Chopped

[Tsulli1]

Seems to be a blend of Iron Chef and Top Chef and the age-old "mystery basket" test. The first episode was a little awkward for my tastes, but I'll give it another shot. Anyone else see it?

[tino27]

This is exactly the same format as the "Holiday Battle" special that Top Chef taped in late 2007 and then aired over the holidays both in 2007 and 2008. Except in Top Chef, they started with 8 chefs and eliminated 2 per round.

I wonder if they are going to do this "mystery basket" for every episode or if that was just the gimmick for the first show.

The only thing I noticed that sort of perturbed me was that the second chef to be eliminated, during the "duck" course, in his rush to get his dishes plated before time expired seemed to have very sloppy looking plates. And yet, when the camera showed the judges tasting them, they appeared to be all neat and clean. Hmmm ...

I'm holding off further judgment until I see another episode or two.

I do think I like Ted Allen better as a judge than a moderator, however.

[ken T]

I thought it could have potential when I heard about it but the judges seemed very uncomfortable, editing of the judge's coments was horrible, the little shot of the contestants awaiting the judgement ridiculous, and Ted Allen as host is a wooden stick. I'll watch it one more time but do not have high hopes for it.

[LizD518]

I think the format has potential of making the chefs think on thier feet - like IC Lite or multiple quick-fire challenges, but the tone was a little super-serious for my taste. I have enjoyed Ted Allen on both IC and TC, but here he didn't seem very comfortable for some reason. Maybe he was feeling the pressure of being host or was being held back by something. He is usually good at interacting with a variety of different people.

I think this show is aimed at people who find IC & TC too "out-there" or fancy for thier tastes and maybe the FN is trying to keep things on a more accessible level. The overall quality of the food produced seemed like that of an accomplished amatuer / lower-tier pro. I was a little worried that none of the four even seemed to have ever tasted octopus, never mind prepared it; but overall, they seemed to produce food the the judges generally liked.

[Lisa Shock]

I personally think that giving them 30 minutes for each course was a bit challenging. Many starches simply can't be prepped and cooked in that amount of time.

I was disturbed by the woman who didn't know anything about green onions.

But, overall, I liked that they chose regular working cooks for the show rather than celebrities.

[Jon Savage]

I watched it and thought it was just OK. I liked the mystery baskets and hope they'll continue with that. I'll certainly give it another episode or two - maybe it will grow on me.

[repoman]

I think Ted Allen is great, but he needs to loosen up a bit on this show and that Food Detectives.

My only complaint with this show is that each episode has 4 new contestants. I would prefer that the winner of one show would move on to the next and compete against 3 others, similar to Jeopardy.

[RAHiggins1]

I think Ted Allen is great, but he needs to loosen up a bit on this show and that Food Detectives. 

My only complaint with this show is that each episode has 4 new contestants.  I would prefer that the winner of one show would move on to the next and compete against 3 others, similar to Jeopardy.

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Most chefs are lucky to get away and do one episode.

[plattetude]

I think Ted Allen is great, but he needs to loosen up a bit on this show and that Food Detectives. 

My only complaint with this show is that each episode has 4 new contestants.  I would prefer that the winner of one show would move on to the next and compete against 3 others, similar to Jeopardy.

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Most chefs are lucky to get away and do one episode.

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As I understand it, Jeopardy tapes a whole week in one day. I'm sure Chopped could do 4 or 5 episodes worth in a day....

Christopher

[rickster]

I think Ted Allen is great, but he needs to loosen up a bit on this show and that Food Detectives.

I think this show and Food Detectives demonstrate that hosting is not Ted's forte and he's much better as a commentator.

[scubadoo97]

I think Ted Allen is great, but he needs to loosen up a bit on this show and that Food Detectives.

I think this show and Food Detectives demonstrate that hosting is not Ted's forte and he's much better as a commentator.

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Agreed.

[whatsaMcGee]

This show is downright painful to watch. 10 minutes was all I'll ever need.

[Reignking]

Ted is overly dramatic and forced -- because they stretch this show out for an hour, somehow.

I like it, though. The concept is simple and straightforward, and it is interesting to see 4 chefs' take on the items. At least in the episode I watched, the intentionally chose 4 chefs that were very different.

[Lisa Shock]

I do like how they show what everyone cooks in detail, while it's being cooked.

I don't think the commercials for it do it justice, promising extremely exotic & challenging ingredients that turn out to be.....tofu!

[Kim Shook]

Who chose the color scheme - or NON color scheme - for this show? Why is everything black or grey - including the judges' clothing? It looks like a prison show. It's dark and dreary and why would anyone think that I'd want to watch a food show that's dreary?? Also - the ads remind me of those Gatorade ads with the colored sweat/tears. And then they show the same color stuff raining down on some black surface - are we watching raining sweat at that moment??? Bleah!

