Weekly Food Show Post
NFNS
I can't watch Ray Ray without cringing and covering my ears. However, I did appreciate how much she tried to help the contestants. She may be a crappy cook and have an obnoxious voice and manner, but I think she is a nice person.
The "surprise" didn't surprise me. The big surprise for me was that they put Jag through to the finals at all. Once he was there, I knew they were going to ditch him and substituted Amy. But then I already knew about Jag's lies. I'm glad they dealt with the lies and got rid of him, though I do think he sometimes came up with some interesting dishes.
I can't stand Rory and I don't have any use for her show. Beyond the fact that she's a fake Texan, and that gets me all riled up, there's not a thing she's prepared so far that I couldn't have done myself, and a lot of the dishes she's prepared are things I have done. I hate her whole "blue collar" schtick and I think it's condescending and offensive. Why on earth would I turn on the TV to watch someone cook boring, sloppy, everyday crap?
A lot of people, including the Food Network execs, seem to think Amy's a snotty bitch because she mentions France and French food, and especially Parisian food. I don't find that snobby. French cousine was deliberately developed to a standard of excellence that many other types of cooking can't come close to. Like it or not, politically correct or not, that's just the way it is. You can find similar high standards in certain types of Asian cooking, as well, and if they had a chef mentioning those, I wouldn't find that snobby, either. I think all the bitching and moaning about French and/or Parisian cooking by the Food Network PTB is also condescending and offensive. If I'm going to watch a cooking show, I want to learn something. I learn from Alton because he takes a scientific approach, and I may learn a thing or two from Bobby Flay. But the rest of the "chefs" on that Network couldn't teach a junior high home ec class anything new. I mean come one! This is the network of SLop and Ray Ray! I would watch Amy's show because I think she has something to teach and it would be nice if they had a show that taught good, basic French cooking skills. Unfortunately, since Bob and Susie are so offended by truly excellent cooking technique, if Amy wins they'll force her to do a water-down stupid version using Campbell's mushroom soup. I voted for her, anyway, because I can't stand Rory.
Hell's Kitchen
Okay, first of all, I know this is obnoxious but I'm going to do it anyway:
GO JULIA!!!
Apologies for my exuberance. I was concerned about Julia tonight based on the previews and the first challenge. It was awesome to see her do well, and not just with the cooking, but also by choosing the most popular menu item.
I was fairly sure the guys had won the paintball challenge and I almost thing that one was as rigged as the one for the photoshoot the week before. And I'm not horribly bothered by either since it sort of evened out.
What did surprise me was Brad getting cut before Josh. I don't think Josh has ever had a good service, and he's still around? Bah!
Now that Brad is gone, I'm calling Rock for the win at this point. Bonnie doesn't have the maturity or presence to run a restaurant. Josh hasn't had a good service yet. I love Julia, but I don't think she has the right sort of expertise to win the whole thing. And Jen is a good cook most of the time and a fairly decent leader, with exactly the right background, but I can't get past her pulling the spaghetti from the trash.
