Nov. 15th, 2007 08:34 pm
The Next Iron Chef
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toastykittenRead recaps and interviews here.
Overall, I was kind of disappointed by The Next Iron Chef. On this show, a bunch of renowned American chefs cooking in different styles and regions are competing for the title of Iron Chef for the next season of Iron Chef America. (Iron Chef America is definitely not any replacement for Iron Chef Japan, but I like to get my fix where I can.) It never stopped feeling like a rip-off of Top Chef, and the fact that all the competitors were mature adults made for slightly less entertaining viewing. I mean, the most entertaining moments come from when Chris Cosentino is bitching out the cameramen for being in his way all the time.
I also didn't like that the women and the minorities were the first to get kicked off. It seriously bugged me. You can tell me that it wasn't like that at all, that it's what the judging came down to, but if that's what it was, then they needed to pick better comments when dismissing the candidates.
Anyway, after that, we were rooting for Chris Cosentino, because we've actually eaten at his restaurant a couple of times. (I'll write about those meals soon.) His style is rustic Italian, and he's also known for his obsession with offal. Also, he hates food bloggers. (I find the whole chefs vs. Yelpers/bloggers thing hilarious. But I digress.)
But then it was down to John Besh and Michael Symon, which presented its own controversies. Apparently, Michael Ruhlman, writer and trained cook, was one of the judges, and he was friends with Symon and some of his writing was about Symon. Ruhlman pointed out in his own blog that he was probably harsher on Symon than anyone. However, Ruhlman could not account for the fact that Andrew Knowlton, one of the other judges, came off like a complete tool. Blame the editing as much as you want, but what ended up on-screen was not very flattering. He came off like someone who wanted to show off his knowledge about food, but was clearly biased towards certain things.
Who won?
Symon - the Greek/Mediterranean dude. Draw your own conclusions, but it was pretty obvious from the last battle that he nailed it. Although it would have been nice to have John Besh win it, since he represented New Orleans and they already had a Mediterranean-inspired chef in Cat Cora. Oh, and in a small twist, instead of the judges rating the food, 3 other Iron Chefs - Bobby Flay, Morimoto, and Cat Cora judged the food. Although Morimoto was not dubbed this time, as he usually is, even when speaking plain English, they did subtitle him, which I guess is better.
One of the better things about this food show was that the chefs were not shy about cooking with organ meats, and totally showcased them as much as possible. You had people eagerly making stuff with tripe and lamb tongue. That was very neat.
Crossposted to Framespersecond, which is a group blog that I am now also writing at. My friend writes mostly about games - his latest details the newest Guitar Hero.
Overall, I was kind of disappointed by The Next Iron Chef. On this show, a bunch of renowned American chefs cooking in different styles and regions are competing for the title of Iron Chef for the next season of Iron Chef America. (Iron Chef America is definitely not any replacement for Iron Chef Japan, but I like to get my fix where I can.) It never stopped feeling like a rip-off of Top Chef, and the fact that all the competitors were mature adults made for slightly less entertaining viewing. I mean, the most entertaining moments come from when Chris Cosentino is bitching out the cameramen for being in his way all the time.
I also didn't like that the women and the minorities were the first to get kicked off. It seriously bugged me. You can tell me that it wasn't like that at all, that it's what the judging came down to, but if that's what it was, then they needed to pick better comments when dismissing the candidates.
Anyway, after that, we were rooting for Chris Cosentino, because we've actually eaten at his restaurant a couple of times. (I'll write about those meals soon.) His style is rustic Italian, and he's also known for his obsession with offal. Also, he hates food bloggers. (I find the whole chefs vs. Yelpers/bloggers thing hilarious. But I digress.)
But then it was down to John Besh and Michael Symon, which presented its own controversies. Apparently, Michael Ruhlman, writer and trained cook, was one of the judges, and he was friends with Symon and some of his writing was about Symon. Ruhlman pointed out in his own blog that he was probably harsher on Symon than anyone. However, Ruhlman could not account for the fact that Andrew Knowlton, one of the other judges, came off like a complete tool. Blame the editing as much as you want, but what ended up on-screen was not very flattering. He came off like someone who wanted to show off his knowledge about food, but was clearly biased towards certain things.
Who won?
Symon - the Greek/Mediterranean dude. Draw your own conclusions, but it was pretty obvious from the last battle that he nailed it. Although it would have been nice to have John Besh win it, since he represented New Orleans and they already had a Mediterranean-inspired chef in Cat Cora. Oh, and in a small twist, instead of the judges rating the food, 3 other Iron Chefs - Bobby Flay, Morimoto, and Cat Cora judged the food. Although Morimoto was not dubbed this time, as he usually is, even when speaking plain English, they did subtitle him, which I guess is better.
One of the better things about this food show was that the chefs were not shy about cooking with organ meats, and totally showcased them as much as possible. You had people eagerly making stuff with tripe and lamb tongue. That was very neat.
Crossposted to Framespersecond, which is a group blog that I am now also writing at. My friend writes mostly about games - his latest details the newest Guitar Hero.