S11.E03: Trendy Dinner

[Lura]

Well, ladies, since so many of you are breathing hard for Eddie, I've decided there's someone I like better, so I'm dropping out of the race.  It's Dom.  He makes my heart go pitter-patter every time he smiles.  I could listen to his Staten Island accent all day.  Plus, he is one good cook!

 

I was not unhappy to see Sita go.  I like the girl with the wacky sense of humor who made Bobby laugh, but I can't remember her name.  I also like Alex.  He reminds me of a real nice country boy, riding on his tractor, wearing a straw hat, and waving at a passing car.  Jay is excellent with his presentations, but I don't know if I would want to watch him all the time.  I like the Armenian girl very much, but at this point, I don't see her winning over one of the guys.

Edited June 23, 2015 by Lura

[Texasmom1970]

Glad to see I am not the only one disturbed by sandwich guys constantly hair touching while cooking. I was waiting for a judge to pull a hair out of their food!

Egads, so glad I do not care what they consider a food trend slimy really! I usually try to avoid slimy food, but that's just me.

My favorite part of the episode Geoffrey Zakarian, can he please stay. I can't stand watching huge teeth, my head is too large for my tiny body Giada! And don't even get me started on that eye-rolling, douche bag Bobby!

[cooksdelight]

I think the point of the "trends" was that they aren't, exactly, and that was supposed to be the twist to make it hard for the contestants...??

Geoffrey and Sunny host a new show together and they play well off one another.

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/27299-season-one-discussion-best-of-the-best/#entry1251445

[howmanywords]

So apparently that challenge really IS a thing.  Someone posted this to my Facebook wall when I mentioned how awful I thought this episode was..

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/2015-food-trend-predictions-ugly-smokey-and-smelly

 

Jeff, much to my surprise even managed to last with Sandwich King way longer than I thought you could take the sandwich premise.  But Jeff was talented and creative. There were also points where his definition of a sandwich was used rather loosely but his food always looked good. I remember Alton Brown saying that he when he was a guest judge the 2nd episode that season he pegged Jeff easily as the winner, told the producers and they agreed with him. Alex is nowhere near Jeff talent wise or being camera ready.

[rab01]

If Alex switches to street food next week, he can survive and become a contender. Otherwise, he seems to be the weakest of the guys and it should be a guy's turn to go next week. I've liked Jay since he was first introduced and just now realized that it's because he looks a bit like Kevin from the best season of Top Chef (the Las Vegas season where Kevin was the front-runner going into the finals but personal problems got in his way during the finals).

 

I think the challenges were fine - both parts. They need to be good at making attractive food and the winner wasn't chosen until they had tasted all but two of the dishes. As for the meal, they didn't say that any of those categories were currently trendy or that anyone would put them all into one meal.  They were asking them to make edgy foods that might attract the attention of jaded diners and each course had a specific element that might be challenging to some people.

 

Unless the talking heads and reaction shots were flat-out lying, I thought it was pretty clear that some of the Ladies' food was near-inedible - particularly Rosa's. I like her so I'm worried that she'll be gone within two weeks. She's had too many food slip-ups and they don't seem to like her presentations as much as I do. (I think she's legitimately funny - not just funny by grading on a curve against other Food Network people.)

 

But I have to say this even though I'm a guy ---- HOW IS IT OK FOR A BUNCH OF WOMEN TO GO WITH SEXY AS A THEME WHEN THE JUDGES ARE EQUALLY DIVIDED BETWEEN HETEROSEXUAL WOMEN AND MEN?   I gather that Eddie is a more than ordinarily handsome guy and that Dom's looks have some fans here too. So, it's not OK that the women instantly went to sex appeal as a theme and the guys never even considered it.  And, it's not OK that none of the judges even commented on the disparity.  </end rant>

Edited June 23, 2015 by rab01

[Clanstarling]

He could have asked what it meant. Shoot, Arnold couldn't even pronounce it correctly and he still made a great dessert.

Absolutely. I just think, in the stress of the moment, he went with something he understood - stinky. LOL

[NikSac]

So apparently that challenge really IS a thing.  Someone posted this to my Facebook wall when I mentioned how awful I thought this episode was..

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/2015-food-trend-predictions-ugly-smokey-and-smelly

 

Jeff, much to my surprise even managed to last with Sandwich King way longer than I thought you could take the sandwich premise.  But Jeff was talented and creative. There were also points where his definition of a sandwich was used rather loosely but his food always looked good. I remember Alton Brown saying that he when he was a guest judge the 2nd episode that season he pegged Jeff easily as the winner, told the producers and they agreed with him. Alex is nowhere near Jeff talent wise or being camera ready.

