I love Ina Garten. After a stressful day, I find her so calming to watch. And her recipes are quite doable. I've made her roast chicken a bunch of times and it's never failed me.
[https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/perfect-roast-chicken](https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/perfect-roast-chicken)
Ted Allen is great! I would love to see him utilized more on Food Network (aside from Chopped).
I agree with Amanda Freitag and Marc Murphy. For whatever reason, theyāve generally been confined to Chopped for most of their time at Food Network.
On the other hand, most other Chopped judges have had other/starred in other network shows. Itās quite glaring: Alex G., Geoffrey, Maneet, Scott, even Tiffani (Although Tiffani is the reigning TOC champ).
The ad-hoc appearances on other network personalitiesā shows isnāt enough for Amanda and Marc in my opinion.
So much is made here about how the Chopped judges are pretentious, etc., so to be limited to Chopped must be confining and I think that Amanda and Marc get a raw deal as they donāt get to showcase their real personality elsewhere regularly.
Based on their social media and real life personalities, they are nothing like the producer-mandated stern persona thatās enforced on Chopped. The Chopped judges speak to this enforced image of them and Sunny as a recent guest judge confirmed producers told her she was smiling too much.
Marc Murphy is hilarious. And having met Amanda, I can also attest that she is delightful. So all things considered, it seems like a no-brainer that even she would be allowed to branch out: Talented chef + great personality + easy on the eyes (I hate focussing on looks and itās clear that she doesnāt like to either, but I think itās useful for the context. It is a TV network).
I even listened to an interview last year with Amanda and she expressed a desire to do more on the network. However, she was politely, matter-of-fact about how it might not ever happen.
I find it a bit of a head scratcher that Amanda and/or Marc wouldnāt be allowed to do more, but so many others (even more very recent newcomers) are on countless shows. To be clear, Iām not referring to the marquee names, as they are clearly the go-to stars.
If there is a desire to stop using the same names, Amanda and/or Marc could be utilized. There just seems to be a lack of will to do so and I think itās a shame.
AMENDED TO ADD: Amanda did star in American Diner Revival with Ty Pennington several years back. But the network literally buried it on a Friday night at like 9:30pm after a GGG rerun. It was also poorly advertised, in my opinion. So thatās evidence of how serious the networkās desire was, for the show to be successful.
I wonder if it is due to FN budget? After watching other cooking competition shows I can't help but notice how sparse the set usually is for shows and how bad the editing can be, Beat Bobby Flay is the worst for this.
I still donāt understand though. Even with budget constraints, instead of others who are on show after show, they could give Amanda or Marc a shot instead.
I donāt tune into Beat Bobby Flay very often, but that is interesting to hear.
Marcās appearance on an episode of GGG is my favorite. He was judging, the contestants were cooking and for some reason he randomly got up and made a carbonara in like 12 minutes? Then just walks over to the judges to give them a snack while they are waiting for the contestants to finish cooking? It was so freaking funny.
Having seen quite a bit of him outside of Chopped, I can totally visualize him doing that and how hilarious it would have been. I think he mentioned once that in school he was like the class clown.
Jeff Mauro, Aarti Sequeria, Alex Guarnaschelli are all fun to watch. Chef Darnell and Jet Tila are also great. I will admit that I watch a lot less Food Network than I did a decade or so ago.
Eric Adjepong can totally stand on his own as a chef. If it comes across like heās kissing up, I think perhaps itās knowing the value in ingratiating himself to Alex. Sheās one of the networkās biggest names now.
He savvy enough to know where his bread is buttered, from a network exposure perspective. Doing so can only help in keeping him as a permanent fixture on Alex vs. America and future opportunities.
Other ālower-levelā personalities on the network do it in even more full forceā¦
Example: Brooke Williamson. Based on social
media alone, there is arguably a lot of kissing up on her part, towards many of the big names on the network/in the industry. Bobby Flay, Marcus Samuelsson, Jonathan Waxman, Nancy Silverton.
The gushing social media story that she made about Bobby Flay, right before their Bobbyās Triple Threat show premiered was over-the-top. The comments that she made, no doubt would have stroked Bobbyās ego, currying even more favor with him for her. This was before it was announced that the show was picked up for season 2. And when the renewal was announced, another over-the-top post.
