Ciao House - General Discussion

[susannot]

OMG great night with first Zev then Hanna leaving.  I usually root for female chefs on these shows but she was just awful.  Bad cook, terrible teammate, delusional competitor.  Of course she goes out saying she was voted out because everyone was jealous.  Blecch.

[Salacious Kitty]

Zev's exit was equally salty. Good riddance. 

[40Love]

1 hour ago, MerBearHou said:

Get her take-the-credit for herself, entitled, fake cheffy / cringeworthy cheerleader talk in the kitchen, delusional self off of my TV.  I hope I never, ever see her again.

Yes, to all of this. From "I don't want them to touch my grape dish because I want all the credit." to "Everything I do is for the team." 

I loved it when Alex shut Hanna down when she tried to criticize the swordfish on toast. She has such a high opinion of herself. 

I feel bad for Zev. But, he really burned those pizzas. 

[Irlandesa]

7 hours ago, paramitch said:

Speaking of which, I do think she's relaxed and is having more fun in Season 2 of "Ciao House" in general. The house is a different one, isn't it? It feels more conducive to the show, if so.

I agree.  I think last year she felt she had to take on a Simon Cowell-esque persona and it made no sense.  I think this season more reflects the Alex I've seen on other shows. 

I was happy to see Zev go.  Hannah's delusional persona made me laugh and I got a kick out of how she annoyed her fellow competitors.  Part of me wanted her to stay just for that. 

[buttersister]

Sorry I missed it, great two-fee!

[CousinAmy]

Hannah's ice cream should have been phenomenal given that that's all she did, and if it worked they might have won. As it was, it counted for 33% of the score. 

Almost every dish is being criticized for being too salty. Maybe take a hint next time? 

Glad to see Zev go. I don't even like a char on my pizza, let alone a burnt crust. I send that back if I get a black crust. 

The only problem with watching cooking shows at night? They make me crave pizza, peach cobbler, and an entire charcuterie board before bed.

 

Edited June 10 by CousinAmy

[HappyDancex2]

This is my first time catching this show and my first episode!  I thought it was cool that the losing chefs decide who is going to go.  I think I tuned in at the right time because that zev dude was straight up creepy.  I was wondering how he/if passed the psych test to get on a show like this because he doesn’t seem super connected to reality.  His walk off thru the lemon trees made me nervous.  I’d be sleeping with BOTH eyes open if I were Fook.  I can’t tell if Zev thought he was Jesus and fuke was Judas or Zev thought he was The Godfather and Fuk was every fooked person in the Godfather trilogy.  Sheesh dude.

Blonde chick was super annoying during the grape dessert challenge.  Not sure what her backstory is but if I go back and watch the episodes I missed then I’m sure she’s a planted personality LOL.

I enjoy Alex and she’s super qualified. My only suggestion for her is to get professional hair done for both this show and supermarket stakeout.  It’s just lightened so it needs extra care with all of the HD cameras.  Or really learn a sleek pony tail that reads well on TV.  I love that she’s a real woman who isn’t the best at faking things for the camera and she’s also a shape that is realistic.  She does seem to call the a guy co host a calzone a little too many times and I’ve only seen one episode lol.

hello burnt ass pizzas!  Who in their right mind would send those out???????  Question asked….question answered…

 

 

[aghst]

Zev looked down at pizza, thought that melted cheese on baked dough was beneath him.

The ideas for the menu were good but the execution was poor.  Interesting that his crust were almost twice the size of the ones Austin chose for the other team.

And even though most of the pizzas had little to do with classic Neapolitan pizza -- I guess this show would never countenance any classical dishes -- a thick dough which is unevenly cooked, charred on the outside and apparently undercooked in some other parts.

Why didn't they pivot and have Phuoc bake the pizza?  Zev admitted that he never used a pizza oven and the only pizza he had baked were frozen pizzas in a toaster oven.  But maybe at a disadvantage because they had one fewer person on their team.

