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Tournament of Champions thread


closetohumping

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57 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
1 hour ago, closetohumping said:
Voltaggio is hard to beat if he's on.  This one will be epic.

Yep, but Brooke seems to be his kryptonite. The winner of that one has to be the favorite to win it all.

Somewhat off topic but Colicchio said MV was the most talented chef to go through Top Chef.....until Paul Qui showed up.

 

 

I feel bad for Brian V as well.  Easy guy to root for. 

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9 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Somewhat off topic but Colicchio said MV was the most talented chef to go through Top Chef.....until Paul Qui showed up.

 

 

I feel bad for Brian V as well.  Easy guy to root for. 

I was watching MV last week and wondering how he was going to make turnip noodles into a fine dining dish.  Never should have doubted the man.  He's a wizard.

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22 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I was watching MV last week and wondering how he was going to make turnip noodles into a fine dining dish.  Never should have doubted the man.  He's a wizard.

He does not have an approachable vibe imo.  Looks crazy and drugged out, but the boy can cook.

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He does not have an approachable vibe imo.  Looks crazy and drugged out, but the boy can cook.

He’s a chameleon. Might have lime green hair one day, a flamed Mohawk the next, and a regular guy thing the next time you see him. When he was on Top chef the first time I don’t think he had any tats. He is often on Guy’s Ranch Kitchen and he’s very mellow and cooks amazing stuff. That is a nice little show which is Guy and four of his bud chefs just cooking to a theme. Might be Waxman, MV, Petrino, and Antonia whipping up a meal.
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Sucks that Brooke and MV were on the same side of the bracket. I honestly think there is better cooking on this show than top Chef,  now. The randomizer is a bitch and kind of gay but whatever. 

Brooke is on a fucking heater. Chick can flat cook. 

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5 hours ago, pops said:

Sucks that Brooke and MV were on the same side of the bracket. I honestly think there is better cooking on this show than top Chef,  now. The randomizer is a bitch and kind of gay but whatever. 

Brooke is on a fucking heater. Chick can flat cook. 

Brooke versus Michael is getting into Stoops versus Mack territory. 

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3 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

yeah but they've been super close.

 

I didn't disagree with any of the decisions though admittedly I was rooting for Volt.

 

This looks like a Brooke versus Tiffany final to me.

Probably. Tobias came out of the weakest regional by far.  I don’t think Tiffany is going to lose it for him the way his opponents have been doing to get him this far 

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2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Probably. Tobias came out of the weakest regional by far.  I don’t think Tiffany is going to lose it for him the way his opponents have been doing to get him this far 

Really hard to root for Tiffany but she mowed down Bryan V, Amanda F and Maneet, the defending champion.  I do think Maneet was lucky to get that far as she should've lost in round 1 but still.

 

Jet's a talented guy, but I don't think he has enough for Brooke.  Gotta feel for Mike V as well.

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They need some big changes for TOC4:

  • East versus West gotta go - the best chefs are getting stacked in the West and robbing us of chefs like Michael Voltaggio in the semifinals or finals
  • Judging has to change - zero consistency in what constitutes "use" of the randomizer equipment piece, too many judges who seem biased or like it has to catered to them (Nancy Silverton, ugh, tired of her) and just some have no business in judging period (Giada); same with a little more diversity in cuisine types for judges (and less Scott Conant being a fucking pompous ass).  
  • More transparency - show us the damn scores by judge
  • Format (for tv) - these 2 hours with all the fluff and shit has to change.  Last night, I think the second semifinal ended at like, 8pm and the final cooking didn't start until about 9:20 or so.  They spent almost as long hyping up the final two chefs compared to showing them cook (and reiterating all their accomplishments they just told us about at the start of the episode).  In a 120 min episode, I think we got like a whopping 60 min of cooking, 20 min of judging and 40 min of Guy slobbering over the chef's accomplishments. 

 

Edited by Js1
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It’s time for a reset.

Right now it’s a mix of Guy’s pals and Food Network regulars. A lot of these chefs have either cooked or judged on GGG, which I didn’t not watch, or Chopped, or been on Guys Ranch Kitchen. The only FN personalities not on ToC are Booby Flay and Alton Brown.

Get rid of these two floor reporters; they take away from impartiality. The chefs spend most of the time talking to the camera anyway. Use an announcer to present the dishes to the judges.

Get a better group of judges away from food network personalities. No Giada. That anorexic bitch didn’t take a single bite of food, judge a snippet of sauce.

Scrap the regionals and seeds. Blind seedings by draw. Go to 64 to start.

I’m mixed on randomizer. Seems like it worked better in S1 and 2. Maybe it’s how it’s loaded. Some of the items had more of a Guys Grocery Games feel to them. The short time frames dictate certain cuisines, techniques and dishes. I’d scrap the goofy tool wheel for something else. It throws a wrench that adds nothing.

