Guy's Grocery Games - General Discussion

[David T. Cole]

Your judges topic!

[David T. Cole]

A place to discuss particular episodes, arcs and moments from the show's run. Please remember this isn't a complete catch-all topic -- check out the forum for character topics and other places for show-related talk.

[RockShrimp]

FWIW, this show drives me insane that the prize for getting all of the ingredients at the end isn't some multiple (a la Family Feud or ANY OTHER Game show) -- it should be $1K per ingredient and $20K for getting all 10. or something!

[fliptopbox]

Anyone watching tonight's special NFNS episode? Justin Warner...I just can't. His ego is ridiculous, for a guy who nobody wanted to work with after he won his season. I hope he is eliminated first. Next Melissa D'Arabian, who for some reason is acting like she has no idea how this show works even though she's a regular judge. Uh, what?!

[Maverick]

 Glad they were 1 and 2 out.  I don't care for either of them.

 

 Guy should have been competing too.  Or does he not want to acknowledge he made it on FN thanks to Food Network Star.  Other than that, has he ever participated in any kind of FN competition show?    Almost every FN STAR has put them selves out there.  Even Princess Giada did Iron Chef. 

[Lillybee]

Did anyone notice what charity Jeff was playing for?

[caci]

I'm not sure what charity Jeff was playing for, but I am glad that he made it to the last two. I like him.   I'm also glad Aaron won, since  I'm probably one of the few that liked him and his show.  I tried a couple of his recipes that were really good.

[Lillybee]

I liked Aaron, too. He seems very genuine. I even liked his show.

[cooksdelight]

 

Other than that, has he ever participated in any kind of FN competition show?

 

I think, but not sure, he was on Chopped, and got whacked early. He really cannot cook, but he's a good TV host.

[crimsongrl]

Jeff was playing for the Hephzibah Children's Association in Oak Park, Illinois. They provide a safe haven for abused, neglected & vulnerable children.

[tomorrowgirl]

I was glad that Justin Warner was the first to leave.  He is so full of himself, and I really don't want to watch him.

[ari333]

 I was kind of lost on the "Free Samples" episode. Maybe I should pay more attention. The one woman picked up a pickle. Was she planning to make a whole middle eastern dish around a pickle? Then she put it back and got frozen meatballs. IDK what happened.  : /

[jennifer6973]

Yes, she picked up the pickles first, was gonna make her menu around that, saw the meatballs then took the pickles back and went and got the meatballs.

 

 

There were four specials and someone else ended up with the pickles.

[HunterHunted]

I just saw an episode where they played that guess the clue game with the hangman letters. The clue was kielbasa, but the two chefs were Cuban American and Italian. Neither had heard of it. They both thought it was calabash. Guy had to remind them that it was pork. Even still they stood around in front of the pork until Guy's son had to show them where the kielbasa was. It cracked me up because I knew that would happen when I guessed the clue. I actually said aloud "they don't know what that is."

[jonaswan2]

Yeah, they had a little marathon today, HunterHunted, and the Cuban American was 23 and culinarily sheltered and the Italian was "Fresh Off the Boat." There was no way they were going to find it without a little help.

[joanne3482]

Is Melissa D'Arabian always a terrible bitch judge? Wow. I've only watched maybe 2 or 3 episodes but NOTHING the contestants do pleases her. 

[MortysCleaningLady]

I get that it's a game with rules and time limits, but I'm really disappointed that I didn't see multiple meals from the Children's Hospital chef.   I was more interested in seeing what he put together than any of the other three contestants.

[nottopbravo]

 

Is Melissa D'Arabian always a terrible bitch judge?

 

The simple answer, yes.   

 

What I can't understand is the contestants in two of the rounds, while cooking proteins of exactly the same size for the same amount of time, some of the dishes were undercooked and some cooked perfectly.  How does that happen?

[jcbrown]

I don't know what crawled up Melissa D'Arabian's butt this week but good grief was she unpleasant. I started hoping she hated things she ate just because I did not want her to be happy in any way. Sadly, she took her prissy preferences out on the contestants. I did like most of the players this week, though, and I enjoyed Duskie Estes as a judge.

[Maverick]

 

I enjoyed Duskie Estes as a judge

 I couldn't stand her on Food Network Challenge and Next Iron Chef so I was disappointed FN brought her back.

[jcbrown]

 

I couldn't stand her on Food Network Challenge and Next Iron Chef so I was disappointed FN brought her back.

That was the weird thing--I really didn't like her on Next Iron Chef so I was surprised I liked her so much here. She was more relaxed or something. Even the stupid pigtails didn't get to me as much.

