Ciao House - General Discussion

[chessiegal]

They rented the villa for between $50-100K a month. I'm sure they only needed a month or less to film. It'd be cheaper to keep the eliminated chefs in Tuscany for a short time than fly them home and bring them back.

[MsMalin]

It seemed to me that Pasta Queen had talking heads way more than anyone else. Or maybe I just noticed her yellow dress. Not sure how she qualified for the show.

[Pandora]

49 minutes ago, MsMalin said:

It seemed to me that Pasta Queen had talking heads way more than anyone else. Or maybe I just noticed her yellow dress. Not sure how she qualified for the show.

I get the feeling the show wasn’t exactly overrun with applicants.

[seacliffsal]

1 hour ago, MsMalin said:

It seemed to me that Pasta Queen had talking heads way more than anyone else. Or maybe I just noticed her yellow dress. Not sure how she qualified for the show.

I think the producers really liked her-by having the teams eliminate contestants instead of the judges, it ensured that she would stick around (my conspiracy theory...).  I thought I heard her mention that her family is in the pasta business.  Is it possible she's part of the Fratelli foods family?  If so, maybe the Network wanted her for her "name" to replace Giada as their Italian foods host?

[kirklandia]

Alex appears much happier in an American supermarket parking lot than she does in a Tuscan villa.

Edited May 24, 2023 by kirklandia

[buttersister]

Spoiler

The spoiler about exiled contestants returning and, I guess, foiling Saba's victory march

This crap is going to make me act like Alex. Maybe that's why she's so pissed off?  

There can't possibly be a second season.

[jcbrown]

On 5/22/2023 at 2:07 PM, Pandora said:

We’ve hardly seen cheftestants interacting beyond the challenges, and only brief (usually snarky) talking heads. 

After the double elimination everyone was hugging and I thought I heard something about visiting in Texas. So some people have obviously bonded, we’ve seen nothing of that, or anything else that would make us care about this group. Total edit fail. 
 

Everything about this series feels rushed, unplanned, and half-assed, I’m not surprised the editing is like that too. 

Agreed about the editing fail. The commercials that they rerun incessantly promote an entirely different show than this one.

But I managed to make it this far without knowing any contestants' names so yay, me!? This, of course, is also a testament to the crappiness of the editing.

[LeDucDiableBleu]

About halfway through the season I thought this entire show was a vehicle to elevate and cement Saba as FN personality. She gets so much screen time starting from day 1 and was positioned to be the victor in every every challenge, either by actually winning or being the only winning part of the group loss.

I don't mind Alex's grumpy personality at all. We can't all be perky and pleasant all the time. I feel the same way with Bobby Flay. I respect Alex as a chef and judge and I like her critiques. If she was judging one of my dishes I would accept the criticism because it would improve my cooking. I think she had a crush on Corey though lol.

[aghst]

So they have the same cast on several FN shows?

 

 

[chessiegal]

44 minutes ago, aghst said:

So they have the same cast on several FN shows?

 

 

Not that I know of. Alex is the only one that is on other shows.

[aghst]

6 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Not that I know of. Alex is the only one that is on other shows.

I meant people like Saba and some of the other contestants who've apparently been on other FN shows?

[Salacious Kitty]

Natalia was on Beat Bobby Flay. Same pictures, same sob story.

[eel2178]

On 5/23/2023 at 8:59 AM, Jodithgrace said:

 

  Reveal spoiler

The two remaining chefs’ finale plans are foiled when some former contestants are invited back for one last chance at redemption. 

 

Spoiler

The only thing that can save this show is if the other chefs were supposed to come back to assist the finalists in preparing their finale dishes, but they are so bitter about the format of the show that they decide they want to sabotage their assigned chef instead of doing anything helpful.

 

[Salacious Kitty]

34 minutes ago, eel2178 said:

  Hide contents

The only thing that can save this show is if the other chefs were supposed to come back to assist the finalists in preparing their finale dishes, but they are so bitter about the format of the show that they decide they want to sabotage their assigned chef instead of doing anything helpful.

