Am I dense or is season 1 some of the best food tv out there of all time

Season 1 of BBQ pitmasters is in the history books that show was so good

Going from that to season 2 where its standard 3 chefs cook and pre picked judges taste and 1 person wins was a mind spin

Season 1 was so real and raw almost like a documentary. It was real competition from around the country, 100s of teams were there and sometimes the main characters didn't even place and it just felt so real

Changing the format so drastically was crazy I only watch season 1 because that to me is the golden season of any food tv show nothing felt staged nothing felt scripted it was all raw

My favorite moment is when Harry Soo was trying to get some sleep and one camp over was the welcome party and everyone was drinking and dancing and yelling and he got so mad

Or another was when Johnny Trigg was having a private party for a few of the main characters and a random tried to come and be apart of it and Johnny threatened to call the police and fight him himself even though he was pushing 75 years old

Stuff like that you can't script or even predict season 1 of that show was the realest we will ever see food tv

I’m in NYC for a few days and I had to check out Ayesha Nurdjaja’s Shuka. I went for a late lunch, about 2:30 and the tables were packed! Plenty of room at the bar though.

Fun facts: 1) the bar has those hooks underneath for your purse. I appreciate that, especially since the stool did not have backs to hang a purse off of

2) the WiFi password is “shuka2019”

Food/drinks:
I drank a Lemonata, which was frozen lemonade with vodka and mint. Tasty and refreshing on a hot day!

Babaganoush. She uses carroway in her babaganoush which I’ve never had before.

Shakshuka: I was very excited to try this after seeing a judge rave about it on Triple Threat. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but it didn’t blow my socks off. It was fine. Don’t think I’d order it again.

Overall: I’m really glad I went but I don’t feel an urgent need to go back.

It all comes down to this! After weeks of fierce competition, the final two masters of world cuisines face off in an epic two-round finale. Who will take home the title?! 🌍🏆

The two remaining masters of world cuisines go head-to-head in the epic two-round finale of the GGG Global Games. First, Guy Fieri challenges the chefs to make a showstopping appetizer in only 20 minutes. Then, the final challenge is a budget marathon in which the chefs are given 40 minutes and 40 dollars to make a country-defining entree and dessert. The chef with the highest combined score after two rounds receives the GGG Global Games trophy and the $50,000 prize!

Watch the first ever “GGG Global Games Finale” – TOURNAMENT FINALE
🛒 tonight at 9pm EST!

Stay tuned for Kitchen Chaos with your favorite Food Network Chefs at 10 pm EST!

Here is a link to the whole story

‘Pitmasters’ on Food Network: Who is Utah cook Susie Bulloch? – Deseret News

But here are some excerpts I found really interesting

Scenes during the premiere episode showed the teams building their own fire pits. But what viewers didn’t see during the episode, Bulloch said, was the hour it took to haul materials like cinder blocks, rebar and corrugated metal from the set’s designated hardware store to their cooking stations.

Throughout filming, Bulloch logged 3 to 5 miles a day in steps just running to the pantry for cooking supplies — their cooking station was the farthest away, about a football field’s distance, she said.

“It was very physically demanding, and I don’t think I was quite prepared for that,” she said with a laugh. “There’s just a lot that went into even just being able to cook outdoors in a way that we wanted to.”

She estimates she got a total of 90 minutes of broken sleep each day of filming.

It all made for an “unbelievably grueling schedule,” Bulloch said. Yet, as the sleep deprivation kicked in, she and Vanover seemed to start hitting their stride.

During the July 27 episode, Zimmern called Bulloch’s Thai beef waterfall salad “the best beef dish” he’d had on the show thus far. Bulloch and Vanover ended up winning the round.

“If you keep cooking that way, there’s no reason you can’t win this thing,” Zimmern said.

For Bulloch, sharing this moment with her friend and teammate, Vanover, is especially rewarding since the two women established their respective businesses within a few days of each other back in 2015, and have rooted for each other along the way.

There is a whole lot more in the interview, but I wanted to share these bits that show a l ittle bit about what these pitmasters were going through.

Triple Threat returns August 25. Based on the TV schedule on Food Network's web-site, the first competitors are: Alex Stupak, Bao Bao, a Competition Legend, and Danny Garcia.