 

I wish I'd saved the episode now so I could re-watch it. I swear they were talking about it like it was a new up and coming trend in restaurants. Granted, probably restaurants I'd never go to, so I guess I'm safe hehe. I may have misunderstood or mis-interpreted that though.

 

I agree on Jeff. I know not everyone loves him but I think he seems to make good food and he's good on camera - still working on that camera presence, but he's been on several shows now and he seems to continue to get better. Alex (thanks for his name because I could not remember it!) is just not close enough, in my opinion.  Maybe if he switches to something other than sandwiches, though.

[jumper sage]

I liked Sita but she did have a big problem with time and quality.  I am glad to see we are back to cooking.

[Pallida]

I wish they had chosen a better word to describe the dessert.  I was thinking about it earlier, and "incendiary" also applies to things like shit disturbers.  I wonder how it would go over if one of them had made a napoleon and made a joke about Chopped.

[cooksdelight]

I went back to rewatch because I couldn't remember what was said about the trendy challenge. Geoffrey said that they have several food experts come up with what they think will be popular in the coming year. He called it "Chow with a challenge."

Bobby interjects with "You all know comfort foods. But one hot new trend is the opposite of comfort foods. In fact, it's the anti-comfort foods."

So, it's not here yet, but they are predicting it will be. I'll pass.

[Surrealist]

Absolutely. I just think, in the stress of the moment, he went with something he understood - stinky. LOL

 

Ha! You're right. I was taken aback by the fact that Dom was avoiding the one area in which he's supposedly a bit of an expert. That said I'd love to have Arnold's dessert because it looked positively delicious. In the end, maybe it was better that Arnold took on the dessert.

[Snarklepuss]

Late to the party here as I finally caught up with this episode.  I was dead sure Rosa was going home because I always assume they keep the most annoying candidate.  At least that's the way it's been for several seasons.  Thankfully it looks like they've reverted to their former philosophy.  Buh-bye "Sita".  She was my least favorite candidate.  I like Rosa.  I wish they were more into her because in the right light I think she could shine.  Same is true for Dom.  I think Giada has been too hard on him.  His presentations haven't been that bad and I don't feel the "I gotta run" vibe from him.  I too hope that there will be a redemption arc with him.  Eddie wasn't shown in his best light either this episode.  The rest of them I don't particularly care for.  "Sandwich" guy needs to go.  The only thing that saved him was his food but his personality is ho-hum.  Jay seemed better but I'm not feeling it with him.  They keep trying to push big sloppy unmade bed kinda guys on the audience and they've all come and gone in a flash.  One of them who lost FNS one season had a show for a while but disappeared.   I agree that Arnold is obnoxious and I too prefer my chefs to know what "incendiary" means.  Oh well.  This show has been on the air for quite a while now and I feel like it jumped the shark last season with the Lenny fiasco.  Now it's just kind of hard for me to feel the same about it anymore no matter what they do.  Just how I feel.

[Wings]

So apparently that challenge really IS a thing.  Someone posted this to my Facebook wall when I mentioned how awful I thought this episode was..

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/2015-food-trend-predictions-ugly-smokey-and-smelly

 

Jeff, much to my surprise even managed to last with Sandwich King way longer than I thought you could take the sandwich premise.  But Jeff was talented and creative. There were also points where his definition of a sandwich was used rather loosely but his food always looked good. I remember Alton Brown saying that he when he was a guest judge the 2nd episode that season he pegged Jeff easily as the winner, told the producers and they agreed with him. Alex is nowhere near Jeff talent wise or being camera ready.

 

 

That article does NOT list smelly, slimy or incendiary!  Not even close.  The trend is smoked, ugly vegetables and fruits (misshapen), fermented, local grains and use of the whole animal.  

 

On an episode of The Kitchen Jeff made "egg McMuffins" that you can make ahead and freeze for a quick microwavable breakfast.  Terrible!  He even used the processed orange cheese.   I don't see his charm or ability. 

[Skyfall]

I think the point of the "trends" was that they aren't, exactly, and that was supposed to be the twist to make it hard for the contestants...??

Geoffrey and Sunny host a new show together and they play well off one another.

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/27299-season-one-discussion-best-of-the-best/#entry1251445

GZ, Sunny, and Alton as the judges for this show would be amazing!

