America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation - General Discussion

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on FreeVee with ads (and also on FreeVee through Amazon Prime Video)

It’s the job interview of a lifetime. The prize? A spot on America's favorite cooking show.

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Now I am very skeptical that anyone is actually going to get hired for a permanent job, rather than a few episodes a year or something like that, given that for almost all of them a relocation would be involved, and they all currently have "day jobs".

I was kind of surprised to see Peter Cardoz, son of the late great Floyd Cardoz, there. Interestingly, at least in the first episode, his excellent genes (and presumably nurture as well) didn't help him one bit.

[Yeah No]

21 hours ago, dleighg said:

Now I am very skeptical that anyone is actually going to get hired for a permanent job, rather than a few episodes a year or something like that, given that for almost all of them a relocation would be involved, and they all currently have "day jobs".

I was kind of surprised to see Peter Cardoz, son of the late great Floyd Cardoz, there. Interestingly, at least in the first episode, his excellent genes (and presumably nurture as well) didn't help him one bit.

Thank you!

I haven't watched the whole season yet so I don't want to be spoiled on who the winner is or I'd do more research as to what their role is.  My impression of most of the members of the Test Kitchen that the job is sort-of like an internship where they are given routine testing jobs to do, and they're not necessarily part of the creative content of the show or in front of the cameras.  So they can play loosey-goosey with what the winner's actual responsibilities will be.

I agree about Peter Cardoz.  I was expecting more from him.  I've only watched the first two episodes so far.  I was gutted when I learned about his father's death as I knew of him for many yeas and had dined at Tabla, his Manhattan restaurant that closed years ago.  I lost my own father in NYC to Covid early in the Pandemic and even though he was 92 it still was devastating.  So I have a lot of sympathy for Peter. 

A lot of people don't know how even more awful it was to lose someone that early in the pandemic.  There was a state of emergency in the NY area as over 700 people a day were dying of Covid just in the 5 boroughs.  They wouldn't let you anywhere near the hospital.  You couldn't even talk to your loved one.  I managed to get someone to put a phone up to my father's ear while he lay there on oxygen but could only tell him I loved him while he gasped for air.  I was forced to have him cremated as there was no other alternative and it took a month for that to finally happen as the crematoriums were overwhelmed and his body had to be shipped to Pennsylvania to have it done. 

So anyway I wonder if sympathy wasn't a factor in Peter getting on the show.

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8 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

So anyway I wonder if sympathy wasn't a factor in Peter getting on the show.

I had the same thought, as Peter's kitchen skills were several steps below the other people on the show. He really was not up to the competition.

I saw the date Floyd Cardoz died and was stunned at how early that was. I live in the NYC metro area and we had only been sent home from work a few days before that. Things really exploded fast. 

I'm so sorry about your father. It was a bad time.

[Rammchick]

I like this but I really wish it didn't have ads!

It also sounded to me like the job with ATK wasn't guaranteed.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Rammchick

[dleighg]

I'm watching the episode where they have to reimagine classic ATK recipes without the main ingredient. I just started, so I can't spoil anything, but I'm really annoyed that they just said something like "pizza with no dough," "crab cakes with no crab."

It should have been "pizza for someone who is gluten free" or "crab cakes for someone with a shellfish allergy." So the pizza person started by thinking "tortilla," but then decided she wanted to stay away from bread (which I think is really smart; who of a certain age doesn't remember french-bread-pizza or english-muffin-pizza? Which does no good for someone with celiac disease). Meanwhile the "no crab crab cakes" guy is using lobster. Um duh, and VERY unoriginal. I bet he gets seriously dinged for that.

But they really should have specified WHY the restriction is there.

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, dleighg said:

who of a certain age doesn't remember french-bread-pizza or english-muffin-pizza?

It's still around in the freezer section of your grocery store.

[Rammchick]

11 hours ago, dleighg said:

Meanwhile the "no crab crab cakes" guy is using lobster. Um duh, and VERY unoriginal. I bet he gets seriously dinged for that.

But they really should have specified WHY the restriction is there.

Totally agree.  All I could think was, if someone couldn't eat crab because they're allergic to it, substituting lobster won't help much.  

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I believe that the final three guys standing are all gay. They all have referred to themselves as "she" or "girl" multiple multiple times. Is this a thing? I also find it tiresome that Marc keeps gushing over Robbie's muscles or Dan Souza's good looks. It seems kind of inappropriate. 