Maybe once they get below a certain number of chefs per team, they shorten the cooking requirements or give them more time.  Or change the structure of the game, so that it's not team competitions with uneven number of teams?

In any event, Italians from the nearby city seemed to like most of the pizzas.  They scarfed them up as soon as they were served.  You don't really see too many places offering variations on classic pizzas in Italy.  Never anything like American pizza with pineapples and really the only variety I've seen there are a few places which sell by the slide (actually a rectangle).  There you will see topping combinations you usually don't get in Italy.

But even without Zev's shenanigans during the season, he deserved to go for not executing the pizza oven correctly or letting Phuoc do the baking.  Maybe he didn't have confidence in kneading out the dough or making the pesto which Phuoc did.

In the second half, yes Hanna deserved to go.  She has been burning bridges all season long.  She was really confident in her creation but apparently it wasn't executed correctly, the ice cream wasn't that well done.

She said she was pissed and her face looked it.  She didn't say good bye to the teammates who voted her off, instead just waved at the other team.

Poor sport on top of it all.  Very fiery.

Looks like as the women have mostly been eliminated, the capos are going for men when they pick teams.  Certainly Austin and Ivan are two of the best chefs but I wonder if with the time constraints, they're favored because they're workhorses which lighten the load on the capos as well as other team members.

Or maybe it's just sexism in a way since most of the women have been eliminated first where only Stikxz is left.

[HappyDancex2]

Has Zev ever explained why he has such a disdain for melting cheese on stuff?  Why is this such a badge of honor for him?  How does this make him superior in any way?  That was pretty odd.

speaking of Superior did he say he knows 1500 different types of curry and is a curry king or something like that?  I’ll throw my friend’s mom up against him tomorrow in curry throw down.  Hell I’ll even pick a friend who isn’t from Thailand LOL

[Ms Lark]

So Zev is gone. I wonder if they made him Capo knowing his disdain for pizza, ensuring an epic fail. Declaring Phuoc a traitor because he voted him off for thick, burned crusts? Yeah, dude. Beat it.

Ditto Hanna. Insufferable. Wonder if she'll show up on one of their "seasonal" Baking Championships. As cannon fodder...

[tv echo]

Ciao House’s Gabe Bertaccini on immersion, food vs. the game, and the villa’s cats
Andy Dehnart   June 9, 2024
https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2024/06/ciao-house-gabe-bertaccini-interview/ 

Quote

Season two has moved to Puglia, where the chefs now share a bigger villa and work in a far more functional kitchen. Yet there’s still a one-note villain, alliances that make little sense, and those constant interview segments where producers prompt the contestants to complain about each other.

I asked Ciao House co-host and judge Gabe Bertaccini about all of this last week, and he was candid, promising that, this season, the format is self-regulating, delivering a winner who is the most-deserving chef, and also acknowledging how the early episodes encourage that kind of gameplay.
*  *  *
Are you frustrated ever because elimination decisions are out of your hands, and maybe someone is eliminated for friendship reasons and nothing to do with their cooking? Or is that not annoying to you in the way it is to some of us as we’re watching?

Oh my. Does it annoy you?

Yeah.

What can I say? I think I have to be completely honest.
*  *  *
Yes, yes, yes. I think, Andy, naturally, at the beginning, there is some play that can be done by being strategic: who you like, how you approach the challenges, how you work in teams and so forth.

But I honestly think that without the dead weight—within the first two weeks, three weeks, max—really you’ll see for yourself [is that] this season was so strong.

Alex and I—literally until the end—had zero idea who was going to win because there were really four or five chefs that could have taken the prize and really won the entire show.

So, I think you get annoyed maybe the first three weeks, and now you’re going to see that, from now on, you are just going to be as confused as we were, because it’s just so strong.

It could have really been four people easy, just because they are very, very strong chefs.
*  *  *
You’ll see, but the person literally who deserves the most is going to be the one that wins it.

