House of Knives

Loved all the chefs. The cooking itself was great. The judging was detailed. But poor Scott Conant- it seemed as though he might pop a vein at any time. The premise was just hokey. House of Knives, culinary council, a throne. Just ridiculous. I was embarrassed just watching it.

Scott is a great chef and has been a judge on Chopped for Years. He has always made insightful comments. Apparently the producers of this show wanted drama and made poor Scott practically shout when he would say things like "take the throne!"and "your house has fallen." It was just too much. I laughed so much I started crying.

So in my opinion , anything artistic weather it be photography, painting, cooking ...etc should be anonymous judging, meaning the judges do not know who cook what, so you you have to judge the food not the cook and be persuaded by personal bias. That's why i love watching Tournament of Champions or Triple Threat. This is neat twist in cooking but the Judging is Joke. No disrespect to the judging I'm talking about the judging format. They probably already have their winner picked out.

We all love watching our favorites cook I just think to be a fair format the judges should never know who cooked what especially if its something that produces a finish product. They didnt say they were being judge on watching them cook, from the judging it looks like they just want to make sure the food meets the challenge and the test. Theres not even a score card to average the scores like they do on Guys Grocery Games. Just my opinion, I think it be more interesting if it was a blind taste test and the judges never know who cooked what. Go TOC.

Show itself is unspectacular but good, the whole theme and host delivery is pretty cheesy but in a very deliberate way that makes it kind of acceptable.

The real star of the show is the competition and level of cooking. Most of the contenders absolutely bring it, and the ones that cook anything that isn't incredible really stand out. Really high level cooking and competition.

The judging is ok. They're animated and it's fun to watch them eat a dish that you can tell they're really enjoying. But they do know who cooks what - anonymous judging is preferable IMO.

If you like competitive cooking shows, it's worth watching. There are cooking shows with better formats, but the competition is quite fun to watch nonetheless.

I'm not sure what the Food Network was thinking. This show is just same 'ol, same 'ol. Same concept as Iron Chef, Chopped and all of the other imagination-free cooking competitions on the Food Network. Same boring hosts, judges and outcomes. The concept has been done to death with different themes/cooking sets and, by far, the stupidest. Just the fact that Anne Burrell was a competitor tells me they know they're in trouble with the series. Big surprise she won.... Rigged as usual. In the end, she totally embarrassed herself by taking such a step down. Who's next, Bobby Flay? Don't waste your time watching this predictable show.

Concept never gels...a handful of Chefs, some you may have heard of, most not, in a dark silly set cooking for two judges who know who made each dish. So no mystery, no tiebreaker, and easily could be pre-determined who goes and who gets to sit on a pleather "throne" as the "Ruler" until the next round of cooking. With Anne Burrell looking so uncomfortable that she's gone from a long running Food Network series Host to a contestant on this lackluster show. Dreary to watch the forced reactions of both Judges and Chefs, standing the entire episode in their wrinkled, often sweat-soaked attire, and a waste of some otherwise entertaining and watchable talent.