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, dleighg said:

They all have referred to themselves as "she" or "girl" multiple multiple times. Is this a thing?

Yep.  It has been for a long time.

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Thanks. That was an interesting article. I still don't like Marc's comments much.

[Yeah No]

On 8/8/2023 at 12:27 PM, dleighg said:

I had the same thought, as Peter's kitchen skills were several steps below the other people on the show. He really was not up to the competition.

I saw the date Floyd Cardoz died and was stunned at how early that was. I live in the NYC metro area and we had only been sent home from work a few days before that. Things really exploded fast. 

I'm so sorry about your father. It was a bad time.

Yeah I was stunned at how early Floyd died too, although my Dad passed on April 5th, not long after.  He was in the hospital for a week before it happened.  He was admitted I think on March 29.  I have buried a lot of the horror by now but just talking about it like I am now can bring some of it back.  I appreciate your sympathy.

As for the competition I've still only watched a couple of episodes so far.  Suddenly I have a lot of shows to watch and I've been busy with other things so I don't know when I'll get around to watching more.  I will at some point.  I'm already getting the feeling that a few of the contestants are going to annoy me, though.

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24 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I'm already getting the feeling that a few of the contestants are going to annoy me, though

that's probably accurate :) 

[Rammchick]

Who does Brooke look like?  That was driving me crazy while I watched this.

[EtheltoTillie]

I remember when Floyd Cardoz died. It was terrible. Especially since it was right at the start of the pandemic. It made big news. I had also eaten at Tabla. I haven’t watched this show yet.  Floyd won Top Chef Masters in the first or second season, but I guess lightning didn’t strike twice. 

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I finished it and it was pretty entertaining. I'm not so much a fan of the "Next Food Network Star" type judging on live demos and personality, but I accept that it's important for this sort of role. Fortunately this show kept that as just a part of the judging. At the end they showed the winner doing a "bit" on the real show, so we'll see how much of a real career this is as we move forward.

[Rammchick]

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I remember when Floyd Cardoz died. It was terrible. Especially since it was right at the start of the pandemic. It made big news. I had also eaten at Tabla. I haven’t watched this show yet.  Floyd won Top Chef Masters in the first or second season, but I guess lightning didn’t strike twice. 

I loved Floyd -- his appearance on Top Chef Masters made me seek out and cook beef rendang, although I have never eaten it before.  Very sad loss.

[Bastet]

I generally don't care for cooking competitions featuring amateurs, and especially not when they're also auditioning for TV roles, so I wasn't going to watch this despite following the discussion, but the ATK angle sucked me in today when I wasn't in the mood for anything else.

Good grief, I cannot stand the host!  She's obnoxious, as are at least 1/4 of the contestants so far.

I've only watched the first episode, which tested their timed cooking skills, which is not an actual requirement for performing on ATK given how it's shot, and made zero reference to their instructional skills/TV presence.  Presumably that is to come.

I was generally impressed with the caliber of cooking, and enjoyed how excited/nervous everyone was to cook in that kitchen for those judges.

[Yeah No]

I haven't had a chance to watch more than the first 2 episodes - I've been having a busy summer.  I might catch up with it when things quiet down but thanks for confirming that it will likely end up annoying me, LOL. 😉i

[Bastet]

I couldn't sleep, so wound up watching the whole thing.

Robbie was the best, and most consistent, cook, but Antoinette was the only one who's camera ready, so she was the clear choice from the moment they started actually testing for broadcasting.  Robbie could, in time, settle his nerves, but I don't think he'd ever really have a presence that viewers would respond to.  Garrett does not have a voice for broadcasting, to put it mildly, and says "like" far too much.  While Antoinette is confident and personable.  I find her mildly obnoxious - in the way I do of anyone in this situation - when she's talking about social media and branding, but like her when she's talking about food.  It will be interesting to see how much they use her on the show, and if that "opportunity" to write a cookbook comes to fruition.  I'm stunned there was also a $100,000 prize.

On 8/8/2023 at 9:16 AM, Yeah No said:

So anyway I wonder if sympathy wasn't a factor in Peter getting on the show.

It certainly wasn't based on ability, and I don't think they did him any favors; that was an embarrassing performance every one of the few challenges he was there for.

[Bastet]

Antoinette made her first appearance on the most-recent episode of ATK.  There were times she talked a little too quickly for an instructional show, but it was a solid first.  Oh, and the cookbook opportunity did indeed come to fruition; it's an ATK publication and either out or coming out soon.

Edited April 16 by Bastet