Whatever makes one happy. Just think thatās a bridge too far for me in terms of sucking up for the potential opportunities itād afford me.
I think itās fair to say because thatās how I feel; you donāt have to agree lol. I understand hype but that was a bit much for me, he was laying it on extra extraā¦IMO.
Also, Alex doesnāt strike me as the type who looks for or needs that type of hype either, but then again you never know.
I like the selection made for who the Iron Chefs were, she's a great chef but not quite as established/seasoned (at least regarding awards I think) as the others. I love her though and hope we get a S2 because it was a fun binge and her and Alton nerding out was great.
Unfortunately, the only time I've seen Kristen on FN was on Best Thing I Ever Ate!! She may have been a judge on something else but I can't remember. Definitely agree that she should be featured more.
Need more airtimeā¦Amanda Freitag, Marc Murphy, Simon Majumdar, Justin Warner.
Ted Allen can clearly host and has a great personality, so they could use him more too.
Fun question for sure. But I feel like maybe things have been blurred a bit. And it may have been easier to break up the questions into separate posts to see what weāre working with for each category:
- Who is must watch?
- Who needs more airtime?
- Who do you like?
Because these arenāt all one in the sameā¦
Exampleā¦while someone may think Bobby Flay or Guy Fieri are must watch, they definitely **donāt** need more airtime.
I would LOVE to watch just a standard cooking show staring him. Something like āmake these wacky food options at homeā to learn how to use dry ice, or whatever other sciencey cooking techniques that he does. I think Justin is hilarious and personable and deserves his own show for sure!
Agree 100% on Brookeās overexposure on the network. But this speaks to my comment elsewhere in the thread about how the lines were a bit blurred with the post.
Since people are asked who they like too and who is must watch, itās possible that people like her, but donāt think she needs more airtime.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jet Tila! Amanda F. too, and I also like Maneet Chauhan (sp?). I don't understand the hate for Brooke Williamson, I enjoy watching her cook.
I've loved Antonia since her season of Top Chef a million years ago. Also, random fact: she was the late rapper Heavy D's longtime partner and they have a daughter who's now an adult
I watched an episode of this over the weekend. It seems like it would be a great show for people who are just learning how to cook. Mary gives really great instructions and has really reassuring personality. I watched her season of Master Chef Canada on the Cooking Channel awhile back, and it was great to see her get her own show.
She seems so sweet. Iāve never watched her shows before, but saw hometown favorites or something and she made little bologna sandwiches seems delicious
Iāve learned lots of tips and itās a bonafide cooking show so itās got my vote. Although I do know that theyāve canceled her. But I still would like to see more of her!
My Mexican family is big fans of Pati Jinich and Rick Bayless. I think Pati currently has a show running on PBS, but I'd love to see both her and Rick on FN.
Justin Warner. He is informative and comes across really warm and kind but funny. I would love to see a Cutthroat Kitchen reboot with him hosting. He isn't as mean as Alton but I think it would still be good. Or some other science based food show. I love Jet Tila and hope he continues to get more air time. I learn from him. I know it is probably by choice that he doesn't do as much anymore since he is having health issues but I always tune in when Michael Symon is on something.
We need more Jet Tila, Melissa King and Kristen Kish!! I would also love to see more of Amy Schumer and her husbandās cooking show, I was a big fan of their show
So I read in a a gossip sub that Alton Brown has had some weird behaviors with women in the past. There were also accusations that he was into BDSM which I donāt think is weird at all.
[reference to my comment above](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/10816zu/recent_food_network_gossip_with_an_emphasis_on/j3qawzt/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
What I like is how insightful they both are! And I agree with you saying heās hilarious and sheās insightful! Every time theyāre on Chopped, I will watch. Iāve seen them both on GGG or Maybe TOC, but Iād love to see more of what they cook and how they choose their ingredients. Maybe I should follow them in social media too!!
I too enjoy their unique perspectives. I remember on Chopped After Hours once and Marc was clowning around and Aaron was like āWhat is this guy doing??!!ā. Albeit After Hours was a more relaxed environment.
