Cutthroat Kitchen - General Discussion

[penbrat]

Really wish Eric Greenspan would have won - he makes me laugh and is a really good sport.   Not a fan of the dude who won that round - can't think of his name - the one in the Buddy Holly glasses.  Hope Blais wipes the floor with him

[Hero]

Eric is hilarious. He and Justin both did a really good job.

Does anyone else not like Antonia as a judge? I like Jet and Simon so much better.

[Bella]

Does anyone else not like Antonia as a judge? I like Jet and Simon so much better.

 

This is where mileage really does vary, because I love, love, love Antonia. I would cast Antonia as a judge on every food show in existence. I do like her better on Restaurant Startup, but I'm just a great big fan of Antonia no matter what she does.

 

OTOH, Jet and Simon are good, too. So I'm happy with all of the judges on this show.

[gryphon]

Shut up Justin. Shut up Justin's purple pants. gah.  I wish Eric would have won. I hope Richard beats the smirk off Justin's face in the finale. 

Edited November 13, 2015 by gryphon

[Amarsir]

Eric was cracking me up too, and it was hard not to root for him. But Justin earned it. He was very smart with the round 1 sabotages and bid well enough to win.

 

Does anyone else not like Antonia as a judge? I like Jet and Simon so much better.

I don't always agree with her reasoning (in as much as I can say, not having tasted the food). But she's very sharp and I'm continually impressed by her insight.  In the after-show she pieces together what happened with astounding precision and her judging shows an open-mindedness to technique that fits the show very well.  I'd say Jet is probably my favorite judge, but like all 3 of them Antonia impresses me plenty.

[Maverick]

Good Lord. Blais and Justin in the finals? Who's next, Spike? I think they call it cutthroat because that's what you'll want to do 5 min into the finale.

I still don't know who the first guy cut was. Did he say he had an online show? Seriously, that's where we're getting "superstars" from now.

Greenspan was fun and I did like him talking back but he was a little annoying refusing to wear the hat. I know it's a nuisance, but that's the game. Suck it up, buttercup.

[NikSac]

This is where mileage really does vary, because I love, love, love Antonia. I would cast Antonia as a judge on every food show in existence. I do like her better on Restaurant Startup, but I'm just a great big fan of Antonia no matter what she does.

 

OTOH, Jet and Simon are good, too. So I'm happy with all of the judges on this show.

 

This might be one of the few shows where I actually like almost all of the judges. Jet's my favorite, but I like Antonia and Simon too. Kind of funny that on a "Cutthroat" show I end up liking most of the judges.

[grisgris]

I'm no fan of Justin Warner, but he deserved to win. He played the game very smartly and I was impressed with his ability to successfully adapt to the sabotages thrown his way. I rooted for Eric, then didn't care that much because he's already won the celebrity championship once. Kelsey will get better if she agrees to be on the show a few more times. (I would have loved for her to win, but knew she didn't have much of a chance.) I hate to be shallow and pick on women, but I thought she looked pretty bad. Very tired and drawn. Maybe her toddler is keeping her up at night... Justin's lips are still red as ever.

[DollEyes]

UGH! The only thing worse than Justin Warner's smug ass winning the second spot in the Superstar Sabotage finale was his beating Eric Greenspan to do it. Giving the Devil his due, the more lemons Justin got, especially in the first round, the more lemonade he made out of them. As for Justin's calling Greenspan a "ding-a-ling" for having raw lobster in his ceviche-inspired dish for the bouillabaisse challenge, last time I checked, ceviche is supposed to be raw and Antonia loved it anyway. Warner was even worse on the After Show

where he briefly became the host and made Alton & Antonia test the turntable sabotage to make Swedish pancakes

. Hopefully, Warner won't win again.

 

  Re the military episode, it was great. Chef Brad not only deserved to win, his being a PTSD survivor made his victory even sweeter. However, I found the Marine chef annoying. Between his calling Bella the Air Force chef "a flight attendant" and saying that Army stands for "Aren't Really Marines Yet," his being eliminated first was karma, as far as I'm concerned.

 

 

Brad is hilarious. I've added him to my fantasy Komedy Kitchen with Yaku and Sammy.

 

  Same here. The scenes with Private Bob alone were comedy gold.

