Top Chef Canada

[janedavitt]

TCC premiered on the Food Network last night; anyone catch it? It's identical in every way to the original, just different judges (though many of the upcoming guest judges have been on other Top Chefs/Top Chef Masters etc)

I was making happy squeaky noises as I recognized bits of Toronto and then instead of being sent to shop at Whole Foods, they went to Loblaws which is basically Zehrs, with President's Choice everywhere and that is where we shop so I guess there's no excuse for me.

It's amazing how different a feel it is though. The contestants are all for the most part actually nice (one of them, a cuddly bear of a man with a bushy beard gave his husband the sweetest kiss and hug goodbye and said he'd moved up here from Chicago so they could marry which gave me a glow of pride in my adopted country.)

Only three women, so they're not forcing the numbers to be equal at the start, as they do on TC, but the women seem strong chefs.

Everyone is super polite and compliment each other and seem genuinely sad when people don't do well. No rampant egos.

The only bit that had me gulping was the introduction of seal flipper as an ingredient. The judge said incredulously 'you got seal flipper at Loblaws?' which cracked me up. And no, he didn't; he brought it with him.

Comments

[knitty_woman]

I am genuinely grateful for Canada and Canadians, for more than just the fact that when global warming-related floods start with a vengeance, they'll be a nice, big buffer for the US. :) (Kidding, kidding, kidding!!) A US friend living in Canada tells the story of being stopped by a police officer while driving, and alerting the officer to her every move: "Officer, may I reach into my purse to get my driver's license? May I open the glove compartment to get my registration?" and the officer looking at her like she was from Mars, because they just don't expect drivers to pull out guns and start shooting (like in the US). Maybe all that cold weather knocks the meanness right out of a person.

[janedavitt]

Maybe it does; but it gets really hot in the summer, you know ;-))

[dirty_diana]

heh. Watched it today. It's funny how the Canadian reality shows have a genuinely different feel to them. All the chefs rooting for each other during the quickfire was adorable.

[janedavitt]

Wasn't it? There's a real, noticeable diminution in egos. Maybe not as compelling viewing but very sweet.