All-Star Academy - General Discussion

[chessiegal]

I think that Alex's chef will win. I am not sure if it is because she is the best mentor or she is FN's newest shining star.

Not sure how Alex is a "newest shining star". She had a show, "Alex's Day Off" which is no longer in production, and became an Iron Chef, which also has had no new shows in quite some time. Best I can tell she is no more prominent than any other FN personality. Other than this, she's a judge on "Chopped". Am I missing something?

[eljaykid]

While I enjoy this show, it is playing out like so many of these competition shows.  You knew Alex would lose a contestant when she was the only chef with 2 left.  Then, when everyone had one, it was very predictable Curtis would be the first one to leave.  He's not really a Food Network star.  No way Bobby Flay was going to be out first.

[GaT]

One step closer to Alex winning.

[Lamb18]

Well, now I am hoping that Vanessa wins. I agree with pretty much everything Sinkwriter wrote.  What I like most about Curtis' and Sharon's relationship is that he has a lot of respect for her as a cook. It would be easy for a professional, well-known chef like Curtis to be patronizing or condescending, especially since Sharon is not in the young and pretty demographic. Women her age get written off a lot in these televised competitions. I think even Alex wrote Sherri off a little bit.

[hkit]

Well, this is playing out exactly the way I assumed it would when it started. Curtis was going to be eliminated first, no matter what, because Food Network has to create the dogma that an Iron Chef is unbeatable. I dislike Vanessa and August, and am meh enough on Joseph that I'm not going to bother to watch anymore. 

 

I will say that they could have at least tried to have make the elimination between Joseph and Sharon a little less stacked in Bobby's favor. 

[cooksdelight]

I wonder if the people who go into these shows know that if they are picked by Curtis, they are doomed to lose? And it's better to be picked by a beloved FN personality? Sort of like being picked by Nigella on The Taste.... you know your time is short-lived.

[DeLurker]

What I like most about Curtis' and Sharon's relationship is that he has a lot of respect for her as a cook. It would be easy for a professional, well-known chef like Curtis to be patronizing or condescending, especially since Sharon is not in the young and pretty demographic. Women her age get written off a lot in these televised competitions.

I have a limited tolerance level for this show now as it seems so scripted, so I tend to just pop in and out so as not to annoy myself.  I caught the end judging between Sharon and Joseph.  I thought that Joseph seemed very genuine in his affection for her and I loved how Curtis walked off with her with his arm around her shoulder.

[sinkwriter]

I also liked how Curtis held Sharon's hand during the judging process. They were both fully invested; he was right there with her.

Edited April 13, 2015 by sinkwriter

[NYGirl]

I was rooting for Sharon until I found out they owned their own restaurant.  That took away her amateur status as far as I was concerned.

 

I've felt throughout the run of the show that it's Alex's to lose and that aint happening.  I thought it would be Bobby's but it seems like she's the new darling of the network.  I don't like August at all so I will be rooting for Joseph or Vanessa.  I love Michael Symon.

[NikSac]

It bugs me that I've felt like I have known the outcome since the beginning. And I'm not "spoiled" so I don't know the actual outcome but I've felt like Alex's cook would be the winner, and Curtis was nearly guaranteed to be out first no matter how good his cook(s) were. Also, Alex, the whole "he's like my brother" and "we bicker like brother and sister" - not buying it. Way too many "googly eyes" going on there, at least from her side.

 

I was sad to see Sharon go. I really liked her. Tough to judge when we can't taste the food ourselves, of course.

[mlp]

I thought the "lasagna" should have been the first loser no matter how good it was simply because it really wasn't lasagna which is made with pasta.  Won ton wrappers are made from pretty much the same ingredients but aren't exactly the same thing especially when fried up crispy unlike lasagna noodles.

 

I have disliked Vanessa since the first episode and don't like August much better so I was disappointed to see Sharon go.  As others have already said, I liked her interactions with Curtis whom I also like. 