[penbrat]

So glad Fabio won and advanced he is hilarious = have loved him since Top Chef

[caci]

I'm glad Fabio won too. I had no idea why Duff would spend so much money on the first challenge. Considering he said he watches the show all the time, you would think he would know better.

[penbrat]

I'm glad Fabio won too. I had no idea why Duff would spend so much money on the first challenge. Considering he said he watches the show all the time, you would think he would know better.

Yeah, I didn't get that either.  I was not a big fan of him last night.  Rocco was surprisingly  less douchey than I remember him being

Edited November 19, 2015 by penbrat

[Amarsir]

I'm glad Fabio won too. I had no idea why Duff would spend so much money on the first challenge. Considering he said he watches the show all the time, you would think he would know better.

He knew he wasn't staying so he decided to have fun with it. If you know you're out of your element against the competition it's better to have fun spending the money than just give it back to Alton.

[jcbrown]

I was also glad Fabio won and very glad Rocco lost. I find Rocco a bit insufferable. Odd thing about this episode was I usually find Duff insufferable but actually enjoyed him in this. He seemed like he had decided to just have a good time and it was fun to watch.

[Grundoon59]

Out of the 3 finalists so far:  1)  Liked Blais on his season of Top Chef but he has lost all rooting likeability for me for his constant focus on how he should have won that season.  Did you "choke" or did Stepanie kick your butt?  I actually turn the sound off when he is a judge on Top Chef now because I want to scream everytime I see him; 2)  Didn't care too much for Justin on NFNS until we saw him with the other remaining contestant from Alton's team - "older lady" - probably younger than me.  He had a really sweet bond with her even as he was winning; 3) Fabio - loved him on Top Chef and he hasn't done anything to tick me off too much yet.  I would prefer someone I can really root for in the 4th slot but until then ABB (Anyone But Blais) for the win.  Clearly I watch too much Food TV for my own good and take it all a wee bit too seriously but I am a newcomer to Cutthroat Kitchen and don't want Blais to ruin it for me by winning.

[Maverick]

 I find both Fabio and Rocco intolerable and Duff somewhat tolerable.  So of course Claire goes out first.  Not even sure why she was on.  5 Ingredient fix hasn't been in production for years...can't believe they mentioned it.  This is definitely shaping up to be a battle of the dbags.    I see the last round has Alex G, Sherry Yard, Marcel and Bobby Deen.    I'm guessing Marcel is going to the winner.   

[chessiegal]

I'm guessing Claire was there because she shows up now and again on CC, such as Unique Eats or Best Thing I Ever Ate, and is in the Scripps fold. Plus Bobby Flay Exec Produced her show, so she has a hook.

Edited November 24, 2015 by chessiegal

[anonymiss]

Boring! At least Alex didn't win yet again but I was rooting for Marcel. And he's right: his yummy-sounding gf vegan burrito would be on any healthy resort menu.

 

Marcel isn't a douche anymore (and neither is Spike). It's really nice to see Alex's fondness for him ever since they appeared together on Iron Chef. He's grown up as a chef and TV personality. 

[grisgris]

I see that Sherry Yard is the latest FN wannabee star in production. TPTB are apparently trying to make her "happen" like they did to Nancy Fuller. I don't regularly watch the baking competition shows except during the holidays, so maybe Sherry is a regular fixture. This is just the first time I've seen her as a participant. I wasn't unhappy that she lost. She seems like a lot of fun and it was nice for a change to see the automatic "underdog pastry chef" pull off a win. Now had it been "Chopped" or an "Iron Chef" type of competition, it probably would have been a much different outcome.

 

I don't really care who wins. I don't have a strong bias towards or against any of the contestants.

[mlp]

I enjoyed this episode.  The chefs were all good sports and seemed to be having fun.  I love Marcel so I was hoping he'd win but I was OK with Sherry Yard too.  I'd never heard of her before she started showing up on recent baking shows but I like her a lot.  I doubt she has a prayer of winning the final though.

[wallflower75]

I recently saw the Monte Cristo episode, and the winner, Kenny, looked familiar to me.  Was he on a season of Top Chef?

[RockShrimp]

We've watched 2 episodes so far of the all star ones, and I'm kinda surprised how many of them sabotaged... I don't like when one of them starts the round already super screwed. I hate rocko, but impressed he pulled it out with the fake pasta...

