<p>I still don’t have one of those tasting tvs.</p>
<p>I’m enjoying the new Next Iron Chef season. No favorite yet.</p>
<p>Does anyone else find the editing on the show (several Food Network shows) annoying? I’m not always sure why certain judge’s remarks are shown, or why the camera is focusing where it is. Not a fatal flaw, but sometimes I wonder what they’re trying to accomplish.</p>
<p>i’m enjoying next iron chef… wonder though if in the final cook off if they had to decide which chef leaves would be more exciting if they didnt know who cooked what… had to decide blind…</p>
<p>I always get to this forum late, as I watch Iron Chef on Monday nights, so I can watch Amazing Race on Sunday. Too many competition shows on one night is too much!</p>
<p>Interesting idea about judging blind. I’m sure there is some bias in the decisions, as would be normal.</p>
<p>I personally like Robert Irvine. He seems like a nice person. He is pretty big and macho looking, but I see a big heart in there. Not surprised that he isn’t making it to the end though. His cooking is more down to earth.</p>
<p>What I find interesting about the editing is that what they show you is designed to mislead about their final decisions. I will see them make certain comments about this chef or that and then the final outcome will be totally different.</p>
<p>And, my personal pet peeve these days is the commentator comment “so, have you made a decision?” after we have seen them discuss for 30 seconds, and the panelists say “yes, I think we know what we are going to do”. Considering that we see the judges debate for less than a minute, it seems so contrived.</p>
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<p>Big heart is not what is judged! </p>
<p>Irvine has accumulated a great number of shows on the Food Network, but his series of Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible were utterly predictable and repetitive. You could see one and be done. It is known that Irvine embellished his resume well beyond being a Navy and cruise ship cook. Down-to-earth his food may be, but it is extremely limited. </p>
<p>Fwiw, in the Restaurant Impossible, most restaurants end up with a similar menu (usually one page) and a questionable new theme. By reading follow-up reviews, it appears that most restaurants “upgraded” by Irvine end up worse off.</p>
<p>All in all, the mere fact that “cooks” like Irvine are competing for jobs made famous by Bobby Flay and Batalli shows that the days of Iron Chef America are numbered. </p>
<p>Perhaps, Irvine could team up with Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli in the next Food Truck race.</p>
<p>xiggi: i agree that Irvine is not up to the level of a Batali. Several others in the competition aren’t either. I just happen to think Robert Irvine is entertaining. I’m sure his food is good, it is probably just not stellar.</p>
<p>I actually think Alex might have a chance of winning Iron Chef. She is pretty determined.</p>
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I’ve read some of the reviews, too, and I don’t really understand this. The restaurants were going bankrupt before Irvine appeared. Maybe they’re going bankrupt again, but how is that “worse off”? </p>
<p>Nor would any of that be Irvine’s fault, IMO - he can give them a new menu and new decor. But in 2 days, he cannot teach them to be master chefs, nor how to be business people. He may simply be giving them several more months of life.</p>
<p>I recently attended a luncheon that Irvine gave (and yes, I happen to like him and his shows). He said that he keeps in touch with the restaurants he’s helped for a while and gets their numbers. Most of them are still in business.</p>
<p>But I agree - while I like him, he’s not the Iron Chef type. Nor IMO is Zakarian. I’d like to see Alex or Falkner; I think Samuelson has a good shot at it.</p>
<p>I agree with Xiggi that Iron Chef seems to be on a downhill track with both Mario Batali and Cat Cora leaving. I haven’t seen that many of the new shows but I don’t think Chef Garces is that exciting. Elizabeth Falkner seems like an odd choice for this competition given that she’s so famous for Citizen Cake in this neck of the woods.</p>
