Karine Bakhoum (from Iron Chef America among other things)

I have loved watching Karine Bakhoum as a judge on ICA. I’ve always thought she was so beautiful and confident and intelligent. When I saw her judging “Worst Cooks in America”, she had lost sooooo much weight. She also didn’t look healthy, and I initially thought she had gone on some crazy diet and had gone overboard. I did some digging and there is so much speculation on the web as to gastric bypass or some other craziness. Unfortunately, the truth isn’t an easy truth, but it makes me admire her that much more. She is a cancer survivor and recently underwent throat surgery. If you’re interested, here is an interview she did, and she talks candidly about her cancer ordeal. You can follow the vid to YouTube and get the other 3 parts of the interview, as well.
I really do love this gal.

Thank goodness…

Iron Chef Garces sounds so much better than Iron Chef Mehta. I seriously watched the finale with my viewing of ICA on the line. Stupid stupid Food Network. Maybe they did it like that on purpose.
I think Mike Symon had a lot to do with bringing the judges around, and God bless him for being so vocal. Stupid Jeffrey would have crowned Mehta with all disregard to anyone else if he could’ve. Pretentious blippity bleep. Yeah, so ICA is safe. For now. Again, I’m highly disappointed with the way things went this season. Last season was so much more enjoyable–we got to watch great chefs in action, showing respect for each other, the food, and their profession. With contestants like Appleman and Mehta this season, there was little of that. Food Network went the way of drama/crappy reality tv. Unfortunate that they don’t realize their viewers are there for the food, not the catfights.

I’m done…

with this stupid show. And to be honest, I’m glad I didn’t waste my time fully blogging on this season of The Next Iron Chef. Seriously… Chef Mehta is in the top 2?!? I will stop watching ICA if he wins. As much as I love it, I will. Ridiculous. I stayed loyal up to the very end, defending the new format, etc, but simply put, I’m very disappointed in the show. The way you pitted the contestants against each other, the lack of professionalism. In a competition where your viewers are unable to taste the food, likeability and integrity play a huge factor. A new Iron Chef needs to be someone viewers will actually root for. Poo on you Food Network. You failed miserably. Your only redemption will be if Chef Garces is the next Iron Chef. Otherwise, (and I hate to say this for many reasons, but) epic fail.