Beat Bobby Flay - General Discussion

[mlp]

I like this show in general but I agree that last night's episode was better than most.  I think that had entirely to do with the judges.  Ina is lovely, intelligent and always a lady - quite a contrast to some of the screamers like the obnoxious woman in the red dress who was on one of the reruns.  I don't know who she was but I hope not to see her again.  And NPH is great no matter what he does although I didn't like the part where he hid Bobby's peppers.  That seemed a bit unfair.

[jcbrown]

Gah! I just watched last night's episode. The only thing worse than having terrible sport and generally annoying person Anne Burrell compete is having train wreck Sunny Anderson on. With her purple lipstick and matching eyelids, she looked like a clown and the shrieking at the end? Just no. Cannot. stand. her.

[mlp]

I like Bobby Flay and I like this show but I get irritated when they bring out two people to be the first judges who have no business critiquing real chefs.  The show mentioned above was bad enough but the rerun had Katie Lee and some comedienne I never heard of pretending to be experts.  All the competitors are legitimate chefs.  All the judges should have food-related credentials too.

[Lura]

I agree with the poster above.  I also feel that the first part of the show with the "guest celebrity" judges is merely a way of showcasing other FN celebrities who have little airtime on their own shows (or may not have a show of their own).  They can only go on their personal taste.  Katie Couric may be a recognizable personality, but who knows what she knows about food?

[Wings]

On 6/13/2016 at 2:54 PM, mlp said:

I like Bobby Flay and I like this show but I get irritated when they bring out two people to be the first judges who have no business critiquing real chefs.  The show mentioned above was bad enough but the rerun had Katie Lee and some comedienne I never heard of pretending to be experts.  All the competitors are legitimate chefs.  All the judges should have food-related credentials too.

Is this show over and all we get are reruns?  I still enjoy it, just wondering. 

All the first two judges have to do is choose who they think will beat Bobby.   It really doesn't matter what the dish is.  They all know Bobby and presumably what things are not in his wheel house like Asian.  They choose the chef who gave them the dish with the most sophistication and complexity OR what kind of restaurant they are from and their title.  Not hard to do. 

Last night the chef (executive chef for Alex G in Butter) chose chicken wings.  What?   So easy!   Why wouldn't Alex have worked with him on something she KNOWS might give him a run for his money?  

And by now all should know that the closer you stick to the original concept of the dish, the more likely you are to win.  This is not a time to do your special, obscure version.  

Debi Mazar is one of my favorite judges (round one).  She and her husband (chef) are close friends of his.  

[mlp]

There's a new season in progress right now.  The new episode comes on at 9PM Central and is followed by a rerun at 9:30.

I get that the judges are just picking who might beat Bobby.  I suppose I could choose based upon which dish I liked best even though I have no credentials.  But the non-chef judges critique the food and presentation which I'd prefer to hear from people who are actually chefs - and I don't mean Katie Lee.  Some sports guy banging a garbage can behind Bobby while he's working doesn't amuse me at all.

I agree that chefs who stick to original concepts almost always do better.  Sometimes the variation on a theme doesn't remind me at all of the basic dish.  OTOH Sometimes Bobby does a far out interpretation and wins.  

I don't like Debi Mazar and I'm not sure why.  She always looks and seems sort of predatory to me.  She makes me cringe.  At least she doesn't screech like Sunny Anderson.

[Wings]

I don't like Sunny. I could easily judge 2  plates of food against each other knowing what they are supposed to represent. The people chosen in that position are foodies and or good cooks. 

Some of the competing chefs are questionable.  One chef was from FL and a restaurant I knew. It was a dive where I ate once and never returned. 

[Totale]

This is probably my favorite current FN show, and may the gods forgive me for doubting the veracity of FN reality programming, but I've had the feeling for some time that the second round is pre-chosen and the first one is just for fun.  So I don't care which c-list celebs they choose to "judge" it.

[Irlandesa]

On 10/26/2016 at 6:52 PM, Totale said:

This is probably my favorite current FN show, and may the gods forgive me for doubting the veracity of FN reality programming, but I've had the feeling for some time that the second round is pre-chosen and the first one is just for fun.  So I don't care which c-list celebs they choose to "judge" it.