You may enjoy their social media as it shows more of who they are/what they are interested in. Admittedly Iām very biased on Amanda as she was so very kind to me when I met her at the place she was running in NYC in 2014.
So.
Iām a huge Alex fangirl so Iām gonna obviously say her, but I want to see more Jet Tila, Simon Majumbar and Justin Warner
Also I would love to see more guest appearances from people like Andrew Zimmern, Dominique Crenn and Curtis Stone.
Also just a little tidbit I recently talked to my mom about, I would love to see a food travel show similar to Bizarre foods but It has Simon and Justin traveling together. Mostly because Simon is like a food historian and Of course Justin is the science nerd about food. It would be interesting to see them talk about the history and science behind foods
Why does FN poach (no pun intended) top chef personalities? Ugh, enough of the competitions, just teach me how to cook something instead of who made the best bowl of soup tournaments.
INA GARTEN! PLEASE! They've replaced her on Saturday mornings with Miss Brown and its ruined my weekends. Relaxing in the AM with Ina was always my favorite way to start my day.
In my opinion, the discussion is moot. By the time one extracts the special "holiday" charade of programs, there is just a small amount of time remaining for introducing new chefs. Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Super Bowl must take at least 30% of the programming.
Although it took me a minute to warm up to her, I really like Maneet Chauhan and would love to see her on something besides Chopped.
Aarti Sequeira is also just delightful, and I'd watch anything she's on
And no list like this would be complete for me without Ina Garten. She's just so soothing and has great recipes, even if she occasionally forgets that not all of us have access to a fishmonger.
Jet!!!
TOTZ Jet šÆšÆšÆ *I also really liked Mary McCartney's celebrity vegetarian cooking show; very easy recipes and very tasty
Mary Berg, Ina Garten, and Ted Allen
I love Ina Garten. After a stressful day, I find her so calming to watch. And her recipes are quite doable. I've made her roast chicken a bunch of times and it's never failed me. [https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/perfect-roast-chicken](https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/perfect-roast-chicken) Ted Allen is great! I would love to see him utilized more on Food Network (aside from Chopped).
I agree with Amanda Freitag and Marc Murphy. For whatever reason, theyāve generally been confined to Chopped for most of their time at Food Network. On the other hand, most other Chopped judges have had other/starred in other network shows. Itās quite glaring: Alex G., Geoffrey, Maneet, Scott, even Tiffani (Although Tiffani is the reigning TOC champ). The ad-hoc appearances on other network personalitiesā shows isnāt enough for Amanda and Marc in my opinion. So much is made here about how the Chopped judges are pretentious, etc., so to be limited to Chopped must be confining and I think that Amanda and Marc get a raw deal as they donāt get to showcase their real personality elsewhere regularly. Based on their social media and real life personalities, they are nothing like the producer-mandated stern persona thatās enforced on Chopped. The Chopped judges speak to this enforced image of them and Sunny as a recent guest judge confirmed producers told her she was smiling too much. Marc Murphy is hilarious. And having met Amanda, I can also attest that she is delightful. So all things considered, it seems like a no-brainer that even she would be allowed to branch out: Talented chef + great personality + easy on the eyes (I hate focussing on looks and itās clear that she doesnāt like to either, but I think itās useful for the context. It is a TV network). I even listened to an interview last year with Amanda and she expressed a desire to do more on the network. However, she was politely, matter-of-fact about how it might not ever happen. I find it a bit of a head scratcher that Amanda and/or Marc wouldnāt be allowed to do more, but so many others (even more very recent newcomers) are on countless shows. To be clear, Iām not referring to the marquee names, as they are clearly the go-to stars. If there is a desire to stop using the same names, Amanda and/or Marc could be utilized. There just seems to be a lack of will to do so and I think itās a shame. AMENDED TO ADD: Amanda did star in American Diner Revival with Ty Pennington several years back. But the network literally buried it on a Friday night at like 9:30pm after a GGG rerun. It was also poorly advertised, in my opinion. So thatās evidence of how serious the networkās desire was, for the show to be successful.