 

I had the same thoughts. It would certainly spice things up. 😀

[candall]

On 5/26/2023 at 12:20 PM, aghst said:

I meant people like Saba and some of the other contestants who've apparently been on other FN shows?

I'm pretty sure I heard Saba say she had been a Chopped Grand Champion.

On 5/23/2023 at 10:50 PM, kirklandia said:

Alex appears much happier in an American supermarket parking lot than she does in a Tuscan villa.

Hilarious!

[Jodithgrace]

So they stole “last chance kitchen” from Top Chef, and now we’re getting “last, last chance kitchen.” Sigh. I guess next week they’ll have the cook off between Preston and Corey followed by the three person final cook. They certainly are making this whole thing up as they go along. 

[Pandora]

 

Dear God, not more Corey and Preston. Watching those two donkeys being voted out was a rare moment of sunshine in this series. Now they bring them back for not one, but two shows. Why? Did they think viewers were slavering for more of them?

Watching the rest of the “chefs” screw up basic vegetables just confirms my prior suspicion that they scraped the bottom of the barrel for this show. Trenica probably did the best job of the bunch, then promptly shot herself in the foot with those cherry tomatoes, ensuring a Corey/Preston nightmare scenario. Thanks for nothing, Trenica.
 

 

[Grizzly]

If the mushroom guy hadn't added the spaghetti. If Matt had gotten his fried eggplant on the dish. Sigh. Was really rooting for Matt, he seemed like the nicest guy without too big of an ego. 

[Gramto6]

When they get down to the final 3 I do hope each gets to do their cook alone in the kitchen. I can just see whichever guy is chosen trying to distract the women or make them feel undeserving...

Frankly, I will be glad when this mess is over!!

[buttersister]

Oh, it was over a couple of eps ago. I'm not even wasting DVR space anymore. So thanks for the update🤣 it cements my call.

[Ms Lark]

On 5/23/2023 at 6:02 PM, MsMalin said:

It seemed to me that Pasta Queen had talking heads way more than anyone else. Or maybe I just noticed her yellow dress. Not sure how she qualified for the show.

Nepo Pasta Baby. Family name/pasta co. Should have been axed long, long ago. Has she ever cooked anything decent? I don't remember. Wasn't even a half-assed capo, just rode on everyone else's coattails like a Nepo. Raw foodie girl (who doesn't really look clean or pulled together) cannot "cook" for her life. Everything turns into a salad. 🙄

Well, gonna meh-watch next week to see how it turns out. I'd rather watch Preston over Corey, but they'll probably choose Corey to really stir the pot. He's good, but not as good as he thinks.

Bet FN doesn't try this again. Wonder how much the Tuscan Villa set them back financially? Maybe they'll do it again with Guy F. (who I think is one of the most disgusting pigs on TV) and it'll be a hit with that crowd. 🤮

 

[MsMalin]

In general just didn't like the rules of this show with the whole lunch vs dinner. That was blatantly unfair. And it just seemed like things were made up.as they went along. I like Alex, especially on her Alex vs America show but something is just off with her on this show.

[seacliffsal]

Once again, I feel like they rewarded the weakest chefs just like throughout the series with the "team" voting for who would go.  Saba even said during this episode that she eliminated Corey because he was a strong cook.  So, I wasn't surprised when the first out were able to first choose their vegetables.  Even at the end they let Sara (?) choose before Preston because he was the "capo" (yes, he was, but their team was eliminated due to her cooking errors, not his).  

I know that many do not like Corey or Preston, but I feel that they, along with Saba, were probably the strongest cooks of the season.

Oh, and when they tell someone this is the best dish you have cooked during the competition, I don't know how much of a compliment that really is...

And, so agreeing with others, they are going to wring every possible episode from this that they are able.

[Pandora]

1 hour ago, MsMalin said:

I like Alex, especially on her Alex vs America show but something is just off with her on this show.

Jet lag maybe? She seems to have a lot of projects going on and as per upthread posts she wasn’t originally cast for this series. They kinda jammed her in. She could be exhausted and totally over it all.

