I’ve gotten through the first 2 episodes so far (TiVo is a tad backlogged) and enjoying it so far. Have to say when you compare it to something like Hell’s Kitchen, it’s very different – these are chefs who are already well-established and have developed a strong sense of self and cooking styles. While it is competitive, there is a much stronger sense of camraderie than I’ve seen in any other competition type show.
I loved the “Simplicity” challenge – the idea of being able to encapsulate your style in a single bite was very interesting. I guess I’d have to go with a single slurp.
I did NOT like the “Innovations” segment. The new equipment was cool, but I didn’t like the forced used of chemicals. I think you can be exceptionally innovative without going into the realm of the weird just for the sake of going there. And to be honest, I don’t recall any particular episode of Iron Chef where there was use of these types of things, so other than introducing them to the new equipment, I think the chemical additives were an unnecessary part of this competition. I really felt bad for the chefs that were struggling with it – figure you spend your whole career on working with fresh ingredients and keeping chemicals *out* of the food, this would definitely be hard to wrap your head around.
ETA: Can’t say I really much like the judges.