 

I don't know if Alex is still married and I don't know how old she is but she must be over 40 by now.  I thought her not very subtle flirting with August made her look foolish. 

 

My hopes that Joseph wins weakened after last night but I still like him the best.  His only failing seems to be that he's not on the anointed one's team.

[cooksdelight]

Alex's age is a mystery, I can't find a birthdate anywhere, but she graduated from Barnard College in 1991. She never attended culinary school. Her mother was a cookbook author and she acquired her cooking skills from helping her and from on-the-job training she received at the various restaurants she worked at. She is currently executive chef at Butter, and was married in 2007. As far as I know, she is still married.

[chessiegal]

Google tells me Alex was born in 1972 in New York City.

[carrps]

She graduated from Barnard when she was 19? That's pretty impressive.

 

I've been hate-watching this show since the beginning. How can one genuinely enjoy a show that's supposedly a competition when it's sooooo predictable and scripted.

 

I don't hate Alex as much as most here do. I can't stand Curtis -- never have -- and find him repulsive. His food never sounds that good to me either. He seems very classically oriented and stodgy. And I thought it was a real mistake for him to tell Sharon to put that much lamb in her gyro. It was an egg challenge, and she made the egg into basically a garnish.

 

I really wanted to taste Vanessa's lasagne. It looked so good to me. Michael Symon is the chef whose food I'd most want to eat.

 

Bobby Flay just seems out of it and bored. Is his divorce final yet? Maybe that was in the background and affecting his attitude.

Edited April 13, 2015 by carrps

[bubbls]

Also, Alex, the whole "he's like my brother" and "we bicker like brother and sister" - not buying it. Way too many "googly eyes" going on there, at least from her side.

 

 

 

I'm not picking up on this at all and I've been watching for it. I think I'm just being obtuse. 

 

I didn't think that wonton thing was a lasagna either. So layered whatever equates to a lasagna? I do think Vanessa is funny though I didn't like her at first. I actually laughed out loud when she was talking last night and Michael asked who she was talking to and she said something like "The citizens of the world!" That was great!

 

I still don't understand why Bobby Flay is considered a chef stud. Guess he has a lot of personal charisma. Maybe I'm just misinterpreting, but he seems like he'd be mean. 

[hkit]

I still don't understand why Bobby Flay is considered a chef stud. Guess he has a lot of personal charisma. Maybe I'm just misinterpreting, but he seems like he'd be mean. 

 

I don't think I'd be interested in Bobby being my mentor if I had to choose from the 4, because his chosen cuisine seems the most limited of all of them. I've never been impressed by him. Ever. I ate at his place in Vegas, and found it very forgettable. I've tried a couple of his recipes from his shows, and they have all been really out of balance. I remember making a lobster salad that was so overpowered by horseradish that I regretted all the money I had wasted on the lobster. However, Bobby has grown on me in recent years, with a self-deprecating sense of humor in his throwdown series. He's come a long way from standing on his cutting board. 

[Maverick]

 If this is stilted to Team Alex's favor, I'd say it's more about August than Alex.  I have zero doubt they decided August was "good TV" long before the cameras rolled on this and win or loss it's not the last we'll see of him.  I'm actually surprised they didn't slot him over to Next Food Network Star because he's exactly the type of person they want on there (and you know Suzie would be all over him). 

 

 Years ago FN did these specials where they had various hosts sitting around the pool or Christmas tree or whatever cooking and having a grand old time like they were old friends, when in actuality they weren't.  I think one of the stars (Alton?) made a comment about how they were being presented like they'll always hang out together on a regular basis and in truth they barely knew each other.  Advance forward a decade and now a lot of their stars do know each other and do hang out with each other and what ever else that does come through on this show.  If I take it more as one of those "watch our stars hang out and cook" shows and not as some legit competition it's much more enjoyable.

[Lillybee]

I think that I wouldn't be too upset with Alex winning if most of the judges weren't from Chopped. There was Zakarain, Amanda Frietag and Mark M. That does seem to give Alex an advantage.

