PrintWhy Toby Young Became a 'Top Chef' Judge
Photograph by Virginia Sherwood of Bravo
From an interview with Toby Young on Yahoo's TV blog:
America obviously has a penchant for British judges. I imagine so. None of the producers ever said to me, 'We've been looking for a Brit.' I've gotten a lot of [flack] from various American food critics since my debut last week including [from] Adam Platt—the food critic of New York magazine—and I dare say that they're all very cross that they weren't asked to appear as judges on Top Chef.
But, I think the reason why they asked a Brit is because we're much more outspoken and rude than our American counterparts. I imagine someone like Adam Platt would be very fair-minded, very judicious, and would spend several minutes advertising just how much he knew about each dish that was placed before him. And, as my old editor knows, that's very boring for people who just have a general interest in a subject.
Judging by all the Toby Young-bashing here last week, the Platt presence might have been welcomed by the Serious Eats community.
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7 Comments:
I smell a 2:35pm next to the monkey bars...
StarvingArtist at 3:52PM on 01/14/09
Toby Young is a self righteous d-bag who tries, and fails, to be funny. This season of Top Chef (which didn't have the same level of talent as previous seasons) has been very disappointing. Toby's addition has only further exacerbated that point.
tgravers at 4:34PM on 01/14/09
The show needs new blood, aka a judge with a new flair for sarcasm. It's definitely funnier. I dig it!
http://spooninandforkin.com/
spooninandforkin at 4:53PM on 01/14/09
He's completely cliche at this point. 5 years ago, he *might* have been more amusing... But I doubt it. He's just not interesting. I'm more interested in Padma's criticism, which is really sad.
I don't think I'd say the talent levels are much different this season. More people are playing it safe though. Hopefully Tom's pep talk and 2 people going home will light a fire under them. Fish tacos does not a Top Chef make.
bmessina at 5:01PM on 01/14/09
I don't get his jokes. I'm sorry, but talk about food than Tom Cruise. Hire Anthony Bourdain or something, we don't need a foodie version of Simon Cowell.
phoodless at 9:08PM on 01/14/09
I like TY. I don't think he's cliche at all, other than he's British. But he's right. I don't want someone to sit and be boring and spout out a bunch of frou frou crap. I want someone to tell that crappy chef that their fish tacos smelled like cat food. These chefs should be the top. And when they aren't, I expect someone to call them out on it.
amanda0730 at 1:59AM on 01/15/09
TY's contrived and pointless comments are ruining the show. He'd better summon up something half-way intelligent next week or I'd have to say it's getting dangerously close to jumping the shark. I agree, Anthony Bourdain would be a great regular judge. He was probably busy.
RB_ofCanada at 9:10PM on 01/16/09