Cutthroat Kitchen - General Discussion

[Amarsir]

1 hour ago, spiderpig said:

I love this show.  It doesn't pretend not to be bullshit.  (Is that a double negative?)

The contestants know what they're getting into and take the challenges in stride.  So do the judges.  Seeing Simon in a themed costume cracks me up.

I'm wondering if we're going to see Antonia with big hair and a jean jacket tonight. She could totally rock the 80s look!

[spiderpig]

Gotta be better than Blaise in a platinum wig.

[candall]

On ‎6‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 3:30 PM, Amarsir said:

I'm wondering if we're going to see Antonia with big hair and a jean jacket tonight. She could totally rock the 80s look!

Winner winner chicken dinner!  You have 60 seconds to shop.

 

I still love quiche, Chinese chicken salad--Asian sesame dressing: yum--and most of all, fried calamari (coming up in the 90's finale.)  I did not realize my food was so passe'.

 

Toaster pastry, never a fan.  But it tickles me to remember how thrilled my grandmother was with the convenience of Poptarts--she LOVED them.  I guess when your life dates back to the day when every dinner required being faster than the chicken and rolling out the dough, a 60-second toaster pastry is a mighty fine thing.

 

Even though I really liked the final-two woman, and she was a funny bunny through the whole episode, I was still glad the man won.  I liked his attitude that "It's not YOUR money" and she really had an easier ride due to the insurance policy.  I liked the insurance policy gambit, though--it created an additional angle to the strategizing.

I would have spent up to half my money on that thing, right off the bat, and it went pretty cheap, considering.  They all know the show--why didn't they realize there are some sabotages that are simply insurmountable and the value of getting out of those?

 

The boombox was WAY too heavy, besides being gigantic and awkward.  For me, it's a strain to carry 35 pounds of dog food from the car to the house.

[Amarsir]

20 hours ago, candall said:

Even though I really liked the final-two woman, and she was a funny bunny through the whole episode, I was still glad the man won.  I liked his attitude that "It's not YOUR money" and she really had an easier ride due to the insurance policy.  I liked the insurance policy gambit, though--it created an additional angle to the strategizing.

I would have spent up to half my money on that thing, right off the bat, and it went pretty cheap, considering.  They all know the show--why didn't they realize there are some sabotages that are simply insurmountable and the value of getting out of those?

I thought he played terribly for a former winner. The insurance card was a one-time use. And unless Alton mis-spoke on it, all it did was force the saboteur to pick someone else. So it seems the ideal play is "Sabotage you. Oh, I can't? Ok, I pick the guy I was going to pick anyway and now your card is gone." Instead she got 2 rounds for free, and at a very low price.  (Unless I misunderstood Alton and she got to redirect the sabotage, as in back to the person who bought it. In which case that card was definitely way too cheap.)  

And then he did what I hate in the last round: "I can't win so I won't bid." No, you make them outspend you on the first sabotage so you can win the second. Argh. That said, he was a good cook so he deserved the win in that regard.  And I do agree with you that it was smart to spend aggresively. Nothing must feel dumber than turning in $25,000 when you go home.

[candall]

1 hour ago, Amarsir said:

I thought he played terribly for a former winner. The insurance card was a one-time use. And unless Alton mis-spoke on it, all it did was force the saboteur to pick someone else. So it seems the ideal play is "Sabotage you. Oh, I can't? Ok, I pick the guy I was going to pick anyway and now your card is gone." Instead she got 2 rounds for free, and at a very low price.  (Unless I misunderstood Alton and she got to redirect the sabotage, as in back to the person who bought it. In which case that card was definitely way too cheap.)  

 

Yes, I had the same impression as you.  The insurance policy wasn't very dangerous as a weapon because the saboteur could just move to the next person.  But as a one-time Get Out Of Jail Free card, it was priceless--assuming you had the nerve to accept a simple sabo and save the insurance for something really horrendous.

I don't know why they didn't go at her with the sabos right away, until she used it and it was out of play.  No risky blowback to worry about, at least in the first round, when there were plenty of other targets available.

I think the show pressure made them incapable of processing the new twist.  The only place it would get tricky is if all the contestants except the insured were yoked together.  If you couldn't stick the free-range contestant with the next sabotage, you'd get hurt by proximity, but you wouldn't want to let her win the auction either. . .

Anyway, it turned out to be kind of interesting and it could've been a huge dud-o-rama.

