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Chef Academy on Bravo

KristiB50

By KristiB50
in Food Media & Arts

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KristiB50

KristiB50

Posted
Posted (edited)

Methinks between Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, that Top Chef dessert show, and this they should rename themselves "Chef TV"

Anyway it starts Nov 16 and has a French Chef I've never heard of. But he was voted "World's Sexiest Chef" by the New York Times. :wink:

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/b...ov-16-9682.php

And the official site

http://www.bravotv.com/chef-academy

On the season premiere, nine eclectic students are chosen to be the guinea pigs in Chef Novelli's culinary education experiment, hand picked by himself and Mr. Kitchen after performing the simple culinary task of cooking an egg. The students represent an array of backgrounds from newly trained chefs to anxious homemakers hoping to learn some new culinary tricks. Students are assessed weekly via a variety of tests from preparing bread to gutting a fish. But Chef Novelli forewarns the students – failing three tests is grounds for dismissal from his Academy.

Edited by KristiB50 (log)
The Global Kitchen
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MattyC

MattyC

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Posted

Man, bravo is really cashing in on this food show craze. Now, I love top chef and everything else, but i'm hoping this whole thing doesn't start to overstay it's welcome.

And besides, i'm not used to watching this much tv, this can't be good for me :laugh:

Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality.

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jsmeeker

jsmeeker

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Posted

FoodTV (in the USA) did this too. I recall it running two seasons. One season was done at Johnson and Wales. The other was done at some place in the Los Angeles area (some school in Santa Monica, I believe). I thought it was pretty good. But the "fornula" these days seems to be about COMPETITION. I.e., you have to have a show where people get kicked out.

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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Lisa Shock

Lisa Shock

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FoodTV (in the USA) did this too. I recall it running two seasons. One season was done at Johnson and Wales. The other was done at some place in the Los Angeles area (some school in Santa Monica, I believe). I thought it was pretty good. But the "formula" these days seems to be about COMPETITION. I.e., you have to have a show where people get kicked out.

Do you remember any show titles? I saw some of the Chef Jeff Project, and I've seen some of the PBS series Master Class at Johnson & Wales, but I suspect that isn't what you are referring to. Anyway, I'm just curious in case the show ever surfaces on Hulu or some such service.

I agree that the formula is pretty well set now for these shows. Honestly, I am personally getting tired of it. I know that producers like it because it creates drama (who's going home this week?) and sets people up for conflict (who's cracking under pressure?) meaning that they don't need work very hard in the editing room; they have a storyline all set up for them. I don't have a new show concept to advocate, I'm just tired of the contrived challenges and phony 'drama'.

Have you read eGullet's Kitchen Scale manifesto?

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Tsulli1

Tsulli1

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Posted

FoodTV (in the USA) did this too. I recall it running two seasons. One season was done at Johnson and Wales. The other was done at some place in the Los Angeles area (some school in Santa Monica, I believe). I thought it was pretty good. But the "formula" these days seems to be about COMPETITION. I.e., you have to have a show where people get kicked out.

Do you remember any show titles? I saw some of the Chef Jeff Project, and I've seen some of the PBS series Master Class at Johnson & Wales, but I suspect that isn't what you are referring to. Anyway, I'm just curious in case the show ever surfaces on Hulu or some such service.

Are you referring to Cooking Under Fire?

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Lisa Shock

Lisa Shock

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Posted

whats the name of the bbc show?

also, jean christophe is well known here in the uk, spends more time on tv than behind the stove...

I'm sorry, I do not recall the name. IIRC, it was shown here by one of the digital Discovery Channels (back when they were Discovery Science, Discovery Medicine, Discovery Kids, etc. before changing names to Green, Military Channel, etc.) as a sort of mini-series over a few weeks. I think they aired it on Saturday mornings in two-hour blocks. It had to have been well before 2005.

The show took place in a big city in England, I recall the students going on interviews for their externships in a later episode.

Have you read eGullet's Kitchen Scale manifesto?

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  • 2 weeks later...
KristiB50

KristiB50

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I watched. Definitely NOT a must see.

If you don't give your chefs hair nets or hats a hair in the food should not be surprising. I noticed she was wearing a headband after the fact though.

I think I saw a naked man in the previews. And I did read that the French guy was a porn star in a previous life.

