Ted Allen Regrets

TC judge Ted Allen gets 'Chopped'?...


That's the name of his new show, an Iron Chef/TC clone.
From the sound of it, his 'TC' is 'tepid chefs':

Allen has spoken out (on his blog) against allegations that his show is a TC rip-off, saying "There is no sleep deprivation, no "Big Brother" house full of bunk beds & cameras, no booze-fueled personal drama... Best of all, there is no product placement, so you never see passionate lovers of good food being forced to use packaged convenience junk..."

That may all be true, but the absence of Diet-Dr-Pepper QFs doesn't make up for the fact that Chopped's format is boring, the talent of its chef-testants subpar, and the general look of the show cheap. We'll take the occasional Bertolli challenge in exchange for some decent production value and an occasional change of scenery.

If there's any format Chopped has ripped-off, it's Iron Chef's. Each week, the four chef-testants have to cook an appetizer, main course, and dessert. They have 30 minutes to cook each course and must use the "mystery ingredients"

I like Ted Allen but I'm not so sure about his new baby...

review link: Village Voice

Truthily, Ted

Top Chef judge Ted Allen updated his blog yesterday.

Ted-bits from his 'truthiest' blog yet:

'Finally, a contestant emerges as the villain!'

…so villainous that her villainy has the blogosphere harrumphing vigorously on behalf of… Dale? The guy who punches lockers, grabs his crotch while yelling at a woman, and calls waiters “a—hole”? O-kayyy.

Personally, I like Dale and Lisa, even though they’ve both had trouble keeping their cool, and I think they’ve both cooked some great food -- but until now, the commentoscenti have been uniformly harsh on both…'

Q&A:

Anonymous wrote: 'you all were 100% wrong to send Dale home over Lisa. Hope someone has a VERY good explanation.'

Ted: We sure do. We tasted the food.
We had no expectation that anybody would be upset.

Remember, when we shoot TC, the judges don’t know anything about the story lines or dramas that are evolving among the contestants, nor do we know which chefs are popular with the fans -- and it’s fairer that way. We base our decisions on the food. What matters is who did best today. In other words, what have you cooked for us lately?

Jay wrote: 'I have heard rumors that the judges were trying to stack the finals with females this year and up until this week have paid [those rumors] no mind, but now I think there might be something behind them.'

Ted: Right - you caught us.
You’re gonna love the swimsuit competition!

Cheers, Ted

Boxed, I mean 'Botched' Lunch

Rookies, c'mon down for raw parsnip/salmon sushi!
*Think there were a few 'bleep's on Andrew's comment cards?
Thank heavens he left quietly, ear intact...

But the 'sabotage' of Lisa's rice?
Don't forget that the chefs are not alone in that kitchen... It could easily have been the soundman or the cameraman knocking into the controls as a chef zoomed by. So be quiet Lisa, and next time run to the pantry and grab a leftover bag of '90-sec Uncle Ben's'. Because how could our esteemed TC judges possibly object to that rice, right?

Dale was lucky that Whole Foods is a sponsor, so no judge would challenge WF's bison/buffalo facts. It has to be entirely grass-fed to get those low-fat numbers Dale recited. (While feedlot bison = feedlot beef.) If there's visible fat its not totally grass-fed, and I noticed plenty of fat in/on Dale's. No wonder it was tasty! And as for adding all that mango?... I'd look up the sugar stats before I'd call that 'lo-carb'!

Lastly, a spoiler was hinted at on TWoP... but not much of one. Seems Antonia may be in Puerto Rico. The forum of course jumped to the conclusion that she's a finalist - apparently forgetting that she could easily be there as someone's sous chef, or as part of a reunion shot. I wouldn't be surprised if half the S4 chefs ended up going there at some point.


Ted Allen interview, right before he left to shoot the S4 finale (1 min)

* video opens in a new YouTube window, and his interview is followed by 2 minutes of Hung & Ilan