S11.E10: Dish of a Lifetime and Pilots

[Mmazeo]

I thought it was very middle school picking teams for basketball. I didn't like it one bit.  I think it would have been better to only bring out the last four from Star Salvation.

Lol, they do this on other cooking shows. Top Chef comes to mind. They're adults I think they will be ok.

[Snarklepuss]

I have a feeling we're all going to be a little surprised at who the winner is no matter who it is!  It feels like a real toss up this year.  I think the most logical winner would be Jay but they may be going for the element of suspense/surprise this year like they have in some former years just for the drama factor.  I really hope Jay doesn't win.  Not because I don't like the guy but because I'm just not feeling his rehearsed style.  I really do think he is more suited to an OxyClean commercial than this job.  I can live with Eddie winning because he's got a lot going for him and is very likable.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Snarklepuss

[buttercupia]

I'll miss Arnold.  I hope they can find something for him on the network.

[rab01]

Lol, they do this on other cooking shows. Top Chef comes to mind. They're adults I think they will be ok.

The great thing about Top Chef is that it usually happens during the finale and everyone who isn't picked gets to go back to drinking at whatever exotic toursit spot they're at. I always got the impression that some of the contestants were hungover during the sous-chef selection.

[innocuouspuff]

It hit me -- I predict Giada is going to work Dom into her Italian shows in some way and they're going to become an Italian cooking duo. Not all the time, but I bet that's her plan.

Giada was on Alton's podcast talking about how she had a kind of resentment/rivalry with Mario Batali based on them both doing Italian and him (according to her) feeling like she got by on being attractive, so I don't know that cooking the same cuisine as someone really predicts a partnership. And I still feel like Bobby's got the bigger crush on Dom, heh.

I'm happy to see Dom back, it's true. Also there are lots of people in entertainment with performance fears or related anxiety. The most famous off the top of my head is Chris Evans, he almost didn't take the Captain America role because of it. It's not necessarily the most fun topic for a tv show but I'm not super comfortable with the idea that they should all just go hide away and not try. We'd be missing a lot of awesome creatives if everybody did that.

We've talked about Eddie's flimsy "Caribbean" knowlegde but Bobby calling the Scotch Bonnet peppers in his dish Habaneros made me really annoyed lol. Bobby this is supposed to be your wheelhouse, those two things are not the same! Related, but not literally the same thing. Stop repeating that bad information, Food Network.

Eddie speaks African American English but I haven't personally noticed a problem with his grammar outside of that. I guess he should be better at code-switching but as an athlete I guess he hasn't had to be.

Nothing to say about Jay so I guess he bores me. :)

Edited August 13, 2015 by innocuouspuff

[LennieBriscoe]

I would never watch Jay, not for his limited Cajun POV, not for his John Madden-esque manner, and, I've figured out, not for his very voice. I simply don't like its tone.

Eddie, I'd give a couple minutes to, just to look at, as he IS fine. But I'm not interested in Caribbean cuisine, never had anything "jerk," and, while I like heat, I prefer pungent-heat to sweet-heat. If Eddie Goes Tailgating is the focus, yeah, really won't care.

Dom, OTOH, can show me how to make those yummy agnolotti!

[cooksdelight]

Giada has a thread in this forum, so I moved your comments about her feud with Mario over there. 

[HyeChaps]

I don't really see any point of competition between Giada and Dom. Dom cooks "American" Italian food and Giada's seem like what they eat in Italy. Not the same.

[ElleryAnne]

Late to the game but just caught up on this season.  Just read through all of the comments, so I'll try not to be too repetitive.

 

I knew Arnold was a goner two minutes into the episode when they showed him talking about how excited he was to make final three.  It broke my heart a little to see him go.  (Sometimes I hate show editors.)   I liked him. His show might have been fun to watch.

 

I hate Star Salvation, because when the contestants are eliminated I want them to stay eliminated.  I don't hate Dom per se.  But it always feels like a bit of a cheat that someone can get eliminated and then come back.  And yes, I know they're still competing for that chance.  I'm irrational, I suppose, but it still feels like a cheat.  OTOH, Arnold, Jay and Eddie should have seen it coming.  It's not like it's the first season it's been used.

 

(Also, I'd have preferred either Rue or Alex to be the returnee.  Rue's Southern African cuisine POV is the the only one from this season's contestants that isn't fairly commonly represented on TV, and I was hoping to actually learn something with her show.  And Alex was not TV-ready, but his potential POV - or rather Bobby's idea for his POV -  of "the world through sandwiches" had some appeal.)

 

I've been crushing on Eddie a bit all season, but I wasn't terribly impressed with his pilot.  Then again, all three pilots were so generic that in two weeks I won't remember any of them.  

 

Jay's pilot, IMO, was awful - which surprised me because I thought he'd do well.  

 

Rachel Ray,  when Jay hugged her:  "Oh. He's a hugger, I guess."  She really looked like she didn't want to be hugging him.

