Comments on: What’s Your Favorite Food Show?

By: Tearitup

Tearitup — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:42:08 +0000

Thanks Chad. I admit I was intrigued by ‘withcraft but I think I’ll save my money and skip it.
I’m watching Top Chef currently and Master Chef. I’ll usually stop on a cooking show if it looks interesting. I like the stuff on PBS but don’t watch it often. I like No Reservations and Man v Food too.

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By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:27:43 +0000

TIU, not much to say about ‘wichcraft. It was not all what we expected. We were out wandering around and came across it. We knew what it was, so we went in for lunch.

Service was pretty much identical to what you would get at Burger King or McDonalds. All of the food sounded great on the board (you order at a counter off a board). But it was prepared by people making 7 bucks an hour who hated their jobs. The tables were not cleaned/wiped off after people left.

The food itself was also very much like what you might get at Subway, just with fancier names and better sounding ingredients.

All in all, it just seemed like a place that was poorly run and happy to take money from tourists without any worry about building up repeat business.

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By: Matt Khoury

Matt Khoury — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:52:02 +0000

Top Chef (although this season is uber LAME)
Top Chef Masters (first season)
Hells Kitchen (for entertainment purposes know the “chefs” are all, well, not good.
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (prefer BBC version compared to Americanized CRAP)
The F Word (awesome show)
Master Chef (it’s just OK so far)
Dinner Impossible (exchanged several emails with Robert Irvine, really nice guy)
Tyler’s Ultimate (same as the above)
Man v Food (the dude ROCKS)

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By: Tearitup

Tearitup — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:04:58 +0000

Chad, thanks for sharing that. I see why you mentioned the experience at Joe’s as a counter to this one. I wonder if it’s the difference in the corporate cultures between Joe’s and Mesa or if that level of disdain for the customer is standard fare at Flay’s restaurants? It’s unfortunate that in a place like Vegas, which is very tourist driven, there is no incentive to improve that type of assholish service. A customer most likely comes in once, has that happen and never goes back. But truth be told it’s not like Mesa is trying to foster a steady regular clientele. They can get away with that type of thing because chances are there will be no lasting impact to their very transitory business. Now please do dish about ‘wichcraft. Was the food bad or was it more stupid rude service?

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By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:02:01 +0000

TIU,

My wife and I were in Vegas for a long weekend. The day before we went to Mesa Grill we were out and about in shorts and T-shirts. We had a horrible lunch at ‘wichcraft (Tom Colicio’s place in MGM) and decided to see about an early dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab. We were clearly not dressed for the place, but hoped it might be OK as it was pretty early (maybe 5:30). We went in and they treated us like royalty. I mentioned that we were under dressed and they could not have done more to put us at ease, or make sure we had a great meal. Our waiter was a professional server, and we had an incredible meal. Very good food, wonderful service. A lasting memory which we are grateful for.

I tell that part of the story because the next night we had planned as our big night out at Mesa Grill. We had reservations and dressed up nicely for what we considered a bit of an event. Even with reservations we had to wait to be seated (maybe 15 minutes). Once seated, we were at a table nearly on top of our neighbors. It seemed that as soon as we declined wine, we were relegated to the second class customer. Our waiter was snotty, condescending, and rude. I asked him to recommend a steak, (Its Bobby Flays place, and I had watched him grill a million different things on TV after all). He responded that he would not make any sort of a recommendation, as he was unable to judge my palate and while he might enjoy the steak, its possible my palate would not be sophisticated enough for the experience. He has some similar BS for every question we asked.

Meanwhile, we had to sit and watch the couple next to us, who were drinking heavily, (same waiter) be treated like long lost friends. He “recommended” several different drinks before the meal, several dishes from the menu, and several kinds of wine.

From that point things just went downhill. My steak was cool and raw/red in the middle (ordered it medium). My wife’s dinner was totally forgettable. Everyone, from the waiter to the busboy was rude and condescending. The food was average or worse. The prices were quite high.

I have had worse food, but coupled with our expectations, this was easily my single worst dining experience. It is one of the very few times when I can remember not leaving a single penny as a tip.

I did scrounge up an address for Bobby Flay from someplace and sent a written complaint, but never heard a word in return.

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By: Tearitup

Tearitup — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:26:18 +0000

“I used to think Bobby Flay was great, but we ate at his place at Ceasars in Vegas and it was the worst dining experiences of my life.”

Chad, can you say what was so awful about your experience? Just curious.

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By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:18:17 +0000

To the point that they may not like the whole, but can appreciate the pieces. I can’t do that, and to be honest, I’m not sure why I’d want to have that skill.

Because in this day and age we all have to play nice and in the name of those big names in the reviewing world they have to play extraordinarily nice with sponsors.

That’s why the proliferation of sites like Yelp and Urbanspoon have given the proper outlet to regular people out there who don’t have trained/refined tastes and don’t want to waste their money on something that is just 15% acceptable.

