Review: Around the World in 80 Plates
Though I do greatly enjoy Top Chef Masters I don’t care for its predecessor Top Chef. It is not a show about food or cooking; it’s a show about yelling and backstabbing. Granted yelling and backstabbing between some very talented chefs but yelling and backstabbing just the same. It’s the same reason I don’t watch Hell’s Kitchen.
Recently I made sure to record a few episodes of Bravo’s new reality cooking competition Around the World in 80 Plates. The show is hosted by veteran TV chefs Curtis Stone and Cat Cora. Here’s the official Bravo description:
Around the World in 80 Plates takes culinary competition to the next level as 12 chefs travel across the globe testing their skills and determination. In each episode, the contestants will travel to a different international city where they will learn the local customs, cultures, and cuisines as they participate in a gauntlet of culinary challenges. Ultimately, they will face-off in a kitchen takeover where they will not only recreate, but reinvent the menus for world-renowned restaurants and their demanding owners.
After watching a few episodes I can’t say it’s appointment TV for me. Cat and Curtis, as expected, are great and the exotic locations are terrific. But basically it’s Top Chef on vacation. It’s not a cooking show it’s just another yelling and backstabbing show. If you enjoy Hell’s Kitchen or Top Chef or Big Bother or Survivor then you’ll probably dig it. I’d rather watch paint dry.
Review: America’s Next Great Restaurant
NBC’s briefing:
From Emmy Award-winning producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves (“Top Chef” and “Project Runway”) comes “America’s Next Great Restaurant.” In this delectable new alternative series, people from every walk of life will vie for the opportunity of a lifetime to see their original restaurant concept spring to life – starting with the opening of a restaurant chain in three locations – Hollywood, Minneapolis and New York City.
Funding the restaurant concepts are four accredited investors: Bobby Flay, distinguished restaurateur (“Iron Chef America: The Series,” “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay”); Curtis Stone, internationally renowned chef (NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” “Take Home Chef”); Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle; and Lorena Garcia, executive chef and restaurateur.
I just watched the premiere of America’s Next Great Restaurant with Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone, Lorena Garcia and Steve Ells. Typical reality show framework. A group of wannabe’s (I love that) hoping be the recipient of a life changing win.
The first episode followed the American Idol script with a group of people – some are locks to make the top 10, some are on the fence and about a half dozen were only brought in to embarrass themselves on national TV.
That’s one of my major problems with reality TV is that it tends to cater to the very worst traits in humanity. In this case the desire to see other people fail . It’s sick. There is nothing to separate people who love to watch those terrible singers from the people who filled the Roman Coliseum to watch their neighbors torn to shreds by lions. They are barbarians.
America’s Next Great Restaurant is far better than that glorified karaoke contest which makes a week of programming out of failures. Plus the winner won’t end up with a contract that cripples their career for years to come. I’m not a fan of fast casual restaurants but the judges they picked have proven it can be done right. With the unsavory part out of the way I’m looking forward to the rest of the show. Nuf for now.
ICA: Flay vs. Stone
Epic. That is the only word to describe the last Iron Chef America of May 2010. Perhaps this should be called Battle: Celebrity Chef? Bobby Flay is a master of Kitchen Stadium and he welcomes Cheflebrity Curtis Stone for the second of four consecutive new episodes.
If, for some strange reason, you are not familiar with Curtis Stone check out his IMdb profile which documents his more than 100 TV appearances. The fact that he has a profile at IMdb should tell you he’s a pretty big deal. Most known for appearances on NBC’s two popular reality series The Biggest Loser and Celebrity Apprentice, Stone has also hosted over 70 episodes of his own shows Take Home Chef (TLC) and My Restaurant Rules (Seven Network, Australia).
But Stone is as much chef as he is celebrity. He began cooking professionally at the age of 18 at the five-star Savoy Hotel in London. As a young chef he worked alongside Marco Pierre White at The Café Royal and at Mirabelle. From there he moved on to the exclusive Restaurant 301. Stone has also been a part of four top selling cookbooks including Surfing the Menu the companion book to the eight-part mini series Stone filmed with fellow Aussie chef Ben O’Donoghue. The guy’s got chops.
This episode is tailor-made for the ladies as it pits two of the sexiest chefs in the country. Flay’s curly red mop and Cheshire grin have long made him eye candy for Food Network viewers while Stone was named one of the sexiest men alive by People in 2006. Chef Curtis greatly resembles actor Owen Wilson only without the fugly nose.
How cool would it be if Brett Michaels, Summer Sanders and Holly Robinson Peete were the judges? Well they weren’t. Judges for Battle: Skipjack Tuna were John T. Edge, Cady Huffman and Jeffrey Steingarten. A special condition was that each course had to feature a grilled item. Chef Flay was once again assisted by blond bombshell Sous Chef Rene Forsberg (who I believe oversees Flay’s Mesa Grill outpost in the Bahamas). Chef Rene was sporting her signature Pocahontas ponytails. Also adding heat to Flay’s kitchen was the adorable Christine Sanchez, Culinary Director of the Iron Chef’s company, Bold Food.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Bobby Flay.
Flay and Stone have now teamed up for NBC’s new reality competition America’s Next Great Restaurant.
Click HERE for the outcome.
Surfing the Menu
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ICA: Flay vs. Stone – Outcome
SPOILER ALERT: The following information is the outcome of Flay vs. Stone. If you want information on the combatants click HERE. If you are only interested in the outcome read on.
Judges for Battle: Skipjack Tuna were John T. Edge, Cady Huffman and Jeffrey Steingarten. A special condition was that each course had to feature a grilled item. Chef Flay was once again assisted by blonde bombshell Sous Chef Renee Forsberg (Senior Chef Tournant at Mesa Grill). Chef Renee was sporting her signature Pocahontas ponytails. Also adding heat to Flay’s kitchen was the adorable Christine Sanchez, Culinary Director of the Iron Chef’s company, Bold Food.
Flay Stone
Taste: 26 Taste: 19
Plating: 12 Plating: 10
Originality: 11 Originality: 8
Total: 49 Total: 37
Winner: Iron Chef Flay
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my exclusive interview with Iron Chef Bobby Flay.
Flay and Stone have now teamed up for NBC’s new reality competition America’s Next Great Restaurant.
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