Top Chef Junior - General Discussion

[Sew Sumi]

He's taller than Curtis!

[biakbiak]

9 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

He's taller than Curtis!

They measured on the boot camp episode and Curtis was slightly taller but that could be because of Curtis’s spiky hair!

[Simon47]

Overall, I like the episode. I like Simon so far, and Tyler was the right choice to go home.

On 9/10/2018 at 5:20 PM, biakbiak said:

They measured on the boot camp episode and Curtis was slightly taller but that could be because of Curtis’s spiky hair!

If Curtis were to shave his hair off, then Carson would be taller than him. But it’s a growth spurt.

What does pescatarian mean?

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, Simon47 said:

What does pescatarian mean?

They eat fish and usually shellfish but not beef/pork/chicken, etc.

[mlp]

Is this show going to be on every Friday?  UK ran the same show last night as they did last week.  I don't understand the scheduling.

[biakbiak]

24 minutes ago, mlp said:

Is this show going to be on every Friday?  UK ran the same show last night as they did last week.  I don't understand the scheduling.

It airs in the US on Saturday, there was a new ep tonight. Sheldon from TC was on.

Edited September 16, 2018 by biakbiak

[mlp]

Quote

It airs in the US on Saturday, there was a new ep tonight.

I don't know why I thought it was a Friday show.  I was going to a play last night and checked to make sure I had my DVR set and saw that the episode from last week was scheduled.  I just now checked my DVR and found that the new episode did record tonight so I didn't miss it entirely.  Thanks for the response!

[Rammchick]

14 hours ago, mlp said:

I don't know why I thought it was a Friday show.  I was going to a play last night and checked to make sure I had my DVR set and saw that the episode from last week was scheduled.  I just now checked my DVR and found that the new episode did record tonight so I didn't miss it entirely.  Thanks for the response!

It was on Fridays last season.

[jcbrown]

I loved that Carson wore his fabulous robe all the way through to Judges' Table. He is one of my favorites, I think.

[biakbiak]

I don’t like the envelope for the immunity. At least last season there seemed to be a sort of randomness that they had a little bit of control, now we just get to see them cry twice! 

[mlp]

Why is there an envelope at all?  I didn't see last season and I don't recall hearing them explain how it works this time around.  It sounds like one of the kids could submit a truly horrendous concoction and then get saved by a random envelope.  Presumably, one of the kids holds the envelope so no one can accuse the judges of rigging that decision.  How do they decide which kid?

I think Curtis does a great job with the kids.  I always enjoy seeing Sheldon.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, mlp said:

didn't see last season and I don't recall hearing them explain h

They just said that there would be three saves in the envelope over the course of the season, last year their were numbered candy jars and the kids would pick a number and it would reveal if they were saved.

[Rammchick]

10 hours ago, biakbiak said:

They just said that there would be three saves in the envelope over the course of the season, last year their were numbered candy jars and the kids would pick a number and it would reveal if they were saved.

I guess the assumption is that the envelopes and the candy jars are functionally similar, but no, I don't think it was explained that the envelope is randomly drawn as well.

[Simon47]

On 9/17/2018 at 1:22 AM, mlp said:

Why is there an envelope at all?  I didn't see last season and I don't recall hearing them explain how it works this time around.  It sounds like one of the kids could submit a truly horrendous concoction and then get saved by a random envelope.  Presumably, one of the kids holds the envelope so no one can accuse the judges of rigging that decision.  How do they decide which kid?

I think Curtis does a great job with the kids.  I always enjoy seeing Sheldon.

Wonder what happened to the jars? Do you think the saves are useful on this show, or can they go?

What did you think about Katie getting sick? I think it was perfectly normal. I’ve seen that happen before.

Vanessa has improved a LOT and I like her now.

[Crucial]

I love Carson.  Can Nicole go home already?  She should have been the first to go.  She had Ricotto and wantons.  Her other dish sucked too (Sorry but when we first saw her with Vanessa and how she was with her, then with her food, she should be gone).  Richard liked the meatballs.  She better not win.  I saw the clips and it looks like she is there in later rounds. The envelope is stupid.  You lose, you lose.  You want to save someone, have a last chance kitchen then.  You could save someone who doesn't deserve to be saved.   Oh well.