It might be pre-chosen because the judges usually have expertise in the dish or genre of food that appears in the second round.  However, I think it could easily be possible that they pit chefs against one another whose specialties are similar dishes or from the similar genre of food.  For instance, there have been times when a chef of a seafood restaurant competes against a chef from a restaurant that serves Asian food and beats him only to surprise Bobby by selecting an Asian dish as his "specialty."  I do think Bobby is given the potential dishes in advance to prepare. 

But eh, I don't care.  I find this show fun and learning that wouldn't bother any more than learning houses on House Hunters have to at least be in eskrow to appear. 

Edited November 2, 2016 by Irlandesa

[Wings]

Sure, there is some manipulating, they all do it. I have come to accept it and just enjoy the ride. 

I think the dish the opponent choodes is legit. I am surprised that no one seems to understand that their special treatment of said dish rarely wins. The final 3 judges always prefer the more traditional treatment Flay offers. Chefs become annoyed when the food is too far off from its name. I get that. They don't! 

[meowmommy]

Another Top Chef competitor (Ed) on this show.  And of course FN never acknowledges the existence of TC.  And they keep giving Madison judging gigs.  When are we going to get the Lance and Madison show?

[meowmommy]

Ugh, Line from last season's MasterChef Canada.  My least favorite.  And now she's styling herself a chef.

[Lura]

I think Bobby's style of cooking is so well known by now that the judges don't need to be tipped about which dish is his.  No matter the ethnicity of a dish, Bobby follows a certain flavor profile that a judge would be hard pressed not to recognize it as being his.  I do think that certain lines and "jokes" used by the celebrity chefs in the first half of the show have been fed to them ahead of time, the only possible exception being Debbie Mazur, who is clever and witty enough to be left on her own.  Whatever one's opinion, it does seem fairly obvious that Bobby knows a lot more about the show and its outcome than we know.

[Darth Nigel]

So what's with FN and kids? (or probably "KIDZ!!!!")?

The last couple of BBF have had kids as the Round 1 judges (with someone older if not more mature as the designated grownup) which is OK.  But then the Round 2 judges are all kids as well, which seems a little unwise.  It's making me grumpy, which I don't need these days.

[mlp]

FN seems to be making kids' versions of all their competitions.  I don't mind the kids' baking competitions too much but I don't like them on BBF because I don't care to see kids being sassy to adults and I really don't like seeing serious chefs having to make "elevated" chicken fingers.

[GaT]

I refuse to watch any of their kids version shows, so if I start watching & see kids I just delete it.

[Totale]

Children don't belong on TV for grownups.  If I remember to check back, maybe I'll watch BBF when they are gone.

[mlp]

Egad.  The only thing worse than kids on BBF is kids plus Sonny Anderson screeching and acting like a ninny.  I do not understand why Bobby Flay and the serious chefs appearing on these episodes ever agreed to stand there and be critiqued by children.  I'd find it insulting if I were a chef.

[Lura]

This good discussion about kids leads me to wonder, as I often have, who replaced Bob as head of programming when he left.  Whoever it is, I'm angry with him/her for introducing all of these competition shows and for extending other shows to include children, grannies, you name it.  I suspect that the FN may have hired someone with a background in game shows and given them the green light to forge ahead.  I've enjoyed one or two kiddie shows, but I'm worn out from all of the cutsie antics (many of which are scripted).  I miss serious cooking shows, and when a child invades one of them, such as this one, my blood almost boils.  The serious chefs need to be left alone to teach us new tricks, not to entertain the after school crowd, IMHO.

[Tyrone Biggums]

The most recent one had the doucher from Rachael vs. Guy Kids Cook-Off and some other punk ass that was saying something seemed like it was made for "younger kids" and not "sophisticated palates".  Then, the three "judges" at the end were clearly getting fed lines.  

Garbage.  Total garbage.

[Christina]

Uggg, can't quote from the post directly, had to copy and paste...

Quote

The serious chefs need to be left alone to teach us new tricks, not to entertain the after school crowd, IMHO.

It seems like only famewhores send in casting reels, so the talent pool is limited if they did want to do a serious cooking show, like those that air on PBS, which it seems like they don't want to do. On top of that, they are choosing hosts from Food Network Star, and Bobby and Giada are ridiculous. Eddie is great on everything I've seen him on, but Damiano and Tregaye need to go far away; I find them unwatchable. Guy Fieri as a host on Guy's Grocery Games is actually less obnoxious than some of the judges, many who seem to be past winners of Food Network Star.