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2 minutes ago, Texzilla58 said:


Get rid of these two floor reporters; they take away from impartiality. The chefs spend most of the time talking to the camera anyway. Use an announcer to present the dishes to the judges.

Put them in a booth to comment on the action instead.  I read Simon went 3-0 last night.  So yeah, seems like who is describing the food/use of the randomizer affects things. 

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Some of these judges crossed swords with mujibur on Iron Chef or next iron chef or what not. I might not know who cooked this meal but that fucker Mujibur embarrassed me on iron Chef. Fuck him.

The scoring as well is screwy. They each have 100 points. We have a winning score of 81. Post all the scores.

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20 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:


Scrap the regionals and seeds. Blind seedings by draw. Go to 64 to start.
 

I'd say if you want to stick with seeding based on tournament wins and all that shit, seed everyone 1 to 8, but put all the 1s into a hat and all the 8s into a hat and do a blind draw and pair.  

Assuming most people even come back, your 1 seeds in TOC4 have to be Brooke, Maneet, Tiffani and Jet.  The last 3 champs and Jet's back to back Final Fours. 

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2 hours ago, Js1 said:

I'd say if you want to stick with seeding based on tournament wins and all that shit, seed everyone 1 to 8, but put all the 1s into a hat and all the 8s into a hat and do a blind draw and pair.  

Assuming most people even come back, your 1 seeds in TOC4 have to be Brooke, Maneet, Tiffani and Jet.  The last 3 champs and Jet's back to back Final Fours. 

Scrapping the seeds means you end up with a brooke/volt match up in round 1

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1 hour ago, Texzilla58 said:

I’ve had fugu in Japan (it’s delicious) but Ive never seen blowfish tails on a menu. Has anyone had these? They are from northern Atlantic non poisonous blowfish.

I'm gonna guess that that part isn't poisonous?  Shit can kill you:

Customer "excuse me, can I please speak to the manager?"

Manager "How may I help you?"

Customer, while grabbing neck "server was wonderful, great salad and wine selection.  I think you left too much poison in the blowfish."

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I'm gonna guess that that part isn't poisonous?  Shit can kill you:
Customer "excuse me, can I please speak to the manager?"
Manager "How may I help you?"
Customer, while grabbing neck "server was wonderful, great salad and wine selection.  I think you left too much poison in the blowfish."

I thought all blowfish is poisonous but they were eating this Atlantic version which is not.

In Japan there are fugu joints that will add a touch of fugu liver to the dish, increasing your strychnine dosage. Either it gets your dick hard or you die, or both.
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I'm gonna guess that that part isn't poisonous?  Shit can kill you:
Customer "excuse me, can I please speak to the manager?"
Manager "How may I help you?"
Customer, while grabbing neck "server was wonderful, great salad and wine selection.  I think you left too much poison in the blowfish."

I thought all blowfish is poisonous but they were eating this Atlantic version which is not.

In Japan there are fugu joints that will add a touch of fugu liver to the dish, increasing your strychnine dosage. Either it gets your dick hard or you die, or both.
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12 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:


I thought all blowfish is poisonous but they were eating this Atlantic version which is not.

In Japan there are fugu joints that will add a touch of fugu liver to the dish, increasing your strychnine dosage. Either it gets your dick hard or you die, or both.

Ep102 One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish, It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad  Marge & Gone Boy (Guests: BT & Danny)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 9 months later...
I love watching this next day so I can FF through fluff and commercials. It’s like 35-40 min of cooking and judging for a 2 hour episode 
Yep. So much better on dvr lol.

I did their bracket challenege this year and have 6/8 correct. Obviously missed the latest huge upset, but had her going down to Darnell anyway.
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I would prefer the seedings be blind draw or play-in rankings. The rankings are so arbitrary and certainly show some Fieri buddy bias.

I gotta say those two dishes in the Faison round were masterful. That’s why I’d like the first round be a cook in with blind draws and then second round rankings and seeds based on those scores. You either make the cut or don’t, both cooks can fail or advance. There were a couple pairings that both had lousy scores.

Also we just bury Brian mularkey forever?

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On 3/1/2023 at 6:02 PM, Texzilla58 said:

That’s why I’d like the first round be a cook in with blind draws and then second round rankings and seeds based on those scores. You either make the cut or don’t, both cooks can fail or advance. There were a couple pairings that both had lousy scores.

I agree with you in principle, but the randomizer doesn't make it possible to put the chefs on even footing. I suppose they could all have the same randomizer but who wants to watch 32 chefs use the same ingredients?  That would get old, fast. If they had a non-elimination round for seeding, that would work I suppose, but there's probably not much drama in that.

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Holy cow tonight had some serious cooking. I’ve eaten at Leah Cohen’s place in New York, it’s incredible Filipino food.