Considering how ill thought out this series is, Alex also may be reacting to the atmosphere of general crappy planning and production. She’s stuck in a dog of a show and knows it.

[aghst]

14 hours ago, Pandora said:

 

Dear God, not more Corey and Preston. Watching those two donkeys being voted out was a rare moment of sunshine in this series. Now they bring them back for not one, but two shows. Why? Did they think viewers were slavering for more of them?

Watching the rest of the “chefs” screw up basic vegetables just confirms my prior suspicion that they scraped the bottom of the barrel for this show. Trenica probably did the best job of the bunch, then promptly shot herself in the foot with those cherry tomatoes, ensuring a Corey/Preston nightmare scenario. Thanks for nothing, Trenica.
 

 

 

13 hours ago, Grizzly said:

If the mushroom guy hadn't added the spaghetti. If Matt had gotten his fried eggplant on the dish. Sigh. Was really rooting for Matt, he seemed like the nicest guy without too big of an ego. 

To me these are arbitrary criteria.

I don't buy that potatoes get ruined by cherry tomatoes.  If you don't like them, just leave them and eat the potatoes.

If she hadn't added them, they'd have said her presentation was bad because there was no color.

Same thing with the pasta and mushrooms.  Just consider the pasta garnish and ignore.

Or the eggplant crostini tasted great but there should have been MOAH eggplant.

I don't think that was a culinary rationale at all.  They saw that he couldn't finish preparing the topping eggplant pieces before time ran out so they used that excuse to eliminate him.

My belief is most of those dishes are perfectly edible or even great.  But they had to come up with reasons and so they looked at the footage as they ran out of time to ding them here and there.

They got the result they wanted going in.

 

The 30 minutes was bullshit anyways.  Only on TV would they be under a timer like that.

[lgandkihei]

I was coming here to say that they're making it up as they go along, and I see that several others beat me to it. Granted, we're all so brilliant, but it really does come off like there's no master plan, right?

As for the "surprise" twist of bringing back the eliminated chefs, ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!  As is the case with most of these cooking competitions, I naturally figured that Saba and Natalia would have to choose one or two to act as their sous chefs.  That would have been painful enough to have to watch Corey and Preston strut around again, but no!  Instead, the powers that be decided that, since they really wanted one of those two obnoxious egotists to win the whole shebang, they needed to come up with some trickery to force that outcome. 

It's as if they realized that neither Saba or Natalia is interesting enough to truly care about and base the whole finale around, so they had to pump up the drama factor.  It all just appears so fakety-fake-fake, and if I was Saba or Natalia, I'd be livid.

So, once again, Jess barely heats some fennel, throws together a salad, and instead just stands around with a pouty face and her hair artfully arranged to hang in her eyes just so.   "I'm from California.  It's who I am. It's what I do."  Good for you, Jess, but maybe you've figured out by now how well that works in a competition?  In a cooking show, they'd like you to....oh, I don't know....COOK?

Sarah is supposedly some sort of skilled chef, but when her custard starts going south, she doesn't think to throw some corn starch in to thicken her onion concoction?  I'm a kitchen moron, but I basically understand thickening 101.

The mushroom guy messed up by adding pasta.  Potato girl messed up by adding tomato garnish.  (Sorry- - I don't even know their names because they left too long ago!)  Matt messed up by forgetting his fried eggplant.  Gee- - what a co-inky-dink! Only the pre-ordained dynamic duo of Preston and Corey excelled, because, naturally, the fix was in that one of them has to prevail.

I will confess that I don't have a big ego, so I truly don't understand how to operate with one, but don't these guys realize that they're on national TV (albeit on a pathetically dreadful offering) and that they're not doing themselves any favors by presenting themselves as so arrogant and obnoxious?  I get it that chefs are famous for having inflated egos, and once you're a celeb, that can become your trademark(a la Gordon Ramsay), but for small fry like these two, it just comes off as loathsome and detestable. If I were ever in a hiring position, they'd both land on my "no chance in hell would I want to be anywhere near them" list.