And that is exactly how it should be. It kind of self-regulates, you know what I mean? It’s like this container of culinary knowledge and people that are competing, and they want it so bad. They compete against each other, but they also have to collaborate, and it self-regulates.

Edited June 10 by tv echo

[sugarbaker design]

8 hours ago, aghst said:

Or maybe it's just sexism in a way since most of the women have been eliminated first where only Stikxz is left.

It sure is.

[chessiegal]

i find it interesting in the interview that Gabe refers to the contestants as "chefs". Looking at the contestants' short bios on the Ciao web site, I think only 2 of them have any experience working in a commercial kitchen. The rest seem to have the credentials of something similar to I learned to cook at mt Grandma's knee. 

[eel2178]

12 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I cannot express how glad I am that Hannah is gone.  Get her take-the-credit for herself, entitled, fake cheffy / cringeworthy cheerleader talk in the kitchen, delusional self off of my TV.  I hope I never, ever see her again.

Announcing "I could see on their faces how impressed they were with my dessert" followed by a camera shot of Alex with a "WTF?" look on her face (and not in a good way).

That was hilarious!

[eel2178]

9 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

 I think I tuned in at the right time because that zev dude was straight up creepy.  I was wondering how he/if passed the psych test to get on a show like this because he doesn’t seem super connected to reality.  His walk off thru the lemon trees made me nervous.  I’d be sleeping with BOTH eyes open if I were Fook.

He gave off such a weird serial killer vibe (since it's a cooking show maybe it was just cereal killer which would be a small step below serial killer).

I'm sure everybody including the judges and the cats gave a collective sigh of relief to see him go.

Speaking of the cats, we didn't get a cameo this week. I think my cat felt snubbed. He spent the whole episode asleep with his back to the TV. He didn't even celebrate when Hanna left which I know he had been looking forward to (okay, maybe I'm projecting just a little).

[eel2178]

10 hours ago, CousinAmy said:

Almost every dish is being criticized for being too salty. Maybe take a hint next time? 

Since they had to use at least 2 items from the charcuterie board (which I believe the Italians just refer to as "antipasto") in each dish including dessert, they were starting out with heavily preserved, very salty ingredients.

Maybe the producers should have realized that and thrown in a few more unsalted ingredients, or maybe that was what was intended for the challenge.

I'll admit I was a little confused by the instructions at first. I wasn't sure if the given ingredients were supposed to be used as the centerpiece for each dish, or if they only need to be used as accents (which still would have been very salty either way). When the first group was cooking, I kept thinking "who would put raw swordfish on a charcuterie board?"

Also, I had no idea you could fry capers. That was totally new (and odd) to me.

[chessiegal]

23 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

Also, I had no idea you could fry capers.

I started subscribing to Blue Apron at the beginning of the pandemic when it was hard to find fresh protein in the stores. I've kept up with it, and there will occasionally be a recipe that calls for frying capers. I didn't know before that either.

[40Love]

11 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

Blonde chick was super annoying during the grape dessert challenge.  Not sure what her backstory is but if I go back and watch the episodes I missed then I’m sure she’s a planted personality LOL.

Wait until you watch her as Capo. She treated the other chefs like they were were her employees. She was dismissive of their skills, super condescending and rude. When she introduced each dish she started by saying "I" made for you... while all the other caps started by saying "We". She even took sole credit for a dish one of the other cooks made. 

Styx is still there because she shamed a couple of teammates for trying to kick her out over anything other than cooking. Zev's probably regretting not giving her the boot when he had the chance. Heh!

He also forgot to plot with his "brother" about the plan to kick out Styx if they lost the challenge. He just thought it was a given. 

[Trey]

How many burnt pizzas did Zev have to make before he realized he was pushing them too far into the oven? All of them, apparently.

I was glad to see him go, and Hannah too.

I really wanted some cat cameos.

