Guy's Grocery Games - General Discussion

[mlp]

 

Could that last one be ice, or did they even mention that?

 

I don't know if ice is considered a stock ingredient but I do remember Guy telling a contestant once that ice is "free."

 

On the last episode during one challenge, the chefs were restricted to items that were canned or frozen.  One couple made sandwiches and used packaged rolls.  No one said anything about it so I wondered what I'd missed.

[cooksdelight]

Personally, I'd love to be on this show. It looks like fun. As long as Melissa D'Arabian isn't a judge and I don't have to listen to her voice.

[jcbrown]

 

On the last episode during one challenge, the chefs were restricted to items that were canned or frozen.  One couple made sandwiches and used packaged rolls.  No one said anything about it so I wondered what I'd missed.

I wondered about that, too. Guy called them on spices because they were in a bottle and they had to put those back. I wondered why they allowed the Hawaiian buns they used for their sliders, unless the editors chose not to show it since they went out first, anyway. Odd, though.

[crimsongrl]

The Hawaiian rolls came from the freezer section.

I've always wondered who decides which plates go to the judges and the other for tv. Does the food go into a warming drawer/fridge before judging?

I've gotten pretty good at predicting the elimination order just from the intros. Sometimes the sob stories throw me off though.

[cooksdelight]

I don't know about this show, but I know on Chopped they put them where the chefs tell them they need to be... kept warm or kept cold. Because once Ted asked a contestant in the dessert round "Why didn't you ask for it to stay chilled?" when their ice cream (or something similar) had melted.

[mlp]

This comment doesn't seem to go in any topic category so I hope it's OK here.

 

At the beginning of each episode, Guy says that all unused food is donated.  I've always wondered what unused food he's talking about because there never seems to be any except uneaten stuff already cooked.  Today I finally read my May issue of FN Magazine and there's a feature about GGG.  I learned, to my great surprise, that Flavortown Market isn't a real store so all the perishable food left over after filming an episode is donated.  I knew that the very first season was filmed in a real store that had to be closed during filming which caused some regular customers to complain.  I didn't know that a market set was created in Santa Rosa for season 2 and the show has been filmed there since.  Somehow, that had totally eluded me.  That set is a masterpiece.  

[cooksdelight]

Gordon Ramsay could learn a thing or two from Guy. The food wasted on Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef is deplorable.

[NikSac]

I always kind of assumed it was a set, but I also always figured that a LOT of food gets wasted. I mean even if you just count the dishes that the judges take a single bite off of, it's a lot of waste. I have always hoped that went to the homeless or a soup kitchen or something.

[Taeolas]

I was wondering what they would do for the set. I can't remember the first season, but the set-ness of the location is pretty obvious now (in particular the exit doors). So I was always wondering what they did with the food used to decorate the set for the challenges and what not afterward.

 

I was thinking they would just get the food for the set from a local market/supplier and return the leftovers afterward. It's good to hear it's going to the local shelters and foodbanks instead (and that makes much more sense). I assume they film a pile of eps at once and then during the hiatus, the local foodbanks get a big donation from the more perishable stuff. (A lot of the Canned produce can probably be kept between 'seasons' at least). Good to hear that's actually the case.

 

For many of these shows, I doubt there is that much waste from the actual cooking elements. The chefs know they're making 3-4 servings worth which is basically a standard meal size. While there is some waste from mandatory ingredients that cheftestants only use a small aspect of (look at Chopped or Cutthroat kitchen as bad examples of this), overall it probably isn't much worse than what a normal family goes through. (And you can be sure if the results are good, the cooked leftovers are probably split among the crew once filming is done. :) )

 

Hell's Kitchen seems to be the worst offender for food waste. Masterchef doesn't seem that bad overall; you'll have 'waste' from untasted dishes, but once again those are probably spread among the crew after filming. And the cheftestants are only making one plate normally. HK on the other hand, you have food being binned left, right and centre just for the DRAH-MA!

[HyeChaps]

I love Guy's son!  I like him better than I like Guy as host!  A star is born!

[cooksdelight]

I agree!! I think I saw him first a year or so ago on Guy's other show. Such a cutie!

[mlp]

I hadn't seen Guy's son in a very long time.  I was surprised to see him practically grown and taller than his dad.  He seemed like a very nice young man with a good sense of humor.  Cute too.  I'm glad he's not copying Guy's bleached hair and so on.

[HyeChaps]

It sort of looks like he's mocking his old man.

[cooksdelight]

The winner from Flagstaff was killing me with his grocery cart run at the end. I was breathing fast right along with him. Bless him for putting the money toward helping Special Olympics.