[MajorWoody]

This show has really turned us away from Guy Fee-ety. A few years ago, his Guys Big Bite was entertaining and actually provided some good dishes. His Triple D was also good, but seems to say the exact same thing every episode, and is more a Bro Fest Fist Bump show over anything else anymore. To think we actually took a side trip a year ago to visit a place showcased on his show, which was a great detour, but educated us as to his true personality thanks to the staff at the place, who roundly hated him.

[NikSac]

It's funny, I met him in person once at his restaurant and I really liked him. We hung out for awhile.  I have a hard time watching his shows because it makes me want to change my mind! I think maybe TV/fame has not been good for him.

[cooksdelight]

Mark Murphy: "As a chef, I want to be a role model to these kids." After he mixes a cocktail, not cooking his food enough in that "free" time he had. Killer sin on Chopped, Mark, you should know better! :)

Cat was going to spend $6.99 for cinnamon? LOL, she needs to learn about how the lighter it weighs, the cheaper it is.

Spent WAY too much time focusing on Alex, to me. Having her and Melissa, Blais on the same show ... oh, what were the producers trying to do to me?

I've come to the conclusion that Alex just likes to hear herself talk. A lot. "Really, really."

I liked the challenges they threw at them. Especially the "F" one. I'd have a hard time with that. Poor Marcel, he always comes in second. And Alex never seems to lose.

[mlp]

I was so, so disappointed that Marcel didn't win - again.  I don't dislike Alex as much as I used to but I've never really warmed up to her and I thought Marcel's dishes looked better. 

 

I was very surprised that not one of the chefs heard "F" and went for fish.  That seemed obvious to me.  Maybe they thought it was too obvious.

 

I would be highly appreciative if I never saw or heard Melissa again.  She is beyond obnoxious. 

[cooksdelight]

I thought fish as well, but then there is no fish that starts with the letter "F" that I can think of. Salmon, perch, trout...etc... maybe that's why?

[Maverick]

 They seemed pretty loose with the rules since they allowed dragon fruit and creme fraice so I think fish would have worked.  There were also frankfurters and french fries to pick from, but I guess that wouldn't hold up against filet mingon.  

[Julia]

I thought fish as well, but then there is no fish that starts with the letter "F" that I can think of. Salmon, perch, trout...etc... maybe that's why?

 

Flounder, although I wouldn't want to try to clean one under these kind of time constraints.

[cooksdelight]

I found it interesting that the two men immediately picked filet mignon, and the women went with a flatbread dish.

[MortysCleaningLady]

Was I the only one yelling fettucine at my screen?  And filet crusted in Frito's might have been good.

 

I agree that the rules were way too lose by some contestants.  Dragon Fruit starts with a D.  Fajita sausage?  I think Marcel was robbed, but, hey, he's famous from a different network.  I was also kind of surprised that Mark Murphy went first -- Cat Cora's flatbread looked like something I could have made for a weeknight supper.

 

As for the ethnic food challenge, both Marcel's and Alex's looked amazing. 

 

I think Marcel should have won the frozen food challenge as well as the F foods.  But, we learned that Melissa is besties with Alex.  (Really?  I don't see that.)

[mlp]

I would have accepted any kind of fish but I sure wouldn't have agreed with "fresh chicken."  Fresh is just the adjective, not the item.  And is there really something that's actually called "fajita sausage"? 

 

I don't care who Melissa is friends with.  I just want her to go away.  The problem is, I think she really is friends with Guy.  So we're probably stuck with her.

[cooksdelight]

Two judges with gravelly voices -- Melissa and Beau -- Guy's yelling, and Blais just breathing... it was more than I could take, I tell ya! :)

[shelley1234]

Poor Marcel...he really has mastered coming in 2nd place at a variety of cooking competitions.  Always the bridesmaid, never the bride Marcel.  

[fliptopbox]

Marcel got robbed. I also thought it funny that Marc finished early and made himself a drink. If that were Chopped it'd be a major no-no! They always point out that chefs who finish that early are usually neglecting something.

[mlp]

 

I also thought it funny that Marc finished early and made himself a drink.

 

Marc has done that more than once on Chopped After Hours.  It's funny there because there's nothing at stake and he's cooking with friends.  On GGG it looked like ego and showboating.  I hated to see him do that and I usually like Marc a lot.

[MajorWoody]

I can't believe Marc got chopped before Cat. Her dish looked like something a kid could make, plain and simple. Marc's dish looked very good, and seemed to get good reviews.

When $10 Melissa judged Alex's dish, she came across as a moron. We both felt that she, of all people, has no business criticizing anything Alex produces. She could only hope to be 1/10th the Chef Alex is. Does she do anything else for FN besides being a mostly annoying judge on Triple G?

We both had a feeling Alex was going to be the eventual winner, just because of her place in FN, not because of anything she put in front of the judges.

