In Videos: Marco Pierre White on the 'Today' Show Explains 'Chopping Block' Premiere
Another new food reality show, Chopping Block, premieres tonight on NBC at 8 p.m. and host Marco Pierre White was on the Today show this morning explaining its deal. I think we're all wondering, another one, really? Since it has the Top Chef time slot, all the addicts who have nothing else to do can rejoice. The premise: there are two teams, four couples on each, who have 24 hours to create an entire restaurant. They'll serve the menu to the public, and White will sack a couple each week, leaving only one.
As one Serious Eater pointed out, "I think the last time a cooking reality show was on NBC it was The Restaurant and we all know what that did for Rocco..."
During the interview, Al Roker calls White the original bad boy chef, which makes him sorta blush. And at the very end, they compliment his kicks, what appear to be Vans checkerboard slip-ons. "They're American!" White exclaimed. The interview, after the jump.
Marco Pierre White on the 'Today' Show Explains 'Chopping Block' Premiere
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7 Comments:
they must be his signature shoes because he also wears them in the commercials...
prncsjenny at 1:48PM on 03/11/09
This is just a redux of Last Restaurant Standing on BBC America. Raymond White is the head judge and they are playing to open a restaurant with him. Show is currently in its 2nd season.
pksmash at 1:58PM on 03/11/09
Marco Pierre White (such a cool and poetic name!)was the first Michelin starred chef in the UK. How bad boy is that?
Where would American TV be right now without the BBC to kick start it? think about it.....
Pointy at 4:13PM on 03/11/09
i really liked his book "white heat"
i'm kinda looking forward to the show.
(i don't have cable, so i'm limited to network)
gastronomeg at 5:37PM on 03/11/09
The difference between this show and LRS is that White appears to be a typical egomaniacal chef-jerk, as opposed to Raymond Blanc's normal, almost sweet (yet still stern) demeanor. I'm sure it's going to be totally 'Americanized' in the sense that there will be a lot of screaming, cursing, and crying. Which doesn't really sound that appealing.
happyscrappy at 7:15PM on 03/11/09
When Marco did Hell's Kitchen (in the UK, with celebrities doing the cooking) it was his first big TV thing, and for those who expected him to out-Ramsay Ramsay, he was surprisingly understated. Ego the size of a planet, of course, unlike Raymond Blanc, but also intensely didactic.
nicksweeney at 10:07PM on 03/11/09
Wow. I figured we'd give this show a shot but I can say it won't be going on our Tivo's season pass list. What annoyed me the most? Where to begin? We had White's sage aphorisms delivered in a somber Masterpiece-Theatre-esque setting, we had the usual reality show casting, we had the horrible editing (it's pretty dramatic when your kitchen starts falling apart, but shouldn't why that happened and the consequences thereof at least have been mentioned later?), we had cryptic and rather useless judgments being passed on people's food by White...
Yeah, about fifteen minutes in I reminded myself that NBC's last restaurant-based reality show was The Restaurant, and my impression was that they took what they learned from that and married it to the bluster and self-aggrandizement of The Apprentice and created this turkey.
In short: hated it, won't watch it again.
DuncanHusky at 8:41AM on 03/12/09