I'd love to sit Alex and Gabe down to get the real skinny on this show and find out what they're being told to do, because I just don't believe that a large portion of their judging isn't out of their hands and already totally scripted.  I suspect that the ratings on this are abysmal, but if I'm wrong, and they bring this mess back for another season, I think it will undergo some massive retooling first.

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by lgandkihei
spelling

[Maverick]

FFS I thought this was supposed to be the finale of this shit show.   

 Somebody get Preston a suppository so he break loose that turd he must have been nursing since puberty.  

 

[Passing Strange]

Sometimes I watch cooking competition shows and wish I could taste the dishes. This show I'm grateful I can't. Some of this food looks just plain bad. Maybe that's why Alex is so grumpy.

I can't with this twist of everyone getting a second chance, then the judges not being able to choose a winner, resulting in a cook off. Show, we know you contracted the villa, the cast, and the crew for a certain amount of time. There was going to be a cook off no matter what. Although, I am kind of tickled that the "strategy" of voting off the better cooks backfired.

7 hours ago, Pandora said:

as per upthread posts she wasn’t originally cast for this series.

That was just speculation. We don't know for sure.  

5 hours ago, lgandkihei said:

I just don't believe that a large portion of their judging isn't out of their hands and already totally scripted. 

I suspect the same. Some of the critiques seem contrived and aimed at getting a particular result. I also agree that these people should be aware of what they're projecting on national TV. As bad as this show is, there may be prospective employers or customers watching.

[Jaded]

I've only seen a few episodes of this show in the past few weeks and that was enough to be able to tell it's a total train wreck. I watch FN and also use it as background noise too. It was while I was using it as background noise that i decided to give this show a chance because I like Alex. I was honestly a bit shocked at how little structure this show has for a cooking competition. 

[tinderbox]

Unfortunately, this show has been a giant disappointment.  Simply awful!  I’ll see it through to the end but I don’t care who “wins”.  Will that person have earned their success when the goalposts were constantly being moved?  No.

I understand why so many of you despise Corey and Preston.  I’m not fond of them either but Preston, in particular, bugs the heck out of me.  He makes me cringe.

[Grizzly]

Oh joy, the finale is going to be 90 minutes on Sunday. 

[azprimadonna]

I watched the episode of Househunters when this house was chosen.  Another house had a large commercial kitchen, so all of the cooks could cook at once.  This house had a dated, small kitchen, which they knew would be inadequate for a cooking competition, but lovelier eye candy.  I believe that's the reason they have to use the lunch/dinner preps.  WE know that the competition would be better if they all had to prepare the same meal at the same time and not be privy to the comments of the earlier judgements.  I hate competitions where a team member has to leave because one of the team makes a mistake or is a poor cook. 

[mlp]

For all you masochists still slogging through this:  

 

https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2023/05/ciao-house-season-1-review/

 

 

[candall]

I tell you, I would read a snarky book detailing the poor decisions that went into the production of this splashy crapfest.  Starting, I now learn, with renting a charming Tuscan villa even though the crappy little outdated kitchen only holds half the cheftestants.

 

I would have been pretty happy to giggle and wisecrack over the stupidity if only it could have been a smidge less sexist.  It felt like the women were basically only there to serve as sous chefs for the men. 

     One of the men said it was his third time in a row as capo.  Did "Pasta Queen" Sarah ever get to lead a team?

     Why were two men the only ones allowed to go on the peak cool field trip to the cheese caves?  They could have let everyone go for the tour and the tastings and let the challenge capos choose the five cheeses they wanted.   Nope.  Alpha males only.

     Saba and Natalie might not have been the strongest chefs there, but they reached the finale fair and square according to the rules of the show.  It was a kick in the teeth for them to essentially be told, "We've decided to let the two men we really liked come back so one of them can compete against you for the prize."

 

Grrr.

[Rye]

I can’t even enjoy Corey’s face when they told him he came in last, because then they let Natalia win. Basically the whole series has been a joke. I don’t know what the angle was, they can’t possibly be trying to launch Natalia as a FN star, she has no star quality, an unlikable personality, and weak cooking ability.

