24 in 24: Last Chef Standing - General Discussion

[Rammchick]

43 minutes ago, janeyjay said:

Elia got a pass from me this round because she paired up with my favorite Voltaggio, Bryan. 

The Voltaggios are the living embodiment of the game Shag, Marry, Kill (they'd need to pull in a third one!) 😉, with obvious conclusions.

[Ancaster]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

The Voltaggios are the living embodiment of the game Shag, Marry, Kill (they'd need to pull in a third one!) 😉, with obvious conclusions.

Well the third brother has obviously already taken the role of the third possibility.

[Ellee]

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

Ditto — that is the ONLY reason she got a pass from me.  Can’t wait till she’s gone. I love Bryan and hope he does well in this.  

I agree with this but I have to question.  I haven’t seen her since Top Chef so she must have changed. Shouldn’t we give her a chance to see how she’s changed?

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, Ancaster said:

Well the third brother has obviously already taken the role of the third possibility.

I didn't realize there was a third brother!

[tessabq]

3 minutes ago, Rammchick said:

I didn't realize there was a third brother!

Let's not leave out their sister, the pastry chef. Some of us like options.

[barshi50]

3 hours ago, janeyjay said:

Not shocked to see that Ilan has not matured nor learned, well, anything, since he was last on my tv screen 18 years ago. Arrogant and ran right over his partner, Goggles Dude. Also not sad they lost. Buh-bye. 

Elia got a pass from me this round because she paired up with my favorite Voltaggio, Bryan. 

Giggles dude  also was on Top Chef 9 (Texas). He was a sous at the time and worked for the guy with two sets of glasses - can't remember his name, Chris, I think ( not Malibu). He was pretty far out.

[eclectcmoi]

On 4/26/2025 at 6:55 PM, Ancaster said:

I think it probably shows just how brutal it was, and not worth it for such a relatively small reward given other shows'.  And the prize money really hasn't gone up - $50,000 + $20,000 honeymoon (if I recall correctly) is now $75,000.

This!  How is the payout only $75,000? Over on Next Level Chef the winner will get $250,000 and there is no where near the talent competing on NLC as on 24 in 24!!

Edited Tuesday at 04:57 PM by eclectcmoi

[mlp]

4 hours ago, eclectcmoi said:

How is the payout only $75,000?

Probably because it's just for one day's work.  Even figuring in coming early for prep and make up, it's still not multiple episodes.  And 75K is way, way better than the prize on Chopped for a similar time commitment.

I don't like the way they axe half the chefs in the first episode but I can understand why they do.  The chefs probably know that possibility exists, especially if they watched season 1, so I'm not really complaining.

I have no idea who that oddball with the goggles is but he was right and Ilan the know-it-all was wrong.  I wasn't sorry to see them both depart.

I'm rooting for Kevin Lee and Bryan Voltaggio.

[CrazyInAlabama]

6 hours ago, eclectcmoi said:

This!  How is the payout only $75,000? Over on Next Level Chef the winner will get $250,000 and there is no where near the talent competing on NLC as on 24 in 24!!

That's a lot more than the seasonal baking shows.  

[GiandujaPie]

I think they were able to get some bigger names to compete because it just a one full day commitment. The sudden elimination of half of the field is just to underscore how tough the competition is. 

I was a little surprised at who Kevin Lee chose to go up against in the first challenge and I couldn't remember where I'd seen her before. I don't watch that many episodes of Beat Bobby Flay so I knew I hadn't seen her on that. Then I remembered she was on Next Food Network Star. Not sure which season and who won that year though. 

[Westiepeach]

2 hours ago, GiandujaPie said:

I was a little surprised at who Kevin Lee chose to go up against in the first challenge and I couldn't remember where I'd seen her before. I don't watch that many episodes of Beat Bobby Flay so I knew I hadn't seen her on that. Then I remembered she was on Next Food Network Star. Not sure which season and who won that year though. 

Quick look - Season 8. Justin Warner won that year.

[Ancaster]

 

Michael Symon, please stop saying "verse" rather than versus.  I know you've heard the word before.