[mlp]

Quote

Wonder what happened to the jars? Do you think the saves are useful on this show, or can they go?

What did you think about Katie getting sick? I think it was perfectly normal. I’ve seen that happen before.

Did the jars serve the same purpose?  I don't understand why they have random saves at all.  There are plenty of kids so the season will be long enough without them.  I might be OK with it if saving a kid who has been doing very well and has a bad day falls to the judges to decide but, the way it's set up now, someone skating by could be saved even though he or she made something awful.

I gave very little thought to Katie getting sick.  It happens and she had immunity so it wasn't like she was faking to avoid something.  Katie missing a challenge had no effect on game play at all.

[biakbiak]

50 minutes ago, mlp said:

Did the jars serve the same purpose?  I don't understand why they have random saves at all. 

Yes the jars served the same purpose. The kid chose one of the jars and then pulled out a card that said I’d they were saved or eliminated.

[Simon47]

10 hours ago, Crucial said:

I love Carson.  Can Nicole go home already?  She should have been the first to go.  She had Ricotto and wantons.  Her other dish sucked too (Sorry but when we first saw her with Vanessa and how she was with her, then with her food, she should be gone).  Richard liked the meatballs.  She better not win.  I saw the clips and it looks like she is there in later rounds. The envelope is stupid.  You lose, you lose.  You want to save someone, have a last chance kitchen then.  You could save someone who doesn't deserve to be saved.   Oh well.

There is no Nicole or Richard on Top Chef Junior. What are the actual names of the contestants?

8 hours ago, mlp said:

Did the jars serve the same purpose?  I don't understand why they have random saves at all.  There are plenty of kids so the season will be long enough without them.  I might be OK with it if saving a kid who has been doing very well and has a bad day falls to the judges to decide but, the way it's set up now, someone skating by could be saved even though he or she made something awful.

I gave very little thought to Katie getting sick.  It happens and she had immunity so it wasn't like she was faking to avoid something.  Katie missing a challenge had no effect on game play at all.

The jars served the same purpose, yes. Last season there were like 12-15 episodes and the same number of jars were there, but there were only 3-4 saves throughout the jars, but this season I think they decided to cut it.

I never saw Vanessa or Curtis tell Kate that she doesn’t have to do the challenge, so that’s why I thought it was perfectly normal.

[biakbiak]

Oh Rogers! I mean at the end of the day the QF doesn’t actual mean much unless you get immunity so getting stuff is probably better in the long run. 

London’s pizza looked seriously undercooked.

Carson continues to be a delight.”yes i am an old lady trapped in a 13 year old body but I need to let her out”

[Rammchick]

Rogers couldn't have cared less about cooking his pizza, he only wanted to buy shit.  Hilarious!

[OoogleEyes]

I find this show to be delightful!  THIS  is how you do a kid's cooking competition show!

Sheldon's teeth tho...ease up on the whitening, dude

I just wish ONE of those kids would have said "yes, I AM busy, Busy!"

Edited September 29, 2018 by OoogleEyes

[Simon47]

Well, I enjoyed it. I was pretty surprised that Kate got saved (was not expecting it), but she almost didn’t put ANY chicken on her dish, so I knew she was the least favorite.

Roger’s pizza in the main heat did not look like a pizza at all! It looked like a croissant.

Busy Phillips was a great judge for this episode and I feel like she was fair with the kids.

[catrice2]

Oh my gosh that Olivia is just the cutest little thing. Every time she says something she shows so much personality. I believe that editing is doing its job. Rogers is being given the materialistic edit. London is being given the bragging overconfident at edit, Carson is being given the know-it-all edit. Simon is the boy next door, Olivia is the Dark Horse comic relief. Overall I am blown away on the technical knowledge of these kids and their abilities are amazing. Carson won't win because he over complicates everything. At this point I can't even guess about a winner because they all has been fairly impressive at different times

[biakbiak]

Fun fact or rather in my view creepy fact: Curtis’s wife Lindsay Price mother was adopted by her father’s family and they were raised as brother and sister before they got together.

