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  #11  
Old 07-15-2007, 10:57 PM
RunDownHouse RunDownHouse is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

I completely agree with Bourdain's post about HK in the link Blarg posted. I watch both Top Chef and Next Food... but watched only a single episode of Hell's Kitchen before deciding I didn't care to see it again. Watching funny people be funnily cruel can be really funny. Watching Gordon Ramsey be cruel is painful, especially when there isn't quality cooking to offset it.
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  #12  
Old 07-16-2007, 01:20 AM
Blarg Blarg is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

Well, they kicked off Amy, who seemed way ahead of Jag. This one really shoulda been between the ladies.

Then they brought her back! Wow, a relief for her, and a bit of torture tambien.

Also, Jag's contrition seemed nothing of the sort. Saying you're sorry when you're caught and have no other choice isn't impressive.

Jag has lots of stage presence, but he screws up his cooking pretty regularly, and dissed the network. The blonde girl dissed her other teammate. The only one who didn't screw up the last challenges in one way or another was the person they kicked off.

Can't wait to read Bourdain's blog entry on it.
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  #13  
Old 07-16-2007, 01:30 AM
Ron Burgundy Ron Burgundy is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

Katy,

You have to read Kitchen Confidential. You just have to.


Blarg,

Which of Tony's other books would you recommend? I saw he has a bunch of books out now. Are they really good or is he just riding the wave of KC for $$$?
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  #14  
Old 07-16-2007, 08:26 AM
katyseagull katyseagull is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

[ QUOTE ]

Jag has lots of stage presence, but he screws up his cooking pretty regularly, and dissed the network.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was surprised that Jag had so much stage presence on the Rachel Ray show. He was really entertaining. Completely the opposite of his back stage personality. I also thought that the lobster dish he made on her show looked absolutely delicious whereas Amy's dish looked pretty questionable.

His lying about his military record is pretty weird. I totally agree with you that his contrition was phony as hell.

The other girl (ol' big mouth) did a nice job on the Rachel Ray show. But lol at her for putting a glob of herb butter on top of a steak. Isn't that a little over the top? (Also, did you like the way she sort of shoved Rachel out of the way? haha.)
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  #15  
Old 07-16-2007, 09:54 AM
monkeyfightclub monkeyfightclub is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

I guess at some point I'll get sick of HK, but until then I will enjoy Ramsay verbally pummel the contestants. One thing that someone in this thread pointed out, it seems like the "chefs" on the show aren't very good. They screw up all the time which causes Ramsay to lose it. I guess poor chefs are essential, otherwise we wouldn't hear Ramsay cursing people out which is the schtick of the whole show.
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  #16  
Old 07-16-2007, 12:18 PM
Blarg Blarg is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

[ QUOTE ]
Katy,

You have to read Kitchen Confidential. You just have to.


Blarg,

Which of Tony's other books would you recommend? I saw he has a bunch of books out now. Are they really good or is he just riding the wave of KC for $$$?

[/ QUOTE ]

A Cook's Tour is good, especially the part on how much he loves Vietnam and the crazy stuff he ate there. A real honest love story for the place. It's not as good as KC, because KC had more of a structure, as a bio. ACT is episodic.

He's got another one called The Nasty Bits that I picked up a few weeks back but have only read one or two pieces from, but I like that too.

All in all, I think Bourdain sustains a good level of writing throughout his stuff. Even if some is better than others, none of it is poor, and he has such an active life that he's constantly in the position to have interesting stuff to talk about. With him, the stuff that seems a lesser effort is sometimes his latest t.v. show, which can suffer from having to fill time whether he has exceptional material or not. His writing is just stuff done on his own, so it doesn't fall short that way.

I'd definitely read the books in order, too -- KC, ACT, and then his other stuff. I think you probably enjoy later pieces more for knowing the story of the nut behind them.
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  #17  
Old 07-16-2007, 12:25 PM
Blarg Blarg is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

I agree that Amy's food didn't look that good. Part of it was this gray glop that looked very unappetizing, and part was half in the bowl, half out. Just because you are the gourmet for the backyard doesn't mean you have to aggressively slop your sh*t around. That almost seems passive-aggressive toward the concept of simplicity -- "let's really mess it up for you hicks, you oughta dig this ...." Also, although her work with the camera on the Ray show was mostly quite good, she did seem to retreat into babbling about the complexity of her food, which I took as a sign of building up a protective wall between her and an instant communication with the audience, which she is still a bit scared of. The judge made a good call in pointing that out.

I still think she is probably the best cook there, and shouldn't have been given the boot. Jag's spiel about really loving food seems to have carried him through not just one but two episodes, despite still not stepping up to the plate on the cooking side. I have a feeling it would have won him the job if he hadn't been caught lying. Which is kind of a shame, because if he got his own show, he wouldn't be able to make it watchable by periodic heartfelt crying.

Plus, I'm tired of calling him "Jag" and hearing him refer to himself in the third person.
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  #18  
Old 07-16-2007, 12:26 PM
Blarg Blarg is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

P.S. Katie: The "big mouth" girl really does have giant choppers. I started laughing yesterday when I could actually see a big hotspot of glare being reflected from her GUMS.
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  #19  
Old 07-16-2007, 04:01 PM
RunDownHouse RunDownHouse is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

Did anyone else recognize Rory the first time they saw her on Next Food...? It bothered me the whole first episode, and then I googled. She was on (VH1's? CMT's? GAC's? one of those) the "Popularity Contest" show. I have to think she has a decent edge simply because she's used to seeing herself on TV and reacting to reality TV moments. Obviously, there's a level of cooking expertise below which you just can't be on FoodTV, but above that limit, camera-comfort, audience rapport, etc, count for way more than cooking. Having made it deep in to a reality TV show, I just have to think Rory has an edge over someone like Garcia or Amy.
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  #20  
Old 07-16-2007, 07:54 PM
BK_ BK_ is offline
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Default Re: TV cooking contest shows

im actually kinda pissed - I wanted JAG to win badly. I think that the other two are too similar to all the other people with shows on the food network. Especially after seeing them cook and realizing that both of them aren't very good. Oh well... stupid JAG
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