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Chopped All Stars Recap: Anne Burrell, Claire Robinson, Duff Goldman, & Robert Irvine
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If you missed tonight’s episode of Chopped All-Stars, search your TV listings for another airing and record it immediately! It was the most entertaining hour of programming on the Food Network in years, and featured Anne Burrell, Duff Goldman, Claire Robinson, and Robert Irvine going head to head to win money for their favorite charities.
For the appetizer round, the mystery baskets contained teething biscuits, hot peppers, raspberries, and canned haggis. Alex Guarnaschelli hilariously called them “baskets of cruelty,” and the look on Anne Burrell’s face summed the ingredients up quite nicely:
If you don’t know what haggis is, it’s basically organ meat blended up with oats, onions, and spices. Or, according to Anne Burrell:
The real chefs immediately got to work with the difficult ingredients. Duff, however, spent the next several minutes gagging, choking, and fighting back vomit. Either he didn’t like the smell of the haggis, or he just pictured Bob Tuschman naked. We may never know.
Halfway through the appetizer round, Anne Burrell got hot oil in her right eye. Did she bitch and moan and run off to the ER like these little whimps on Top Chef (we’re looking at you, Jamie Lauren)? No! She sucked it up and continued cooking like a pro. She said, “I’d stick something in my other eye before I would quit.”
Anne made haggis flatbread pizza, which the judges loved. Robert made something I forgot about already, Claire made haggis meatballs, and Duff made… this:
Duff was chopped first, and rightfully so. Run along now Duff, back to your little bakery where your hipster friends are eagerly waiting for you.
The entree round was just as difficult. The mystery baskets contained venison, gooseberry preserves, fruit rings cereal, and dulse (which I’ve actually had the misfortune of tasting. On its own, dulse is a gross red sea algae that tastes like a distinct mixture of dirt, tobacco, and ASS.)
Claire was actually happy to see the fruit rings cereal, but Anne wasn’t.
Yes, Anne, but tell us how you really feel!
Irvine cooked like a messy slob in this round, and it ended up hurting him. He dropped the glazed carrots he spent 20 minutes making. In the end, though, the judges chopped Claire because her venison was raw as hell – and because she only plated the meat on 2 of her 3 dishes. Too bad, so sad.
It came down to the old rivals Anne and Robert for the dessert round, and the mystery basket held ladyfingers, fennel, almond paste, and root beer jelly beans. Robert made a pot de creme, while Anne brilliantly melted the jelly beans down in some cream, and turned it into an ice cream. In the end, it was a tough decision, but the judges ultimately chopped Robert and gave the win to Chef Anne… a fierce competitor I’d never want to go up against – and a true bad ass in the kitchen.
And the award for the funniest line of the night goes to… ANNE BURRELL, for hilariously and truthfully declaring: “Duff makes cake; I make real food.” I DIE. How long until that winds up on a t-shirt somewhere?
Funniest moment of the show also goes to Anne Burrell, for running away from Ted Allen’s annoying interview during the appetizer round to tend to her food:
What did you guys think of the show? What was your favorite moment?
Other posts on Food Network Humor:
---Chopped All-Stars: The Finale---Anne Burrell, Robert Irvine, and Alex Guarnaschelli Will Compete To Become The Next Iron Chef
---The Claire Robinson Blow-Up Doll v3.0
---Robert Irvine Bleaches Hair After Losing “Worst Cooks”
---Chopped All Stars: Round 3
- General: Food Network
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214 Responses
<3 her
i love her too, but she came across as a stuck-up bee-otch the entire episode..”this is crap, i’m better than everyone here…blah blah blah”…her arrogance was very difficult to watch
I think this kind of trash talk is modus operandi for this show (at least it was anytime I watched the show). She may have been playing to that fact. ‘Course, she was also right.
I don’t think she’s arrogant, I think she’s confident. Arrogant = Alex.
I think Anne is hilariously funny. I don’t get a “stuck up vibe” from her. As for Alex, I think she just as an unfortunate facial expression that gets misread as negativity a lot of the time. As others have often commented, she can give a dish the worse look and then declare it “absolutely delish.” It cracks me up.
AGREED!!!!! burrell is a supah-STAH
Anne is such a bad ass. She had it in the bag the entire time. :3
With grease in her eye.
Which makes her even more of a bad ass! :D
This review was hilarious! Jillian thank you for introducing me to Anne Burrell.
My pleasure!
I really enjoyed this recap. My friend and I call Robert “Roid” or “Roid Rage”. I actually really like him and Anne and was glad to see them in the end.
I missed it, but I knew Anne would win.
On another note, can you PLEASE write a blog about Top Chef? None of the blogs written currently do it any humorous justice and you’re the only one who I think could actually write a satisfactorily funny and truthful blog about it.
Hey JK, I blog and recap Top Chef for Serious Eats every week!
However, it’s a much more toned down version of my writing, because I’m talking to a different audience over there. Next season I may just post Top Chef recaps here on FNH. We’ll see!
Awesome! I’m checking it out right now, and it would be perfect if you recapped on FNH.
Yes please! I want a Top Chef recap in true Jillian style!
While I would love to see a Top Chef recap here, in the meantime, Eater National has a great weekly recap that fits the tone and style of FNH very nicely. :D
Or, you could just go to Serious Eats and read my photo recaps there! :)
I’m an idiot – have been looking through Serious Eats trying to find the top chef recaps and can’t find them…. help?
Try this live blog of Top Chef. Chick’s name is Michelle, her site is thursdaynightsmackdown.com and it’s snark-tacular!
hey JK, great TC recaps at ew.com!
Great episode. I only watched it for the FNH recap and you didn’t disappoint! Died laughing at the pic of Anne with the eye patch.
Argg! OIL IN ME EYE, MATEY!
I called her Popeye. Great recap
I totally loved it. The chefs were awesome and funny. I agree that it was the best thing on the network in years. I enjoyed watching it immensely.
Bob Tuschman naked! HOLY SHIT that is the funniest thing I have seen all week.
Don’t you mean the most disturbing thing?
It’s only right that Anne won, since she was the only real chef in the competition. And don’t even try to tell me the others are chefs, cause they ain’t.
I loved this episode! Last week’s was so awful, I didn’t care for any of the NFNS contestants they picked.
Speaking of NFNS – have you guys seen Kelsey’s show on Cooking Network? Kelsey’s Essentials. It’s actually pretty good. Very informative and easy to watch. Some great ideas and she is SO much more natural than D’Arabian or Aarti.
Well, that was a side track – Love the recap! :)
I agree about Kelsey’s show. Just proves that they never pick the right people on NFNS.
Soooo disgree about Kelsey, can’t stand her or her show.
