled so hard I had to pause playing it and watch something else.

Yeah, I had to turn the channel during that one. The premise was ridiculous, and I already can't stand Krista. I wish Guy would stop trying to make her happen.

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1 hour ago, Salacious Kitty said:

Yeah, I had to turn the channel during that one. The premise was ridiculous, and I already can't stand Krista. I wish Guy would stop trying to make her happen.

I don't like her, either. She is not telegenic at all (I would not be, either, but I am not being forced on viewers in eleventy seven TV episodes).

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I didn't know his Superchef restaurants closed. Because he's never there? I've been wondering why he's been wearing this giant T necklace this season. They should cancel this show. The competitors are so unpleasant through the cook and then all respectful at the end. I can't suspend my disbelief anymore.

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