Concept is blind tasting of one spoonful of food. The judges know nothing about the person who prepared it until after they’ve voted. I like that - takes the subjective issues out of it. Judges are Anthony Bourdain, Brian Malarky, Nigella Lawson and Ludo Lefebvre. The Judges pick their teams, which they’ll mentor, but going forward they still keep the blind tasting going, so potentially a judge could eliminate one of his own team. It was interesting how well the home cooks did versus the pros.
I found it mildly interesting. I’m baffled as to why Bourdain wanted to do it though. He’s been a guest judge on *Top Chef *many times, but that is a more “serious” show. This one, with the cheesy game show set, seems like the kind of thing he would loathe.
I watched it today and was thankful I didn’t prepare a spoonful for the judges. They were extremely nitpicky and brutal at times. I was beginning to think no one was going to make it to a team. That said, I think it could be an interesting show.
I had it on while I was working on the computer, so was watching with maybe 25% attention. What I didn’t get was why Anthony Bourdain repeatedly had a “shit, I should’ve picked you” reaction to someone he turned down. If he realized he should be going with his gut, why didn’t he just start going with his gut?
I’d watch again if I ran across it, but doubt I’ll become addicted.
The show seems OK, but the set seems confusing to me. Specifically, the little door where the where the contestants appear seem to be flanked by other doors. It would be cool if, when a cook is not picked for a team, one of these other doors opened and a ninja or lion jumped out and fought the contestant. While it would never make it to a second season, the first season would be awesome.
I think it’s hard to pick someone who presents their food at the beginning because you’re always afraid there’ll be a better horse in the next race, so to speak. Then as you’re running out of contestants, you’re afraid you’ve passed on the good ones and you might not get someone you like in the few remaining. Interesting psychology there.
I liked it and will probably give it one more shot. I remembered Malarkey from Top Chef, but he looks quite different, in a Bruce Jenner plastic surgery kind of way. The other judges were fine.
What I found weird was the number of contestants who said they’d had to quit their jobs to try out for the show. How many days were they required to be there for actual cooking and filming? If it was a long time, I guess i can see it. if only a few days, then what does that say about US American workplaces? Are bosses forcing them to quit, rather than let them take a few vacation days? Or was it all just said for dramatic “pick me! pick me!” effect?
I know it’s a tired SDMB cliché, but I kinda liked her better with a bit more padding.
I also noticed that the more she talks, the less appealing and the more annoying I find her. A few boxes of donuts might solve both problems.
I found the regretful reactions fairly confusing too. I thought your dish tasted shitty until you told me what’s in it (and I got a look at you), and now I think it was actually fantastic and I’m kicking myself for voting “no”?
Are there more “auditions” to come or have the teams been chosen? I couldn’t handle the team picking and turned it off. I’d still like to check out the competition once it starts.
I really didn’t like the scripted drama on X-Factor. Did this drama show up on The Voice? Should I expect similar on The Taste?
Yeah, the reactions were baffling, even worse were the ones where the judge was all 'your dish was fantastic with wonderful nuances of flavor and you obviously have a great talent…so, of course I had to vote No…and I sure hope your hopes and dreams get totally crushed and none of my fellow judges votes in your favor either, ‘cuz you are just too good!’
No, it fits with the rules of the competition. They’re not just looking for the best chefs, but for chefs that fit the vision of what kind of food they want their team to be cooking and what they want to coach. It was just too bad when some great chefs/cooks just didn’t fit anybody’s vision.
I love the idea of a food competition being judged on taste alone, but when I imagined it there weren’t buzzers and buttons and hidden doors.
I’m afraid that there’s the same problem with the selection process that frustrated me on the voice. “You’ve done great in your audition but I only have one slot left and someone even better might be next and I can’t risk it.” So…goodbye chicken fired watermelon guy.
I hope my suspicion that there are people cast just to be axed, and that maybe they’re local, friends with a producer and just show up for a day to get their restaurants’ names mentioned on TV really is true.
I’ll stick with it past the audition rounds - who am I kidding, I’ll probably watch the whole damned thing. It took me nine seasons to stop watching Project Runway and that was about six seasons after I stopped caring.
I was not sorry that the “Food for Awesomeness” guy wasn’t chosen.
Some of those folks are taking a liberal approach to “one bite on a spoon”
Honestly, I think that was the biggest problem with some of the professional chefs - they’re so accustomed to thinking in terms of a whole plate that they end up way overdoing their spoonful. Something that may have been delightful as an accompaniment becomes overpowering when you’re trying to cram it all into a single bite.
wait, what…?