 

I'm not impressed with Dom.  I don't dislike him, and I suspect his food is as good as Bobby and Giada say, but the guy just doesn't register as good TV to me. I totally understand the comments about Jay seeming like a used-car salesman (and didn't one of the guest judges or tasters say exactly that about him once?).  He seems like the obvious fit for the network, but I wouldn't watch him, myself.

 

I was surprised the pilots weren't up for viewer voting.  I thought they had been, the past few seasons.

[cooksdelight]

I was surprised the pilots weren't up for viewer voting.  I thought they had been, the past few seasons.

 

Lenny sort of ruined that from ever happening again.

[ElleryAnne]

Yeah, I suspected that might be the case.  I just wasn't sure if they'd released any "official" reason for the change.

[saltycheese]

I think that Eddie has the most potential. He's very attractive and personable and the FN needs to recognize and capitalize on that. Whether or not he does the stand- and-stir or the travel-and-taste can be decided later, regardless of whether or not he can be considered a "food authority." After all, we can't taste what is on tv.  I doubt I am the only longtime FN viewer who has pretty much reached my ceiling of what I can learn from the network and then feasibly apply in the kitchen. There are only so many minutes in an evening and spices in a cabinet that a full time working mom of three can manage, you know?

[grumpypanda]

I know I'm a little late to the party but I just got around to watching this episode. Anyway, color me confused, when the heck did Jay's POV become deep fried foods and since when is Eddy a bbq expert? I feel like this shit came out of nowhere. It's all so random and makes zero sense. And why does Dom get to stick with Italian food?

[Aquarius]

Yay.  We got to see Dom come back to fret yet again about how much he fears the camera.  Suck it the fuck up, buttercup.  Arnold is gone and you're still here?  Arnold had no problem with the camera and was way more likeable and interesting than you.  And I'm from New Jersey, so I have no problem with your New York demeanor.  You just suck.  Go away.  </middle finger>

 

OK, now that I've gotten that off my chest.

 

I continue to not see the Jay Magic but I do think he's going to win.  Medusa described him as "flawless."  Everyone seems to wet their pants following his OxyClean - err, food presentations.  He's the Chosen One.

 

Rachel Ray,  when Jay hugged her:  "Oh. He's a hugger, I guess."  She really looked like she didn't want to be hugging him.

I was surprised the pilots weren't up for viewer voting.  I thought they had been, the past few seasons.

 

Hee.  I knew I liked Rachael for some reason.  That was an awesome reaction.

 

I'm not surprised the pilots aren't up for anyone to see.  If we did, we wouldn't see anything Sparkly!Wonderful!Exciting! about Jay's pilot.  So when they tell us these are the reasons he's won, we'll need to believe them.

 

And thank you to whomever above said Jay doesn't blink.  True, he doesn't have crazy eyes in the sense of Lenny-who-never-happened, but he doesn't frigging blink when he should.  Disconcerting.

 

I really do like Eddie.  I think he's great when he has someone to play off.  I don't mind the whole Playah thing - he IS a fine specimen.  I probably would have done what Rachael did if I wasn't standing there all SQUEE! as I probably would have been.  Yes, I'm shallow.  But regardless, I do think Eddie is the best one here.  I didn't love any combined 30 seconds of the pilots that we saw, but I liked Eddie's the best.

[Snarklepuss]

In case anyone is interested, I saw this blurb on the "Food Network Star" page:

 

 

Catch the Finalists on The Kitchen

Before one of them is crowned Food Network's newest Star on Sunday, Dom, Eddie and Jay stop by The Kitchen to dish on the best bites for a pool party.

 

I record "The Kitchen" every week so I'll be watching it.

[lynny]

I don't hate Dom. But I wouldn't watch him ever. When he was eliminated, I thought he may be gone and I was happy. But it became extremely obvious that he was eliminated when he was because he would have never been able to pull off the "live TV" challenge. He would have likely ruined it for everyone. And once he did that, they could never justify bringing him back. So, the easiest thing to do is to allow him to skip it and then bring him back once it was over. That actually made me really mad.

Edited August 15, 2015 by lynny

[Snarklepuss]

I watched "The Kitchen" today and they had the 3 finalists on at the very end in a 60 second challenge using watermelon.  All I can say is I didn't like the way any of them presented themselves.  I thought Jay was loud and more about calling attention to himself than the food.  Eddie was as usual, laughing and joking so much I don't even know what he was going on about, and Dom was mostly quiet unless someone asked him a question.  I just thought the whole thing was somehow really strange and unappealing.  I can only imagine that the winner had already been chosen and the finale filmed before this was filmed, because I would doubt very much that it had been filmed months ago - They only just redid their outdoor patio recently and they were on the new patio.  That said, my gut says the winner is going to be Jay.  I don't know why, perhaps something under the surface I'm picking up in the body language between the contestants and Jeff Mauro and Sunny Anderson.  Something in the side eye glaces and fist bumps, perhaps.  I guess we'll just have to see.