[interesting]

I absolutely love the Superstar Sabotage Episodes, I like how they brought the winner from each round of last year and have them compete again.  Shockingly, only Fabio who won his round last year made it out this year.  I really though Greenspan would have made out of his too except he was thinking only the upfront vision of having money now for charity instead of screwing Justin.  And I thought Kelsey did well too in that round. 

 

So I had to google Josh Elkin, it seems he is a host on the show Sugar Showdown in the Cooking Channel, which I don't have, so I didn't know who he was.

 

The last one with Alex G, Sherry Yard, Marcel, and Bobby Deen was hilarious.  Everybody was such a good sport.  It does make it interesting when the chefs sabotage themselves in the pantry, and I was shocked Sherry made it, the curse of Superstar Pastry Chef going home right in the desert round has been broken.  Johnny Iuzzini screwed himself last year with his bidding, and Elizabeth Falkner got screwed by Fabio. 

 

So Sherry won it made me happy, now it's all about stategy, in that finale, if the others are smart, they would try to get rid of Richard Blais first by throwing everything at him, and then Justin and Fabio needs to take out Sherry because having her in the desert round is too much of a risk.  With that said though, I would like to see both Sherry and Richard in the last round battling it out.  And if anyone remember, Sherry was actually a judge on Cutthroat Kitchen in the final round during the episode where the Judges were competing with Geoffrey Zakarian.

[Amarsir]

Is it my imagination or has the content of Alton's After Show shifted? It used to be weighted more toward getting more details from the judge on why they made the decision as well as hypotheticals about how to perform with various sabotages. Now they really like to pick one of the physical challenges and have the judge do it.

 

And to be honest I don't know if I like that better or worse. I just find it interesting that they seem (to me) to have changed.

[mlp]

I've noticed the change also but I haven't minded it.  I enjoy all the judges and their reactions and comments but what I like best is Jet Tila's giggle.

 

I'm glad Fabio finally won a FN competition.  He cracks me up.  I liked the whole episode, even Justin Warner and I usually loathe him.  He was as arrogant as usual but he was a good sport during his challenges so I didn't mind too much.  Richard Blais and Sherry Yard both did great.

[penbrat]

So glad Fabio won!  He cracks me up and he seems like a nice guy.  He can actually cook but was a good sport as well.  Wish it would have been him and Eric Greenspan in the finals (who also makes me laugh).    Get Fabio (and Eric) their own FN shows - they are so much more interesting and funny than say Bobby Flay or Anne Burell or Guy whatever his name is.  FN needs some new blood and these guys could fill it

[Hero]

Fabio is obnoxious sometimes, but I can't help to love him. I have always liked him since he was on top chef.

[Crucial]

So happy Fabio won!  The whole episode was enjoyable to watch, especially Justin in the rain.  Love how he had fun with that challenge.  Sherry was fun to watch too.

[anonymiss]

I cracked up at Fabio's "WTF" face contrasted with Richard's feigned "But of course" face when Simon was praising his hot dog ramen dish.

 

Was rooting for Blais who is such a joy to watch cook now that he's no longer overthinking/worrying about proving himself.

 

I'm surprised Fabio only complained about one item this time being beneath him as an Italian chef. Did you know he's Italian? 

[Psychobunny]

Love how Fabio couldn't stop eating his fish sticks. Not upset he won but I would have been happy with Sherry winning also since she seemed to be having such a good time too.

[RockShrimp]

D'oh... just saw I left out a word here... how many SELF-sabotaged.

We've watched 2 episodes so far of the all star ones, and I'm kinda surprised how many of them sabotaged... I don't like when one of them starts the round already super screwed. I hate rocko, but impressed he pulled it out with the fake pasta...

Edited December 11, 2015 by RockShrimp

[Bella]

Those who self-sabotage seem to have a disproportionate departure rate, even when they aren't given any sabotages by the other chefs.

[Amarsir]

The self-sabotage is why I always really hated the "station swap" sabotage.  Even if we believe that all of the official challenges are tested and beatable, swapping could (and often did) put someone in an unwinnable position.  Plus it made a mockery of their earlier bidding, which undermined the game.  Fortunately they seem to have gotten this message as I haven't seen a swap in many seasons now.