The Global Kitchen
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tino27

tino27

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I agree with KristiB50 ... happened to catch the re-broadcast of the original show last night at 1 AM and after figuring out what it was, I have to say that I felt the show was highly edited ... to the point where I could easily pick up on the fact. It just felt like the show lacked any real purpose, other than to highlight how much make-up one of the contestants wears.

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lebowits

lebowits

Posted
Posted

FoodTV (in the USA) did this too. I recall it running two seasons. One season was done at Johnson and Wales. The other was done at some place in the Los Angeles area (some school in Santa Monica, I believe). I thought it was pretty good. But the "fornula" these days seems to be about COMPETITION. I.e., you have to have a show where people get kicked out.

I disagree to some extent with your conclusion that it is about "competition". I believe it is more about being a "game show" with all the fake drama of "Survivor". While I love cooking and have enjoyed cooking shows, I want to learn something. Maybe I'm a minority in this respect.

Steve Lebowitz

Doer of All Things

Steven Howard Confections

Slicing a warm slab of bacon is a lot like giving a ferret a shave. No matter how careful you are, somebody's going to get hurt - Alton Brown, "Good Eats"

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Lisa Shock

Lisa Shock

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So, I watched the first episode on On Demand, and was less than inspired.

I'm in agreement about the educational component, which was non-existent. I was hoping to see people actually taking some classes. Because of the show's name,you know. Oh, and that dessert demo was less than impressive. The chef didn't even trim his sugar bowls -the long sugar spikes hanging off the plate looked sloppy. And, ice cream and a few berries is pretty basic stuff.

The signature dish challenge wasn't all that exciting, I tend to prefer challenges with some parameters because it's fun to sit at home and wonder what I would make if I had to, for example, make a 5 course meal featuring eggplant.

Overall, I call the producers out for a bait-and-switch. We were sold a show about cooking school, when in fact, it's just another competition show featuring mostly amateurs. I'll watch a few more episodes, but, it's not a top priority.

Have you read eGullet's Kitchen Scale manifesto?

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KristiB50

KristiB50

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The signature dish challenge wasn't all that exciting, I tend to prefer challenges with some parameters because it's fun to sit at home and wonder what I would make if I had to, for example, make a 5 course meal featuring eggplant.

I had to laugh when the lady said, "Signature dish? I don't have a signature dish! This isn't Top Chef!"

I was kinda hoping it would be a show where they took people who don't have professional cooking skills and teach them. You know like someone would in a real school. Instead we have at least two people who are already trained chefs.

Not exactly a level playing field although the O.C Housewife beat Mr. Perfect Foie Gras while reapplying her makeup.

The Global Kitchen
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nextguy

nextguy

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The show was a big disappointment for me. As much as I dislike Gordon Ramsay's *American* tv personality, I think that if the instructor were more like him at least the show would have been entertaining. The students are quirky for the sake of being quirky and the first challenge should not have been difficult for anyone that seriously wanted to become a chef or cook.

Cooking School (on Food Network Canada - not sure if it is on Food Network US) is a far better show.

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CtznCane

CtznCane

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I agree with all so far in that this is far from a must see. Closer to a must avoid. It is sort of like Baseball meets top chef meets survivor. Three strikes and your out. Who is this chef/instructor? As mentioned his wow demo of his desert was not really wow, more like why. I admit that I like an hour or so of mindless tv after work before calling it a night but I don't know if this will cut it (recorded.) As disappoingting as the first episode was that may prove to be the highlight. Well, we can only hope it will improve,

Charles a food and wine addict - "Just as magic can be black or white, so can addictions be good, bad or neither. As long as a habit enslaves it makes the grade, it need not be sinful as well." - Victor Mollo

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SheenaGreena

SheenaGreena

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The cooks on this show make me cringe. The knife skills.....ugh MY GOD, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!

So Yeah, after watching this I realized that Zoe Feigenbaum looks an awful lot like one of the emotionless robots on Everyday Food on PBS. Well it turns out they have the same last names. So either they are siblings or she had a name change. What do you think?

BEARS, BEETS, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
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scubadoo97

scubadoo97

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What a disappointment. I was hoping for a real show of following a group of students through a real cooking school. This is just another reality TV competition.

Favorite line from the first show as I can best remember. So you are a chef? I'm a chef on a submarine. So why's that? Uh..the Navy?

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