[MelissaH]

We watched the first episode, which didn't do much for me. Ted came across as snarky and insincere to us, although some of that could have been attributed to his stiffness and apparent discomfort in the host role.

My biggest complaint is that they always seem to throw one ingredient in that doesn't go with the others. I realize that Project Runway is a different beast completely, but many of the comments from those judges revolve around the need for the designer to edit themselves. In Chopped, the chefs are required to use all the basket ingredients---they are not permitted to edit. I realize that forces the contestants to be wildly creative, but is there ever a chance that the dish would be better (whatever that means in this context) if they were given the option of using (n-1) of the n ingredients given? Especially if their justification for omission wasn't edited out?

That said, my husband and I had great fun discussing what we would have done, both with and without a single-ingredient omission, especially given the thirty-minute timeframe.

Has anyone used a pressure cooker yet?

MelissaH

[Hard H2O]

I just watched an episode the other night. I found it to be a better show than I thought it would be.

The cooks were comprised of a young rocker dude, a vegan vegetarian gal, a female pastry chef, and a wizened catering chef fellow.

The vegan was out early when one of the ingredients was baby octopus.

The rocker was out next due to his being a bit loose with the rules and running right up against the clock (those rockers refuse to follow the crowd man).

It came down to the young gal and the wizened, slow but sure caterer. It was nice to see the caterer win. He wasn't flashy or hip but he got the food on the plate.

I kind of liked the format. The chefs did all their own work. No assistants or sous chefs in view.

I'll have to tune in again. There are much worse shows on the tube.

[Kevin72]

My biggest complaint is that they always seem to throw one ingredient in that doesn't go with the others. I realize that Project Runway is a different beast completely, but many of the comments from those judges revolve around the need for the designer to edit themselves. In Chopped, the chefs are required to use all the basket ingredients---they are not permitted to edit. I realize that forces the contestants to be wildly creative, but is there ever a chance that the dish would be better (whatever that means in this context) if they were given the option of using (n-1) of the n ingredients given? Especially if their justification for omission wasn't edited out?

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Yes. Especially when the judges ding the chefs for using it. Last night I gave this show a shot and the stinger ingredients were bran flakes on the app and grape jelly for the main. The judges' comments for the app courses routinely were about how they didn't like the bran flakes in there and one even said he preferred leaving them out of the dish.

[Hard H2O]

I watched the Banana, Collard Greens, Grits episode last night.

That Kyle Shadix was a smarmy SOB. He admitted that he didn't taste his dish as he was cooking.

Sean Chudoba just tossed out one of his elements because the bananas were falling apart? Gotta follow the rules of the game.

Then, apparently, Luis Gonzalez used salt instead of sugar in his cake. Again another one caught up because he didn't taste test.

The show is growing on me. There is not a lot of margin for error. Not a lot of time to redo things. They have to get it right the first time.

Edited February 4, 2009 by Hard H2O (log)

[figs]

I watched only minutes of this show last night. I was shocked at how bad the contestants were. They all looked like they screwed up the collard green, scallop dish. No excuse for their piss poor efforts.

[Hard H2O]

I watched only minutes of this show last night. I was shocked at how bad the contestants were.  They all looked like they screwed up the collard green, scallop dish. No excuse for their piss poor efforts.

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If the gal had been on one of the previous episodes she wouldn't have made it past round 1.

[Hard H2O]

How did the tattooed guy serve a piece of beef that he dropped on the floor and not get the boot?

[RAHiggins1]

How did the tattooed guy serve a piece of beef that he dropped on the floor and not get the boot?

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no one was watching the show.

[CDRFloppingham]

We watched the calamari, papaya show last night (DVR baby).

I thought it was total nonsense that the woman who ended up winning (she cooks at a steak place in Astoria) served two dishes for the main (calamari savory and a papaya smoothie with granola). \

Bogus...the challenge is to use the incongruous stuff in the same dish.

[Eatmywords]

Caught the episode with the cooking school instructor (CIA?), Waldorf, SF woman and NY private chef last night. (Was our first time watching). Though an obvious rip off of TC it has potential (esp while TC is in between seasons). It is not a well produced/edited show though. They do little in developing interest/personality of the chefs (I know it’s only one show per contestants but still). The interaction between them and the judges is not pleasant or insightful. We found the whole thing depressing. And Allen is clearly not the right guy to host a format like this. He’s as bland as ever and doesn’t seem comfortable at all. I’ll give it another shot primarily due to the lack of options but I hope it gets better.