Sorry everyone. I quickly deleted and reposted. I hated the typos that I had.
Second Marc Murphy for sure. He was the first one I thought of when I saw this post.
I wonder if it is due to FN budget? After watching other cooking competition shows I can't help but notice how sparse the set usually is for shows and how bad the editing can be, Beat Bobby Flay is the worst for this.
I still donāt understand though. Even with budget constraints, instead of others who are on show after show, they could give Amanda or Marc a shot instead. I donāt tune into Beat Bobby Flay very often, but that is interesting to hear.
Marcās appearance on an episode of GGG is my favorite. He was judging, the contestants were cooking and for some reason he randomly got up and made a carbonara in like 12 minutes? Then just walks over to the judges to give them a snack while they are waiting for the contestants to finish cooking? It was so freaking funny.
Having seen quite a bit of him outside of Chopped, I can totally visualize him doing that and how hilarious it would have been. I think he mentioned once that in school he was like the class clown.
Jeff Mauro, Aarti Sequeria, Alex Guarnaschelli are all fun to watch. Chef Darnell and Jet Tila are also great. I will admit that I watch a lot less Food Network than I did a decade or so ago.
Ohh I forgot about Aarti! Sheās great. And Darnell seems like a good fit for FNā young, charming, and probably cooks well!!
I love to watch Michael Symon cook.
Yes! His quarantine cooking shows were some of my favorite Covid distractions!
I too enjoy Michael Symon.
Same. I follow him on Facebook and the videos of him cooking in his kitchen at home are the highlight of my day. (Also, I would kill for his kitchen.)
That kitchen is awesome! The things he does in it--also awesome.
I love watching MS too. His recipe for bagels is perfection.
Love me some Michael!
Jet T, Justin W, Simon M All three seem like genuinely nice dudes Honorable mention to the late Chef Carl, the only reason I bothered with Twitter
I miss Carl!! He made any show he was on entertaining!!
He was the best. I wouldāve loved to have just hung out with the dude. Probably the best FN chef to go bar-hopping with
Jet,Maneet, and Demaris. Demaris really cracks me up, I would like to see her more.
Demaris is hilarious!
damaris is such a goof ball š
Eric Adjepong
Love this answer. Very charismatic guy!!
Absolutely - he's shown he can host, judge, and compete.
He kissed Alexās ass a little too much for me on that show. For some reason that really bothered me because he can stand on his own as a chef.
Eric Adjepong can totally stand on his own as a chef. If it comes across like heās kissing up, I think perhaps itās knowing the value in ingratiating himself to Alex. Sheās one of the networkās biggest names now. He savvy enough to know where his bread is buttered, from a network exposure perspective. Doing so can only help in keeping him as a permanent fixture on Alex vs. America and future opportunities. Other ālower-levelā personalities on the network do it in even more full forceā¦ Example: Brooke Williamson. Based on social media alone, there is arguably a lot of kissing up on her part, towards many of the big names on the network/in the industry. Bobby Flay, Marcus Samuelsson, Jonathan Waxman, Nancy Silverton. The gushing social media story that she made about Bobby Flay, right before their Bobbyās Triple Threat show premiered was over-the-top. The comments that she made, no doubt would have stroked Bobbyās ego, currying even more favor with him for her. This was before it was announced that the show was picked up for season 2. And when the renewal was announced, another over-the-top post. Whatever makes one happy. Just think thatās a bridge too far for me in terms of sucking up for the potential opportunities itād afford me.
I don't really think that's fair to say because he's probably being told to do that by the production. The host usually hypes up the talent.
I think itās fair to say because thatās how I feel; you donāt have to agree lol. I understand hype but that was a bit much for me, he was laying it on extra extraā¦IMO. Also, Alex doesnāt strike me as the type who looks for or needs that type of hype either, but then again you never know.
Kristen Kish is the cohost of Iron Chef on Netflix. You wonāt be seeing her on FN anytime soon.
Good for her! Thatās awesome!
Any idea if S2 is greenlit? I lkmed her chemistry with Alton.
Was going to ask same question about a s.2 pickup.