These are NOT her recipes, no way. She was so awful on NFNS, so I’m thinking Bobby Flay (who thought she’d be a great babysitter, remember?) sent her to apprentice under a chef/chefs to learn HOW TO COOK.
Add a few acting lessons and what you’ve still got is a whiny-voiced, contrived food-gasming, red finger-nailed, fluffy-bloused desperate housewife and little more.
I totally agree!! I LOVED the easy to bake breads she had on one of her first episodes. Made me want to bake all day!
can you please gif that totally awesome moment when alex g first tastes anne’s flatbread and she just looks over and has that complete orgasmic look on her face?? it was so amazing.
I LOVE THIS BLOG!!!!!!!!!!! I just found it from Autocorrect and spent the last 12 hours reading it. I have never laughed so hard in my life.
I do have one question, Jillian will you marry me
sure, if we can have the ceremony in bermuda.
Duff had about the same reaction to haggis as I have to him…and several others on FN.
So true. The whole time he was pissing and moaning like a little girl about the smell of the haggis, I was thinking “please chop this dumbass first so I dont have to hear his annoying squabble during the entree round”
I loved how he was perplexing over what haggis was and asked Anne and she gave him a snarky response.
When he was gagging over the haggis, I was thinking…what a dumbass. He’s using his valuable time to ham it up for the cameras. He spent 10% of his 20 minutes retching.
I’m sure it smelled revolting, it certainly looked like Walmart-brand Alpo, but still.
Douche.
I am Team Anne ALL THE WAY!!
Duff is so revolting I would never eat anything his fat paws touched. He probably smells worse than the haggis. (When I was a kid there was a boat in the canal by my house called Haggis. Isn’t that wierd?)
I really thought they were going to give the win to Irvine, since Burrell’s already beaten him on Iron Chef and Worst Cooks.
X2
I think Anne won becuase she kicks butt, and I do not think that Irvine is received too well in the “real” culinary world becuase he was found to be a liar and a fraud. Real chefs get verrrry pissy when someone pretends to be one of those. So, unless he is in a show by himself, the judges will never give him a win..Serves his annoying ass right..
I agree with the judge who thought Robert had his Chocolate Pot de Creme planned in advance, regardless of the dessert basket ingredients.
imagine if goldham had made it to the dessert round. ten layer dynamite cake with a piranha fishtank all blended into an ironic pop culture theme including minature marzipan judges. WAIT…zombie judges, that have led eyes and are covered in silver food paint. then he remembers he can’t have hipsters do it for him and presents a lump of partially kneaded aqua colored fondant with baby fennel and root beer jelly beans pushed inside of it.
awesome.
I thought irvine was going to win it, but was super stoked when anne burrell won! which is funny, cause the first time i saw anne i thought i was going to hate her, but now she is kind of my hero. what a bad ass!
We originally felt the same way about Chef Anne at our house….and then we actually started watching and listening to her more. Now, she is our FAVORITE FN Chef. She is my hero as well.
(So are you Jillian. This website rocks.)
I like how, during the cooking breaks, everyone was talking about how nervewracking it was, and Anne is all “That was fun!!”. I love watching chefs with line experience on these shows because the way they cook and their attitudes remind me of my coworkers and friends. Just really down to earth, kinda asshole-ish, cool people.
I have been reading FNH for over a year. And I don’t know how this blog did it, but FNH and Jillian made me love Anne Burrell.
I used to loathe everything about her. From her growly voice to her clothes to her cooking methods and menus.
Now I can not get enough of her and I actually was on the edge of my couch rooting for her to win.
Great show, great blog. Love it.
I like Robert Irvine, but I love Anne Burrell so I was very happy that it came down to those two and she won in the end.
I’m one of the approximately 3.2 people on the planet that likes Duff Goldman. That said, he had no business in this episode. I realize he’s had standard chef training but it’s not what he does on a regular basis and he was way the hell out of his depth. It was a disappointment, too, because I would have liked to see the first round featuring four actual chefs. Then again, I tried to figure out who Food Network has that might have been able to compete and I realized Duff really was the best they had once they’d cast the other three. I continue to adore Anne and Robert and I love Claire and I like Duff. But this is the saddest statement ever made about Food Network, that when they needed a fourth actual chef the best they had was Duff Goldman.
Gypsy, you’re so right. It is a sad statement when the best they could come up with was Duff Goldman.
I mean, really, who else could have possibly competed against Anne Burrell? SANDRA LEE? Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, Or Melissa d’Arabian? PLEASE!
The only possibility, and it’s kind of faint, would have been if they’d allowed Chuck Hughes to cross over from Cooking Channel. He did win when he was on Iron Chef and he’s got classical chef’s training and he’s actually a chef and restaurateur by profession.
I wonder why Guy Douchieri wasn’t in there? Isn’t he supposed to be a chef?
I’d LOVE to see Alex compete. I’ve eaten at her restaurants; the food there is truly some of the best I’ve ever eaten in my life.
And, would love to have her beat Conant. I’ve also eaten at two different Scarpettas; she would soooooooo kick his $24 mediocre spaghetti charging ass.
Sandra said she’d do it only if they added a Round 4 to the competition for Tablescaping.
im sorry, that tablescaping joke was the funniest thing ive heard since Anne said “duff makes cakes; i make real food.” it almost broke my water.
i think Tyler Florence might have been okay even though he is a super extra massive tool…
Duff was an absolute embarrassment to the competition. His rantings and goofiness just made him look even less of a real chef next to the others who presented themselves in such a professional manner. Duff needs to go back to his shop where acting like a dork is tolerated and even encouraged :/
I think that if Duff had been stoned out of his mind, it would have been “his to lose.” LOL! You can get pretty creative when the munchies strike!
I would have loved to see him just sit there and munch on all the food and end up with empty plates at the end LOL
I so wished that Booby Flay had participated instead of Duff. He’d have spazzed out by the contents of those baskets. How about some chi-po-to-lay with the haggis.
I love how every one of the competitors acknowledged that Chef Anne was going to be the one to beat. I believe Duff even called her “a goddess in the kitchen.” Right on. Go Anne in the big finale!
Duff: I knew he was going to get chopped in the first round, since there wasn’t a group of hipsters to do the work while he sneaks off to hit the bong. He wasted half of his 20 minutes sniffing the haggis and making stupid jokes. Then the dumbass decided to compliment his sweet/tart raspberry & goat cheese puree with a sweet/tart balsamic vinegar & sugar reduction. WTF?
Claire: She fucked up in the second round. A whole rack of venison will not fully cook in 30 minutes. Too bad Claire didn’t think of this until the last 10 minutes, when she finally cut the meat in more reasonably sized pieces. Even then, it was too late…the middle was still raw, and the meat didn’t get time to “rest”. Goodbye to you, Mrs. Robinson!
