O Grande Brunch

Dan Levy has created a show with so much heart and humanity. I dearly love all of the contestants and their relationships with each other. They truly do love one another and want the best for each other. The behind the scenes info on each contestant is just great and really makes it so much more personal. Dan's love for food makes me like him even more than I already did and the fact that they hand picked each person on this show is wonderful. They all have such amazing stories that make you really connect and want to route for each even after the show ends. I was not aware of Sohla and Will before this show but I am a huge fan of both now.

The Big Brunch is a fantastic show that celebrates an oft-maligned and overlooked meal. Nothing says 'weekend' like a leisurely brunch with friends, and this show celebrates that occasion in a positive way too.

It's interesting that reality TV was the catalyst for much of the bad behaviour we now experience every day, from social media to politics. Think back twenty years to the first seasons of Survivor that encouraged disloyalty, lying, and treachery... Now, in 2022, reality TV shows like Ru Paul and Big Brunch have become models of civility, support, and encouragement.

The Big Brunch lifts your spirits as it promotes a great meal with great attitude.

Of all the various American cooking shows I've seen, this show stands out in a great way. First of all, cooks from a variety of venues are invited to compete, so it's not just the sous chefs from NY hotspots. The contestants are the most humble I've seen in a professional cooking competition. Their focus is on lifting each other up, learning from the experience, and growing their personal skills. Not bragging about how they'll slay.

Of course we know they want to win the prize money to further their dreams, but the prize was only mentioned once and no one talked about it again. Instead, they focus on the challenge ahead and cheering each other on. Even the judges cheer on their accomplishments, encourage their dreams, and lavish praise where it is due.

To add to a show that celebrates rather than continually shames is a subtle score-none of the jarring or tension building music so prevalent in American competitive shows.

I'm happy to see a professional cooking competition show that reminds us that professional chefs are real people and that it's their love and passion for food, giving of themselves, and serving people that brought them to their profession rather than how many Michelin stars they can rack up or when they will become the next celebrity chef. Great job!

Dan Levy's cooking show looks beautiful and it is an easy watch. The kitchen and set are stunning, I loved the colors that they chose. I loved that we got to know the chefs on a more intimate level and almost felt like we were competing with them. The parts I did not enjoy were almost every critique from the judges. In one episode, they have a special guest judge who somehow topped will and sohla in terms of being insufferable. They tell the contestants to go back and think about the theme of the day... even though it wasn't really that clear ? That is ultimately the problem with this show, the contestants seemed confused on exactly what they are supposed to do - cook the best meal, or pitch the best idea for a restaurant.

First off, to the person who complains that there's swearing, like it's a shock to hear form cooks. What's shocking is that swearing is censored so much for other shows because cooks and chefs swear like it's a career requirement.

Second, as a diehard fan of cooking shows, I'm really disappointed in the lack of discussion about what the cooks are doing or how. A guy makes switch from scratch. Are we shown this? No! He just tells them he did it.

I never "not learn" from cooking shows and that's true of this one. I'm only two episodes in so maybe it's all the background storytelling that gets in the way of technique discussion but it's a bit frustrating.

I want to love this but I feel like it was made by a team that don't actually watch a lot of great cooking shows. I'll keep watching because I want to see who wins but they really need to beef up the value for watching this. Give us techniques and tips, show us more of what the actual chefs are cooking.