Tournament of Champions thread

[Texzilla58 4731]

I agree that Simon is a weakness, though I wonder how much editing is going on during his descriptions.  Someone needs to describe the dishes, and it obviously can't be the chefs.  I think Justin does a decent job, though he leaves out key details at times as well, which again could be down to editing.  I don't know what the solution is here.  This may the best they can do while keeping their influence minimal.   
I don't mind the seeding.  It seems fairly random, which is how it probably should be.  Hindsight is always going to indicate that some match ups occurred too soon.  The luck of the randomizer plays a part in the closeness of some battles as well.  
I'm still not a Guy fan, but have been able to enjoy the show in spite of him.   

That doesn’t seem to be edited much on the descriptions. One dude was mediocre, the other terrible. The solution is simple: chefs write their descriptions and a Don Pardo type announcer reads them. The chefs should be able to sell their dish as they see fit.

The seeding is based on nothing but Guy’s gut it seems. His putting the brackets in “regions” means we get a lot of the same matchups. Just mix em up with 4 brackets of at large slots. Just announce the field and then draw to the brackets. It can be the preview show like bracket Sunday. I would like to see the field expanded to 48 or 64.

I would do away with the wild card and the equipment wheels and replace with perhaps a third ingredient and something else, or actually make the equipment a challenge. A comal? A Nigerian whisk? Stupid.

Why are chefs introduced twice? Let’s just do it once. Also can we stop with the horrible made up nicknames? Guy is the first person to be more annoying with them than Chris Berman.

And I want to see detailed scorecards by judge.

Hunter Fieri defines what is wrong with nepotism.

[idigTexas 2284]

6 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

The solution is simple: chefs write their descriptions and a Don Pardo type announcer reads them. The chefs should be able to sell their dish as they see fit.

I agree with everything except this.  I had this same thought, but when are they supposed to do it?  Their dishes are already getting cold/warm as it is, especially for the chef whose food is judged second. 

[Js1 85275]

43 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:

Why are chefs introduced twice? Let’s just do it once. Also can we stop with the horrible made up nicknames? Guy is the first person to be more annoying with them than Chris Berman.

It does get old 

[Herpa Derpa 6123]

1 hour ago, idigTexas said:

I agree with everything except this.  I had this same thought, but when are they supposed to do it?  Their dishes are already getting cold/warm as it is, especially for the chef whose food is judged second. 

You have Hunter get the descriptions from the chef while they make the dish and then the Pardo reads the chef's words. Cuts Simon/Justin and gives Hunter something productive to do with his life. Two birds.

[Hate 20106]

The Hunter experiment has pretty much ruined GGG for me. I don’t find that he adds anything to the show…at all. I’m sure he is a good kid and all, but what “chops” does he have other than having a celebrity chef father?

[idigTexas 2284]

31 minutes ago, Herpa Derpa said:

You have Hunter get the descriptions from the chef while they make the dish and then the Pardo reads the chef's words. Cuts Simon/Justin and gives Hunter something productive to do with his life. Two birds.

I don't think Hunter would be reliable in that, or any role.  I guess they could video chef statements while they are cooking, and simply have someone who isn't a grating personality read them.  Of course at some point, chefs who are better at describing while cooking might have an edge, which could be okay if you consider that a chef skill. 

I'm not sure that the current solution bothers me that much, other than Simon clearly being worse at it than Justin.

[Texzilla58 4731]

Each of these chefs is the used to selling a dish and already describes their dish when they are asked what they’re making by the reporters. Of course maybe the simplest solution is put a cap into Simon and replace with someone who gives a shit, who is a chef with competition experience.

I guess we should enjoy these times with just Hunter since Ryder will likely be joining the Fieri nepotism crew soon as well.

[closetohumping 17433]

Mahneet can come off as sweet but also cocky.  
 

Britts deconstructed fried rice was too simple. 

[closetohumping 17433]

I agree with the result of the finale.  Right person won.  Also not sure if I find the champ attractive or not

[Js1 85275]

Bump.  TOC5 starts Sunday

Last 2 Wednesdays were qualifiers to determine the 8 seeds.  Was a cool format - 4 compete in groups of 4 and the top 2 of each grouping competed H2H for each of the 8 seeds.  They were judged by the 3 of the 4 TOC champs (not the one they would be facing)

[NoName 16350]

On 2/15/2024 at 12:22 PM, Js1 said:

Bump.  TOC5 starts Sunday

Last 2 Wednesdays were qualifiers to determine the 8 seeds.  Was a cool format - 4 compete in groups of 4 and the top 2 of each grouping competed H2H for each of the 8 seeds.  They were judged by the 3 of the 4 TOC champs (not the one they would be facing)

that West A bracket is *loaded*

of course Faison gets a bracket with easily the worst #2 and worst #3 probably in the tournament.

excited to see the show back, it's probably my favorite cooking competition show on TV right now

[Js1 85275]

Spoiler

I’m just glad Malarkey lost. God he’s annoying 

 

[closetohumping 17433]