Robert Irvine: You will always be second best to Anne. She is the Simon to your Garfunkel. She is Mary and you are Rhoda. Deal with it, you over-roided limey.
Anne: She kept her pimp hand strong!
LMAO, Robert looked ready to cry during his loser interview at the end. Poor guy probably wanted to win so badly, since he gets his ass handed to him by her at every turn. Great stuff. Anne = awesome.
I’m kind of surprised by all the love on here. I thought the baskets (especially dessert!) were easy and the judging was waaaay too glowing. I have trouble buying that all the food was flawless except for a few minor technical flaws or the mistake of not finishing plating. I couldn’t believe the judges didn’t call Duff out on serving the sliced haggis. He seared it badly and didn’t even season it. A meatball Claire? Seriously? Yet the judges constantly exclaimed that they couldn’t believe there was so much “going on” in the kitchen. Face it, the episode was just a bunch of Food Network “stars” giving each other a reach around.
I thought it was so unfair that they were judged by guarnaschelli, who is one of their peers. Shouldn’t the whole thing have been impartial? Aren’t Anne and Alex friends in real life?
Yes, but Alex is a regular Chopped judge. I really don’t know who else they could have brought in to judge them.
Those ingredients were easy?
I guess we’re going to be seeing you on one of the upcoming episodes of Chopped then. I look forward to that.
That would be my only real complaint about the episode, really. They were dishing out compliments as if each one put $10 in their pocket.
I don’t know about the reach around. Marcus Samuelsson, from what I know, is a pretty legitimate chef and he still seemed to be very impressed. Also that other judge whose name I don’t remember doesn’t really have a vested interest in any of the contestants. Guarnaschelli didn’t hold back her bitchiness last week from all those NFNS contestants, and they are all FN derivatives, right? Also, as someone who watches Chopped, these ingredients actually seemed harder than average.
I totally agree. I couldn’t believe what verbal blow jobs the judges were giving out last night. They were gushing so bad, you would think that their very jobs were on the line if they dared offered any criticizm whatsoever.
Sad I didn’t get to see the episode in real time, but so glad that you’ve written such a wonderful recap. Anne rocks my socks and I’m glad she is so engaging on twitter. Also, I’ve been a fan of FNH since the beginning and I look forward to reading new posts every day.
TL;DR: Anne rocks, Jillian rocks.
Oh, I am so glad you liked it as much as I did. Best episode of Chopped ever. It’s so refreshing to see really talented chefs. And Duff Goldman. But seriously, even though I knew the elimination order from the very beginning, I was still on the edge of my seat, especially when they go to the dessert round.
Anne Burrell FTW!
I was surprised Anne won. Other then the fanboy love, she seemed to have more errors then Irvine.
Anne:
1) Small appetizer
2) Silverskin on the chops
3) Small Desert (says one judge)
Best I could see, Irvine had these issues:
1) Fennel not as prominently noted in the dessert
2) Jelly beans blended into chocolate, weren’t distinct enough
I guess the taste either had to have been what edged her out, or I’m just not quite seeing it. Either way I like watching these two. Even if one looks like a roided-up limey and the other looks like she is part amazonian.
My dream episode would have the following though:
Alton Brown, Paula Dean, Giada DeLaurentis, and Guy Fieri. The world might explode though. I for one would crack up laughing my ass off. Paula Dean serves buttered bacon + whatever is in the basket, Alton wastes half the show on a diatribe about enzymatic rage on the secret ingredients combined with the position of the moon and the arrangement of the lights, Giada just endlessly runs things through a mandolin while smiling and leaning forward (fanservice!), and guy fieri goes into rain-man mode saying “It’s money! Off the Hook!” while making his O-Face.
I would pay money to see that episode! Southpark has nothing on that episode! LOL
He also had too big of a serving of haggis in the appetizer, and his station was a mess in round 2 (which is a huge pet peeve of the Chopped judges), so much so that it affected his performance. Ann also showcased all of the ingredients better than Robert (who just kind of stuffed it all in whatever meat he was preparing).
The serving size is irrelevant because Anne barely had any, versus Robert and Duff’s patties, and Claire’s meatballs who they said was too little. Her meatballs had more haggis than Anne’s flatbread yet Claire gets a knock for it?
I love Anne Burrell SO much. The best female chef and personality on the network, and the best overall tied with Alton Brown. The fact that she chose Research for Juvenile Diabetes as her charity just made me adore her even more; I was diagnosed with it as a child. She’s hilariously funny and ridiculously talented. YOU GO CHEF ANNE!!!
If, for no other reason (and there were dozens), I had to root for Anne…for the same reasons as you. I was diagnosed with Type I when I was 15.
Same here: our daughter has type 1, diagnosed 3 years ago. Chef Anne rocks!
I love how since they can’t use product placement, they keep calling fruit loops “fruit ring cereal”. who calls it that?? we all know what it reaaallly is….
Actually, there are generic brands. They sell them in giant bags down on the floor. They can also double as mattresses.
the same thing annoys me with “Chocolate Sandwich Cookies” instead of Oreo’s
The best was the “Jelly Belly” beans being repacked. Look at the close-up of the beans and you can clearly see the logo.
I know you’re not a fan of Duff, and I’m not picking a fight here because I like you and this site, but you seem unfairly critical of his dish. The complaints the judges had for it were that the patty was seared a little unevenly and the basalmic reduction was redundant with the goat cheese serving the same purpose. On any other day, that dish would be part of a winner’s meal.
Ultimately, yes, compared to the other three dishes, it made perfect sense to chop him first, but you just make it sound like he flat-out can’t cook (for the sake of humor), and I gotta stick up for him/that dish.
That said, Claire was a mess. First round, she cut herself badly, and they didn’t acknowledge it. You can see her with a glove on and her finger covered in blood inside. Second round, she didn’t finish plating. She’s not really used to fast-paced competetive cooking, and with her 5-ingredient philosophy, you give her a basket with 4 ingredients already in it and… I’m just saying she was really out of her element and it sucked for her.
I hate Anne Burrell with a passion. I don’t think there’s anyone else on Food Network I hate more., and I say Robert Irvine got robbed on account of him not annoying the crap out of me and his food not looking like it tastes like diapers.
I LOL’d pretty loud when Ted Allen said, “looks like Claire’s going for a 55 ingredient fix”
I rewound my DVR three times to see her totally diss Ted Allen. It was so funny. I think the funniest part about it is where she walks away, comes back, continues on with cooking, and her ‘vignette’ interview, like he was never even standing there.
I think it would have been best to have Robert and Ann in separate rounds, but figured they didn’t have enough judges to do that. We probably witnessed the Superbowl moment of the entire competition in this episode, Ann clearly should be able to win it all now.