[mlp]

I wondered if the guy playing for Special Olympics (John?) would win when he first said what he planned to do with the money.  Turned out he did BUT he earned it so I was very happy for him.  I liked him.  

 

I find Guy's shtick on DDD highly annoying but I like him on this show and I really enjoy it.

[cooksdelight]

Does Aarti ever like anything at all, or is she the pre-ordained resident nit-picker?

[Taeolas]

It's a little thing, but I'm loving how Guy's slipping his "3 ... 2... 1... Go" into normal dialogue and catching the contestants by surprise. It may be a little mean, but it's a hoot to see them finally clue in. (and with all the quirks of TV shooting I'm sure they lose more seconds from simple production hiccups anyway). 

 

Canada just aired the Mother's Day episode last night, and I loved the changeup during the Shopping Spree, when he basically pushed her on her way and THEN gave the 3 2 1 Go starter. 

 

Speaking of the Spree, has anyone gotten all 10 items since changing to the 10 aisle format? The original format may have been a bit too easy, but the new format feels too hard. Maybe an extra 15-30 seconds on the clock would help balance it since they start from the opposite end of the store from Aisle 1. That or let them start just outside hte produce section so they don't have to waste as much time running there. 

[cooksdelight]

Gosh, I hadn't thought about the change in the mad dash and how it would affect how much you would be able to grab in the alloted time. Good question! Maybe one for the FN peeps.

[Taeolas]

Or another twist on it might be to have a Quick challenge before each round. Winning the challenge would give you an extra 10-15 seconds on the Mad Dash and maybe (not always) an advantage for the round itself.

[cooksdelight]

I was surprised Marvin Woods went out early. I love his food, have his cookbook. The guy is cool.

[mlp]

I enjoy this show but I was disappointed in the final decision tonight.  It seemed to me that the fellow had better dishes all along but the judges wanted the woman to win because she said she wanted to use the money to teach cooking classes to under-privileged children.  I couldn't believe the reason they gave for eliminating him.......... putting the pickle on the side instead of in the sandwich.  How lazy would you have to be to object to moving a pickle?

[cooksdelight]

I agree. This show may be jumping to the Chopped Sob Story genre.

[zillabreeze]

They do seem to lean towards the stories.  I was irritated that the woman would have lost until she swiped the english muffin solution from the dude.

[RealityCheck]

I just saw a promo for a five-part All-Stars series premiering Sunday August 23.

 

August 23 : Richard Blais, G. Garvin, Beau MacMillan, Aarti Sequeira

Judges : Duskie Estes, Troy Johnson, Catherine McCord

 

August 30 : Anne Burrell, Eric Greenspan, Jet Tila, Marcel Vigneron
Judges : Duskie Estes, Troy Johnson, Brian Malarkey

 

September 6 : Ron Ben-Israel, Penny Davidi, Pat Neely and Justin Warner
Judges : Richard Blais, Duskie Estes, Troy Johnson

 

September 13 : Madison Cowan, Elizabeth Falkner, Aaron McCargo Jr., Michael Psilakis
Judges : Richard Blais, Duskie Estes, Troy Johnson

 

September 20 : Four professional athletes pair up with celebrity chefs

• Rich Aurilia with Robert Irvine
• Marcel Reece with Brian Malarkey
• Jennifer Lacy with Marc Murphy
• Takeo Spikes with Lorena Garcia

Judges : Troy Johnson, Beau MacMillan, Aarti Sequeira

 

This article provides the details for the competition, including the challenges for each heat.

[cooksdelight]

How does Blaise get to be a contestant in one round, and a judge in the others?

[Maverick]

 

September 6 : Ron Ben-Israel, Penny Davidi, Pat Neely and Justin Warner

 

 

 I'd this lineup seems...odd.  Except odd doesn't quite cover it.  I think someone got into a bad batch of mushrooms from the produce section.

 

How does Blaise get to be a contestant in one round, and a judge in the others?

 

 Apparently it's not a tournament, which is also weird.  

[mlp]

Wow, they've managed to include three of the four people I loathe the most:  Justin Warner, Robert Irvine and Elizabeth Falkner.  I guess I should be grateful they left out the person at the top of my hate list, Melissa d'Arabian, which is rather odd because she's a regular on this show. 

 

I'm sorry to see that Jet Tila and Marcel are in the same group.  I love them both but one will have to lose.  That seems to be Marcel's fate every time.  I hope Ron Ben-Israel does well.  Love him too.