[Lamb18]

I'd think incendiary would have been one of the easiest to do - aren't there already a bunch of established "incendiary" desserts where you pour booze on the dessert at the table and light it on fire?  The only problem with that for this competition is that the desserts had to be individually plated so you'd need to be lighting a bunch of little fires at the table.

 

Jay shouts at the camera too much and it gets wearying to listen to.  I noticed it more on his Chopped episode, probably because there were fewer people so more talking heads per person.  He reminds me of the Oxy-moron (whatever that cleaning product was) guy who would shout about his product in commercials.

[Lura]

If any of those projected "trends" comes to fruition, I won't be eating out much in the coming year.  That challenge was somewhat interesting, and it most certainly tested the contestants' abilities to think fast. I'm glad I wasn't one of them.

 

I'm so grateful to the person above me on this page who mentioned Rosa.  I couldn't think of her name.  There's something about that girl.  Aside from her being funny without trying, plus being very photogenic,

she seems to me to be a natural for television, but probably not this show.  She grabs my attention and holds it whenever she utters a word.

 

I can't say that I love the judges of this show any more than I have in past years.  I did enjoy Alton a lot, but not the other two.  I do think that it's interesting that Giada and Bobby always seemed to enjoy their

flirting, yet this year, when rumors are rife, they're acting like near strangers.  I've never cared for Giada, but I've always liked Bobby.  The problem is that I don't care for womanizers, so Bobby is barely hanging on in my regard for him.  Methinks that fame and money may have gone to his head -- only MHO.

Edited June 24, 2015 by Lura

[Aquarius]

I'd think incendiary would have been one of the easiest to do - aren't there already a bunch of established "incendiary" desserts where you pour booze on the dessert at the table and light it on fire?  The only problem with that for this competition is that the desserts had to be individually plated so you'd need to be lighting a bunch of little fires at the table.

 

Jay shouts at the camera too much and it gets wearying to listen to.  I noticed it more on his Chopped episode, probably because there were fewer people so more talking heads per person.  He reminds me of the Oxy-moron (whatever that cleaning product was) guy who would shout about his product in commercials.

 

Being as they had a team to serve the courses, I think they could have pulled off lighting the desserts table side.  A nice retro jubilee, maybe, or some modern twist on bananas Foster.  Lighting things on fire always makes for good TV, too.

 

YES about Jay's shouting.  There's just something so fake and sales-y about him that really rubs me the wrong way.  BILLY! MAYS! was the Oxy-moron of whom you speak, and yes, I see that similarity.  I've felt like that ever since he repeated the "cauldrons of red beans and rice!" line in two presentations in the first episode.  He made it sound like a pitch for the Veggie-Matic rather than something I'd want to try.

[Terrafamilia]

Dom needs to be introduced to beta blockers.

For slimy, they really needed something gelatinous.

[Lura]

Warning: This is not a sexist post.  I really do root for my fellow women!  :)

 

I'm thinking about the finals already.  It seems to me so far that the women this year aren't nearly as good as the men are.  This makes me think that the finals might be two men against each other.  Would the FN actually allow that, or would they fiddle with the ratings (if necessary) so that they could slip a woman into one of the final spots?  It should be interesting.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Lura

[cooksdelight]

Last year it was two men and one woman. Same thing the year before. Anything's possible.

[SpottedCoachDog]

I do think that it's interesting that Giada and Bobby always seemed to enjoy their

flirting, yet this year, when rumors are rife, they're acting like near strangers. I've never cared for Giada, but I've always liked Bobby. The problem is that I don't care for womanizers, so Bobby is barely hanging on in my regard for him. Methinks that fame and money may have gone to his head -- only MHO.

There is an episode of "Beat Bobby Flay" on the front page of the "Watch Food Network" app that has Sunny and Giada bringing the challengers. Bobby very pointedly comments that they are both like sisters to him. I rolled my eyes.

Glad Sita got the boot. Girl couldn't hold her shit together with bungee cords and duct tape. Jay's gumbo was seriously nasty looking. Why didn't Eddie put blackened chicken or fish on grilled romaine and radicchio?

Mostly....when did Rue start sounding like Kendra from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"? O.o

[needschocolate]

Very late to the forum - I finally watched this episode last night and I was doing other things at the same time, so I listened more than watched - Which made me notice just how much Sita sounded like Wanda Sykes.   I kept thinking "why is Wanda Sykes on a cooking competition?" 

