Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Hahaha, this proves that people will never accept Asian Americans anywhere. You can be beautiful, or intelligent, or talented and be the most amazing person in the world but if you're Asian.... You get an instant REJECTION stamped on your forehead by insecure, narrow minded, shallow, over assuming, bigoted, people. But nah, if you're white, and blonde and have fake boobs people will accept you EVERYWHERE even IF you're an absolute airhead and possess the IQ of a fruit fly. MAN! You've gotta love how racist the entertainment is huh?! We have made SO much progress in the equality and equal treatment section!!

My biggest pet peeve is that Kelly Choi always seems to have a slightly disgusted look on her face when she eats or even talks about the foods. Her mouth turns down and she wrinkles her upper lip and nose. It's hard to describe, but make a disgusted face, look in the mirror, and think of Kelly Choi.

Well, just to chime in here, I have to say that I simply love Kelly Choi. I am not Korean, but I think it's great to have more nationally diverse personalities in the entertainment field. And at least she's out there trying. That's a lot more than I can say for a lot of other people. Way to go Kelly !

To all the people saying this show will suck because of her... does regular Top Chef suck because of Padma? Because I find her absolutely annoying and feel like she adds nothing to the show but she doesn't stop me from watching TC.

im glad im not the only that dislikes her so much. i find that even tho she always tastes things, she takes these teeny lil bites like she's watchin her figure. that makes me hurl. hello...if ur gonna host a food show, at least be sorta INTO food!!
*ugH* the new show sounds great, but i dont think i can watch it if she's hosting. =(

I don't have a strong preference for letter grades vs. stars vs. numeric scores... as long as you understand the value of the rating, it's pretty much same-same to me. Being able to use plus or minus does allow for nuance, which is helpful. But the 14 possible ratings aren't much different than Zagat's 30 point scale (which in reality is more like a 14-29 scale).

But I do very strongly agree with the idea of "context" -- i.e., comparing an A+ dive to a B- haute cuisine? Their scores are relative.

Perfect real-life example: Out here in So California, the Zagat for In-N-Out chain is a 24 for food, while Morton's and Ruth's Chris are both rated 25 for food. Clearly, comparing an above-average fine-dining-type steak house to even the country's best drive-thru fast food joint, is like comparing saltines to artisanal bread. (Similarly, in NYC, Gray's Papaya at 20 vs. Nick & Stef's at 22 may be accurate, but in wholly different contexts.)

I've always wanted to see at least two levels of categorization, and ideally three or four... it's alway been my one huge peeve with Zagat, especially when you're in an unfamiliar area, and have no real way of being sure what kind of eatery you're in for.

Ed - I like your alpha-rating system for one simple reason - NYC is "starred" out - just completely starred out - TONY, NYM, NYT, RG, etc ad naseum. If you had chosen to go with stars I think you would have created dis-interest from the outset.

I also think that the alpha-system allows you to go into more areas of the eating/dining experience...
Food A
Bun C
Burger A
Seating D
Decor B
Service A
etc, etc

Good luck - I look forward to your reviews - have always loved to read your take.

Michael Chiarello doesn't even use a knife to chop his garlic anymore. Is the gadget he uses from Pampered Chef????? I really like Tyler and was not thrilled to see him shilling for A. What is so appealing about Guy Fieri that he has multiple shows on FN? What's with his pants? My hair is on fire!!!!

Here is why Guy Fieri won Next Food Network Star he is friends with Michael Chiarello. If you watch Entertaining with Michael (and I been watching him for years) you would have seen Guy years prior to him ever showing his Biker Guy cooks with jewelery act. I did.
His restaurants serve regular american food
http://www.johnnygarlics.com/
http://www.texwasabis.com/

As for Tyler I still love him. He has mouths to feed same as anyone else.
If he wants to sell himself to the masses who are we to deny him.
Food snobs that is who.

Guy Fieri restaurants all seem like chain restaurants in the making (with names like Johnny Garlic's and Tex Wasabi's ) so the TGIF spokesrole is hardly a shock...

My main issue with Guy Fieri promoting TGI's is that his show "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" focuses on the family owned diners that have been in business for generations. Just the type that wal-mart-like food outlets (like TGI's) put out of business. I actually like his show. He visits many places near my home.

I’ve never understood the whole “sellout” mentality – whether it was a Chef, Author, or Band. They are all in the business of what they do to make as much money as possible (just like you) and considering them less of a person/professional because they have become successful enough to better themselves (be it financial or otherwise) is a little hypocritical.

No one ever looked at you cross-eyed because of the career choices you made (or didn’t make) and it doesn’t make you any less of a professional. Kudos to Pepin, Child, Tyler, Guy, Rocco, Ming, Emeril, Alton and any chef that can branch out into other parts of the game – be it fast food, mass media sit-down dining, or their own line of cookware or seasonings.

While Bourdain can poo-poo Ray and Cora all he wants – I don’t think that either he or Ruhlman would turn down the opportunity to have their own brand of cookware (or in Bourdain’s case – a signature Zippo lighter).

Thanks to everyone for commenting and congrats to our winners:

catalu
kmbrly
Tenbucc2
nicoles
i8alot