[candall]

Not much chit-chat happening here.  Hello-o-o?

I really enjoyed the "decades" competition more than regular CK.  The time-appropriate costumes, food and challenges made it more interesting to watch than just checking in on the ever crazier sabotages.  Grunge Alton was every bit as funny as Sgt. Pepper Alton.

Seems like the show might have chipped in for a cash bonus prize to the ultimate winner.

[mlp]

I enjoyed the decades competition too including the costumes on Alton and the judges.  The 90's finale was especially funny because the guys were a hoot together.  I wanted them all to win.

[hkit]

Really enjoyed the 90s finale. I think this group of contestants were so fun - not a nasty trash talker amongst them! Plus, they all were familiar with the 90s cultural references, and played on them so well. Chef Won doing the Bye Bye Bye wave after an elimination was hilarious. 

[Winter Rose]

I love that they made one of the sabotages be something that could've been straight out of Double Dare.

[Amarsir]

Yeah that last set piece was amazing. I was wondering why they didn't do Camp Cutthroat again this year but I can see their construction crew was working on some serious stuff as it was.  Compared to early episodes it's obvious that FN has raised their budget considerably,

[Maverick]

They are doing Camp Cuthroat again this year.  Subtitled Alton's Revenge.  On the promo Alton looked like some deranged mental institution escapee you'd see in a low rent horror movie. 

[HappyDancex2]

The judges episode was awesome.  I wish they would do more of these. 

[Amarsir]

Oh my God, this was the best. I was giggling like mad at Antonia's antics during the 3rd round. You can tell they were really in it for the fun.

I like Greenspan too, but I'm not sure what I thought of him as judge. I'm not saying any of his calls were wrong, but I don't have enough sense of him to guess if his weighting of components is consistent with how the others do.

[HappyDancex2]

I actually thought the Blaise elimination was off.  Sometimes I think the judges look at the cash boxes and make decisions to either send people with a lot of money home, or a little bit of money.  I was banking on seeing Blaise loaded up with a bunch of sabotages in the dessert round.  But the final sabotage was pretty epic.  Not sure why Simon didn't try to make nitro ice cream though.  I would have rather seen Blaise and Antonia battle it out.

greenspan looks like he dropped some weight.  Good for him.  Simon too.

[mlp]

I loved this episode.  I like all the judges and hated to see each of them eliminated.  They were a hoot.

Alan Greenspan looks sooooooooooo much better since he shaved his ample neck and cheeks.  I've always liked him but he looked like a bum.  He'd be nice looking (and live longer) if he'd lose a lot of weight.  

I wish Antonia would show up more often on FN.  She's great.

[Psychobunny]

This episode made me an Antonia fan. They were all good but she was awesome in that last round. The only thing that bothers me is that they never bid the exact amount that the other person has. There is no need to bid more than the other person has because they still won't be able to outbid you.

[Winter Rose]

I'm glad they did another judges competition. I would've been fine with any one of them winning but congrats to Antonia for defending her title. Even though he didn't win - and I'm sure "deconstructed" is what did him in - I'm glad Simon redeemed himself from last time. It also looks like even with the sabotages, these judges do - and should - put out better food than the regular contestants.

[Amarsir]

On 7/7/2016 at 1:24 AM, HappyDancex2 said:

I actually thought the Blaise elimination was off.  

Simon's grain was undercooked, to the extent that Eric thought it might actually contain nuts. I think most judges would consider that a fatal flaw. However, lack of texture is a perfectly justifiable reason for elimination and Simon even mentioned it in his shopping talking head. (Whenever that was recorded.)

On 7/9/2016 at 8:01 PM, Psychobunny said:

This episode made me an Antonia fan. They were all good but she was awesome in that last round. The only thing that bothers me is that they never bid the exact amount that the other person has. There is no need to bid more than the other person has because they still won't be able to outbid you.

You and me both. Bugs every time. But not only did I like how Antonia treated that sabotage, I really liked the idea of that and the bench press in Round 1 - because they let the contestants keep messing with each other. In a normal competition you don't know how that will play out with random contestants. But the judges know it's all for fun so they treated it that way.  I definitely want to see more of those next time. Give the self-contained ones like the Grain Silo to the regulars.

On 7/9/2016 at 9:29 PM, Winter Rose said:

I'm glad they did another judges competition. I would've been fine with any one of them winning but congrats to Antonia for defending her title. Even though he didn't win - and I'm sure "deconstructed" is what did him in - I'm glad Simon redeemed himself from last time. It also looks like even with the sabotages, these judges do - and should - put out better food than the regular contestants.