 

I love that it seems that Bobby and Michael are friends and I enjoyed their snark.

[MajorWoody]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who knew going into this episode that Curtis was a goner. It didn't matter what his chef produced, there is no way the powers that be at FN were going to finish the show without their three superstars.

Could Flay have looked any more bored during the judging part?

As to next week, my guess is that Symon goes out first, then Alex wins the whole shebang, with annoying August coming back to annoy us on Next Food Network buffoon. I think that will be the end result, even if August ignores Alex throughout the show, and puts a can of Alpo on a plate.

If this show continues in the future, I hope the reconfigure the teams so it is not so obvious which team will be losing a player. Maybe 3 mentors, with 3 or 4 cooks each, with cookoffs for trades or something similar.

[GaT]

If this show continues in the future, I hope the reconfigure the teams so it is not so obvious which team will be losing a player. Maybe 3 mentors, with 3 or 4 cooks each, with cookoffs for trades or something similar.

They have the same problem on NFNS, everyone knows whose turn it is to lose someone every week.

[cooksdelight]

I will give major props to ABC and The Taste for not following that formula. If your cooks suck, you lose.

Plus....it's all blind tasting. By the guest judges and by the regular judges. Which is something both FN and Bravo/Top Chef seem afraid to try.

[Maverick]

 Food Network did it once I know of.  They had a show where they selected recipes from amateur cooks and have them come and compete in different categories (one week was cakes, another chicken dishes, etc).   The first season was blind judging (and it wasn't the usual suspects..I think the worked in the FN test kitchens).   Of course by the second run the blind tasting was eliminated.

 

 Oh, and it was blind tasting in that horrible cookoff show Curtis did...I think?  I couldn't stomach much of that.  And of course the second round of Beat Bobby Flay is "blind"...if the judge can't see or taste peppers.

[chessiegal]

Bobby's Throwdown show was blind tasting.

[Rammchick]

 

Bobby's Throwdown show was blind tasting.

 

True, but I always thought it was pretty obvious which offering was Bobby's since it was always "juj-ed" up by comparison to the classic recipe.

 

Re: Vanessa's "lasagna" -- I was convinced Mark Murphy would complain that it was hard to eat, since I imagined it would shatter when you tried to cut it.

[Totale]

Bobby's Throwdown show was blind tasting.

 

It was, if the judge weren't a local celebrity who had never been to the celebrated restaurant where the chef served the region's signature dish.  Oops.

[cooksdelight]

I just saw a commercial about the finale. Curtis is the judge who picks the winner.

Really, show?

[sinkwriter]

I saw that commercial too! Somehow I don't think that's fair voting, given that up until the week before he'd been competing against all 3 of them. Why would they give him the final judging position? He should be voting on the merits of the dishes in front of him, not influenced by anything that came before. Difficult to do when he was right there with them all along and already has biased thoughts about some of the competitors.

[cooksdelight]

I totally agree. The final judge should be someone brand new who's never been there yet, and it should be a blind tasting. I will try to hide my eyerolling to a minimum.

[latetotheparty]

I knew it.  Why am I still hate-watching this show?

[GaT]

I knew it.  Why am I still hate-watching this show?

Because it takes you away from hate watching other FN shows?

[Snarklepuss]

Hate-watching this show, hah, that's a good way to put it!  This show is taking me away from hate-watching "Guy's Grocery Games", which I admit sometimes pops up on my TV screen against my will.

 

Disappointed to hear that Curtis is the final judge but I might actually buy that he'd be more fair in that role than any of the others.  At least it may mean that Alex is not given any favoritism.  Agreed that it should have been a guest judge, though.

 

I was really sorry to see Sharon go home - She was my favorite to win.  Now I suppose I'll root for Joseph as he seems to be the most real person left.  Nothing against Vanessa but I'm just so over that Monroe piercing/kerchief/Rosie the riveter look.