[Lnmop]

I guess the editing monkeys aren't that good on this show. On today's dash for the $20k, I saw Guy pointing out items - specifically the cookies for $3.59 and the guacamole. Because the contestant was only playing against the clock and not another contestant that made it somehow ok.

[cooksdelight]

I loved the guy's food, it was the first time in a while that I wanted to taste something someone on this show has made. I liked him and was glad he won. And yeah, I've never seen anyone run as fast through the aisles!! Since they've changed the rules and they have to hit each aisle, it's almost impossible to get all the items.

[Taeolas]

In the final dash, I've often seen Guy, and sometimes the judges helping the contestant find the items; that doesn't seem to be against the rules. I suspect somewhere in the official rules there's some small print claiming "Neither Guy nor the judges know the items of the final Mad Dash shopping list before filming" or something to that effect. Most of the time they seem legit interested in helping the contestants get as much money as they can. 

[Psychobunny]

Please, please, please let one of my gay pretend TV BFs (Ron Ben-Israel) humiliate Penny Davidi.

[cooksdelight]

Maybe she'll wear her high heels and fall flat on her ass.

I can dream, can't I??? :)

[Maverick]

 Ron's Israeli and Penny's Persian (Iranian) I think so things could get interesting, especially since Guy's no Kissinger.  

[cooksdelight]

Just watched a rerun where Kiet put truffle oil on his food, thinking it would "tie everything together."

No!!! It sends you home!!! I was yelling at the TV "Don't you watch Chopped???!!!"

[cstad]

Ha! I yelled the same thing - "truffle oil? Nooooooo!"

[cooksdelight]

I liked the celebrity edition more than I thought I would. It was funny, to me, to see these people who are normally just sitting there tasting the food to be running around and then cooking something with the goofy conditions Guy puts on them. Beau did really well to get the items in the end, as much as it looked like he doesn't exercise that hard too often. :)

[tomorrowgirl]

I liked the celebrity edition too.  Since they are all playing for charity, it seems like the producers could give the non winners some money too.  Something like $1000 for the first person out, $2000 for the second person out, and $3000 for the third person out.  That would  have been a nice announcement to hear at the end of the show.

[Hero]

I'm so sick of Blaise on my TV. He is such an arrogant know it all.

[cooksdelight]

I'm so sick of Blaise on my TV. He is such an arrogant know it all.

Which made it all the more beautiful that he was ousted second!

[Hero]

Which made it all the more beautiful that he was ousted second!

Yes! I definitely cheered. He seriously needs to be brought down a peg or two.

[ladytenor]

 

Maybe she'll wear her high heels and fall flat on her ass.

 

 

Or maybe she will use the blender and forget to put the top on before turning it on, like she did on Cutthroat Kitchen. I loved that they used that particular clip in the credits for a while so I could laugh at her every single week.

I am not sure if the Every Aisle format would be tougher or easier. Yes, you have to go to every aisle, but at least you know that item is in that specified aisle..no running all over the store yelling, "Where is it? I know it is here somewhere!"

[HyeChaps]

I'm flabbergasted!  Is the first time Marcel ever won a television competition?

[cooksdelight]

Bless his heart.. I think he may have won a round on Food Fighters.

[HyeChaps]

Good for Marcel.  And good that Anne got taken down a peg.

[Maharincess]

I love, love, love Beau MacMillan. I only know him from shows like this but I love his humor and the fact that he doesn't take himself too seriously.

Speaking of taking ones self too seriously, when is Blais going to go the hell away?! He sure does think he's something special doesn't he?

Watching him drip sweat

onto his food is so disgusting.

[cooksdelight]

Good for Marcel.  And good that Anne got taken down a peg.

What a bitch!! To interrupt and say "What was that you pulled out of his dish?" Get over yourself! I am tired of seeing her on TV, period.

[mlp]

I just love Marcel so I was happy to see him finally win one.  He looked like he was as amazed as I was.  He looks like he's aged in the past few years  but I guess we all have so I'm not sure why that surprises me.  I would have been happy if Jet Tila had won too because I like him and his charity.

[cooksdelight]

And he won the full $20,000 for his charity, YAY!! Loved the way he held that ham in his hand until the last second.

[tomorrowgirl]

My dvr cut off before the end of the show, so it's nice to know that someone finally got the $20,000.  I don't think that's happened since they changed the format to one item per aisle.

[cooksdelight]

My dvr cut off before the end of the show, so it's nice to know that someone finally got the $20,000.  I don't think that's happened since they changed the format to one item per aisle.

 

Yes, not long ago a guy won the whole $20,000. He was a former football player, so he was running so fast Guy couldn't keep up.