[jcbrown]

I was going to be annoyed if Kate was saved again. I like her but she has been circling the drain in performance for a few episodes. I did love that Nicki (Nikki?) came up and put her arms around Kate when she saw her getting upset during the reveal of who was in danger of going home. Carson is still my favorite but I agree Olivia is delightful. I love this show. Bummed that there is no new episode next week.

[Simon47]

Sorry, but I knew this one. But Kate was so adorable! (That smile she always wore on her face brought back memories.) I appreciate that she tried her hardest in this competition, and next time I go to Texas, I will try and visit her cooking school so I can know how to cook.

@jcbrown, Nikki putting her arms around Kate was very nice and warm and she is a very good friend.

On 9/29/2018 at 10:54 PM, biakbiak said:

Fun fact or rather in my view creepy fact: Curtis’s wife Lindsay Price mother was adopted by her father’s family and they were raised as brother and sister before they got together.

Really? Family members can adopt somebody from the SAME family?

[catrice2]

I hate to say it about children but some of these contestants are slightly annoying. I can think of a ton of things I would rather have than Reggie Bush memorabilia. 

[shrinkmuch]

Season 2: Rogers

[biakbiak]

8 hours ago, Simon47 said:

Really? Family members can adopt somebody from the SAME family?

They didn't adopt from the same family they married within the same family as adults. Lindsay’s mother’s adoptive parents and her father’s biological parents  are the same people so she only has one set of grandparents. 

[jcbrown]

I recorded what my TV listings had as a rerun on Saturday and just got around to watching it. Turns out it was not a season 1 episode, after all--it was a new season 2 episode that was mis-identified as season 1 episode 8. It appears they are re-airing "season 1 episode 8" on Friday so you may be able to catch it then.

[Lamb18]

I tried buying this season on Amazon but thought the purchase didn't go through. Then I get an email Sunday saying episode 6 is ready for me to view. So I've watched the first 6 episodes and so far the kids don't engage me like last season's did. I was really cheering for Miles last year because his dad teaches at my niece's high school. But so far I like Nikki (?) who won the Field Day Quickfire and Elimination challenges and Carson (?), the tall black kid. Funny that Olivia's throw sent Curtis into the water. Rogers bugs me as he's playing cute for the cameras.

[catrice2]

If Nikki Simon or Eric doesn't win this competition I'll be very surprised. They are very obvious about who their favorites are and I think all these kids are awesome. It's odd to me that for this to be Top Chef Junior the winners usually don't get anything at the judges table but on the real Top Chef they get all kinds of nice prizes. I am not a fan of this age, just as I'm not a fan of Last Chance Kitchen. Once you're gone you need to be gone

[BusyOctober]

I tried to watch this week’s episode, but the stupid ads and hype for American Ninja Warrior Jr. just ruined it.  I know it’s been advertised for months, but tonight really irked.  The banners took up the bottom third of the screen.  Some kids’ entire faces were covered at one point!  

Carson’s lamb looked way too rare for me...or my tv color palette is way off.

 Londyn is talented for sure, but enough with the damn bows. Her name is “LondYn” , for chissake.  I think her parents already used up their “lookit meeee!” points with that. No need to add a gimmicky hair accoutrement as well.  This isn’t Master Chef, where the contestants are heavily encouraged to be “unique” and stand out (by purchasing & wearing mass quantities of mass produced hair tchotchkes from Claire’s).

[mlp]

Add me to the group that doesn't like Saves.  I could see giving each of the two main judges one Save each to use at his/her discretion.  That would allow them to keep someone who was doing very well but had a bad day and deserved a second chance.  Otherwise, the elimination should stand.  

It's hard to believe that Carson and Rogers are the same age and not just because Carson is so tall.  He seems way more mature.

My favorite is Simon although I like Carson a lot also.  I do not like Olivia.  She has skills but she comes across as a spoiled brat.  I'll bet she bosses everyone including her parents around and gets away with it.

[Sew Sumi]

This week's save was totally premeditated. No way would they do RW with only three per team. 