 

On a different topic, I can't believe they made Antonia crawl around that toy house in her mini-dress.  Don't get me wrong, as a guy I wasn't complaining. But I was sympathetic to what must have been very awkward.

[phoenix780]

I think the naughty vs. nice would have made more sense if the nice chefs could only buy sabotages to eliminate them, meaning they could either stay quiet and let others get sabotaged or bid to win to take the sabotage out of the game.  Without something like that...what was nice, exactly?

[CrazyDog]

I really wish Elliot or Kathy had won, but I was at least glad it wasn't Jackie. I haven't seen her before, but she was so annoying. Loved Alton's snark on her at the beginning. (What was that about though?)

[John Seavey]

Last night's episode was pretty good--no real rooting interests among the chefs, but Alton scrooging it up with the Caroling Bobs was funny, and the sabotages were pretty decent. Highlights were the final round "snowglobe prep station" and the ice luge.

 

Strategy was pretty good--one of my biggest irritations is when chefs decide to spread all the round one sabotages around to "level the playing field", and thankfully Chef L'Oreal understood that you don't want a level playing field. You want it to be much, much harder for one chef than for everybody else, and you want that one chef to not be you. Stacking sabotages is a surefire way to make it through to the final round, and I'm glad someone saw the wisdom of that.

[Bella]

Strategy was pretty good--one of my biggest irritations is when chefs decide to spread all the round one sabotages around to "level the playing field", and thankfully Chef L'Oreal understood that you don't want a level playing field. You want it to be much, much harder for one chef than for everybody else, and you want that one chef to not be you. Stacking sabotages is a surefire way to make it through to the final round, and I'm glad someone saw the wisdom of that.

 

Bella's rules of CTK:

1. Don't sabotage yourself because that's the hardest sabotage to beat.

2. Do not level the playing field, as noted above.

3. If a chef has all the sabotages and still makes it through, you're screwed - that chef often wins. See: Fabio in All-Stars, the finalists in Camp CutThroat, etc.

[John Seavey]

Bella's rules of CTK:

2. Do not level the playing field, as noted above.

 

In our house, we describe this as, "If someone is drowning, throw them an anchor." But yes, all good rules.

[Amarsir]

The thing about CTK is that it's a game show with cooking, not a cooking competition. This disappoints people who wanted Alton to be doing a more Iron Chef  type of show again, but it also means the contestants need to think differently. You're right that strategy should be all about picking people off. And it's also about chopping out their bankroll.  My eyes roll so hard every time I hear a competitor say "I know I can't outbid them so I just let it go". Then the person with more money gets to sabotage you for $500 and still has more money. Occasionally a chef knows it's about making them pay, and those are my favorites.

[DollEyes]

Holi-Dazed & Confused" proved that when it comes to Cutthroat Kitchen, the only thing not Alton or Bob-related funnier than Simon Majumdar dressed as a clown is Jet Tila dressed as an elf.

Edited December 23, 2015 by DollEyes

[jcbrown]

I just this morning watched the latest episode. I know Chef Betty has made the rounds on FN but it it driving me nuts that I cannot remember what show(s) I've seen her on before. Anyone?

[Maverick]

 Top Chef.  From the Season Best Forgotten.

[jcbrown]

Thank you! I assumed you meant Texas when you said the season best forgotten (season 9) but concur on season 2, as well. She was driving me nuts on Cutthroat Kitchen with her giggling, mugging, and incompetence. I hoped she would go out on the first round.

[roctavia]

While I get that this is more a game show than it is a cooking show, it always sort of bugs when the people who are complete asses, advance or win. I get some friendly sabatoge/competition... and even the piling on of sabatoges because it is more likely to take some one out, but some of the sabatoges are so imbalanced.

 

The potato sack one was the most recent one that irritated me. The big guy refused to give any of his fellow potato sack people time, and because he was bigger than them he could resist moving, leaving one competitor no time to get her potatoes cooked. I understand that is sort of the point of the sabotages, but it's less fun to watch than say cooking on a crazy contraption or needing to think creatively to overcome a sabotage. I feel the same way about things like taking all of the bread products from the pantry on a sandwhich challenge... leave the sabotaging to Alton and the bobs...

 

The weather vane/alternate cooking surface things are always fun. I liked the attempt at frying the potato flakes so they had some semblance of a potato. The creativity to get around a sabotage is the fun part of watching for me.