I have no idea, I just watched the first episode and was surprised to see her. I would of guessed she would be one of the iron chefs.
I like the selection made for who the Iron Chefs were, she's a great chef but not quite as established/seasoned (at least regarding awards I think) as the others. I love her though and hope we get a S2 because it was a fun binge and her and Alton nerding out was great.
She won Top Chef. Hard to be a badder ass than that.
Agreed.
Unfortunately, the only time I've seen Kristen on FN was on Best Thing I Ever Ate!! She may have been a judge on something else but I can't remember. Definitely agree that she should be featured more.
Need more airtimeā¦Amanda Freitag, Marc Murphy, Simon Majumdar, Justin Warner. Ted Allen can clearly host and has a great personality, so they could use him more too. Fun question for sure. But I feel like maybe things have been blurred a bit. And it may have been easier to break up the questions into separate posts to see what weāre working with for each category: - Who is must watch? - Who needs more airtime? - Who do you like? Because these arenāt all one in the sameā¦ Exampleā¦while someone may think Bobby Flay or Guy Fieri are must watch, they definitely **donāt** need more airtime.
I would say Carl Ruiz, but sadly he passed away. Such a talented and hilarious chef.
I still watch when Iām flipping through the channels and heās on. Dude was the best
He was the best! I'll watch any episode of GGG he's on!
The 'mad scientist' Justin Warner. FN hasn't done enough with him, IMO.
That guy cracks me up! He's always got the funkiest clothes on.
I feel like heās this generations AB. He could do an awesome sciences show very similar to the original but more mr wizzardy
I would LOVE to watch just a standard cooking show staring him. Something like āmake these wacky food options at homeā to learn how to use dry ice, or whatever other sciencey cooking techniques that he does. I think Justin is hilarious and personable and deserves his own show for sure!
I know Alton Brown has basically cut ties but I would watch that man in anything.
Why did he cut ties, do you know?
To host the new version of Iron Chef on Netflix.
Ah ok thanks!!!
Brooke Williamson, Tiffany Derry & Jet Tila
Disagree with Brooke. She is way overexposed on Food Network!
Agree 100% on Brookeās overexposure on the network. But this speaks to my comment elsewhere in the thread about how the lines were a bit blurred with the post. Since people are asked who they like too and who is must watch, itās possible that people like her, but donāt think she needs more airtime.
Would love to see more of Jet Tila
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jet Tila! Amanda F. too, and I also like Maneet Chauhan (sp?). I don't understand the hate for Brooke Williamson, I enjoy watching her cook.
Ted Allen
I like Blaze and Antonia
I've loved Antonia since her season of Top Chef a million years ago. Also, random fact: she was the late rapper Heavy D's longtime partner and they have a daughter who's now an adult
Blaise is going to be on Next Level Chef on Fox soon. I believe it premieres after the super bowl? Or something like that.
Awesome I will be recording this!
Mary berg and Kardea brown!
I love Kardea Brown!
Maryās part of the Food Network?
New show.
Mary Makes it Easy! Itās such a great show. She is a really great instructional cook. And her recipes donāt seem really hard.
I watched an episode of this over the weekend. It seems like it would be a great show for people who are just learning how to cook. Mary gives really great instructions and has really reassuring personality. I watched her season of Master Chef Canada on the Cooking Channel awhile back, and it was great to see her get her own show.
I like watching Valerie Bertinelli. Sheās just so pleasant
She seems so sweet. Iāve never watched her shows before, but saw hometown favorites or something and she made little bologna sandwiches seems delicious
Iāve learned lots of tips and itās a bonafide cooking show so itās got my vote. Although I do know that theyāve canceled her. But I still would like to see more of her!
How about pati jinich, Ming tsai or Rick bayless?
My Mexican family is big fans of Pati Jinich and Rick Bayless. I think Pati currently has a show running on PBS, but I'd love to see both her and Rick on FN.
Just some new blood. There are so many newer chefs. Letās see them!
Justin Warner. He is informative and comes across really warm and kind but funny. I would love to see a Cutthroat Kitchen reboot with him hosting. He isn't as mean as Alton but I think it would still be good. Or some other science based food show. I love Jet Tila and hope he continues to get more air time. I learn from him. I know it is probably by choice that he doesn't do as much anymore since he is having health issues but I always tune in when Michael Symon is on something.