I like Claire admitting she didn’t have the restaurant experience of her competitors.
I would like too see Ann go up against that arrogant bastard Scott Conant, but I’m sure he thinks he’s above doing such a thing, being that he’s a superior Chopped judge and all that and a bag of chips.
Wait, where’s that Tischman slob, and that broad with the hair all over the place.
Whoops, should have ended that sentence with a “?” rather than a “.”. Sorry.
And another thing, Ted Allen is a shitheel.
Ted Allen is the biggest ass Frencher on TV. Go back to Queer Eye and rearrange someone’s closet for them. The contestants make 4 plated of food. Is one for Ted? Like the way you let the band eat at your wedding?
They make 4 so there’s a complete one to reveal under the dome when someone is chopped. No, I would guess that Ted does not get to eat.
A shitheel! HAHAHAH I’m so using that somewhere!
I was so sad that Anne won! I was rooting for Robert. I guess the silver skin wasn’t such a big deal after all!!
And, I love Scott Conant! And, Jeffrey Zakarian. And, Ted. But I am so sick of Ann B.
Scott Conant is arrogant sludge. He isn’t even willing to compete, unlike Zakarian. Anne Burrell is a terrific chef and enjoyable to watch.
Lauriecs………..what the hell is wrong with you? Is all your taste in your mouth?????
Last night is the first time I’ve turned on Food Network to watch something without Alton Brown in over a year. I’m so burned out on all the garbage “look at how much food is on this plate” shows but to see Anne compete is a beautiful thing, enough to bring me back to the network. For one night. Hey Food Network: More Anne! And put Alton back in prime time!
Yeah, I spelled my name wrong.
Stupid daylight savings time…[squeezing coffee IV bag]
Fantastic! Loved the Claire blow-up doll reference…..no, I REALLY did.
Anyway, didn’t you just KNOW that Anne was gonna win from the beginning? She’s got more talent under her little finder than any of them, except it may take two fingers where Irvine is concerned.
Oh! What i would do with that Claire blow up doll. Looks like it could suck down some major fruit ring cereal.
Duff looked awful excited when he smacked Claire’s ass… are we sure that was hot oil Anne got in her eye?
WHY DOES DUFF’s BEARD GO SO HIGH ON HIS FACE?
Because he’s CRAZY manly! I bet he has to shave his cheekbones.
just a futile attempt to cover up the fugly.
It’s because he suffers from hirsutism, or “apeman” syndrome.And he’s a huge dick.
Well said Silvio.
My question: why are his arms shaved sometimes? Granted, the guy’s a freakin’ gorilla – but it just makes me laugh that every once in awhile his arms are smooth as a baby’s butt. It stands out more to SOMETIMES shave…do it, or don’t do it! ; )
It’s weird watching Ann Burrell on FN because she’s a true CHEF in every sense of the word, and watching her work has become like a religious experience after watching all of the other hacks for so long.
I think it was insulting to her to pit her against a cake baker, a fraud who fudged his professional resume’ and Claire Robinson who only got her own show because her audition tape probably showed her dressed like a dude and masturbating to a photo of Bob Tuschman!
Anne is an absolute rock star in the kitchen! We are not worthy…….
Ann’s a warrior and rock star in the kitchen, my hero from the old days of watching her rock out the pasta, etc., during Mario’s Iron Chef days and even prior to that from the IWM kitchen. To bad she’s not an Iron Chef. She’s one of the few bright lights on the Food Network these days.
All stars really?
Anne Burrel the only real cook of the bunch.
God, I hate Duff Goldman. I saw him on Iron Chef America, and he brought along all of his little hipster friends WHO WOULDN’T SHUT UP THE ENTIRE BATTLE. Seriously, I had to change the channel. Thank god Michael Symon won…
Anyways, yay for Anne for winning!! She honestly deserved it.
Dudes, was this even a fair pairing of chefs? We know the Robert and Anne “competed” on Worst Cooks — but to put them against each other so early on, was that really good TV, or could FN had orchestraed more drama by putting Robert and Anne on seperate episodes to presumably compete against each other in the Finals?
Poor form, FN, you lose on points, for sure.
Question — didn’t Duff and his hairy sidekick Jeff do an Iron Chef or something like that? I seem to remember Duff ragging on Jeff’s knife work.; said something to the effect that he uses a knife like a pastry chef.
Having Robert and Anne in separate episodes and potentially compete in the final was in the back of mind as well. Two reasons I think they didn’t:
#1. They didn’t have enough chefs to do that (after if they used Duff, they were scraping the bottom of the barrel).
#2. No guarantee either would make it through to the final. As great as Ann is, she forgot to get rid of the silver. It would be easy for anyone to make fatal mistake given the pressure of the time and ingredients.
I thought that was on “Chefs vs. City,” but I could be wrong. I can’t see Geoff on ICA, but maybe Duff was desperate?
As a former chef I really enjoy watching the Drama on Food Network. It lets me relive my chef days vicariously, and also allows me to do it on the couch, rather than a hot kitchen with fire and oil flying around!! Chopped and Iron Chef are very cool shows!! I work for DISH Network now and love getting these channels in HD. HD makes the food look better and the sound of the kitchen more intense!! Qualified customers can get HD Free for Life so check it out at Dish.com/200HD and enjoy all the drama from OUTSIDE the hot kitchen!!
I wish we could mark comments as spam.
I missed this episode! Sad! I know a lot of people don’t like Chopped, but I think it’s really interesting and I watch it all the time. I would have loved to see Anne Burell vs. Duff freaking Goldman, what a riot! I’m so glad she won.
Check your listings, they will probably do about 70 repeats this week.
Love your recap, Jillian! I’m a culinary school graduate, so I know something about what makes a chef great and what makes a chef just okay. I told my husband at the beginning of the episode that Duff and Claire had no chance because they’re nowhere near the league of Robert and Anne. I thought Anne was the clear winner, especially in the desert round. Melting jelly beans into ice cream – that was so awesome! She’s a rock star chef for sure! Now I feel like I have to try making root beer jelly bean ice cream, although it surely won’t be as rockin’ as Anne’s was.
As for me, I probably couldn’t even beat Claire (who went to the same culinary school I did) but I think I could beat Duff, because he makes cakes, I make real food.
What really irks me is how one incomplete plate lands in front of the judge. The fourth plate is strictly for the chopping block. Ted doesn’t even get a taste. Why not give the full plates to the judges and let the Chopping Block go hungry. You can still ding the chef for incomplete, but c’mon? Poor Alex got dissed on the sampling.
Is it just me or does it always seem Alex always gets stiffed when the Chef doesn’t finish all the plating?
You have to admit, she is the one who could stand to do without.