 

I hope when #douchetag watched this episode, his head exploded - this challenge seemed to fot exactly what he wanted his POV to be.  I just wish the judges would have added "And after you take the photo, you need to post it ti twitter and give it a clever hashtag" - that would have guaranteed head explosion.

 

When they said that incendiary was a food trend, I thought they said "Insidiary" as a version of "Insidious." The only thing i could think of for insidious food would be to cook something what could be poisonous if not cooked properly.

 

When checked to see if "insidiary" was a real word (it is not), I also looked up incendiary so see if it had meanings that would make their dishes make sense.  The 4th definition of incendiary is "Tending to inflame the senses" - so, I guess spicy food would fit.

 

 

They have to photograph food? What do their photography skills have to do with anything?

 

I can see how they need to think about how the food is put on the plate when they do a demonstration.  However, there are people whose job it is to make food photograph well, and they have their little tricks, like brushing oil on things to make them glisten, etc.  I would think that FN has someone working with the hosts of cooking shows, telling them how best to arrange the food on the plate for the cameras. 

 

Everytime Alex talks about how sandwiches are his thing and then he goes and does something stupid like putting the bun on top for a presentation challenge..well all I can say is dude you are no Jeff Mauro. 

 

That is why he is the "Sandwich Guy" not the "Sandwich King."  Yeah, "Sandwich King" was taken, but if Alex thought he was good enough for FN to do a second sandwich-centric show, he could have called himself something better than "Sandwich Guy" - maybe "Sandwich Wizard"?

[Totale]

That is why he is the "Sandwich Guy" not the "Sandwich King."  Yeah, "Sandwich King" was taken, but if Alex thought he was good enough for FN to do a second sandwich-centric show, he could have called himself something better than "Sandwich Guy" - maybe "Sandwich Wizard"?

 

Wow, you've just given me a scary thought.  Jeff's the Sandwich King but that's what, 3 or 4 years back now?  It's proven a frat guy who makes sandwiches can sell ads on FN but maybe he's done with it.  Bring on a new sandwich guy, keep the old audience (maybe cross over), and free Mauro up to be his big galoot self somewhere else on FN if he wants.  Or, if off-camera negotiations around the vag table aren't going so well, show Jeff a grown up frat man can be replaced.

[needschocolate]

Wow, you've just given me a scary thought.  Jeff's the Sandwich King but that's what, 3 or 4 years back now?  It's proven a frat guy who makes sandwiches can sell ads on FN but maybe he's done with it.  Bring on a new sandwich guy, keep the old audience (maybe cross over), and free Mauro up to be his big galoot self somewhere else on FN if he wants.  Or, if off-camera negotiations around the vag table aren't going so well, show Jeff a grown up frat man can be replaced.

 

Hate to break this to you, but this plan may already be in progress - I believe they have cancelled Jeff's show and have him appearing on other shows (The Kitchen?).  

 

However, I think if they would have wanted to keep a sandwich show they would have just kept Jeff's.  I don't think Alex has any chance of winning this competition.

[Totale]

Hate to break this to you, but this plan may already be in progress - I believe they have cancelled Jeff's show and have him appearing on other shows (The Kitchen?).  

 

However, I think if they would have wanted to keep a sandwich show they would have just kept Jeff's.  I don't think Alex has any chance of winning this competition.

 

That's the point, maybe Jeff doesn't want to be the sandwich guy anymore, and once all the ads are sold and the checks are cashed they think the faux-Jeff they lined up for this FNS season is a good bet, because he seems pretty safe and they can give him six shows and he can be the new Sandwich guy until they decide whether or not there needs to be one.  Since the FNS sandwich guy (Alex, I see above, I don't remember) is doing much better so far than his act or food would suggest he should, maybe he's this year's pre-appointed "winner".

[needschocolate]

The truth is, I don't watch any how-to-cook shows on FN or anywhere else, I just watch some of the competition shows.  Therefore, I really don't care who wins, I am not going to watch their show.  I don't trust the judging and choosing on this show and think there could be a "chosen one" before filming begins (or a chosen few) and the rest are just there for "entertainment."  In a way, it makes sense for FN to have particular ones they want to win - why even consider certain POVs if they already have successful versions of that POV on the air? They don't need multiple Italian/sandwich/barbecue/whatever shows.  Plus, it is really easy for them to play around with the judging - they base much of their judging on taste, but we don't taste the food and have to take the judges' word for how it tastes.  It is more difficult to make the performance look good if it wasn't, but the "taste" has "saved" many poor performances.