From concept to completion it's night and day.

Regular episode: "The challenge is shakshuka." "Whuh?"
Judge episode: "The challenge is a poached eggdish." "Cool. I'm gonna make a shakshuka."

And then the finished dishes look full and complete and get the judges raving. In the All-Star we've even heard things like "One of the best dishes I've ever eaten" and "I'd like your recipe for this."

[Amarsir]

Chef Emilia is a better cook than I remembered her being from Food Network Star. Of course it wasn't her cooking ability that got her sent home from that show, but still she was definitely a cut above the average competitor here. And the other chefs seemed to know it.

[jcbrown]

Just catching up on last week's episode and I hope I NEVER see Anne Burrell as a judge on this show again. She was a raging bitch and seemed to be having zero fun. Antonia is tough but doesn't come across like this. You can be a tough judge without being a total asshole but Anne is awful in most competitive situations and this was no exception.

[Hero]

I HATE Ann. She is such a crappy person. She ruins everything she is on. 

I remember when she was on Chopped and she threw a tantrum because they told her that she couldn't use the empty table next to her.

[Amarsir]

Does she have another season of "Worst Cooks" starting soon? Because otherwise I can't figure out why they interjected her here. Surely we didn't need another reminder of her existence just because.

[Maverick]

 Anne comes across as an increasingly unpleasant person with each progressive appearance.  She's shown herself to be quite hateful when in competition mode but know we know she's equally bad when judging peers.  She should get together with Melissa d'Arabian because neither of them can judge without being an arrogant, condescending nasty piece of work.    

 I suspect we'll be seeing her back with Rachel Ray in Worst Cooks:  "Celebrity" soon.   Alton mentioned her as the host of both versions and the celebrity edition aired in the fall last year.  I haven't heard if it's coming back, but the new head of FN is obsessed with "celebrities" so I have no doubt its's about to inflicted on us again.

[Hero]

Damn, chef Kate's voice is so obnoxious.  I wish Vincent stayed longer. I liked the back and forth between him and Kate. He is hilarious and I absolutely loved his accent. 

[mlp]

I missed Kate's introduction.  Is she actually a chef in charge of a kitchen somewhere?  I can't picture someone with her goofy personality and awful voice managing anything or anybody very well.

[caci]

I was really looking forward to this show and then I saw Kate was one of the contestants.  I think I can honestly say that she is my least favorite reality show contestant EVER!  Seriously, everything about her annoys me, from her horrible voice to her obnoxious mannerisms.  Honestly, I don't care if it's all a schtick, I just can't watch her.   Last night, I only semi watched but with the sound muted.  Unfortunately, she won so I get to look forward to her in the final.  I will pray she loses in the first round!

[Amarsir]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

I missed Kate's introduction.  Is she actually a chef in charge of a kitchen somewhere?  I can't picture someone with her goofy personality and awful voice managing anything or anybody very well.

"Private Chef". Which is not much of a credential, but sounds better than "Doing goofy schtick so I'll be cast on the next season of Food Network Star." 

[Winter Rose]

Kate makes me want to poke out my eardrums. I figure they deliberately put her and Vincent together for the banter but then he got eliminated first so it wasn't even worth that. The look on Alton's face when she won was similar to my own.

[Hero]

Vincent was pretty cute and I wished he stayed longer.

[Psychobunny]

I know I should hate Kate because she is so annoying but somehow I found myself rooting for her to win. I think it's how some people think about Danushka-either she is the most clueless person ever, or more likely, she is in on the joke and it's all deliberate. Also, annoying as she is, she never whines about a sabotage being unfair. She may comment that her food may not be as good, but she does suck it up and do the sabotage in good spirits. The 

[roctavia]

I'm liking this Camp Cutthroat better than last year.. less of the just wasting time sabotages and more tasks they have to do to get ingredients/challenging cooking situations.  So for me, much better sabotages. Hopefully that will continue for the next few episodes.

[hkit]

Where do they get some of these contestants? Last night I watched one brag about how he only made cookies with store bought dough. The same contestant proceeded to pat himself on the back because he managed to whip cream with a whisk. Really? There was nobody who had more culinary experience you could use than this? I can understand not knowing a cookie recipe off the top of your head (actually, I can't. It's a contest. You may be asked to do a dessert. Memorize a fucking recipe). What I find reprehensible is someone who is obviously so unskilled that he thinks that whipping cream by hand is some sort of gastronomic feat. 