[Meowwww]

Thank goodness Hannah is gone.  You don’t treat your teammates like that and expect to get ahead. And the way she took credit for everything, and chimed in with her own review of the other team’s food….Gordon Ramsay she IS NOT.   Does she own a restaurant?  She kept talking about food in her restaurant like she’s the owner. Imagine being her manager.  Or staff!  

[Jodithgrace]

My brother goes to the Piedmont region of Italy every year for work (he sells wine) and he jokes that they only have like three recipes, one of which is veal tonnato. So when they were making the tonnato, I kept wondering where the veal was, and sure enough…

I was mystified that Zev’s team, after putting out burned/raw pizzas seemed to think they won! Um, no…the most creative toppings in the world won’t make up for inedible crust. The weirdest topping I ever had on pizza was peas, carrots, and corn (as in the frozen mix) but that was in China, so I gave them a pass. I would totally love spicy curry pizza, but not on a bloated charcoal crust.

Also problematic was the dessert pizza with the mascarpone cheese that turned into whipped cream when they ran out before the judges were served. That was on Styxx, but she made a good case against Zev and so lives to cook again.

Hannah seemed to think that her skill alone was the reason she always ended up on the winning team. Funny, that the very first time she was on a losing team, she was out. 

[HappyDancex2]

I’ve only seen this one episode but there are cats?!

I can usually look past mispronunciations, not really, but the constant mar-scarponing in Italy of all places should be a “if you can’t pronounce it, you can’t use it.”

Read a link to an article posted above where Gabe? the host was talking about the show and it’s merits etc.  His description made me feel like the chefs should be of higher cooking skill…or maybe more reverent about their craft?  Kinda of like the contestants they got for the early seasons of the great British bake off. This show definitely seems cast for snarky personalities and drama….despite what Gabe thinks I don’t get the feel that they care they are representing Puglian cooking.  Oh Zev hates melting cheese and you were getting curry pizza whether you were in Puglia, Barcelona or Tampa.

[Ancaster]

On 6/9/2024 at 10:13 PM, CousinAmy said:

 

Almost every dish is being criticized for being too salty. Maybe take a hint next time? 

 

 

They probably all grew up watching Tom Colicchio and his endless complaints of food being "under-seasoned", ie, lacking salt.

[chessiegal]

 

His description made me feel like the chefs should be of higher cooking skill…

I mentioned earlier that I went to FN's site where they give the background on each contestant, or "Chef" as Gabe calls them. From what I read, only 2, count 'em 2, had commercial kitchen experience. Seems like the rest came from central casting. 


 

[Ellee]

With a team of 2 and a team of 3 did I see where all 5 choose who gets eliminated next?  

[ECM1231]

On 6/10/2024 at 12:04 AM, 40Love said:

I feel bad for Zev. But, he really burned those pizzas. 

I don't feel bad for him as I thought he was obnoxious and I don't believe all his talk about the "bro love" he has for some of his fellow male contestant chefs, either. Look at how fast he turned on Phuoc!

His team's pizzas were awful. Apparently, his dough balls were too large and besides the crusts being so badly charred, the pies themselves were uneven in thickness. I was shocked that he thought they were okay to serve to not only the guests, but the judges themselves. I thought the judges were too kind in their critique of his team's cooking. 

[eel2178]

15 hours ago, HappyDancex2 said:

I’ve only seen this one episode but there are cats?!

who in at least one episode got to sit at the table during judging

[eel2178]

18 hours ago, Jodithgrace said:

The weirdest topping I ever had on pizza was

. . . sunny side up egg cooked on top as it was baked in the Vienna subway.

A close second was tuna at the same subway stop.

[seacliffsal]

I agree about being glad that Zev and Hannah are gone, but /sttxx wiykd aksi have been a good choice in that she used all of the marscapone on just two pizzas so they had to pivot and use whip (?) cream instead.  Then, during the second competition she stated that she gave up on the dessert and just let it be what it was.  So, I have a suspicion that she makes a 'mistake' that could lead to the 'capo' being eliminated as a way to focus attention on someone else when/if they lose.  I don't know why Zev didn't point out the misuse of the marscapone, but that wasn't the biggest issue (all those burnt pizzas...).