Thank you! I assumed you meant Texas when you said the season best forgotten (season 9) but concur on season 2, as well. She was driving me nuts on Cutthroat Kitchen with her giggling, mugging, and incompetence. I hoped she would go out on the first round.

 

I agree... not a fan of Betty... I couldn't wait for her to go home...  Though that tandem sticks thing was an awful sabotage!!

Edited January 6, 2016 by Jjrmt

[Amarsir]

The potato sack one was the most recent one that irritated me. The big guy refused to give any of his fellow potato sack people time, and because he was bigger than them he could resist moving, leaving one competitor no time to get her potatoes cooked. I understand that is sort of the point of the sabotages, but it's less fun to watch than say cooking on a crazy contraption or needing to think creatively to overcome a sabotage. I feel the same way about things like taking all of the bread products from the pantry on a sandwhich challenge... leave the sabotaging to Alton and the bobs...

Agreed. I assume there's some kind of rule in place about how you can't take more than one of a category item.  So if someone can't find (say) bread maybe it's deliberate that there were only 3 on the shelf and they expect the slowest person to resort to a wrap or something.  I'm just guessing, as a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff isn't shown. (For example sometimes they're allowed to start boiling water before the round starts; I know that much.)

 

You're also right about teamwork sabotages letting a "partner" ruin someone. But I wonder if the editing wasn't playing into that a little bit. Yes, they showed Joe holding back the sack while Jacqueline was rushing him. But they showed that same clip FOUR times, spread out of order with other clips. And piecing it together that clip came after her stuff was boiling. (The clip shows Joe cutting asparagus which is still on the cutting board during a much later clip.) So that wasn't actually what killed her.

 

I'm sure it was a major inconvenience and Jacqueline was third to prep the potatoes.  (Which she agreed to when they laid out the plan.) Also Sarah and Joe could reach their tables at the same time while she couldn't. Also her talking head implied that she couldn't check as often as she wanted, not that there was literally no time to cook.  So I don't want to overweight something that was probably like 60% the editors playing up a story.

 

But I do agree it's a potential problem if they don't have rules about sharing.

[roctavia]

Definitely it could be all editing, or even mostly editing... but then, I'd prefer the editors just let the show speak for itself... the sabotages are bad enough, they don't have to make it look worse/ make someone look like a total jerk. I mean, I guess they always do that with any sort of reality show, try and set up some good guys and bad guys... but it just seems so unnecessary for a short show like this.

 

And really, I can understand why the contestants would do things like not sharing well in circumstances like the potato sack or some of the other things we've seen with taking turns- like the alternating stations stuff. they want to win... but I'm less likely to root for someone or be glad to see them win if they are acting like a jerk. It's a fine line, since this show is all about making the other competitors suffer...

 

I know there was an episode in maybe the first season where one of the contestants purposefully grabbed every single bread item in the pantry so his competitors couldn't have any... but maybe they have since made a rule about that... since it'd be really easy for someone to do every time and takes away the fun of Alton's sabotages.

[jcbrown]

Ack. Just watching the one with Danushka. I cannot stand the sound of her voice. I did not like her in Next FN Star and find her droning here to be nearly insufferable. I hope this isn't the beginning of FN putting her in regular rotation as they are wont to do.

[chessiegal]

Too late. I think she's previously been on Chopped and something else.

[mlp]

I couldn't stand Danushka when I first saw her on Chopped but I warmed up to her when she was on NFNS.  I realized that she's self-aware and knows she's got a shtick and is playing it for good or ill.  I get a kick out of her now.

[NikSac]

I still can't stand her personally, but I feel like I've seen her on quite a few FN shows now.  Curiosity got the better of me so I looked her up, here's her IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5159143/. And an "about me" page: https://about.me/danushkacooks

 

She started with Fear Factor in 2004 and was apparently on some VH1 show called The Super Group where she was a live in chef for rock stars, then she was on a show called 24 Hour Restaurant Battle (haven't seen that one).  Then Chopped in 2012, Food Network Star in 2013, some other show I've never heard of called "Stay Regular" in 2014, and most recently Cutthroat Kitchen. Apparently she was also on The Bachelor, but very briefly.

Edited January 15, 2016 by NikSac