Food Next Star - 15 contestants, 3 teams, and probably a diva or two!

[ilovepaydays]

Food Network Star - official site

Season Eight premiers tonight!

So...it is Team Alton vs. Team Giada vs. Team Bobby? Competition is going to be like The Biggest Loser now? Not sure how I feel about this...or whose team I would want to be on.

[skipaway]

Put me on Team Bobby! the other's "meh"

[skatesindreams]

I watched the "Introduction" show last night.
The mentor/teams seem to each be searching for different types.

This could be interesting.

Bobby says that he can teach a "savvy" person to cook.
Alton has no patience with anyone without skills; and the ability to communicate them.
Giada wants someone who "reaches" the viewer.

[Aceon6]

I have a feeling Giada's team is going to get killed in the early challenges.

[caseyedwards]

The new format seems kind of like The Voice to me-superficially. I'll see how it works when attached to Food Network Star.

[danceronice]

Well, Bobby has experience with split teams (that's how they do "Worst Cook In America"-Team Bobby vs. Team Anne.)

[Matryeshka]

Team Bobblehead, Team Know-It-All, and Team My-God-I-used-to-be-a-respected-chef-and-Anthony-Bourdain-is-so-totally-going-to-write-a-Scathing-Blog-about-me.

I'm on Team MgIutbarcaabistgtwaSBam

[danceronice]

...Bobby Flay was respected? I never met anyone who actually cooks for a living who thinks he's anything but an egocentric a-hole with an overblown estimation of his own abilities. Though he DOES seem to have mellowed a lot being on TV, oddly enough.

[jeffisjeff]

Alton's eliminated team member (can't recall her name) was so terrible it was . And the only explanation for Josh is that Giada wants some .

On another note, were a couple of those folks from Chopped?

[KHenry14]

On another note, were a couple of those folks from Chopped?

I think the spikey haired woman Michele who made the mussels did Chopped

About half of the chef's have NO chance

[skatesindreams]

Contrary to what some believe, you have to be able to make tasty food.
It was amazing that some dishes presented didn't even seem to reach the level of good "home cooking".

[mikey]

The new format is just awkward.

[Matryeshka]

...Bobby Flay was respected? I never met anyone who actually cooks for a living who thinks he's anything but an egocentric a-hole with an overblown estimation of his own abilities. Though he DOES seem to have mellowed a lot being on TV, oddly enough.

My sister is a professional chef, and she and her colleagues have a lot of respect for him. They may not like him, but that's a different animal. The only chef I've heard speak negatively about Flay is Bourdain, and I think a lot of that is pure jealousy. I've eaten in his restaurants in New York and Vegas and they were

[skatesindreams]

I suspect Bourdain is jealous/envious of many successful chefs.

[Jenny]

...Bobby Flay was respected? I never met anyone who actually cooks for a living who thinks he's anything but an egocentric a-hole with an overblown estimation of his own abilities. Though he DOES seem to have mellowed a lot being on TV, oddly enough.

I guess you've met many people who cook for a living and discussed this?

Because the evidence would suggest that many other people have the opposite view - he has a bunch of successful restaurants, has had a series of his own shows going back to 1996 and guested on many others, and he has a bookshelf full of best sellers.

[Scintillation]

Even Anthony Bourdain gave him respect in his book Kitchen Confidential--he said he is a good chef and a good businessman. Yeah he's a dick but guess what so are many many other successful executive chefs. You can't be a lauded chef in NYC while being mediocre, that place is way too competitive.
I still need to watch the intro episode, but I thought Bobby's belief that he needed to pick people that can cook first was spot on. Giada....ugh. I used to like her. Now I can hardly stand her.

[skatesindreams]

I thought Bobby's belief that he needed to pick people that can cook first was spot on.

He's right. TV production skills can be taught.
He shouldn't have to "fix" a poor cook, at this level.

Most audiences can tell whether a dish is good, even if they can't taste it; and whether a chef is someone they would like to watch again.

Josh...NO!

[Matryeshka]

^ITA. If you look up most successful chefs on FN, their first season was awkward and horrible. You stayed with them because of what's on the plate. Tyler Florence is still awkward sometimes, and he's one of my favorites-his food speaks for itself. His French onion soup is divine.

[danceronice]

My sister is a professional chef, and she and her colleagues have a lot of respect for him. They may not like him, but that's a different animal. The only chef I've heard speak negatively about Flay is Bourdain, and I think a lot of that is pure jealousy. I've eaten in his restaurants in New York and Vegas and they were

You know he had nothing to do with the food prep at either place, right? I doubt he's seen a line in years. I'm sure he was good to start out (Bourdain was no slouch either) but he quit being an actual chef ages ago. Though being a celebrity does seemed to have mellowed out the "ass" qualities, too.

He's good at selling his brand. He wouldn't be my first choice to work under if I wanted to learn to run a normal high-end restaurant.

And like I said--he's done "worst cooks". He KNOWS how this style competition works. He's done way more competitive-cooking shows than Alton and Giada combined (speaking of non-chefs...I can't really blame Giada if she's picking her people by looks, considering....) He's got to have an eye by now for what the producers want out of the "amateurs" and more experience weeding them out. Giada's boy was trying too hard, and Alton's girl whats-her-name was just...I mean, yeah, it's hard to talk off the cuff to the camera but she looked like she was going to throw up or faint.

[ilovepaydays]

Watching the re-run of last week's episode - yeah, I would want to want to be on Bobby's team as well.

What on earth was Team Alton thinking with that black-eyed pea puree? Goodness. I also thought that deviled eggs were WAY to simple of a dish for this competition.

So far, I like Emily, Linkie, Ippy, and Eric. The rest are just fillers. I still think someone has got to be "the diva" or just plain crazy - remember Penny from last year or Dzintra from two years ago?