What a waste of time.

[buttersister]

LOL! Just saw on the local news that Natalia won! Heh, she worked for Grant Achatz at Alinea and Next (Michelin stars) and was why I tuned in to begin with. Low-keyed it, I guess.

Maybe I'll catch a replay. Or not. No desire to see Alex.

[Leeds]

Suffice it to say that I wasn't rooting for any of them to win, but I was thrilled that Corey lost.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Leeds

[Cheezwiz]

52 minutes ago, Leeds said:

Suffice it to say that I wasn't rooting for any of them to win, but I was thrilled that Cory lost.

Same! I didn't like any of the final contestants, but it was sooooo satisfying to see Corey come in at the BOTTOM of the final three! I thought for sure he'd at least wind up in the final two, so I was pleasantly surprised by that. There's a big difference between being confident in your abilities and an arrogant prick. Even Preston didn't annoy me as much as this guy.

Don't care about the top two contestants. This was such a spectacularly dumb slapdash show. Agree with the critique posted above that it would have been much better using the same format as School of Chocolate - which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I really think show runners of competition series need to be a lot smarter, as viewers immediately see through artificially manufactured drama.

[Gramto6]

Also glad to see Cory as #3, couldn't have happened to a "better" chef!

I didn't realize/didn't pay attention to Natalie's bona fides. (Stopped giving a whit about the whole show early on.) But she did seem to have more experience than was ever let on. Not saying she deserved the win necessarily, but better her than Cory. I'd have been happy with either woman.

I just hope this is the last we see of this mess in any way, shape, or form!

[lgandkihei]

Ok, so I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Natalia, but I didn't actively hate her, which, considering the line-up on this show, is high praise indeed!  Honestly, of the three, I wanted her to win, mainly because I loathe Corey more than is possible, and there's something about Saba that just annoys me.  To my ear, she just seems to have a very condescending tone, and even comes off as rather obsequious .  

I'm also glad that Natalia won (and even Saba would have been okay in this respect) because they both advanced to the finals fair and square, and the whole Corey/Preston last minute twist was rotten.

At one point, Corey said something like, "I'm very proud of myself" or "I have a high opinion of myself" or something similar, and my husband, who wasn't even really paying attention yelled out, "No shit, douchebag, and that's why you're such a tool!"  To actually get my husband involved and annoyed, it had to be pretty bad, because he's a gentle spirit and he's really not all that critical of others.

I can't believe I'm even saying this, but Corey was so uber-obnoxious last night that even Preston didn't look that bad by comparison.  Don't get me wrong- - he's still way too smug, considering, but of the two, he seemed a tad less loathsome.  Damn- - those are words I never thought I'd say!

I swear I'm not an evil  mean-spirited person, but I so enjoyed watching Corey lose!  I guess that's the main thing I liked about the finale- - it's not that I was especially happy that Natalia won; I'm just thrilled that Corey lost! 

When I saw the table all laid out for the congratulatory spread, I figured that the entire crew of eliminated chefs would appear, and sure enough, there they were.  When Jess leapt through the air to bear hug Natalia, I couldn't believe it, because I'm pretty sure I saw her beaming, and that's the first time I've ever seen her with anything other than a scowl.

I've decided that the eliminated chefs definitely got the best of this whole arrangement, because while they were waiting for the finale, they got to hang out at the villa and bask by the pool, etc.  Especially since the grand prize seems like such a non-big deal, I think they came out way ahead.  

So Natalia is now supposed to travel around Italy, supposedly being trained by the country's master chefs?  Is someone arranging for all her room and board and travel arrangements?  Does she get an allowance for spending money?  Do these expert chefs have any obligation to use her for anything other than unpaid kitchen help?  Does she get an interpreter to accompany her?  This whole premise just seems slapped together, so I guess I can't believe that there's a sound master plan in place.  Hey Food Network, when I become a chef and go on one of your shows, just shower me with a grand prize of mega bucks please!  I'll arrange for my own iffy mentorship, thanks.

