Cook at All Costs

I wonder why Netflix continues streaming cooking shows ultimately showcasing the wholly American mish-mash in the kitchen.

Get people from other parts of the world in your shows to show what the real thing in Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Thai... cuisines is vs what your people think they know/learn without stepping out of the USA.

By the way.. the "legendary" Nancy Silverton has no whatsoever reputation in Italy and has never even lived or worked in Italy. Keep your trumpets low and invest in real chefs that can show what international cooking is about.

Not recommended for anyone that has been raised with real non-American food.

I found the concept of the show to be quite captivating. A mix of gameshow and competition-cooking show.. personally appealed to me big time. I love game shows, I love reality TV, I love cooking shows, I love competition shows... and this was all of that. - Quite a diverse realm of chefs also. I am excited for season 2! - Well, I hope others give this show a chance and that it gets to continue on for a few more seasons. I learned quite a bit from the show too.. the chefs are always trying to throw in little tips or personal favourite methods.

I think what appealed to me the most was the competitive element and seeing how much a chef is willing to lose just for their shot to enhance their dish.

I love all types of cooking competition shows.. (Faves: GBBO, Sugar Rush, Nailed It, Chopped, Masterchef, etc etc) so I am also here for this series.

This show takes the "bidding mystery boxes" and just cemented it as its foundation. Simple yet fun. The contestants get to bid from $ to $$$ to ???. Then additional ingredients are sent out which they can live bid on and it can get funny coz a simple potato or tomato will reach for a lot.

The vibe sometimes feel extra competitive when they're in a bidding war so there's some good tension. The dishes aren't crazy since the ingredient sets they get have some sort of coherence (well except for the surprise box lol) but they do make it better especially with no pantry. It does make me salivate while watching.

The host is great. He feels natural with his banters. He doesn't feel over the top or scripted like in some shows. No need for added gimik.

If they get more season I wish they'd add another judge. Nothing against 1 judge but I feel having 2 or 3 make it better for judging. But as long as they keep the blind tasting I guess I'm all good either way.

Half the show is good! Love the concept!

However Netflix very forcibly has suppressed the potential cash winnings - embarrassingly so. Winner of first round should get all their money back or more, second round should be 10k win min, and most importantly - there should not be minimum bids. If Netflix only wanted to average $10k winnings then they should've just stick with that and removed the bidding aspect.

There needs to be a path to $25k per game, or an extremely low chance at $50k. That would take this game to another level.

When the second round started on the first episode and they started min bids at $4k for save box - I'm not sure I ever felt that type of cringe for a "game show"

Do better Netflix.

Considering 3/4 of the other reviews are full tens, and the other is a 1, I am writing this to give an objective take based on other cooking shows.

First, it is a properly forgettable show, the kind you don't turn off if it starts running in the background while running chores. So, some quick pros and cons in a list:

Pros: 1. Decent dishes 2. Interesting format 3. Some interesting guest chefs 4. Some money to be won by the winner

Cons: Nearly everything else.

In summary: No explanation of items in the pantry. You can't tell at all what options the contestants have.

Every episode is highly scripted, cut like an action movie, edited to the point of losing all personality, The same lines are repeated by contestants in the episodes. The faces change, but nothing sticks in your mind except for how poorly this was put together.

Unlike another suspicious reviewer here who rated the host a 10, I'd say he's one of the more annoying cooking show hosts. Cool bro-ski talks too much and often over the guest chef.

Don't renew this show and spend the budget on something more worthy.