ICA: Symon vs. Morimoto – Tailgate Showdown
Published January 27, 2012 | 
Iron Chefs Morimoto and Symon travel to Hawaii for the first ever Iron Chef America tailgating showdown. Because of the two-hour season (please make it the series) finale of RvG: Celebrity Showdown this special ICA will air on Saturday night. Like the Super Bowl, this will also serve as a rematch of the 2005 Battle: Asparagus between Morimoto and a not-yet Iron Chef Micheal Symon won by Morimoto.
Iron Chef Symon hails from Cleveland, OH and is one big time Browns fan. For those not in the know the Browns are like the Cubs of the NFL. They were a power franchise. . . sixty years ago. However, they’ve never even sniffed a Super Bowl save for one AFC championship game that they ultimately lost thanks one of the 47 last minute comebacks that put Denver QB John Elway into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Iron Chef Morimoto is from Japan. This should be fun. Check back for the outcome.
Review: Fat Chef
Published January 26, 2012 | Tonight Food Network premiered it’s latest reality show and this one is actually food related. It seems like a good concept. People love shows about fat people. People love shows about food. And, sadly, people love shows with other people arguing. So just what is Fat Chef?
For overweight chefs, working in the food industry is a double-edged sword. While indulging their love of food has brought them success, money and respect, it’s also killing them. Each episode of Fat Chef features two such overweight food professionals and spends four months with them as they confront their food issues and, with the help of therapists, nutritionists and trainers defeat their abusive relationships with food and become healthy.
So did Fat Chef deliver? Well, if you’re a fan of Biggest Loser or any of its other doppelgangers then yeah, it did a fine job. But though it did revolve around food it really wasn’t a show about food. Still, it was an interesting study in the stressful job of a real working chef.
My fellow chef friends tell me that the biggest problem they are having with the new generation of culinary school grads is that they all think upon graduation they should run their own kitchen, have a cookbook deal and a TV show. This show gives them a glimpse of what being a chef is really like – 100 plus hour work weeks, only having time for one meal a day and very little time spent with family and loved ones.
Fat Chef isn’t really my cup of tea but it isn’t a bad show. It’s informative and entertaining. Again, it’s just not my cup of tea.
Posted in Food on Film, REVIEWS | 
biggest loser, fat chef, is fat chef real, review, reviews | 
Leave a commentReview: The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat
Published January 26, 2012 | In 2004, Joshua and Jessica Applestone (in a self-described act of craziness) opened Fleisher’s Grass-fed & Organic Meats in Kingston, New York, in an effort to provide locals (and themselves) with sustainable meat—and managed to 
Despite what those crazy ass Vegans tell you, the human body needs meat. There is nothing that sprouts, blooms or fruits that can replace it in our diet. For those with “ethical” concerns about meat then The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat is exactly what you need. After suffering some of the many ills that come from a Vegan diet Josh Applestone decided to return to an omnivore’s diet and to go about butchering the right way. He and his wife Jessica have really set down great guidelines so that you too can do it.
In The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat you will learn how to tell the difference between properly raised meat and the crap at your local mega mart. The Applestone’s provide help in finding ethical butchers and just as importantly how to cook it. I absolutely love this book and I think you will too.
Revamped “Food Network Star” Begins Taping 8th Season
Published January 26, 2012 | Food Network is giving its most successful series a total makeover. This season Food Network Star will greatly resemble other reality cooking shows like Worst Cooks in America and Rachael vs Guy: Celebrity Cook-off with established cheflebrities taking on mentoring rolls over three teams of wannabe TV chefs none of whom are named Stuart Reb Donald. I know. What’s the point of even having the show, right?
From a Food Network Press Release:
Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis Joined by Alton Brown as Series Regular
NEW YORK – January 23, 2012 –Food Network Star returns to New York City as production begins on the eighth season of the long-running hit series, scheduled to premiere on May 13th, 2012. The revised format brings returning favorites Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis from behind the judges table to square off with new regular Alton Brown in a three-way team competition to find the next Food Network Star. Bobby, Giada and Alton, all television producers in addition to being culinary superstars, lead the charge to find and develop the new talent with each hand-selecting a team of five finalists, who they will produce and mentor through the ‘Star’ experience to find one winner who possesses personality and culinary chops. In another fresh twist to the series, the viewing audience will vote before the finale to determine who will receive the ultimate prize: their own Food Network show, to be produced by their ‘Star’ team leader.
In the new format, each episode will begin with a team “Star Challenge” and the two losing teams must then send a member to the bottom two. During the “Producer’s Challenge,” the bottom two contestants each shoot a segment with their ‘Star’ producer to be presented to the selection committee in the “pitch room.” Returning judges Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson decide who stays and who goes, along with a roster of guest judges scheduled to join.
Last year’s season of Star set new precedents in seediness with contestants who never really stood a chance of winning but were clearly chosen just to create drama. It made the show uncomfortable to watch and by far the worst season in the history of the series. Perhaps that is what has lead to the total overhaul in format.
At the same time, there were bright spots in last year’s cast like the graceful and charming Jyll Everman, the bubbly Orchid Paulmeier and Whitney Chen who proved equally deft in the kitchen and on camera. Eventual winner Jeff Mauro’s show debuted to great ratings and then disappeared but don’t fret, season two of The Sandwich King is currently in production.
Currently only three of the previous winning FNS shows are still on the air. Here’s a quick review of the first seven FNS winners:
- Party Time with the Hearty Boys got six episodes then was canceled. Was brought back for 13 episodes and then canceled again.
- Guy’s Big Bite is still in production after 120 plus episodes.
- The Gourmet Next Door got six episodes then was canceled. Reportedly Food Network offered host Amy Finley 13 more episodes but she declined and moved to another country.
- Big Daddy’s House despite atrocious ratings lasted five seasons before being canned this past fall.
- Ten Dollar Dinners has to date produced more than 30 episodes over four seasons. New episodes continue to air on Sundays while older episodes joined the M-F daytime line-up last September. The move to the daily line-up is a strong sign that Food Network plans to many more episodes of Ten Dollar Dinners.
- Aarti’s Party produced 28 episodes over three seasons. The ratings were pretty good but Food Network has moved it to the Cooking Channel in re-runs only. Aarti has a new show in the works with season five winner Melissa D’Arabian.
- The Sandwich King premiered to great reviews and a second season is currently in production.
Posted in FNS, Food News | fns, fns8, food network star, Jeff Mauro, Jyll Everman, Orchid Paulmeier, shot, The Sandwich King, where is, Whitney Chen | Leave a comment
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