Missed the cats!

[aghst]

I thought she changed from marscapone to whipped cream because the marcapone melted or something and wasn't as presentable.

 

 

[Jodithgrace]

She used all the mascarpone cheese on two pizzas, one of which she threw away because it melted and she wouldn’t serve it to the judges. I guess the guests got the other one which also looked melted to me.  The judges ended up getting one with whipped cream. 

[eel2178]

18 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

she used all of the marscapone on just two pizzas so they had to pivot and use whip (?) cream instead. 

Whipped cream never would have occurred to me as a substitute for mascarpone. What about ricotta?

[ECM1231]

An article about Hannah from my local newspaper today:

"She made it to the final six on Food Network's Italian-cooking competition “Ciao House” before her elimination Sunday. But Montauk private chef Hanna Haar says it ain’t over till it’s over.

“I have more shows in the works coming out, so keep your eyes peeled on Food Network,” Haar, 29, who has run kitchens at Lake Grove’s Le Vin and at The Montauk Beach House, says by phone two days later. “And I would say stay tuned to 'Ciao House' because it definitely gets more interesting. There might be some exciting things happening next weekend. So I'll say that much,” she teases.

The show, in which 12 chefs prepare dishes in competition while living together in a villa in Italy’s Puglia region, awards its winner a culinary education from Italian masters billed as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Sunday's episode was down to Haar; Ivan Barros, of Los Angeles; Austin Cobb, of Playa Grande, Costa Rica; Devan Cunningham, of Phoenix; Phuoc Vo, of Tampa, Florida; and Stikxz Williams, of Queens. (Haar's elimination episode will be rebroadcast Wednesday at 2 p.m.).

Broken into two teams of three in the episode, each team in turn prepared a three-course dinner for chefs Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabe Bertaccini and the three other contestants. Haar worked with Vo and “capo” (team leader) Barros, who, noting her experience as a pastry chef, assigned her dessert. He liked her suggestion of a grape and bergamot gelato with a garnish of roasted grapes.

But the judges felt the grapes weren’t roasted enough and that the cream and fruit blend in the gelato had not fully mixed. With fault also found with the other two courses, Barros’ team lost the challenge and had to choose someone to leave. Complaining that Haar worked her dessert independently and did not feel like part of the team, Barros and Vo voted to eliminate her.

“I really thought I was doing my team a favor by handling one entire course on my own and giving them one less thing to worry about,” says Haar, who was born in Bethpage and raised in Islandia. “If they needed help with the other dishes, they could have asked me and I would've done my best to help them. … I kept saying. ‘I have hands,’ which is kitchen talk for having free hands. … But three chefs working on one dish sometimes is too many cooks in the kitchen, as we like to say.”

Haar for each episode has held a viewing party at Montauk’s Inlet Seafood, owned by local fishermen. Continuing to work for private clients, she says she is writing a “Kitchen Confidential” type of book and has “a few international culinary residencies this winter” on her plate. As well, “I’m going to be producing my own culinary series on my social channels.”

Competing on “Ciao House” was “just a phenomenal experience,” Haar says. “It taught me to cook intuitively, to use all my senses. It taught me cooking competitively. It's taught me to look back to move forward. It taught me about myself as a person and as a chef.”

She adds, “All the chefs were really talented, so to be able to make it that far undefeated, including being capo twice and winning those rounds, I feel good. It was a good run.”

Montauk chef eliminated on Food Network's 'Ciao House' - Newsday

[Salacious Kitty]

Oh no, don't tell me they're bringing her back. 😱

[aghst]

So that is a motivation for someone like her, who doesn't have a regular gig.

But it gets her name out there and she hopes to turn that into more followers on social media and maybe books and videos.

As opposed to getting a more boring regular chef job, except that she might have to start at the bottom as a sous chef or maybe not even that, and then working up to be a main chef at a successful restaurant.