Tonight’s episode showed why ToC is superior to Top Chef. Just cooking the same stuff, blind judging by a great roster(I’ve eaten at all the judges restaurants; they’ve earned their spots. ). And no goofy bullshit like cooking for old folks or with convenience store stuff.You younger folks don’t realize when these three came out fine dining most places was a shrimp cocktail, a steak, a baked tater in foil.

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1 hour ago, Texzilla58 said:


Maybe she and Chris Petroni can start an NIT style 2nd tier tournament.

Hated to see Elizabeth Falkner out. She is such a badass chef and got screwed for iron Chef some years ago.

Same I like her a lot. She’s not a good competition chef. But she’s a bad ass chef 

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I’m a bit behind but maybe she was indeed robbed, but Crista luedtke is the first contestant that was pisses at the judges

This goes to the one thing I don’t like with the two reporters. One, the chef is dependent on them to deliver the story of their dish, which they might do well or not. Second, it is the one broken link in the blind judging. Both Justin and Simon are polarizing personalities, and both have lots of connections thru the years. Did Simon judge on of them or a sous chef or a protégée or friend harshly on one of the many shows he has judged on? Get rid of them at least for the presenting of dishes. Use an announcer.
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On 3/13/2023 at 5:05 PM, Texzilla58 said:

She used to be a fucking warrior. She admitted the iron chef thing still troubled her. Geoffrey Zacharian handed that IC title to his protégée Alex Guarnischeli. It’s why any show without blind judging is bullshit.

She's an awesome chef.  I'm not a big Alex G fan and TBH , Food Network tells us who should be followed.  They make or break chefs and it's getting old.  

2 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:


This goes to the one thing I don’t like with the two reporters. One, the chef is dependent on them to deliver the story of their dish, which they might do well or not. Second, it is the one broken link in the blind judging. Both Justin and Simon are polarizing personalities, and both have lots of connections thru the years. Did Simon judge on of them or a sous chef or a protégée or friend harshly on one of the many shows he has judged on? Get rid of them at least for the presenting of dishes. Use an announcer.

The judging is all the same though.  They say the same shit.  "too bad one chef has to go," "best round ever,"  

 

I just mean Leudtke's reaction from losing to the Asian lady was both poor form and heart breaking.  I'm not sure she deserved to win, it was close.

 

 

Also Scott Conant used to be cool.  Now he's a fat caricature.  

 

I like Guy as well, but  his schtick is getting old.

On 3/13/2023 at 5:05 PM, Texzilla58 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about Tiffany Faison going down????  

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I think the judging this year has been the best yet. Waxman, Tsai, Silverton, etc.
hopefully Ripert soon.

Tiffani Faison is a perfect example of the rehab projects Guy and FN take on. She was a class A cunt on Bravo in her top Chef appearances. All of a sudden she loses a bunch of weight, has a new tv personality, and shows up at FN judging in Chopped and then some Guy stuff. Justin Warner is another.

That Britt is a bracketbuster. She cooked another great dish for the win.

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Big fan of Britt. Darnell seems like a good dude but his whole persona is getting annoying and FN is all in on him - he judges on GGG and Chopped, he has Grudge Match, he did Worst Cooks 

Removing people like Giada made the judging better 

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2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Big fan of Britt. Darnell seems like a good dude but his whole persona is getting annoying and FN is all in on him - he judges on GGG and Chopped, he has Grudge Match, he did Worst Cooks 

Removing people like Giada made the judging better 

Think I read somewhere Darnell has like 8 kids

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15 hours ago, Js1 said:

Big fan of Britt. Darnell seems like a good dude but his whole persona is getting annoying and FN is all in on him - he judges on GGG and Chopped, he has Grudge Match, he did Worst Cooks 

Removing people like Giada made the judging better 

FN is the king/queen maker for better or worse.  Hate it.  Switching subjects, I wonder if Bobby Flay hates Guy Fieri?

15 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

I think the judging this year has been the best yet. Waxman, Tsai, Silverton, etc.
hopefully Ripert soon.

Tiffani Faison is a perfect example of the rehab projects Guy and FN take on. She was a class A cunt on Bravo in her top Chef appearances. All of a sudden she loses a bunch of weight, has a new tv personality, and shows up at FN judging in Chopped and then some Guy stuff. Justin Warner is another.

That Britt is a bracketbuster. She cooked another great dish for the win.

Tiffani is a big deal for sure.  Great chef.  But yes, a total B on Top Chef.  Speaking of Top Chef, dang Ilan looks like he's been through a hard life.

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Just now, closetohumping said:

FN is the king/queen maker for better or worse.  Hate it.  Switching subjects, I wonder if Bobby Flay hates Guy Fieri?

15 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:

I've always kind of wondered this, but I really just think it's East Coast Bobby and West Coast Guy.

Just not a lot of overlap. 

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  • closetohumping changed the title to Tournament of Champions thread

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