The Chopping Block - Is it worth a nibble?

I have had a long standing addiction to anything culinary on TV. As a kid, it was all about Julia Child. Then as a preteen, I discovered Jeff Smith aka the Frugal Gourmet and Justin Wilson with his catchphrase "I gar-on-tee!". As a teen, every Saturday morning was spent watching Yan Can Cook and his machine like chopping skills. Then Food Network was born and I thought I died and went to heaven. Finally, the mysteries of Iron Chef were revealed to me after years of watching sans subtitles. I would even curl up in the fetal position when they ran old episodes of the Galloping Gourmet. So when my love of reality TV and cooking shows became one, I was besides myself. But now there is a new breed of cooking reality TV that has hit the screens and I am not that sure I am loving it.

First, the Brits brought us Last Restaurant Standing. The concept is clever. Take one of the most esteemed French chefs of the world, add in some eager wannabe restaurateurs, and put them in the oven, you would think a lovely souffle would appear but sadly, all we seem to get is a flat lump of blah. Although I love Raymond Blanc, I find the show to be tedious with one week everyone competing against each other and the next deciding who should go home. The contestants themselves are just dreadfully boring and really have no idea what they are letting themselves in for much like my pet peeve with Hell's Kitchen. Seriously, a short order cook can find themselves becoming "executive chef" of one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants??? It's just not right!

So it was with some apprehension that I opted to sample NBC's The Chopping Block. It seems to have all the right ingredients: world renowned chef with an attitude, eager contestants looking to open their own restaurant and to mix it up a bit, the judge for each challenge is a mystery guest. Sounds brilliant. Think part Last Restaurant Standing and part Top Chef's popular Restaurant Wars and that's what the Chopping Block is trying to create but much like communism, this concept looks great on paper but it doesn't translate too well in practice. I like Marco Pierre White. He's a more subdued Gordon and lest we forget he did make Mr. Ramsay cry. And I love the idea of the mystery judge but once again it's the contestants who ruin it all for me. They just have zero personality apart from uber bitchy Angela and the worst thing about them much like the girls on America's Next Top Model who can't name a single current supermodel, this idiots didn't even recognize esteemed food critic, Jeffrey Steingarten. Obviously they have never watched him on Iron Chef America or picked up a copy of Vogue. Things like this piss me off. These people don't really want it. They can't even be bothered to familiarize themselves with the big names in the field.

Will I continue to feast on this show? Yeah, I will keep nibbling just to see if the next course gets any better but I'm not sure we are going to be getting an invite for dinner next season though as I think this will be it for Marco and his lot. So is Chopping Block sating your appetite or leaving you starving? Let us know and Bon Appetit.