LOL
I noticed the same thing too, and I was practically yelling at the TV: “WHY DIDN’T ALEX GET THAT PLATE!”
We all need to pitch in and buy Anne a #1 Badass trophy.
Why? Because she dissed the host of a show? She’s a trained chef. What she did isn’t that impressive considering the FUCKING MORONS SHE WAS PUT UP AGAINST.
That’s like putting Babe Ruth up against high schoolers and patting him on the back and kissing his ass after he won. Of course he fucking won! And of course Burrell won.
Get over it guys! It was not that impressive!!!
You’re getting pretty uppity about this. I agree that Duff is a total moron, and cooking school or not, he doesn’t know what he’s doing in the kitchen. Robert does know what he’s doing, regardless of people’s personal opinions about him. I have no idea about Claire, I don’t watch her show. But Robert was a formidable opponent, and Anne held her own against him.
Why don’t you take your own advice and get over it? At the end of the day, it’s just a TV show, and you’re getting way too upset about it. Boo hoo, we all like Anne.
The Anne Burrell in this post, and on Twitter in general, is sickening. Some of you fans are bordering on creepy with the comments you’re making about someone you don’t even know.
Rockstar chef? She sweat into her food like a pig, was blatantly -rude- to the show’s host when he tried to interview her, and oh yeah, didn’t even remove the silverskin on her meat (cooking 101).
Robert Irvine should ahve won here. But I guess when you are judged by your buddies and fellow cookie swap friends stuff like that doesn’t matter.
Imagine for a moment that you’re on Chopped. You know the scenario, mystery ingredients, not enough time. And then Ted Allen hops over and distracts you by talking. Yes, it’s seconds, but seconds are precious on Chopped. Plus, did you not read the synopsis? She got hot oil in her EYE and kept going like a BAD ASS. What would you do if you got hot oil in your eye? I know what I’d do. I’d scream like a little girl. I bet you would too.
Don’t you watch NFNS? Rule #1 is that you’re supposed to be able to multitask. This is a TELEVISION SHOW ABOVE ALL ELSE. It’s for the viewers, not for their egos. So Anne Burrell fails.
Also I am a chef.And chefs get injured every day and keep going. That’s not anything unusual. I have gotten oil in my eye during dinner service and I kept going too.
Also Claire cut her finger off and kept going but they didn’t acknowledge that. The whole show was biased towards Anne, down to the ingredients in the dessert basket.
OK Robert Irvine, don’t get yer knickers in a bunch.
Tee hee!!!
Have YOU watched NFNS? I’d say they do a pretty poor job of picking actual chefs. That’s a pretty low standard to hold to.
I wish more contestants were “rude” to the show’s host like Anne was. Bravo to her.
DITTO and her friggin ego is as big as her over the top outdated hair style. Hey Anne – Even Kate Gosslyn got rid of the spikes… Sorry Jill not having the same love fest with Burrell that you are. Disappointing in person.
It was a great show.Ann and Robert are brilliant chefs and I they have this vibe between the that really works.
…and they have this vibe between them that really works.
Frigging hilarious. Well done, Jill!
I personally loved Duff wiping his haggisy hands on Claire’s bum, which you know was just an excuse to touch her inappropriately. Hey, I would, too, in that situation.
Claire did better than I thought she might up against Robert and Anne. If she had thought to cut that rack down sooner (far too used to having an ingredient limit, but not a time limit, she might have gotten to the final round. Her show I thought had a bit too simplistic a vibe, but she is definitely a cut above many of her fellow FN personalities.
I do think their choice of parings is odd. Here they take 4 of their bigger faces on one show. Meanwhile, the other 3 shows are filled will lesser names that come from various competition shows that they mostly LOST. Seems like they should have had one of these faces once an episode instead of all together. It also would have been nice if some Iron Chefs came out to play. Instead, we just have a bunch of next Food Network Star and next Iron Chef losers (who are great chefs, no doubt, but they hardly qualify as all stars).
To make this a true competition the judges need to be the same ones for each episode. Hope that’s true here. Hate Geoffery Zakarian, hope he gets chopped when it’s his turn! Loved Ted’s “55 ingredient fix” comment last night!!
ANNE TOTALLY ROCKS! Loved her first time I saw her! Would LOVE to see them pit Anne against Pussygalore Giada! I’d piss myself! Anne would beat the shit out of her with one hand tied behind her back! Perhaps Chopped can have an episode of all 4 Chopped Chefs cramming a gallon of haggus down Tramp Giada’s throat! WOW! I’d make a FORTUNE selling copies of the DVD! More Anne! More Ina! Let’s get RID of Pussygalore, Neelys, Melissa D’Asshole and Disgusting SLOB Nigella. Shame a few losers ruin it all for the FN.
You’re kind of sick, Chris. You sure have a lot of pent-up fury towards the FOOD NETWORK.
All I can say is that I LOVE Anne! I love the dynamic between Anne and Robert. If they had a show where the two of them cooked against each other every week I’d watch it.
You know? I think I would too. They do have some good chemistry that plays out well on the screen. Hear that Food Network? You have magic on your hands….keep pairing them up, but make it a weekly battle between them using their own cooking skills, ’cause they can both cook.
Agreed. They have great chemistry and are fun to watch.
I agree! They have a great chemistry. Love how they put all of the PC BS aside and say how they feel. I bet she could beat him in arm wrestling too.
I think that’s what I love most is that both of them are real AND they can cook, no doubt about that. These are the people I want to watch. FN is so top heavy with people who think they can cook because they can hold a spoon and are all script and nonsense.
Anne could not be more of a Douchette if she tried. She was rude to Ted, and kept making the most arrogant comments all through the show. I know Robert lied on his resume, but that has been forgiven, and its obvious that the man can cook. Besides, who here hasn’t fudged a little on thier resume? He is by far the more humble of the two, and I really wished he had won. It looks to me like Anne is going to see a push from FN the likes of which Rachel ray, and Guy have gotten. They are going to cram her down our throughts. Rachel’s star burnt out. Thank God! I mean who the EFF says Yummo, or EVOO? Guy is fun to watch. Anne is a twit. No class. And fat girl Alex should put on a coat and compete is shes so bad. She would get her ass handed to her. There is my rant…….
Anne was a douche to Ted? Ted kept getting in her way, he wasting valuable cooking time trying to talk to her and was just a major distraction. He had plenty of time to chat with Anne after she finished her dish. Let’s see had well you do your job when you have some obnoxious dude getting in your way and blabbing in your face.
As for Robert “fudging” his resume? Lying about your weight or age is “fudging”. Telling everyone that you cooked for the Queen of England and the President when you actually didn’t is just complete dishonesty. And humble? Letting Paula Deen eat food off of you and use you like a horse in public is not a sign of humbleness, mein freund!