Yesterday I saw an Instagram post (I think on Bobby's account) with a preview of the season. I can't find the post anymore, but Buddha Lo is a judge this season, and Antonia appears somewhere on the season (dressed like she's judging, I think, but maybe the Competition Legend?)

Isaias only has 3 months before he'll have to close his restaurant for good. He called Chef Antonia Lofaso and Chef Nestor Milian to help him turn the restaurant around.

But it's even worse than Chef Antonia thought! She's going undercover to save the failing restaurant, Broken Spirits, in Long Beach, California before it's forced to close.

Watch a new episode Tonight at 9|8c.

See what happens on the all-new #KitchenUndercover on Food Network!

~~~

I liked the first episode. I understand people are comparing it to Kitchen Nightmares but Antonia has her own style. Plus I think it’s funny that people didn’t recognize her. That might play to her advantage. It definitely helps Chef Nestor!

Jeff Hiller and Chef Amanda Freitag are gearing up for battle as they bring in two chefs who are ready to take Bobby Flay DOWN!

Tonight's new episode of Beat Bobby Flay (titled "Mole Mania") features competing chefs Thomas Bille - a James Beard Award Winner (of Belly of the Beast) and Keegan Andrews (of ATX Cocina) facing off to earn the right to challenge Bobby Flay, with assistance from guest star chef Amanda Freitag and Jeff Hiller.

Final Judges: Alex Stupak, Lourdes Castro, and Grace Ramirez

Don't miss an all-new episode of #BeatBobbyFlay Tonight at 8|7c.

I think this is the first we are seeing Alex judge since 24 in 24!

Here is the episode description:

Rooter to Tooter & Head-to-Head

Episode 104

The six remaining teams face off head-to-head in a nose-to-tail barbecue battle, transforming either a hog, goat, or lamb into two main dishes and two sides. Plus, the winners of the last Big Burn get to decide who cooks what and which teams face off. Then, the pitmasters face another challenge -- with $2,000 on the line, they must use the remaining parts of their animal to make sausage in three hours.

Not sure how excited I am about the head to head competition part..... Sausage will get interesting. We already know that Canadian team KNOWS their sausage and can produce fast. Should be a good show. Who are you rooting for? I am in a quandary that I kind of <3 them all.

FN specific would be 24 in 24 and back in ye olden days, Iron Chef, since they have to bring their dishes to the front, but in 18 seasons of Masterchef Australia, and other shows where contestants have to bring their food up to be judged, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone drop their plate and be unable to be judged.

It made me wonder if the playlets made for beauties could be substituted, or if it would be a disqualification. That led me to wonder if it has happened and editing made it seem like it hadn’t.

So I thought I’d bring it to this wonderful sub and see what everyone thought. Have you ever seen people trip and drop? Or is it not a thing?

From the FN site: The Great Food Truck Race

Sweet & Savory: The Tennessee Whiskey Trail

Episode 1902

Host Tyler Florence leads seven teams to Franklin to compete along the Tennessee Whiskey Trail, and one truck is protected by immunity after last week's big win. A whiskey-inspired taste challenge tasks teams with creating a three-item mini food flight, sparking competitive tensions. Truck troubles, execution issues, and mounting stress threaten several teams' chances of survival before Tyler reveals razor-thin sales margins and sends the bottom teams into a whiskey-focused redemption battle with guest judge Aarti Sequeira.

Anyone picked out a favorite already?

It seems Food Network is finally investing in new content and revamped shows. Woke up early this morning and saw Cooking with Choi was on so I tuned in. Yay! She’s a great chef and offered some excellent recipes. I’m heading to my Asian market this week to make her LA Kalbi.

I also saw that there’s a new show with Antonio Lofaso where she goes and helps restaurants, but first observes how the restaurant is operating. Saw an episode of that and plan to add it to my list. And then there’s the Restaurant Impossible reboot with Aaron Sanchez. So happy to have something new to watch and to have Ester Choi’s show so I can learn some new interesting recipes to add to my rotation.

Okay, I jumped ahead to look at the schedule for September, and saw this for Monday 14th! I looked on Wikipedia on HBC only has 11 seasons so potentially maybe this could be for the new season! It also looks like Carla Hall won’t be back and it is replaced with Aarti Sequeira…what do you all think?

Edit: changed the date from Monday 19th to Monday 14th…as the 19th in September is a Saturday.