Also, since I am already annoyed and agitated, I am finding the "bobs" joke a little tired. Alton is a funny guy. It feels cheap to rely on the same gag.

[Amarsir]

I like how the Camp Cutthroat theme has taken a different twist this year. Last year was "fun time at summer camp". This time it's more "wilderness survival". It's different inspiration and definitely keeps things from feeling redundant.  I also appreciate that they're making at least some use of the lake, although less than last year. A lot of these sabotages could be done in the studio and the water is too unique of a resource not to use.

If I recall correctly, Chef Greg (the first one eliminated) also lost his first appearance for making a good dish that didn't quite match the task. It seems a comprehension problem where he's just not getting the importance of meeting expectations.

I don't mind the Bobs thing. (I also like the pineapple as a recurring joke. Reminds me of Psych.) But I do think it can get overused in a single episode and probably was in this one. Having to do "Bob Calls" is enough of a presence that we don't need much attention on them for the rest of the show.

[mlp]

I'm enjoying this so far.  They've come up with some clever bits.  That suit made of twigs was especially cool.  No one saw the person standing right in front of them until he moved.  I could do without Alton's naked armpit.  :)  I wonder if his bumblebee tattoo is real or part of the costume.

[Amarsir]

4 hours ago, mlp said:

 I wonder if his bumblebee tattoo is real or part of the costume.

It's real. It's his wife's name.

[Amarsir]

I thought the quicksand challenge was pretty clever. Wilderness-themed, outdoors-appropriate, and physically challenging but not debilitating.

On the other hand, using "Bob the Bear" to cook for you makes no sense. I wonder if maybe they had a different challenge planned but a technical issue came up so this was their substitute. 

[holly4755]

I really like the Halloween theme, the contestants really seemed to be enjoying themselves and screaming on cue. Sometimes it is just fun watching happy people being ridiculous. 

[Amarsir]

The show is really getting into costumes too. I don't think I needed a naked Richard Blaise to judge the Camp finale, but otherwise I love all the theming.

[Winter Rose]

The timing's kind of funny that we go from summer camp, essentially, straight to Halloween. But this show embraces the gimmicks so I love that everyone involved just goes all out with them. And I love that Alton fully committed to his Hannibal Lector costume instead of just being wheeled in for his entrance.

[holly4755]

and Richard Blais being committed to Clarice for the entire show, heh. 

[Amarsir]

9 hours ago, holly4755 said:

and Richard Blais being committed to Clarice for the entire show, heh. 

Including heels. I actually wonder to what extent he stayed in costume backstage.

[Winter Rose]

After Camp Cutthroat, I wouldn't put anything passed him. Although if he was sitting he'd probably be able to keep the heels and it wouldn't matter. I know Richard Blais isn't everyone's favorite but one thing I can say about him is every time I see him on this show, he looks like he's having an absolute blast.

[LeighAnne]

Drinking game time!

Cutthroat Kitchen:  "Tournament of Terror," Heat 2:

Somebody uses the word "deconstructed" to describe their dish.  Drink!

Somebody in their exit interview says, "I should have spent more money."  Drink!

Somebody forgot to get eggs.  Drink!

[Amarsir]

11 hours ago, LeighAnne said:

Somebody forgot to get eggs.  Drink!

I just knew it on that trip. People forget eggs way too frequently, but something about the way she said she planned a crepe made it inevitable.

I think the early days of the show had a lot of "deconstructed" and heavy use of Sweet Thai Chili Sauce, and Jet just about throttled some people until it stopped. But yeah I'd have to say "deconstructed" is a generous description for his sushi roll.

[lambertman]

And now it's a MONDAY night show. Alton and FN must be having quite the spat.

[holly4755]

well it is no longer in on demand, so I better dvr it when it is on. very annoying. 

[Psychobunny]

Poor Jetbot.  I wonder if he really fell down the stairs.

[lambertman]

The end is nigh. Show's been moved again to 4 PM Sundays, just as AB announces his online Good Eats-esque show is a go via a social media vid. 

[caci]

Aw, that's too bad.  I like this show, esp. the celebrity editions and camp cutthroat.  Plus, there weren't many sob stories, which was refreshing.

[holly4755]

I just don't understand what happened. this is so much better than food network star and seems less fixed.  i don't think they care who wins.