If Ted was coming near me to shoot the shit during a competition I’d run too.
I like her, but she sure makes some weird ass noises while on her cooking show…
Anne Burrell is truly the shit. As she proves over and over and over again. I can’t wait to see her in the finals here. Also…finally someone completely disses Ted in those awkward, useless interviews he continues to impose on incredibly busy, focused chefs. Ridiculous. He needs some lessons from both Alton Brown and the Kevin Brausch on Iron Chef…on how to do that without getting in the way. Or just quit interrupting. It’s absurd. I would kill the dude. Just skewer him and continue. Or be awfully tempted to. GO ANNE! I hope her eye is all right!
Umm…I like Duff and am a big Ace of Cakes fan, but he really shouldn’t have been on this show. I’m guessing they picked him just because he’s one of their more popular chefs. But really, he went to PASTRY school…he knows how to do cakes, etc. I’m guessing the others have more experience with other kinds of dishes.
I’m a fan of Duff on Ace of Cakes as well and don’t understand the hostility people seem to have for him. Duff and his group are very good at what they do (cakes) and it’s refreshing to see a group of coworkers who get along and don’t spend the 30 minute episode screaming at each other.
That said, he probably shouldn’t have been on Chopped. He seems to want to be recognized as more than a pastry chef from his appearance here and on Iron Chef. I can sympathize, but getting destroyed on television isn’t the way to do that. Either stick to what you’re great at, or work your way up in the biz before getting on TV.
This episode was HILARIOUS and I was literally glued to the tv and cheered when Anne won. So true that this was the best programming on Food Network in ages!! Too bad I had to sit through Cupcake Wars right before this came on!!
Love love LOVE the tension between all the chefs! I did feel a little bad for Claire when she got chopped!
Claire came off SO much better here than she does on her various shows. She was so real and human and non-cheerleader. She should act that way on 5 Ingrediant Fix… I might actually watch it regularly.
I wish the FN would realize how much more “likable” these chefs are when they act like themselves, instead of that fake/pompous attitude they take on when they record their shows.
I don’t have a problem with Claire and I do actually like her, but there definitely was even more of an appeal to her when she was humbled by the other chefs.
The only person who could compete against Anne is Chuck Norris…. and that would be an epic battle to the death!
Not sure how it would turn out…..
My husband and I love both Robert and Anne, but in the end, she is by far the better cook. I haven’t actually cheered at the tv in a long time… but last night’s episode did it!
Love this review!
Is there anywhere to watch this online? I’d love to see Anne rip on Duff and the rest of the episode.
I thought it was hilarious how obviously pissed off Duff was. Did he really think he stood a chance once he saw the other (non-pepto bismal with an overcooked turd on it) dishes?
What a complete tool that guy is.
First off, I like Fnh it is very funny. That being said I disagree with this review.
When watching I couldn’t believe how these normally scathingly objective judges turned into backslapping gushing clowns. These dick heads normally don’t have a single nice thing to say about anything cooked and they belidle each cook all show. In this episode however, based on their comments, they received 9 PERFECT dishes and the winner was selected on which dishes were closest to gods tears.
I really have never heard such self congratulatory crap. Were these four clowns soo much better then the professional cooks that are normally on this show? No of course not, let’s hear some actual criticisms and not just how big of a boner you all have from every thing these four cooks provided (e.g. Anne cutting the venison in a very obvious and standard way nearly gave Alex and the douchebag to her left an orgasm)
I think the reason for this is food network is super safe and they want their cook staffing decisions to be seen as infallible. They want it to seem like their cooks are the best of the best. I have no cooking experience myself but I expect that there are many cooks from good restaurants that are better then any food network cooks ( who don’t always write their own recipes and have countless takes to get their food correct)
Quck highlights
-Anne leaving silverskin on: any one else on chopped does this-> judges have a conniption and need to be given glasses of melted butter to calm down
-cake guy- they would have laughed his ass out of there if he was a “normal” competitor
Disclaimer- I by no means respect the judges, I hate them as well I just wish they were consistent and did not kiss everyone’s ass because they were food network “stars”
Also I would like to leave everyone with a professional analysis of last nights four competitors
Anne- rodeo clown who makes farm animal noises
Robert irvine- lying douche who is striving (with help of fn) to be a complete rip off of Gordon Ramsey
Claire- she is very hot and I love her, good cook? Who knows or cares, prob not though
Duff- a testament to the crappiness of food network that he was on air for so long. Making cakes that are nearly inedible which look like something-> who cares. Also I live in wburg and hipsters suck
Phew, so anyway do u not agree with that at least a little Fnh?
*also please no comments about my spelling and grammar errors, do not want to take time to spell check this obviously very important piece of writing
AMEN brother! Those d’bag judges rip the shit out of everyone for any little thing. I can’t imagine if a normal contestant didn’t trim a piece of meat correctly. For Anne they just shrugged it off. As another person commented, it was one big reach-around for Anne… not that she can’t cook, but please. Also agree that Claire is very appetizing.
I know!! How many times did Ted mention that he there was more food production going on than ever?
The problem with the having these four people being judged is that they all have shows (except Duff, which is probably why they didn’t edit out the snarky comment about him… plus they knew he’d lose so who cares.) FN can’t have anyone ripping into their hosts, or no one will watch their shows. They kinda fucked up on that part of the show concept.
By the way, even if no one else agrees with your post except us three ^^^, rest assured that the “shots of melted butter” made the whole thing worth it.
First of all, to rest assured there wasn’t too many spelling errors… but they pop out to me so I feel the need to point that out.
Yes the ‘judges’ were nicer last night. Now judges are in quotations, because I don’t think there is anyway to say if the judges were being nicer or if the cutting of the show was done in a way to look more positive.
Though it’s stupid, it does make sense that food network needs to keep their hosts looking awesome. If they did a show where they just completely ripped apart all of their hosts it would be against the network’s goals.
And while others do disagree, I always used to find ace of cakes entertaining. Perhaps it wasn’t the best show for food network, but i did love seeing the pretty cakes and seeing how everyone worked together to make them. (Yes Duff did not do a lot in later seasons of the show, but again, the show was cut to show the most ‘cool shit’ going on, not necessarily reality)
I loved watching Ace of Cakes as well and while I realize that there was probably a lot more work going on than is portrayed on TV, Duff’s personality (as well as most of the personalities in the shop) can get annoying very quickly. It just screams unprofessional to me and his antics on Chopped were no different.
i don’t know, seemed like duff sucked (but was better than they thought) while Claire made a common Chopped mistake by trying to roast the whole venison and not plating.
it really didn’t seem fair for those 2 that Chef Burrell (who was Batali’s sous chef on Iron Chef America) and Irvine (Dinner Impossible) were their competition.
basically, those 2 came on the show w/ a ton of experience doing Chopped type shows. whereas most contestants haven’t done this type of format 100x already.