Surely someone in production can correct him?  Or maybe he wants to look like an ignoramus?

Edited Wednesday at 10:06 PM by Ancaster

[MerBearHou]

I would add that production tell people to stop swaying when they're waiting for instructions or judging verdicts.  It drives me NUTS.  I can name a couple who are particularly egregious with this and my eyes have to look away because they CANNOT STOP SWAYING.  Yeah, yeah -- I get that it's nervous energy but it's annoying and hard to watch.  I see it on every cooking show but production has got to tell them to stand still!!!

[Ancaster]

12 minutes ago, MerBearHou said:

I would add that production tell people to stop swaying when they're waiting for instructions or judging verdicts.  It drives me NUTS.  I can name a couple who are particularly egregious with this and my eyes have to look away because they CANNOT STOP SWAYING.  Yeah, yeah -- I get that it's nervous energy but it's annoying and hard to watch.  I see it on every cooking show but production has got to tell them to stand still!!!

Don't ever watch Jeopardy!  The rockers/swayers can ruin things.

[MerBearHou]

2 minutes ago, Ancaster said:

Don't ever watch Jeopardy!  The rockers/swayers can ruin things.

Oh, yes -- I watch Jeopardy almost daily and it drives me bonkers.  Cut it out!

[meowmommy]

Every time Michael would repeat, “One, or two?” I was reminded of when you’re being fitted for glasses at the optometrist’s.

It’s blind judging, but not as blind as ToC.  After each cut, Antonia could see who was left, so the shrinking field narrowed her options for guessing who made what.  I don’t think it affected her judgment, though.

Can’t remember if last season the show swapped out judges or made the same person stay up and keep eating.  I half expected Antonia to say, when asked at the end of this round how she was, “Stuffed to the gills, Mike.”  The two team challenges at least reduced the number of plates she had to sample by four.

[Rammchick]

7 hours ago, meowmommy said:

It’s blind judging, but not as blind as ToC.  After each cut, Antonia could see who was left, so the shrinking field narrowed her options for guessing who made what.  I don’t think it affected her judgment, though.

Can’t remember if last season the show swapped out judges or made the same person stay up and keep eating.  I half expected Antonia to say, when asked at the end of this round how she was, “Stuffed to the gills, Mike.”  The two team challenges at least reduced the number of plates she had to sample by four.

I had that same thought about the narrowing field, especially as it got down to very few people.  I also wondered why they didn't at least give her some water -- nothing had to taste good by the time she was down to the last plates.

[MicheleinPhilly]

I binged the first season last weekend in about 24 hours and found it so exhausting, I'm going week to week for this one. 

Lots of familiar faces and an equal number of unfamiliar faces. With the exception of Top Chef and Chopped and Iron Chef, I don't really watch many cooking competitions so I don't have a lot of pre-conceived notions of these contestants. 

The chef who was chopped 2nd - Black female with a restaurant in Asheville that was impacted by Hurricane Helene. Was she on Chopped or Top Chef? She looked SOOO familiar to me and I couldn't place her. 

Damaris gets on my last nerve so the sooner she clocks out, the better. Although she seems to have mellowed since I've last seen her. 

Ilan has not. Surprise surprise. 🙄 Last season I was rooting for Marcel to get the boot for the first like 4 episodes based on lingering Top Chef hate, but he has actually grown up and I was pleased with his win. Ilan is still the same douchebag he was however many years ago. 

I'm thrilled they're doing blind tasting as I think certain biases definitely came into play last season given past relationships. And it already led to a *shocking* elimination in Marc Murphy. Antonia never would have eliminated him if she knew who had made what. 

[eclectcmoi]

If I'm remembering correctly, Marcel bought his mother cochlear implants with his prize money.  That won me over completely. 

[meep.meep]

3 hours ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

 

The chef who was chopped 2nd - Black female with a restaurant in Asheville that was impacted by Hurricane Helene. Was she on Chopped or Top Chef? She looked SOOO familiar to me and I couldn't place her. 

 

Ashleigh Shanti was on Top Chef the first season that Buddha won.