It seems like there is a younger audience that watches Chopped, so I'm guessing that is why they started creating so many kids shows.  At least when it has *kids* in the title, I know I don't want to watch it. When they put kids on the typically professional chef shows it irritates me, because I don't enjoy watching kids cook so it is like they are ruining a good thing. Also, they seem to cast kids who are there just for TV exposure, with most of them saying they want to be models or actors (or the occasional athlete), as opposed to wanting to be a chef and enjoying cooking. I think that is why I can tolerate the teens who are in culinary classes. They actually have a passion for food and cooking, and many times that comes across in the filming. 

Edited December 19, 2016 by Christina
Can't type.

[mlp]

The only thing worse than kids on BBF is having one of those kids be Hunter.  Ugh.  I had hoped to never see that pretentious kid again.

I did get a kick out of watching Scott Conant and his daughter.  The last time I saw her, she was a toddler and it was obvious then that Scott was dotty about her.  He's not my favorite Chopped judge but I warm up to him being a doting daddy.

I recognized Lee the minute I saw him but it took me the whole episode to remember where I'd seen him before.  He was a finalist on The Taste.  Apparently, he's done well for himself since.  

[Lura]

The only thing cuter than Scott Conant's daughter Isla is Scott himself.  Talk about a Dream Team!  Little Isla suffered from stage fright for all of about three minutes before she hit her stride and even began shouting questions to the audience.  Clearly, Scott aadores her, and the feeling appears to be mutual.  I loved the fact that Scott never talked down to Isla, at one point remarking to her about various "components" of the dish, and Isla was right with him.  If we have to have more kiddies invading our shows, let's hope they'll be more like Isla, please!

[Lura]

I like Bobby, but I have a feeling that he's bought into the FN and their way of doing things (such as having kids on his show).  The reason I suspect this is because he produces several shows for the network, and he wants to keep things nice and smooth with the higher ups.  Bobby certainly has enough clout there that if he objected, other hosts would object as well.  I'm not laying all this at Bobby's feet.  It was just a thought I've had.

 

The kids really should all be shuttled over to "Worst Cooks in America" and get a taste of Anne Burrell and Rachael Ray barking down their throats, and they'd get real sick of the FN for not coddling them.  End of story.

[Jamie Satyr]

On ‎11‎/‎18‎/‎2016 at 4:51 PM, meowmommy said:

Another Top Chef competitor (Ed) on this show.  And of course FN never acknowledges the existence of TC.  And they keep giving Madison judging gigs.  When are we going to get the Lance and Madison show?

Michael V., Season 6 winner of TC is pretty much a regular! He gets so comfortable on Flay's show! I think his "dim" brother appeared with him at least once!

 - - http://fiero4251.blogspot.com/2011/06/top-chef-entry-for-1107-on.html - -

[Lura]

HELP!  Will somebody please tell me what Katie Lee contributes to this show besides giving demonstrations of how boring and stupid some people can be?  I have tried til I'm blue in the fce to like her, to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she knows NOTHING about food beyond what her Hamptons nutritionist tells her.  She's only there to make a play for Flay.  Katie is a waste of time and electricity.  SHOW HER THE DOOR, FN!     

Edited March 22, 2017 by Lura
glitch in the system

[Christina]

Katie Lee cannot cook. I watched an episode of The Kitchen Sink with Tregaye from Food Network Star that she was on and she was completely clueless. She was the reason I didn't finish the episode and I wanted to see how Tregaye acted when not performing for Bobby and Giada. Then, there was the Bobby Christmas episode where she, again, confirmed that she was clueless. 

She has some videotape of a Food Network executive naked in a hotel with hookers and blow, ala Marion Barry. It's the only explanation for her continuous presence.

[Lura]

Tregaye was no better on the show you mentioned than she was on FNS.  She was scattered, played cutesy, and at times was completely lost.  The only reason I think she was even on a show is because FN wanted to save face by using the winner in some capacity.  She honestly was a total amateur and a wreck.  Tregaye is NOT TV material.  The FN should pay her off and get rid of her.

The same might be said about Demaris.  She started out strong but has reverted to her old ways of being flirty, giggling and knowing very, very little about cooking.  She thinks she's cute, but she's a simpleton.  Now that she's married, she's even bigger on herself.  Have you seen her husband?  He must have been the last Bourbon Country bachelor left.  Oh, dear.