It’s blatantly obvious that Duff was out of his league here even against Claire, let alone Robert and Chef Anne. What might have been a little funnier is if Bobby Flay were to be the fourth contestant with Scott Conant as a judge. Talk about two jerkwads who could blow up on each other at a moment’s notice.
Thanks for doing this recap for us. I can’t watch the FN programming anymore (with the single exception of Good Eats, which they don’t show very much anymore anyway) because I feel like I am literally losing both brain cells and my faith in humanity every second I watch.
Excellent recap. Loved Anne. She deserved the win. Each time I watch Chopped I keep hoping that somebody will ignore Ted’s pointless interruptions and by jove, Anne did. It’s yet another reason to love her. Glad Duff got the boot right off the bat. I was surprised at how well Claire comported herself. She usually annoys the living hell out of me.
I think Robert Irvine got screwed. He had a far better dessert. I’ve seen other contestants get chopped because they didn’t highlight all the ingredients, even if they used them all. So what if Robert made a chocolate pot de creme, he used the fennel. He didn’t have it all over the plate. . It looked way more decadent than Anne’s dessert.
my friend made the observation that the judges said, this dessert dwarfed all his other dishes. It’s like saying, this is so good that you lose. Which is total bullshit. The judges even said that technically he did better than everyone. They fawned over his venison. It didn’t make a lot of sense at all. Irvine got royally screwed.
They announced the four “all star” chefs for the next Chopped, and I didn’t recognize any of them. I think the fix is in, Anne’s going to win the whole enchilada because she’s the only real chef competing.
I don’t know…Anita Lo is a bit of a badass herself. And if Jacques Torres gets to the dessert round, he will have a serious advantage
So glad Duff was shown to be the F’in FRAUD that he is. Go back to your stoner pals, and make more inedible cake, you bald loser.
Loved the show. Anne and Robert were really funny together, and Anne won fair and square. I liked the challenging ingredients, too. Much better than last week’s show – which was OK, but no different than any episode of Chopped.
People complain all the time that this show is impossible.. but I think this episode clearly shows that if you are a true chef you can make anything (like Haggus) taste great..even if you are a pastry chef like Duff.
I’ve been watching this show for 2 years and this was my favorite by far. I absolutely love Anne.. she’s a badass and a die hard competitor. LOVE her on WCA and she makes me want to be a better cook! Heart her!
BEST EPISODE EVER. I’M LOOKING FORWAD TO NEXT WEEKS.
I wish Anne didn’t irritate me so much. I’m really surprised that she’s been largely “accepted” here. The growly voice, the skirt/bobby sock combination, the obnoxiousness . . . ugh. To each his own, I guess.
You’re not alone SKW….I can’t stand her. I think she’s fake with her way-too-OTT attitude and that growly thing.
That being said, her food on her Restuarant Chef show looks delicious. I just wish it was someone else hosting it.
The Anne love baffles me too. She’s one of the most annoying and obnoxious FN personalities, and that’s saying a LOT when you have Rachael, Paula, Sandra, Duff, the Neelys, and Guy in the running (and those are just a few).
That growl… oh my god. It makes me cringe.
Soooooo, basically the whole thing was just a promo for Worst Cooks?
More Anne and Robert!! Those two have some serious chemistry – you hear me Food Network? They are great together.
Totally agree!!! They really are wonderful together!!!
Would love a show with the two of them together,
they’d make beautiful cuisine together. They are to the Food Network what Lucy and Desi were to TV and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were to dancing!!!
Anne Burrell is a badass! She should be an Iron Chef since Batali seems to be MIA nowadays. You can just tell by how she moves, she’s not some TV personality grown in a lab, she’s a hardcore chef.
I give Duff Goldman props for working at French Laundry but that was a long time ago, he got whupped by Michael Symon on Iron Chef America as well.
i laughed so hard when duff said that his cake decorating experience will help him with plating then he smeared the pepto bismol crap with no finesse whatsoever :S alex gurnascelli was also hilarious, she had a mini foodgasm while eating anne’s appetizer and when she was talking to robert abt his dessert, she gave him the most disgusted look ever and said “the mousse was SO delicious” wtf?!
that said i had fun watching this. it was sophisticated food for a change, and nobody panicked :D
I know I’m waaay in the minority here, but I DO NOT like Burrell. Yeah,she expierenced, and a really good cook, but man is she annoying as Hell. I cannot get through an episode of her show with her freaky hair and especially all those inane mannerisms and comments (“BIG MEEEATT”) (“makes me a happy girl” or whatever.) What, did she not mature emtionally past the fifth grade?
Anyway, what is more annoying is how much people love her. I knew Duff would go first, then Claire, (who I love) but there was no way in Hell they would not bow down to “the Goddess” and not make her win. I actually thought Irvine cooked a pretty good meal, maybe even better than her, but nope…she had to win again. *sigh*
That said, I still love FNH!! So a little–or a lot—of love for Burrell won’t stop me from coming back!
We’re all entitled to our opinions. I love Anne, but I can’t stand Claire. Her voice feels like sandpaper on my eardrums and the Claire love here at FNH drives me insane. But I still love FNH!
I agree. That’s what keeps it interesting!
I just have to say that I love that people can disagree respectfully here. Keeps me coming back.
Loved this show! Anne so deserved to win… she is a true chef… plus, she is funny as hell…. subscribe to her twitter.. she is the only person that I let tweet to my phone… she is hilarious… and so real… I feel like I am getting tweets from my friend… Would love to go eat with her! You rock Anne!
The reason that Alex isn’t competing is because she has no talent. I have seen her on other challenge shows and she has never won nor has she always even finished in time. That being said, I don’t think that Alex is even in the same ballpark as Anne and I would have been very offended if Alex would have critisized anything that Anne made.
Love the website, Ladies! I have laughed and laughed and almost peed in my pants so many times! Keep it up!
Alex looks like miss Piggy from the muppet show!
God, what a horrible thing to say about Miss Piggy!
Honestly, at first I thought chef anne was a kook and a half. (solely based off of those ‘growls’ she makes during restaurant chef. After watching wca I loved her! Besides being an amazing chef, she’s also a cool down to earth person. Obviously she’s talented…she transformed Joshy into a decent cook! As for the others, Roberts ogreness scares me a bit but I love the chemistry between him and Anne. Claire is just gorgeous ( did anyone catch her precooking interview shot? Fox!) and duff, he didn’t take it seriously, therefore no one takes him seriously.