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<p>Yes, some restaurants were beyond repair. Others were in need of a new and fresher concept. Irvine cannot produce miracles in two days, but then WHY does it have to be two days. The concept of the show is utterly dumb, especially when repeated over and over. He ALWAYS runs out of time but somehow makes it. Why not give yourself 2 1/2 days or 3 days? That built-in excitement is just as moronic as in his prior series. Impossible … because you make it so? Yawn! </p>
<p>I do not doubt that he might be a nice guy, but again, once you see a couple of his shows, you have seem them all. The race against the clock, the one page menu, and the fake emotions.</p>
<p>Wow. This is crazy! How have I missed all these posts and I started the thread!</p>
<p>Has anybody seen "Top Chef Episode 2; A Close Call on Eater?</p>
<p>I’ll post this separately, in case it’s a violation</p>
<p>[Top</a> Chef Texas Episode 2: A Cloche Call - TV Recap - Eater National](<a href=“http://eater.com/archives/2011/11/10/top-chef-texas-episode-2-a-cloche-call.php]Top”>http://eater.com/archives/2011/11/10/top-chef-texas-episode-2-a-cloche-call.php)</p>
<p>And about Robert Irvine…</p>
<p>Or…[Southpinellas:</a> TV chef spiced up his past exploits](<a href=“http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/17/Southpinellas/TV_chef_spiced_up_his.shtml]Southpinellas:”>http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/17/Southpinellas/TV_chef_spiced_up_his.shtml)</p>
<p>I do remember all of the hoopla a few years ago when Irvine was pulled from Dinner Impossible and Food network because his falsified resume. However, it just wasn’t the same when other hosts took over the show and I was thrilled to see him back.</p>
<p>Crazy me, but I get a kick out of him. I loved watching Dinner Impossible when he would yell ‘Georgie’ to get one of his assistants to help. He always had such a great time with the volunteers, it was a pleasure to watch.</p>
<p>It is crazy to make over a restaurant in 2 days, just as it is crazy to make over an entire house in 2 days, or a kitchen, or whatever. That seems to be the way it is done these days. People want entertainment, they don’t want to learn something!</p>
<p>I actually enjoyed the shows where you learned how to cook something now, or how to make a repair on your home, etc. But those shows are relegated to 4am on Sundays!</p>
<p>This year’s winner of Next Food Network Star is fun to watch. I really enjoyed watching his show about making sandwiches and there were several I wanted to try. But it was hard to remember to tape his show so I missed most of them. It would be nearly impossible to get the network to actually have a cooking show during primetime.</p>
<p>Public television is better than ever! It still has the good cooking shows around here. We have just gotten spoiled. Cook channel is okay too.</p>
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The “other host” was Michael Symons. Think this had anything to do with his vote? 
(And no, I’m not serious!)</p>
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<p>Agreed. And yes, it’s all the same - he runs out of time but does it anyway. But so is House - strange illness, three wrong diagnoses (and it seems always to be three), then House makes the correct diagnosis and saves the day. But they’re still fun to watch. </p>
<p>With Restaurant Impossible, I like seeing the different decors, I like to see the “before and after” pictures, I like the human drama involved.</p>
<p>Why do I watch Iron Chef? It’s food I’ll never taste, that I’ll never be able to recreate, with ingredients that I’ll never be able to afford. And yet it’s fun to watch! I have yet to figure it out!</p>
<p>Thoughts on this week’s elimination? I figured that Beau wouldn’t last very long, but surprising to see Zarkarian in the bottom two times.</p>
<p>At first I thought I wouldn’t like the ‘showdown’ segment, but it has been OK for me.</p>
<p>It seems to me that Michael Symon’s opinion dominates during judging time.</p>
<p>Samuelson sent packing. Hope they start eliminating the female chefs in the next two weeks for a nice finale between the only two chefs. However, the bias of the judges will protect at least one of the ladies.</p>
<p>I caught the opening of Iron Chef America last night, immediately following the elimination. Mario Batali and (more importantly, IMO) Cat Cora have been removed from the opening roster.</p>
<p>They need another female Iron Chef. I think it’ll be Burrell, with her extensive experience in Kitchen Stadium, unless of course she crashes and burns somewhere along the line.</p>