[GHScorpiosRule]

You know what drives me bonkers? That some of the critiques by Marc Murphy makes it sound like a bad thing. Like, when a meal is heavy. WELLLLLLL certain meals/foods when made ARE heavy, but that doesn't mean that they're bad (don't taste good), or weren't made well. This, coming from a guy who's known as a "meat and potatoes' guy.  Also, that same, pinched, constipated look on his face as each contestant tells him what they made.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Chris Santos, Scott Conan or Arrooonnnnnn Sanchez show up if this show continues on...

 

I liked Sharon too, but she did overstuff that Gyro.

[NikSac]

The only thing I really dislike about Joseph is that bug-eyed look he gets every time anything is announced.  "We have to cook today?" <bugged out eyes> "We have to use chicken?!?" <bugged out eyes>  Usually followed by something about his Mom and God... which is fine, but combined it drives me a little crazy after awhile.

 

I can't decide if I like Curtis as a judge, but since it seemed like the show was kind of against him from the beginning, I think it's an interesting twist. Curious to see who wins.

[HalcyonDays]

I call BS on the elimination also. One of Alex's team members had to go, and even I thought it was August based on the comments about his food.

If Alex and August don't win this, will she pitch a hissy fit? Behind the scenes, I mean. Because she'll never do that on camera, but it seems like she wins in the most unlikely of scenarios during the various FN competitions she's been a part of.

 

Me too. Just watched this last night from my DVR. The moment you had the elimination round, and Alex is the only mentor with two people, you KNOW she was going to lose one. Then when you realize that August isn't going to come back just to be eliminated again, you knew it was Sherri that was going to go. Duh. It's so obvious. And again, I think the four chefs then just drew straws to figure out their elimination orders.

 

However, the blind judging by Flay and company was hilarious, just for their reactions. But how does something that 'tasted' like soap (Sharon's dish) still NOT come in last place.

 

Khaleesi (age 8) believes that Alex has a big crush on August, and he knows it but doesn't feel the same.

 

Mr. HD (not age 8) said the same thing yesterday. I'm like, I don't think so, because she's constantly yelling at him. I could be wrong.

 

However, the hugginess between Symon and Vanessa is another story. They seem to get along really well.

 

Haven't seen anymore episodes yet (but read the thread). Grooming August to be a food network host? I don't see it at all - as in him? He seems whiny, not interesting. Joseph is much more lively and has a better screen presence. And I actually like Vanessa and her look. She's enthusiastic and again, would be better in camera than August. That's just me.

[Crucial]

Ugh so Curtis gets to pick the winner?  I feel like he's being forced on us with the shows.  I do not like him at all (he's horrible on the Master Chef show) because he's so arrogant  I wanted to root for Sharon but because she had Curtis I couldn't. I know that's wrong but I am so glad when he loses. I would really like this show if they don't have Curtis on there.

[cooksdelight]

Curtis takes getting used to. I didn't care much for him until one episode of TC, he had the competitors over to his place and he cooked for them. It was a warmer, friendly side of him that we usually don't get to see. And he appeared to be a pretty good cook.

[Drogo]

Curtis takes getting used to. I didn't care much for him until one episode of TC, he had the competitors over to his place and he cooked for them. It was a warmer, friendly side of him that we usually don't get to see. And he appeared to be a pretty good cook.

 

I agree.  My wife used to watch a show where he found a woman in a grocery store, helped her shop, then went home with her to help her cook a gourmet meal in her kitchen.  I remember warning my wife that if I come home one day and that guy's cooking with her in our kitchen, he's leaving in a bag.  Though I imagine the whole thing was more pre-planned/staged than they made it out to be.  

 

He's grown on me since and I liked him on Celebrity Apprentice and this show.  

 

ETA: The name of the show was Take Home Chef.  

Edited April 19, 2015 by Drogo

[Crucial]

Yeah I'm afraid I won't get used to him no matter what he's on.  I think he's a good cook I just don't care for him at all.  He's the one chef I find so arrogant it doesn't matter what he does, I see him this way only.  There are other chefs on Food Network I don't understand why they need to bring him on to their network and show.  Again, that's just me and my dislike for him.  It would be a great show without him and have another chef take over.  Keep him on MasterChef and Bravo.