Fave part of the whole thing was at the end of the dessert round Ted asked them how they felt and Roberts and annes response was something like “hot” “exhausted” “blind” haha love chef anne!
Yes, I’m a huge Anne fan, but think she could make herself more watchable by eliminating some of her constant comments on Secrets. “Sprinky dink”, “I always have time for thyme”, ‘garlic destiny’, are way past being amusing. I also think we’ve heard enough of ‘btb, rts’. When you have to explain the meaning, the abbreviation has turned into the opposite. On the other hand, she can growl and moan over her food all she wants and brown the crap out of it. She’s a good chef, entertaining, confident and fun, and…I like her hair!!!
I love Anne. I think she makes amazing food and she is one of the last “Chefs” on foodnetwork. I know everyone is going to get all pissy with me for this but I’m sorry I knew in the beginning Anne was going to win. Food Network is all Anne crazy right now. I’m not complaining too much because it could be worse (Aunt Sandy..Rachael Ray…Giada). It was really obvious the whole way through that it was going to come down to her and Robert and they practically kissed her ass and said up and down how great her food was. Away from the Anne issue, I noticed they all did things normal Chopped contestants get grilled for and sometimes chopped. Like Robert and his HUGE mess in the floor.
Anne is such an awesome person. She’s a genuinely great chef, she’s great on Twitter and I even love her hair, and the grease in the eye incident only makes me love her more. Woman is HARDCORE.
Does anyone know where I can watch this episode other than on t.v.? I don’t have cable :(
Why is that little parasite on TV at all? Anne was right to ignore him, you go girl. Reminds me of people who won’t deal with you one-on-one, but give them the chance to rile you up in front of others.
I believe I have seen it happen to him before and he has a quick snippy comeback, it might happen to him quite a bit. And now for my contradiction.
These shows are entertainment, if you learn something, so much the better. I find the opinions about chefs abilities odd, never having tasted the food.
In conclusion these food networks are doing just as much right as they are doing wrong. You have to take into account the total viewing audience. If you aren’t, you can be sure that the networks are.
I loved the episode, because I enjoy watching Anne cook, but as others have said I thought it was extremely noticeable how the judges applauded the chefs for things that they would have crucified other “lesser” contestants if they had done the same thing. For instance … Robert did not use the basket ingredients in the dessert round very creatively. Did the chocolate pudding dish he made have any of the secret ingredients in it, other than to plop a couple of jelly beans on top of the whipped cream? Also, he simply smeared some almond paste and jam on the ladyfingers and made little sandwiches, then baked them. When he trimmed the crusts off of them when plating, the judges went nuts raving over how GENIUS that was…. puh-leeze. If any other chef had done that, what do you think they would have said! I’ve seen others get chopped for less.
I haaaaaaaaate Anne Burrell on Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. She is so smug and irritating. HOWEVER, I was impressed with her Chopped performance. Girl can cook. She needs a vehicle where we can watch her cook but not have to hear her talk or look at her stupid hair.
I was surprised Irvine did as well as he did. I always assumed he was a hack.
I just watched this episode last night. Best Chopped episode ever. Hell, best Food Network hour of TV since Emeril Live hit the airwaves back when I was in college. Robert Irvine is a freakin’ stud but he just can’t beat Anne. Hysterical. (Especially his bitterness.)
I loved the show. Love Anne and Robert both; Anne more. They are both very creative when it comes to cooking.
After reading the comments; I am thinking of a new show where the judges don’t know who is doing the cooking! Then, you will get a true decision on the food; maybe not the person they like. We can all make a judgement work for someone we like. That would be a great show!!
What impresses me about both Irvine and Burell is that they are both good chefs, but that they can hack the dang emulsification that FN execs require, trying to play some kind of stylized role that can be quickly grasped by channel surfers. They do the dummy trash talk banter, but it doesn’t seem to be them.
Irvine is a banquet chef who can lead a team and lead a project, and while he plays the producer’s games, Summers knows that in the end, it’s his skills that count.
Burell is a talented line chef who can really cook. Personally, I prefer the management types, but again, they had to make her canned quirky with a look and phrases so that she would go down like processed food with just a hint of NYC quirky.
Chopped seems to be a show about NYC edgy stuff, and I am not surprised that Burrell wins there, especially with Iron Chef experience, though I doubt she could have done the “Impossible” shows like Irvine could.
So few people left to watch on FN, especially since AB went to the canned side to sell better.
But yeah, I still tune in for Irvine, and will watch Burell (while avoiding fake cooks like Andersen), because skill does count over production tricks.
LOVE ANNE! She is one of the few chefs on the channel that I think actually deserves her own show. She knows. Her. Shit! You can tell that the things she says comes from her own knowledge/experience and it isn’t a script written for her. I’m glad she won!
So is version 2 of the Claire Robinson blow up doll the one that comes with the vibrating ass attachment? I always get them confused!
1) It was prretty obvious that Anne was gonna win, as she should have. i didnt even have to watch to know she was gonna win. The only people on FN who couldve stood a chance was Bobby Flay (sry, as big as an Anne fan i am, Bobby would have kicked ass), Ina Garten (who is very underated), and Tyler Florence (at least we’d know was getting chopped in the first round.)
2) sry to all you ace of cakes fans: Duff was just added as comic relief, i know, he knows, we all can agree. (“duff makes cake; i make real food’? after he saw that, he lost a bit of his man-pride)
3) Those judges were completely kissin ass (not that i didnt disagree with the judgements) they couldve at least acted like some of the food had a couple of flaws. even i agree that they ass-kissed Anne from the moment she walked in.
and lastly 4) as entertaining as the last course was, i feel kinda sad for Robert. Anne beats him in everything, she even has 3 times more masculinity than he does and he looks like was consdered for the last ‘Ranbo’ movie!
I would also like to comment on the fact that i think Claire did a way better job than i thought she was gonna do. I honest thought at the beginning, she beat Robert (for him having a REALLY messy area. i mean, who drops carrots?) but that damn venison not being done did her in. at least she did better than king kong. i mean Duff.
Why didn’t Alex compete. She’s the most bitchiest of all the judges, for once I’d love to see that broad face the chopping block, let her have a dose of her putrid medicine.
does anyone know who won????!?!? my satelite went off right at the end of the finale D:
Robert made a Haggis Rissole Cake with Raspberry Sauce and Hungarian Hot Pepper Potato Salad
Anne. Yawn. I suppose the woman is an acquired taste, but I have no desire to acquire it.
I hate this woman! Well I think she is a woman! Anne Burrell is yet another example of a fat woman with a Diva Complex. I think the food network could display a better image to the American public I think the world has enough snotty snippy people in it with out glorying this one. I don’t give a rats ass if she is the best Chef in the world her attitude makes her unbearable to watch.