Because if you go by other shows like The Bear, it's a struggle even for Carmy, who used to be the main chef running the kitchen at some big deal NYC restaurant but he goes back to Chicago and he kind of starts at the bottom again, trying to build up a business.

 

 

[chessiegal]

Possible substitutes for mascarpone: Creme Fraiche, sour cream, ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt, and cottage cheese.

[maggiemae]

Love Zev will continue to be a rebel...except not at all.

[eel2178]

16 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Possible substitutes for mascarpone: Creme Fraiche, sour cream, ricotta cheese, Greek yogurt, and cottage cheese.

I still can't see most of those on a pizza, even a dessert pizza.

[chessiegal]

There are recipes for ricotta on savory pizza with great reviews.

[aghst]

Never had dessert pizza.

Doubt I ever will.

[eel2178]

20 minutes ago, aghst said:

Never had dessert pizza.

Doubt I ever will.

I've had fruit pizza which should probably be considered a dessert pizza.

The crust is sugar cookie dough baked and then covered with a sweetened cream cheese spread and then the fruit.

It's pretty good.

[aghst]

Isn't that like a tart?

[Passing Strange]

On 6/11/2024 at 8:38 AM, chessiegal said:

I mentioned earlier that I went to FN's site where they give the background on each contestant, or "Chef" as Gabe calls them.

That annoys me. It annoys me even more when they call each other "chef."

I don't care where people get their knowledge—the CIA or coming up through the kitchen of a genuine chef--as long as they have knowledge. For me, chefs not only know the techniques, they also know why they use a particular technique or ingredient. As unpopular as they are in terms of personality, Tiffani Faison and Richard Blais know this kind of stuff, which is why I like them.

4 hours ago, aghst said:

Isn't that like a tart?

Like a tart, but the crust is flat. So, like a pizza. It's a gimmick, but not one that bothers me as much as putting a sweet drink in a stemmed glass with a V-shaped bowl and calling it a [ingredient name] martini.

Edited June 13 by Passing Strange

[buttersister]

Had ricotta on a pizza in Italy, can recommend. Not made by any of these “chefs” though.

eta: With Parma ham and arugula.

Edited June 14 by buttersister

[Grizzly]

I love ricotta on my white pizza.

[eel2178]

On 6/13/2024 at 10:27 AM, aghst said:

Isn't that like a tart?

No, the crust is totally different.

[MerBearHou]

I’m very good with the final two.  But WTH is this chance for redemption????

Edited June 17 by MerBearHou

[Salacious Kitty]

Totally telegraphed the final 2. 

[chessiegal]

I tuned to this last night soon after it started and didn't last 5 minutes. I'm not a fan of cooking competition shows, but I think this is the worst. What a snooze.

[aghst]

They faulted the chefs for not reusing the same ingredient as many times as possible?

Also, how does Devan notices the seeds but stops trying to remove them and says screw it, puts in those slices with the seeds?

Drew would have been happy if he was on that team because he likes seeing other chefs mess up and get voted off.  Phouc tried to steer him towards pivoting.

It makes you wonder if these chefs are as accomplished as they try to depict them or the chefs claim or they're purposely tanking.

Like how did Zev keep over-charring the pizzas and decide to serve it anyways?  Was it pressure and they're just panicking and knowingly making mistakes?

Or is it scripted and for some reason these chefs are playing along?

Also these chefs talk about flavor profiles and talking about combinations and techniques to "build flavor."

Yet they keep making the same mistakes, which is to overshadow the primary ingredients for the challenge by using some meat or something else that overpowers the flavor of the ingredient they're suppose to feature?  Or not using enough of the ingredient to make the flavor come out?

They're not as good as they claim or they are just unintentionally or maybe intentionally making mistakes?

In any event, it's so subjective and goes to the whims of Alex and Gabe.  They didn't even elaborate on why the final two guys won.