I've never eaten rabbit, and I have no desire to ever do so, but I have to admit that Natalia's dish looked pretty tasty to me!  The idea of tender little morsels, wrapped in crispy fried salty meat just looked yummy, and I wanted to head out then and there for some Chick-Fil-A/Popeyes/KFC nuggets!

The best news is, I think we can all feel pretty confident that this mess of a show will never rear its ugly little head again!

Edited June 5, 2023 by lgandkihei

[seacliffsal]

So, in my party of one, I liked Corey.  I thought he had the skills to back up his attitude and he seemed more socially awkward than arrogant (again, to me).  When he said it had been hard during his career to speak to people it really hit home how awkward he is.  Of the three final dishes, his is the one I wanted to try (and I don't really like pork).

Didn't care for Saba and never really felt like I got to know Natalia.  One thing though, is that they both made cutting remarks about Corey and I don't recall him doing the same (although I'm probably wrong about that as so many people don't like him and I don't really pay that much attention to this show).  Saba criticized Corey for using the mixer right away-but he did pass it off to Natalia as soon as he was done and someone had to use it first.  Natalia said his pork dish was so 1995, and I guess she would know as she won.

I guess I don't see how Natalia won as her pasta was criticized for being too doughy where the two pastas met and I can totally see that.

IMO this was a failed show concept.  Poor challenge structure, harsh criticism and judging, and no rhyme nor reason about anything.  I hope Natalia is able to take the time off to tour Italy.

[buttersister]

1 hour ago, seacliffsal said:

harsh criticism

Had it been delivered legitamately (not as if it was a dare on a game show), I don't have an inherent problem with criticism of TV food that we don't get to taste. Should it be wrapped in "here's what you could have done better" bow? Sure, this viewer would find that interesting. But not this Alex. Not this show. 

[Meowwww]

8 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

So, in my party of one, I liked Corey.  I thought he had the skills to back up his attitude and he seemed more socially awkward than arrogant (again, to me).  When he said it had been hard during his career to speak to people it really hit home how awkward he is.  Of the three final dishes, his is the one I wanted to try (and I don't really like pork).

Didn't care for Saba and never really felt like I got to know Natalia.  One thing though, is that they both made cutting remarks about Corey and I don't recall him doing the same (although I'm probably wrong about that as so many people don't like him and I don't really pay that much attention to this show).  Saba criticized Corey for using the mixer right away-but he did pass it off to Natalia as soon as he was done and someone had to use it first.  Natalia said his pork dish was so 1995, and I guess she would know as she won.

I guess I don't see how Natalia won as her pasta was criticized for being too doughy where the two pastas met and I can totally see that.

IMO this was a failed show concept.  Poor challenge structure, harsh criticism and judging, and no rhyme nor reason about anything.  I hope Natalia is able to take the time off to tour Italy.

I liked Corey too.  I can’t stand Saba and her arrogance.  She only got so far bd abuse they voted out all the strongest chefs.  I didn’t know Natalia existed until the last 2 shows…and the blonde girl getting to the end just shows what a failure the premise of this show is.  
I saw the House Hunters International where they chose this house, so I was excited for the show.  But the premise is so rotten. 

[kirklandia]

Nothing says Tuscany to me like a seafood specialty of the Pacific Northwest coast.
I thought European food markets were all about fresh and local. Are they flying Dungeness crab to Florence?

[aghst]

11 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Also glad to see Cory as #3, couldn't have happened to a "better" chef!

I didn't realize/didn't pay attention to Natalie's bona fides. (Stopped giving a whit about the whole show early on.) But she did seem to have more experience than was ever let on. Not saying she deserved the win necessarily, but better her than Cory. I'd have been happy with either woman.

I just hope this is the last we see of this mess in any way, shape, or form!

 

It seemed like they liked the story they could tell about Natalia.  Had the foot tendon transplant and then she talks about the dreams her mother had of coming to learn to cook in Italy but couldn't because she became pregnant with Natalia, then her mother planting sunflowers and Natalia using that inspiration for her sunflower pasta.