[Ellee]

I’m not enjoying this season as much as last for some reason.  And, It doesn’t have anything to do with the chefs.  I can’t put my finger on it though.  I don’t know. 

[Impalace]

Last years contestants just had so much personality and you could tell they all liked each other.

[Ellee]

Did anyone else wake up to find what appears to be the entire restaurant wars episode recorded?  It was listed as a preview I believe.  Won’t go in to any detail.  I’ll wait to see what others say. 

[chabelisaywow]

I keep on expecting Rogers to say "you're tacky and I hate you."

During the last episode - Noah? irked the fuck out of me with his "call me Chef."

All he makes is steak and he's messy - sit down, son.

[mlp]

My DVR didn't pre-record anything.

It seemed pretty clear that Simon would be the one sent home but I was sorry to see him go.  He was my favorite based on personality.  

I liked Joe Flamm on Top Chef so I was happy to see him again.  He seems like a nice guy.  I have never liked Brooke and her "funny" but actually nasty comment to Kristen at the beginning didn't make me like her any better.  

[catrice2]

 when I looked at the two teams I realized that the winner is coming from The Blue Team. I was quite surprised the Simon went home. It was unfortunate that he was on that particular team because I totally believe that one of those four have been earmarked from the beginning. This competition is Nikki's to lose. Rogers reminds me of a contestant that was on Top Chef and I think the next Food Network star. I can't remember his name but I do remember he was Asian and has restaurants in Tennessee.

[catrice2]

Nikki. And I don't know why. I think she's a perfectly lovely young girl but for some reason she annoys me. In fact pretty much all of them annoy me slightly for one reason or another except.  Olivia I think she's just as cute as can be, just young.

[Rammchick]

10 minutes ago, catrice2 said:

 when I looked at the two teams I realized that the winner is coming from The Blue Team. I was quite surprised the Simon went home. It was unfortunate that he was on that particular team because I totally believe that one of those four have been earmarked from the beginning. This competition is Nikki's to lose. Rogers reminds me of a contestant that was on Top Chef and I think the next Food Network star. I can't remember his name but I do remember he was Asian and has restaurants in Tennessee.

Ed Lee is who you're referring to.  To me, he reminds me more of Sheldon Simeon.

[Ellee]

Do you really think that this is Nikki’s to lose?  Maybe second place  I don’t know.  

I am thinking it’s Londyn’s with Noah (?) getting the consolation prize of winning restaurant wars as executive chef/best food.  

[catrice2]

No is Arnold mint and yes I do think Nikki is the favorite. London won't even be in the top 3. I just read a bio on Carson oh my God that little boy is talented

[catrice2]

By the way this whole drama with him not knowing what to cook for a dessert was just contrived. He talked about at the beginning of the series how he likes classical French cooking and sure enough I went back to his profile and that's what he said he likes. no way he didn't know what to make for dessert

[Lamb18]

Rogers. The episode where he kept wasting time going after prizes instead of cooking, then ending up cooking nothing much, showed me he's way into prizes, etc., than actually cooking food. 

[catrice2]

I'm not defending him because I didn't like it either, however when you really think about it he was quite smart. That was before I realized that these children were not getting prizes for winning the challenges like they do on the adult shows. It was a quick fire, no elimination had been announced, so he knew he wasn't going home. He just made sure that he walked away from this competition with something. Some of  these children are also very young and  that was a very enticing challenge and they are still somewhat immature. I also see the editing Masters at work trying to build certain narratives around certain characters and he's one of them. 

Edited October 28, 2018 by catrice2

[Crucial]

Honestly I thought Nikki should have gone home but yet again she stays.  I'm sure she will be the one to win since - to me- it seems they want her to stay on.  My opinion.  I just don't see how she has stayed when at certain points she had the worst dish in this competition.  But whatever.  I really hope it's Londyn that wins it all.

[Simon47]

This season I think is so far, so good. I was sad to see Simon go.

Susan Feniger was a great judge and I was happy to see her on the show.

I remember Joe Flamm being on TCJR’s latest season and I was happy to see him here.

The expedites didn’t bother me that much (although I strongly prefer Kristen over Brooke, so...)