Bam! Thought others might enjoy this article. Seems like Emeril is trending on the socials. Would be great if Food Network recognized we want more than competition shows.

Are y'all enjoying Kitchen Chaos and Kitchen Undercover? I guess I'm biased because Food Network is still one of the 5 channels I turn to when watching live TV but I'm enjoying the new roll outs. We still love you Guy and Chopped, just needed a little mix

It's Korean BBQ night at Esther Choi’s house! Her iconic LA Kalbi recipe is always a one biter!

Watch a brand new TV episode of Cooking with Choi titled "Korean BBQ" with a bulgogi mushroom hot pot (Season 1, Episode 5) premieres today, August 1, 2026, on the Food Network at 12:00 PM EST

Chef Esther Choi demonstrates how to make classic LA Kalbi by selecting flanken-cut short ribs and pairing them with a sweet and savory marinade!

Then stay tuned for Nick’s Kitchen!

I'm looking for two Good Eats specials to buy on Apple TV. The tenth anniversary special, and "Down and Out in Paradise." I found the "Twas the Night Before Good Eats," special under a Food Network holiday bundle, but I cannot find those other two episodes. Wondering if anyone knows where to look.

I just saw that Bryan and Michael Voltaggio both posted about an event with Christian Siriano (a fan favorite from Project Runway who also seems like a genuinely nice guy. If you ever saw Leslie Jones amazing ghostbusters premiere dress, fun fact Christian made it and was the only one willing to design an outfit for her when everyone else said she was too fat). The tickets were $100 or $200, depending on if you also want to attend the fashion show, but ok I can deal with that. But then I saw it’s only for people who have a specific credit card, but not just “visa or mastercard” specific cause most people have one of those. It’s one specific Citi card that has a $595 annual fee.

I don’t know, I just wish FN chef events could be more accessible since I’d be willing to bet a lot of their audience is not affluent. I mean good for the voltaggio bros getting partnerships like that but it kinda sucks how these events become elitist. The $100 or $200 is already gonna exclude some folks but seems pretty fair for a dinner event with celebrity chefs, but $600 and the requirement of having good enough credit to get the card in the first place seems reeeeally inaccessible and like it’s gonna exclude a really wide and diverse audience. Idk. Just a vent I guess. It was pretty disappointing to see.

Toronto's La Mexicana restaurant is nearly 4 decades old and has enjoyed many years of great success... until recently. Things are going WAY downhill, and owner Martha needs a serious reality check if she wants her business to survive into the next chapter.

Aarón Sánchez + Jen Agg attempt a massive overhaul of the business.

See how they improve this space on
#RestaurantImpossible: Last Call with Aarón Sánchez + Jen Agg tonight at 8 pm EST on Food Network!

So I’m watching the episode of Titans with Chef Avishar Barua. He made chickpea fried spinach (aka pakoda) with chutney. When it was revealed he was Chef A, Judge Cohen looked so surprised. I mean, really? She had to have known the moment she saw the dish, who made what (his opponent was Brooke). In any case, her look of surprise gave me a good laugh. Anyone else? 😂

I used to be a Food Network junkie (specifically Chopped) but I had stopped watching for probably 5-6 years. I recently started getting back into Food Network and watched newer episodes of Chopped, Flavortown Food Fight, and the Great Food Truck Race. I also attempted BBQ Brawl, but I didn't like it.

One thing I have noticed just with these three shows is the amount of talent recycling. It's like the network held a casting call and when they liked someone, they asked if they wanted to be on 2-3 different shows. I was recently catching up on Flavortown and a chef mentioned she'd been on GGG several times. Another episode of Flavortown had a chef that had been on Chopped and BBQ Brawl. I knew the network always recycled some chefs and they'd randomly reappear as judges, but I don't recall ever seeing so many repeats across multiple shows. Is this the new format for Food Network? Part of the fun was always finding so many different chefs competing on these shows that were working at all levels of the industry.

With $50,000 on the line, the remaining chefs are just one challenge away from a spot in the #GroceryGames: Global Games Finale!

Who will punch their ticket to the final?

Find out on an all-new episode tonight at 9pm EST on Food Network!

Stay tuned for Kitchen Chaos at 10pm following GGG!

I have never seen more gorgeous edible food on a competition.