As for BBF, I don't like the kiddies, but I'll still watch because I like the show.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Lura
Add-on

[GaT]

On 3/22/2017 at 2:27 PM, Lura said:

Tregaye was no better on the show you mentioned than she was on FNS.  She was scattered, played cutesy, and at times was completely lost.  The only reason I think she was even on a show is because FN wanted to save face by using the winner in some capacity.  She honestly was a total amateur and a wreck.  Tregaye is NOT TV material.  The FN should pay her off and get rid of her.

FN should never have made her the winner of FNS to begin with.

[Lura]

On the last few shows I've noticed that the audience seems to be dwindling.  When it was first on, I thought half of NYC and its tourists were packing the peanut gallery, but it hasn't been that way for some time now. 

I always enjoy this show (and others) when Simon Majumdar is one of the judges.  Simon is intelligent, and he has a spontaneous wit that gets me every time.  He clearly enjoys himself when cast as one of the judges, but he doesn't take himself too seriously.

[GaT]

Why is Jay Pharoah a judge on this show? He has nothing to do with food, he's a comedian.

[mlp]

Quote

Why is Jay Pharoah a judge on this show? He has nothing to do with food, he's a comedian.

That has been a major peeve of mine ever since the woman who replaced Bob Tuschman took over.  She seems to think that adding "celebrities" as judges to BBF, Chopped, FNS and so on will encourage people to tune in.  It just makes me mad.

I tuned in late last night and missed the introduction of the judges so I spent the rest of the half hour wondering who Jay Pharoah was.  I had no problem with him per se but it was clear that he had nothing to do with the food business.  Sure, anyone can say whether something tastes good to them or not but I want to hear informed decisions.

[Wings]

7 hours ago, mlp said:

That has been a major peeve of mine ever since the woman who replaced Bob Tuschman took over.  She seems to think that adding "celebrities" as judges to BBF, Chopped, FNS and so on will encourage people to tune in.  It just makes me mad.

I tuned in late last night and missed the introduction of the judges so I spent the rest of the half hour wondering who Jay Pharoah was.  I had no problem with him per se but it was clear that he had nothing to do with the food business.  Sure, anyone can say whether something tastes good to them or not but I want to hear informed decisions.

As long as there is one judge, in the first round, who is a chef it doesn't really matter.  

On 4/5/2017 at 11:29 AM, Lura said:

On the last few shows I've noticed that the audience seems to be dwindling.  When it was first on, I thought half of NYC and its tourists were packing the peanut gallery, but it hasn't been that way for some time now. 

I always enjoy this show (and others) when Simon Majumdar is one of the judges.  Simon is intelligent, and he has a spontaneous wit that gets me every time.  He clearly enjoys himself when cast as one of the judges, but he doesn't take himself too seriously.

I like him, too.  He is one I would choose to replace Tosi on Master Chef.  

I think the audience is comprised of those who were last in line outside the studio who wanted to see another show but arrived too late.   That happened to us. We wanted to see Friends but ended up watching Saved by the Bell!  We didn't stay long!  

[mlp]

Quote

As long as there is one judge, in the first round, who is a chef it doesn't really matter.  

I suppose that's true and the "conferring" is just a formality but I still don't like it.  These was some woman on Chopped recently who said right up front that she doesn't cook.  I don't know who she was but she was channeling Sunny Anderson.  Do people actually tune into cooking shows because some B level TV personality is going to be on as a judge?  Maybe they do.  I certainly don't know.

[Totale]

On 5/5/2017 at 9:45 PM, wings707 said:

As long as there is one judge, in the first round, who is a chef it doesn't really matter.  

Or, if you're a conspiracy theorist as I am, nothing matters in the first round because it's all for show.  Everybody knows ahead of time who will "win" it, and what the second round dish will be.  I do think the second round judging is honest.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Totale

[mlp]

I don't know if the second round dish is predetermined or not but I've always thought that there's a big delay between rounds or something we don't know about because, no matter what the dish is, all the necessary ingredients are always available in that very limited fridge and pantry.  Also, the 3 judges usually have some connection to whatever the dish is and I don't for one minute believe that's just coincidence nor do I believe that the producers call them up and they rush over in NYC traffic in less than an hour.