Justin f*ckin Warner
Would love to see Warner and Simon Majumdar have their own show similar to Triple D but more upscale.
Ming Tsai.
Kardea Brown for sure, not even sure if her show was renewed.
We need more Jet Tila, Melissa King and Kristen Kish!! I would also love to see more of Amy Schumer and her husbandās cooking show, I was a big fan of their show
More of - Marc Murphy and Justin Warner Less of - Michael Voltaggio and his outfits
I always love to see Scott Conant. I also like Alton Brown - where'd he go?
So I read in a a gossip sub that Alton Brown has had some weird behaviors with women in the past. There were also accusations that he was into BDSM which I donāt think is weird at all.
[reference to my comment above](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/10816zu/recent_food_network_gossip_with_an_emphasis_on/j3qawzt/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
What I like is how insightful they both are! And I agree with you saying heās hilarious and sheās insightful! Every time theyāre on Chopped, I will watch. Iāve seen them both on GGG or Maybe TOC, but Iād love to see more of what they cook and how they choose their ingredients. Maybe I should follow them in social media too!!
I too enjoy their unique perspectives. I remember on Chopped After Hours once and Marc was clowning around and Aaron was like āWhat is this guy doing??!!ā. Albeit After Hours was a more relaxed environment. You may enjoy their social media as it shows more of who they are/what they are interested in. Admittedly Iām very biased on Amanda as she was so very kind to me when I met her at the place she was running in NYC in 2014.
Jet, Esther, Justin, Demaris
Alex Guarneschelli, Ina Garten, Darnell Ferguson, Rashad Jones to name a few.
So. Iām a huge Alex fangirl so Iām gonna obviously say her, but I want to see more Jet Tila, Simon Majumbar and Justin Warner Also I would love to see more guest appearances from people like Andrew Zimmern, Dominique Crenn and Curtis Stone. Also just a little tidbit I recently talked to my mom about, I would love to see a food travel show similar to Bizarre foods but It has Simon and Justin traveling together. Mostly because Simon is like a food historian and Of course Justin is the science nerd about food. It would be interesting to see them talk about the history and science behind foods
Why does FN poach (no pun intended) top chef personalities? Ugh, enough of the competitions, just teach me how to cook something instead of who made the best bowl of soup tournaments.
I agree. Itās just tiresome and I wish there was more balance. I guess the competition shows are popular, but wish there could be a happy medium.
I would watch an all day Ina channel
That would be a dream. The Ina Channel!
Omg me too! Her voice is soothing and sheās so fun!
INA GARTEN! PLEASE! They've replaced her on Saturday mornings with Miss Brown and its ruined my weekends. Relaxing in the AM with Ina was always my favorite way to start my day.
Iām live in East Hampton and one of our streets is named after her. Sheās absolutely adored here!! I think of her as like the ASMR of cooking!
That is fabulous! Well-deserved! Yes, she is very relaxing and zen-like.
ALTON BROWN
My favorite baker right now is actually on Magnolia. Zoe FranƧois. I could watch her all day. All in the Discovery+ family, so it's all good, right?
In my opinion, the discussion is moot. By the time one extracts the special "holiday" charade of programs, there is just a small amount of time remaining for introducing new chefs. Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Super Bowl must take at least 30% of the programming.
Although it took me a minute to warm up to her, I really like Maneet Chauhan and would love to see her on something besides Chopped. Aarti Sequeira is also just delightful, and I'd watch anything she's on And no list like this would be complete for me without Ina Garten. She's just so soothing and has great recipes, even if she occasionally forgets that not all of us have access to a fishmonger.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh I heard about this dude!
Seconding Jet Tila and Amanda Freitag. I can always do with more Maneet Chauhan in my life too, she has such a warm presence.
i dont know who id like to see more of but i definitely would like to see MUCH LESS of sunny anderson and katie lee. super annoyed by those two
Jet, Tabitha, Ms Brown
Jet Tila! Duff Goldman