I don't recall as much backstory for any of the other chefs so for whatever reason they seemed to have latched onto hers.

The dishes all looked good and sounded like great, on paper.

It's interesting the way they described their dishes and why they wanted to make them but it all comes down to one main mistake that the judges use as a reason to eliminate them.

For Cory it was not cutting the pork right so that it was cooked a certain way.  Of course they caught him stressing because he had to baby the pork in the oven until almost the end of the timer.

So they focused on the pork.

Preston struggled with boiling the cabbage and that also was cited so it seems like the judges and producers were looking for reasons to eliminate chefs around what narrative they could shape.

Or what they could plausibly sell to viewers.

At the end of it all, food is so subjective.  Sure these people's lives center around food so they've got trained palates but it all comes down to the preferences of the judges and producers, who have to try to tell a story.

I'm not sure this is a big ratings winner so there may not be any more seasons.  Or if any of the chefs can make viewers want to see more of them on other FN shows.

[aghst]

7 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

Nothing says Tuscany to me like a seafood specialty of the Pacific Northwest coast.
I thought European food markets were all about fresh and local. Are they flying Dungeness crab to Florence?

Thing about the market shopping segment, which I liked seeing, is that they all piled into this tiny red car -- looked like a Fiat 500 -- and they were going to bring back 1200 Euros of groceries back with the three of them.

Then Natalia is going around barking out orders in a mix of Spanish, English and a few Italian words tossed in to these Italian merchants.

Lamb isn't really an Italian staple is it?  It's more Greek than Italian.

Polenta is Northern Italian or at least that's what Stanley Tucci said when he featured it in his Milano episode of Searching for Italy.  It wasn't in his Tuscan or Florence episode.

Also pork, besides not being elegante, is again not something you associate with Tuscany?  Maybe cinghiale is more Tuscan?

[shok]

On 6/4/2023 at 8:25 PM, buttersister said:

Maybe I'll catch a replay. Or not. No desire to see Alex.

Probably not. I missed it and I hadn't even scheduled it to record ... which tells you how anxious I was to see the ending ... but I just now flipped through two weeks of scheduling for the Food Network here in Canada and there's no replay scheduled at all. Considering every FN show is played and replayed and replayed a gazillion times, they must realize that this show was so dreadful it's not even worth one repeat. 😄

[jcbrown]

Thanks to those who reported on the ending, I deleted any episodes that were on my DVR. Can't even remember if I watched the one before this and I don't care. Way to screw up a promising premise, great location, and hosts I like, Food Network.

Edited June 7, 2023 by jcbrown

[candall]

Weird little footnote, but what the hell:

 

The cheftestants managed to pronounce lasagna and famiglia with silent g's, but they all (including Alex) punted on tagliatelle and agnolotti.  Even with cutie pie Gabe Bertaccini sitting right there, saying "This tah-lyah-tell-eh is very nicely done," no one picked up on it.

Now I've heard Alex say "ag-noh-loh-tee" twice on other shows and it drives me crazy.  Really?

 

Also, Alex doesn't understand a "hat trick".

Alex:  "Mmm, spicy AND delicious!  Hat trick!"  🤣

 

Sigh.  So much potential for this scenic location/cooking competition and it was just ill-thought-out and sloppy.  Ciao-ciao.

[aghst]

My recollection is that the HHI episode featured more shots of the villa than the entire season of Ciao House.

I don't recall them ever showing the bedrooms, which were rather nice IIRC on the HHI episode.

Instead they showed landscape shots of Tuscany and city shots of Florence.  The villa was near Florence but I think they even showed shots of Val d'Orcia, which is about an hour south.

I wonder if they were cooking every day or they had some time of their own.  They might want to shoot as often as possible so that they don't pay the camera and production crew over a longer stretch of days.  But maybe before or after the shooting schedule they had some time.

Or maybe once they got eliminated, those other chefs were chilling in other parts of the villa or going sightseeing or just hanging out by the pool so that is why they didn't show those different parts of the villa.