Around the World in 80 plates -- New Series from the Producers of Top Chef

[DJariya]

By djariya at 2012-05-09

Contestants jet around the world — first stop London, next week Lyons, France; with Morocco, China and South America on the future itinerary — and at each destination, they're thrust into the local food scene by first running a "Course" (in London, a pub crawl), the winning team earning an "Exceptional (read: essential) Ingredient" for an advantage in the elimination challenge. The faceoff takes the form of a "Takeover" of a restaurant, where the chef-testants must master the regional cuisine in a strange kitchen, with regular customers deciding which team wins. In a twist from the Top Chef format, and reminiscent of a Survivor tribal council, the losing team must turn on itself, deciding which among them is sent home.

Hosted by Curtis Stone and Cat Cora

In case you already don't have enough to watch, this premieres tonight at 10pm ET. If you didn't know about it, missed it, don't worry Bravo re-airs the shit out of their competition shows.

I'll check it out. It had a different twist to what is getting to be a tired genre.

[JasonF]

It's interesting. Part Top Chef, part Amazing Race, part Survivor tribal council. It mayw be trying to do too much, but it's interesting enough that I'll stick with it.

[Schloob1]

It was not bad, my only question/concern is that when the chefs reveal who they vote off is it already set in "stone" on say a document of some sort? That would be my only thing is wonder if someone could actually change their vote right there on the spot or not. I know when watching the After Hours show right after, Curtis mentioned that the chefs only get 10 minutes to deliberate as to what they are going to do/etc.

I just hope that "Chevan" or however you spell it gets voted out soon. Everyone else I was fine with but he was definitely grating on my nerves and not enjoyable at all.

[Keith6601]

I enjoyed it. It puts a nice twist on the normal cooking competition shows.

I can't stand Cheven but I do have to give him credit for wanting to order the steak and kidney pie, it's a cooking contest, of course you're going to have to make what you eat.

I went back and checked and while it was off screen, it was obviously Cheven's voice that brought up doing a dessert as well.

[DJariya]

I thought this was pretty entertaining. It definitely takes a different spin to the cooking competition show, which has gotten somewhat tired.

It's only 1 episode, but I kind of like Chaz and the Thai chick Sai.

I already hate the flaming gay dude Gary.

and it was really nice seeing Nigella Lawson again. I remember her from appearing on Top Chef a few seasons ago.

I was totally fine with Clara getting voted out.

[davidh777]

Originally Posted by JasonF

It's interesting. Part Top Chef, part Amazing Race, part Survivor tribal council. It mayw be trying to do too much, but it's interesting enough that I'll stick with it.

Throw in Food Network's Chefs vs City as well (I know, I'm the only one who watched it but my kid was a huge fan).

Originally Posted by Schloob1

It was not bad, my only question/concern is that when the chefs reveal who they vote off is it already set in "stone" on say a document of some sort? That would be my only thing is wonder if someone could actually change their vote right there on the spot or not. I know when watching the After Hours show right after, Curtis mentioned that the chefs only get 10 minutes to deliberate as to what they are going to do/etc.

I was wondering the same thing since that could really affect the dynamic of things if you change as you see the vote developing. It would also make a big difference in the order in which people announce their vote.

It was also interesting that the other tribeteam was standing there as the vote unfolded. I don't know if that'll make any difference until we see more of how the game works.

[davidh777]

Originally Posted by DJariya

In case you already don't have enough to watch, this premieres tonight at 10pm ET. If you didn't know about it, missed it, don't worry Bravo re-airs the shit out of their competition shows.

The first episode is also free on itunes and amazon right now.

[LurkerDan]

I thought it was kind of meh, but has promise if the challenges are more interesting.

[mphtrilogy]

I missed the first ep, but jumped into the 2nd ep.

Top Chef, Meets Amazing Race, Meets Survivor.

not a bad summer watch, I'm in.

[DJariya]

Bump

Episode 3 is tonight

The destination is Spain, where the chefs' knife skills are put to the test while working with regional fishermen on the Barcelona docks. Later, they must plate Mediterranean cuisine at a top restaurant. José Andrés serves as the local culinary expert.

[DJariya]

I just got caught up with episode 2 last night.

Sucks that Sai got the boot after that episode. I was hoping she would stick around for the Asian themed episodes. Nicole should have actually gotten the boot for mis-managing the proteins.

I really hate that dude Cheven's face.

[DJariya]

Fell way behind, but got caught up with the last 6 episodes over the weekend.

Pretty entertaining show overall. I've enjoyed Cat and Curtis as the hosts even though their camera time is pretty minimal until they taste/judge the food.

The last 2 episodes in Asia were a blast. Some interesting challenges and I always enjoy the Asian themed episodes of cooking/travel shows. Glad that Jenna got eliminated in Thailand. She was annoying as hell in the Italian episodes and showed off way too much. Also, was happy to see Nicole eliminated in Hong Kong. She was pretty damn useless.

IMO, Nookie, John and Avery are probably the favorites to win it.

BTW, no show this week because of the holiday. They are moving from Hong Kong to Argentina next.