[chessiegal]

As far as the food goes for the 2nd round - you have 2 competitors, you ask each of them what the challenge dish is going to be if they win, and have all the ingredients on hand ahead of time. Piece of cake. As far as the judges in the 2nd round, make sure at least 1 judge has a connection to the challenge dish. With 3 judges, that's not hard to do.

[Wings]

We see shots of their faces (Bobby and contender) during the final judging.  I often wonder if the judges see them, since their reactions give away who cooked each dish.  This could influence the outcome. 

Edited May 8, 2017 by wings707

[theatremouse]

I don't know for sure what this show does, but I know a number of other competition shows that purport to do any blind judging on a challenge often film the judging twice. Once with the judges and no contestants watching (or with their backs turned so the judges don't see them reacting) and once for the contestant reactions. If their backs were turned, it's filmed concurrently and edited to make it seem like they're facing the right direction. If they're not, then the contestants are facing an empty room but hearing the playback of the actual critiques to get the reaction shots. It's possible this show does that, but I don't have any insider info on that.

[Wings]

This makes sense. ^

[Lura]

This latest show was ridiculous.  Bobby went up against a chef originally from Mexico, and for the final challenge, the Mexican chef chose Juevos Rancheros as his dish.  You're kidding me!  Of all the dishes that chef could have made, he chose something that Bobby admitted he's made 100 times and is on the brunch menu at his Gato restaurant!!!  Even though the Mexican chef won, I smell a rat.  These challengers come up with the most simplistic dishes on earth.  Who produces this transparent "entertainment"? 

[theatremouse]

I think the competitors most likely just pick a thing they specialize in, even if they know Bobby does it too. There's an element of "yeah but mine's better" that they're going for. I imagine it's less satisfying beating him at something you specialize in and happened to know he has zero experience with. That said, he's got so much experience it might be hard to find something he's never done. And he does so many of these competition type shows, even finding something he rarely does or isn't comfortable with at this point is probably a needle in a haystack.

[GaT]

Bobby's girlfriend was on the show. How strange.

[Christina]

I was just coming here to post that, and to also state that I found her annoying on the show, but still better than Katie Lee, who manages to make shows unwatchable. Even if you don't watch cooking shows, he was all over the news when that Mad Men actress (YoSaffBridge?) had the car wreck and called him to the scene, his divorce was all over the tabloids, he is constantly shown at the races, yet she didn't know who he was? Not buying it.  

Saying that I don't believe she didn't know who is was is quite hypocritical of me, since I had to google her and landed on her IMDB page. Google also had several articles discussing their anniversary on February 13, 2017, and I didn't realize he had a long-term girlfriend. In my defense, I don't care enough about him to stalk him online, and I rarely read tabloids unless I'm sent to a link by someone or see it somewhere, like PTV, yet I'm calling bull on her claim. ; )

[mlp]

Wait!  Their anniversary?  Bobby got married again and it wasn't all over the food news?  I'd never heard of her and I can't say I cared for her much but I agree she was easier to take than Katie Lee.   She looks a lot younger and more attractive in that IMdB photo than she did on BBF.

[GaT]

9 hours ago, mlp said:

Wait!  Their anniversary?  Bobby got married again and it wasn't all over the food news? 

No, not a wedding anniversary, a one year dating anniversary.

[GaT]

Gail Simmons was on tonight's show, has she moved from Bravo to Food Network?

[Totale]

I doubt it, probably just a gig.  I was surprised to learn that she had once been a line cook.

[mlp]

I was surprised to see Gail also.  Too bad her appearance was spoiled by Sunny Anderson's loud nonsense.  

I laughed when Bobby tossed the stuffed animal to the spectators.  Then I was surprised when I saw that Sunny was holding it during the wrap up remarks at the end.  Do they film that bit first somehow (which makes no sense) or did she actually take it away from the woman who caught it?  

[Wings]

On 5/26/2017 at 11:17 AM, mlp said:

I was surprised to see Gail also.  Too bad her appearance was spoiled by Sunny Anderson's loud nonsense.  

She sucks the energy out of a room.   Others are forced to laugh at her shtick and she is just not that clever.   

On 5/25/2017 at 11:59 PM, GaT said:

Gail Simmons was on tonight's show, has she moved from Bravo to Food Network?

No, many chefs can go anywhere.  I am sure some are under contract but not the bigger names.