At least they gave the losers real money towards their charities, unlike the losers on Teen Chopped, who got cheap FN Gift Cards.

[Taeolas]

So watched a new ep last night, that had an ABC's of cooking competition in one round. The letter was C, and one of the chefs had the advantage which he grabbed garlic with.

 

I'm confused though, with his (winning) dish, he made pickled cucumbers with red wine vinegar. Where did the vinegar come from? Is it a standard at the cooking stations or did someone miss something in the basket? 

 

I do sort've hope the 2nd round chef gets an invite back. On the one hand, it's his own fault for forgetting the jerky in his dish (and his layered cake seemed to have a lot of 'store bought' ingredients), but the judges did seem to like the dish better than the others overall. 

[NikSac]

Marcel got robbed. I also thought it funny that Marc finished early and made himself a drink. If that were Chopped it'd be a major no-no! They always point out that chefs who finish that early are usually neglecting something.

 

I thought it would've been great if he could've come up with a drink that had all "F" ingredients in it.

 

(edited because I see Julia beat me to the Flounder idea)

Edited October 4, 2014 by NikSac

[nottopbravo]

You know that the chefs are running out of sob stories when one woman is playing for her cat.

[cooksdelight]

Hey! That's my sob story I'm going to use on Chopped. :)

[Taeolas]

As if they read my mind, on another episode, a Cheftestant mentioned that he knew he had Vinegar at his station, so the pickled Cucumbers I was confused about above has been solved. :)  

[MortysCleaningLady]

You know that the chefs are running out of sob stories when one woman is playing for her cat.

Aww, that was the only reason I've seen that truly tugged at my heartstrings.  And I'm a dog person.  I was kind of hoping that when she left, Guy was going to offer to pay for the surgeries needed.  It felt like they were going to go there.  Poor kitty!

[NikSac]

Aww, that was the only reason I've seen that truly tugged at my heartstrings.  And I'm a dog person.  I was kind of hoping that when she left, Guy was going to offer to pay for the surgeries needed.  It felt like they were going to go there.  Poor kitty!

 

Me too! I totally thought Guy was going to jump in and say his charity would help her/them. It almost seemed awkward when that didn't happen. I'm not sure where the chef and kitty were from but I'm local to Guy's "second home" (Sacramento area instead of San Francisco Bay Area) and I even thought I knew what specialty vet they might go to. I kept expecting to see the name on the screen. Hope the kitty and chef are both okay.

[MortysCleaningLady]

Me too! I totally thought Guy was going to jump in and say his charity would help her/them. It almost seemed awkward when that didn't happen. I'm not sure where the chef and kitty were from but I'm local to Guy's "second home" (Sacramento area instead of San Francisco Bay Area) and I even thought I knew what specialty vet they might go to. I kept expecting to see the name on the screen. Hope the kitty and chef are both okay.

She was from Somerville, Massachusetts.  I remember because I lived there right after college.  Hope kitty is okay!

[caci]

I liked that the woman was playing for her cat because it seemed like an honest reason for money.  Vet bills are expensive, esp. if he was in four times in one week. I liked her, too bad she didn't win. 

[NikSac]

I liked her and her reason too. Wish she had won.

[cooksdelight]

Beau: "Are we judging the story or are we judging the food?"

I really, really feel for both of them, but you can't tell me her story didn't play a part in her winning. He gave her his advantage by letting her have the chocolate. Missing the birth of his son, for crying out loud! She turned in a barely-baked cake, they weren't wild about her first dish. She's a food stylist and a culinary school grad and she can't find work that would make more than $20,000 last year? I do wish the best for her and her family. I just don't want to have it shoved in my face.

I'm really tired of sob stories. This one did it for me.

ETA: I sometimes wonder how true these stories are. I think one day it's going to come out that Mary Jane went on national TV and told everyone she was broke and sick, and then find out she's living in a really nice house, with a really nice car, above her means. Not broke.

[Thalia]

I agree ​cooksdelight, (and I also wish her the best).  When the contestant said it was her turn to support her husband "the way he had supported [her]," my first thought was:  No.  He supported you by working at a job.  You are spending a day in a studio and hopefully winning a contest.  

 

It would have been more interesting to see her try and do something w/o the chocolate.   She had some good ingredients.  

[NikSac]

Beau: "Are we judging the story or are we judging the food?"

 

I was actually super excited to hear this. Finally!!

 

I was also pretty confused by that one contestant saying it fulfilled her bucket list 3 times over or whatever she said just to meet Guy. I've met him. I liked him quite a bit. But Bucket list?  No....

[nottopbravo]

There will never be enough fact checkers availible to keep track of the sob stories on these shows.  The worst offender is "Undercover Boss" where everyone had one.  They can't all be true.