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By: Mikeh

Mikeh — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:15:31 +0000

If anything, I’ve learned from many of the shows, in particular Iron Chef, that what I use to determine if a food is “good” is completely different than what food critics, and others use to determine if a food is good.

I’m a simple man. I taste it, and my brain says yum or blech. That’s about all it takes. I wasn’t aware (prior to the TV shows) that so many people break down their food so much more. To the point that they may not like the whole, but can appreciate the pieces. I can’t do that, and to be honest, I’m not sure why I’d want to have that skill.

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By: P. K. Maynard

P. K. Maynard — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:26:41 +0000

I’m with #19. I’m a 60 year old grandpa and I’ve learned how to cook from watching ATK on PBS since it started ten years ago. I have purchased 20 of their cookbooks (some of them signed by Chris Kimball), and follow their taste testing and equipment recommendations to stock my pantry and kitchen. I’ve learned to enjoy food the way it’s meant to be cooked!

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By: sandy

sandy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:39:39 +0000

Jamie at Home, ATK, anything Rick Bayless (his restaurants really are great), Bake!, French Food at Home, Top Chef/Top Chef Masters, Anthony Bourdain, Iron Chef, Triple D, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, and probably more…

I love cooking shows. I wish there were fewer competition shows and more actual cooking going on.

I’ve recently caught a few old Galloping Gourmet shows, and they’re really quite good – I picked up the companion book set at an estate sale recently and they’re fascinating.

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By: bb stacker

bb stacker — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:13:53 +0000

i’ll take the hot italian salsa, and the blonde dish that ends her show with a cocktail:)

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By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 23:32:22 +0000

I was just about to finish watching last week’s Master Chef! I pretty much record every show on Food Network but the best ones are probably Chopped and Iron Chef. Also I was excited when Holli won Hell’s Kitchen!

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By: Chad

Chad — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:37:02 +0000

We watch Top Chef every week. We DVR most episodes or Americas Test Kitchen. We also watch most of the Next Food Network Star, although its not as good as Top Chef.

I enjoy Emeril and Giada, and dont mind Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

I used to think Bobby Flay was great, but we ate at his place at Ceasars in Vegas and it was the worst dining experiences of my life. So, I dont watch him if I can avoid it, which is to bad, because going back to his early days when he was just a guy talking and writing about how to grille he was pretty cool, and made food that I enjoy.

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By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:03:43 +0000

I’m a HUGE fan of many of the PBS cooking shows: Lidia’s Italy (Lidia Bastianich), Jacques Pepin’s Fast Food My Way, even Martha Stewart’s Everyday Cooking and America’s Test Kitchen. What I like about these shows is that they TEACH you how to cook and how to appreciate food. There’s a great grilling show, too, and some quirky stuff from Scandinavia, but that’s pure fantasy, even if I do enjoy it. Come on, who’s going to climb an iceberg to make a perfect vodka?

What I like about the afore-mentioned shows, is that I can watch them prepare the dishes, print off the recipes online and things turn out the way they are supposed to. My son and I made a duck at Christmas from Lidia’s recipe, and it was excellent.

I do like to watch the Bourdain shows on dvd. He’s sometimes a jerk, but he’s taught me more about geography than all my elementary school classes together.

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By: Sundar

Sundar — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:01:00 +0000

I love Anthony Bourdain. As a matter of fact, I strongly recommend watching tonight’s episode called Making of No Reservations.

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By: ron n

ron n — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:32:57 +0000

Good Eats and Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

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By: dm

dm — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:04:58 +0000

I detest the majority of “reality” television programming, and this includes food-based television shows. I will watch an occasional episode of Good eats if I like the food of the episode.

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By: Holly M.

Holly M. — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:21:51 +0000

Love Top Chef and Top Chef Masters and looking forward to the new Top Chef Just Desserts. Barefoot Contessa is also a favorite, America’s Test Kitchen, Lydia’s something or other, BBQ University, Alton Brown, Chopped, the old verison of Iron Chef was so great – just for the voiceovers Alot of the Food Network Challenges with regular folks competing are pretty good too.

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By: Michael M

Michael M — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:21:08 +0000

My wife and I watch a lot of Food Network shows. We like Chopped, Next Food Network Star, Triple D, and Good Eats with Alton Brown. Also watch Top Chef and Top Chef Masters on Bravo. The competition shows are okay when they stick to actual cooking; not so hot on the manufactured drama (and the sub-par chefs) on Top Chef this season.

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By: Mrs. Robinson

Mrs. Robinson — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:07:46 +0000

Man vs. Food, No Reservations, Top Chef and Top Chef Masters are my favorites. I used to watch Food Network quite a bit, but I grew weary of it. I like Giada’s food, but her mugging for the camera and cleavage are a bit off-putting. Alton Brown has grown on me. I learn a lot watching Good Eats. Many of their chefs have gotten too big for their britches. Paula Deen especially comes to mind. I used to like DDD, but it has lost it’s charm for me. I have never seen the UK Gordan Ramsey. I think I would like it. I miss Jamie Oliver on Food Network. The Naked Chef is what turned me on to cooking.

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