Nor conventionally attractive but I like Mei Lin.  She’s got a flare about her

[Js1 85275]

3 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Nor conventionally attractive but I like Mei Lin.  She’s got a flare about her

I love her. I think she gets a lot of criticism too bc she’s not warm and fuzzy but she’s a badass 

[closetohumping 17433]

Casey Thompson 

 

[closetohumping 17433]

So I will watch this to the end. The quality of the chefs is incredible.  Great food.  But some negativity:

 

-get some of the repeats out. I’m pretty done with mularkey, jet, Antonia etc

-hunter is the clearest case of nepotism this world has seen

- the chefs glowing over the judges are getting old. “Omg Carla hall!!l

 

- I’m in the middle of watching.  Not sure who wins but Mike v seems due

[Texzilla58 4731]

Here’s my bracket. So far my only miss was miller over Garces. I’m glad to see Garces gone; he’s always been a dick.

I’ve got Izard over Voltaggio. If she wins she’ll be the only Iron Chef that’s also ToC champ, and Top Chef winner. She is a badass.

Guy needs to drop some of these retreads. Christa Luedtke is terrible; looks like Gordon Ramsay and Blais spawned a wig. Mularkey is terrible but is on everything FN as he gets the Guy rehab project like he did Tiffani Faison. All I see is that she’s the “I’m not your bitch, bitch” bitch. At least no Petroni and Aaron May lost in qualifiers. I would have liked folks like Brian Voltaggio, Waxman, Sheldon Simeon, and Sara Bradley. I’d like a 64 team playin, random seeds.

Most annoying: Guy with his fucking Chris Berman nicknames for everyone. And using them over and over. “Sweet T!”, “Dancing Spice Queen!”, “Shenanigans!” Fuck enough already!

[closetohumping 17433]

I like jet as well but his schtick is old too.  And he made Bibimbab?    Got lucky imo

11 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

Here’s my bracket. So far my only miss was miller over Garces. I’m glad to see Garces gone; he’s always been a dick.

I’ve got Izard over Voltaggio. If she wins she’ll be the only Iron Chef that’s also ToC champ, and Top Chef winner. She is a badass.

Guy needs to drop some of these retreads. Christa Luedtke is terrible; looks like Gordon Ramsay and Blais spawned a wig. Mularkey is terrible but is on everything FN as he gets the Guy rehab project like he did Tiffani Faison. All I see is that she’s the “I’m not your bitch, bitch” bitch. At least no Petroni and Aaron May lost in qualifiers. I would have liked folks like Brian Voltaggio, Waxman, Sheldon Simeon, and Sara Bradley. I’d like a 64 team playin, random seeds.

Most annoying: Guy with his fucking Chris Berman nicknames for everyone. And using them over and over. “Sweet T!”, “Dancing Spice Queen!”, “Shenanigans!” Fuck enough already!

Yes and now is the time to drop the 3-2-1 schtick

[Js1 85275]

I'm glad Malarkey is out.  Now if Malarkey Jr. also loses, I'll be happy. 

I'm curious how they will touch the Ferguson-Freitag matchup.  They did not even highlight it in the bracket intro show.  (Darnell's domestic violence issues)

Will they even show it or just skip over it and say Amanda won? 

Also Izard winning would make me happy.  I like her a lot. 

Edited February 20 by Js1

[closetohumping 17433]

I wonder if we are due for a man to win this?

 

 

I’ll root for Izard as well.   Would love for volt to win.   Dale talde is a guy I’d love to see lose.  Hate his schtick

[Js1 85275]

1 minute ago, closetohumping said:

I wonder if we are due for a man to win this?

 

 

I’ll root for Izard as well.   Would love for volt to win.   Dale talde is a guy I’d love to see lose.  Hate his schtick

Jet maybe? He gets so close 

[UTPhil2006 3804]

So when the judges come out to judge do they know where they are in the bracket, ie 1 vs 8?

[Texzilla58 4731]

So when the judges come out to judge do they know where they are in the bracket, ie 1 vs 8?

I think it’s totally blind. I’m not sure they even know the round.

[closetohumping 17433]

1 minute ago, Texzilla58 said:

I think it’s totally blind. I’m not sure they even know the round.

Should be.  But is Guy beyond manipulating the judges?  No way right?

[Texzilla58 4731]

Jet maybe? He gets so close 

Jet is the Buffalo Bills of competitions. He now acts like he is entitled to win because he’s come so close. It’s so irritating but he’s a big bud of Guy. He can cook. I think folks confuse him with Roy Choi.

Jet’s FN show is really boring. He cooks good food but he’s just a snooze.

[Js1 85275]

I’d absolutely watch a post-episode show with Britt and Sawyer commentating. Them watching together was a fun time  

[Texzilla588 769]

Amanda did her duty tonight and put the darnell issue to bed.

[closetohumping 17433]

My YouTubetv must be broken as there isn’t a new episode today and episode two is unavailable 

[Texzilla588 769]

My YouTubetv must be broken as there isn’t a new episode today and episode two is unavailable 

Same here. It wasn’t on max either. But it was on discovery+ no commercials.