[chessiegal]

First time I saw Curtis was on "Take Home Chef". I liked him from the get-go. Tall, blonde, cute, that Aussie accent, AND he can cook! Nothing not to like for me. He also makes a good guest co-host on "The Chew". He's always welcome on my TV.

[latetotheparty]

Right out of the box Bobby says, "It was either US or him" about Curtis.  I'm no Curtis fan but that dismissal kind of says it all. 

[susannot]

I really am happy with the winner.

[Lillybee]

I am, too, Joseph just seems to love food and cooking and I wish him every success in culinary school.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Lillybee

[NikSac]

Aw dammit, I forgot about the time difference again so I 'spoiled' myself reading here. Sounds like a good outcome though. I'll still watch just to see how it came about.

[cooksdelight]

I don't think we've seen or heard the last of Joseph. :)

[sinkwriter]

I think I would have been happy if either Joseph or Vanessa won. Their dishes looked yummy in all three meals and I like them both. So I was glad to see Joseph win and was a little bummed for Vanessa, and I think I would have felt the same if the outcome had been the opposite. Plus, they both had strong reasons for being there, winning the money meant the most to them, and they both seem to be there because they love to cook.

 

(Whereas August seems like he was just in it to be in it, not because he has any huge need to become a chef. When Alex said she wouldn't be surprised if someday she enjoys a good meal and turns around to see August in the kitchen, I didn't buy it. I can't see him wanting to have that life or that career path.)

[HalcyonDays]

Congrats Joseph. Glad to see he won. I was actually rooting for Vanessa because I thought she was a really good chef/cook also. The stuff she made looking amazing, as did Flay's stuff. I will say, out of the four mentors, Symon and Flay do the stuff I want to eat.

 

I totally agreed with Joseph and Vanessa being in the final, but both of you decide on fish for the final dish? In a competition battle where you can pick anything??? And they pick fish?? Okay, not my preference which is why I think the final choice of fish was pre-decided on. I mean, nothing could beat a nice filet mignon with a red wine shallot reduction sauce, some savoury mashed potatoes, some crispy fried onions on top, and some veg. Or some lobster or scallops in a saffron cream sauce. I like fish, but that is not the first thing I would think of as my final dish. That's just me though.

 

I actually expected Flay as mentor to win this right at the start, but at the same time was surprised. I figured they would share the winning chef wealth, since Flay pretty much dominates on Iron Chef.

 

Stiil, glad Joseph won, I liked him. Feel bad for Vanessa. But this show was clearly scripted which took some of the fun out of it.

[mlp]

I've liked Joseph best all along so I'm delighted that he won.  He seems like a truly nice person and he clearly can cook.  I hope we see him again some time because I'd like to know if he goes to culinary school and so on.

 

I like Curtis a lot.  I have never seen him as arrogant.  In fact, back when I used to watch The Chew, he was on once in awhile and I was always impressed by how laid back and humble he was when he was just being himself.  His new restaurant has received rave notices, he's tall and attractive and he's dotty about his kids.  AND he announced on FB last week that his fans have talked him into getting rid of the ugly whiskers.  I'm a fan.

[sinkwriter]

I wonder if Bobby will give Joseph a shot at working at one of his restaurants once he finishes culinary school. They work well together and Joseph seems to have a low-maintenance personality (he doesn't seem to get too freaked out about anything, just goes with the flow), so I think it would be really cool if Bobby helped him get started learning the ropes of restaurant business. He certainly joked enough times about giving Joseph a job!  :)

[HalcyonDays]

I forgot to mention - I loved Flay's reaction to Joseph winning! He was more excited than Joe seemed (Joe was more speechless and in shock), which made me laugh. Flay's reactions and facial expression were the best in this.

[sinkwriter]

I thought it was great, too! In fact, I rewound a few seconds so I could see Bobby react again.