[closetohumping 17433]

24 minutes ago, Texzilla588 said:

Same here. It wasn’t on max either. But it was on discovery+ no commercials.

Am I missing something?   Why wouldn’t the food network have it?

[Js1 85275]

2 hours ago, Texzilla588 said:

Same here. It wasn’t on max either. But it was on discovery+ no commercials.

Weird. Just watched it on Max 

[Texzilla588 769]

Am I missing something?   Why wouldn’t the food network have it?

It’s obviously a massive fuckup.

[Js1 85275]

ANYWHO - sad that Izard lost. None of the other results surprised me much.  Sobel seems like a douche. 

[Texzilla588 769]

I had her as the winner on my bracket. I hated seeing her lose. I wanted her to be the first Iron Chef, Top Chef, ToC winner

[Js1 85275]

2 minutes ago, Texzilla588 said:

I had her as the winner on my bracket. I hated seeing her lose. I wanted her to be the first Iron Chef, Top Chef, ToC winner

I like her a lot, so I was bummed. Now I hope for Jet or Mei Lin 

[Texzilla588 769]

I’m looking for Voltaggio to win now.

I hope Crista Luedtke gets whacked and never comes back. Shes awful.

[Texzilla588 769]

I really am tired of Nancy Silverton.

I also don’t get Marcus Samuelson. His fashion sense is so weird being an eyhiopian who grew up in Sweden before he ko ed here. He now dresses like various stereotypical AA characters. Might be lawn jockey. Might be zoot suit. Tonight he dressed like a shoeshine boy.

[Js1 85275]

17 hours ago, Texzilla588 said:

I really am tired of Nancy Silverton.

Shota got Nancy’d. God she sucks and cannot judge Asian food properly 

[closetohumping 17433]

Looks like Adjepong has a new show called Wildcard Kitchen?  Not sure if he got cancelled after all.

[Js1 85275]

Well that first battle was a surprise outcome

[closetohumping 17433]

14 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Well that first battle was a surprise outcome

Honestly no.  The person I rooted for lost but they were a bit too ambitious.   Opponent nailed the challenge imo.   Disappointed but oh well

[DixonHur 11292]

I'm hoping Carlos Anthony hits the bricks soon.  

It's obvious he's trying so hard to get "discovered"...he clearly wants to be a celebrity chef, but he has zero charisma.  

[Js1 85275]

5 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

I'm hoping Carlos Anthony hits the bricks soon.  

It's obvious he's trying so hard to get "discovered"...he clearly wants to be a celebrity chef, but he has zero charisma.  

Malarkey Jr can go

[Texzilla588 769]

Looks like Adjepong has a new show called Wildcard Kitchen?  Not sure if he got cancelled after all.

You’re confusing Adepong with Darnell Ferguson who got arrested for beating one of his baby mamas. He remains off the air and isn’t mentioned. Eric is a rising FN star and I like the calmness of wildcard kitchen so far.

[Js1 85275]

12 hours ago, Texzilla588 said:

You’re confusing Adepong with Darnell Ferguson

ClosetoKatfid 

[closetohumping 17433]

17 minutes ago, Js1 said:

ClosetoKatfid 

 

12 hours ago, Texzilla588 said:

You’re confusing Adepong with Darnell Ferguson who got arrested for beating one of his baby mamas. He remains off the air and isn’t mentioned. Eric is a rising FN star and I like the calmness of wildcard kitchen so far.

Got damn I look bad.  I am not a racist.  In fact I'm rooting for Tobias Durzon

[Js1 85275]

Tiffani is a sore loser.  A bowl of rice is not a guilty pleasure.  You didn't lose to "just a burger."  You didn't meet the challenge.

And a tie was fun, but I'm glad Jet won the tiebreaker.

[bernorange 8359]

Final battle outcome seemed wrong to me.  Raw meat dishes should never win a cooking competition.

[Texzilla588 769]

Tiffani is a sore loser.  A bowl of rice is not a guilty pleasure.  You didn't lose to "just a burger."  You didn't meet the challenge.
And a tie was fun, but I'm glad Jet won the tiebreaker.

So glad that Amanda won it, and did it smashing the shit out of Tiffani. She’s still the same “I’m not your bitch, bitch” bitch from early TC. The same poor sport she was then who was dropped by TC. “A slicer!” My wife just screamed “you fucking cunt!” Annoying shitpile. Her refusing Guy’s support and refusing his invitation for next year hopefully ends his rehab project for her. She’s a piece of shit.

That burger Amanda made looked awesome and I would pay her restaurant price to eat it. Tiffani’s rice bowl looked like a $10 dish from any Asian joint near my house. I hope she goes the fuck away.

Was glad to see Jet take out the Carlos asshole. I gotta say Britt seems to really make clever good food.

Marc Murphy is a good dude who just makes bad decisions in competition.

[Js1 85275]

3 minutes ago, Texzilla588 said:

That burger Amanda made looked awesome and I would pay her restaurant price to eat it.

It was guilty pleasure on a plate. A rice bowl is not guilty.