r/foodnetwork • u/R1PElv1s • Mar 11 '25
NO SPOILERS TOC hot take…
I think Andrew Zimmern should replace Tiffani Faison as the sideline reporter/culinary commentator if Simon is unable to return to that role. Justin Warner does such a great job… they really need to find someone who can actually hold their own against him. Tiffani is not proving to be worthy (in my opinion). But I think Zimmern has the most potential of anyone I can think of.
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u/angel9_writes Mar 11 '25
Tiffani so far as felt more like spectator than reporter. Though, I think that is just her natural love of watching people cook.
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u/mmeeplechase Mar 12 '25
Agreed—not a knock on her at all, but I just don’t think this role and its heavy focus on dynamic entertainment is the right fit.
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u/Rexyggor Mar 12 '25
That was literally one of the reasons why she said she wanted to do this role.
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u/Pirate_Lantern Mar 11 '25
The man is a legend, but if he's on the sidelines then he wouldn't be a judge, and I think he is really great at that too.
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u/R1PElv1s Mar 11 '25
I agree that he is an excellent judge. But considering there are what… about 20 or so judges per season? but only 2 commentators. I think he’d be more useful on the sidelines every matchup. It’s much easier to find people available and willing to judge 1 or 2 episodes than it is to find a sideline reporter for all day, every day of the tournament.
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u/Nesquik44 Mar 11 '25
I agree. I don't think he would want to dedicate that much time to TOC. He has been on television quite a bit, just not on the Food Network.
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u/Pirate_Lantern Mar 11 '25
Very true... and it would be good seeing him back on tv after all that time.
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u/StopDrinkingEmail Mar 11 '25
Tiffani is obviously a fantastic chef with a lot of knowledge. But she comes across as less than dynamic on screen. It’s not a knock. It’s two different skill sets. I like her, but she is best as a judge in my opinion.
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u/mandymaybe Mar 11 '25
For everyone who is saying Tiffani is missing details, or doesn’t describe things to the judges as thoroughly as she should - remember that this show is edited. It’s not live. We don’t see everything she says to the judges. We’ve heard the judges mention things before that we didn’t hear described and also they obviously didn’t see.
I think she’s doing just fine. She’ll find her rhythm.
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u/OhTheHumanatee Mar 11 '25
Exactly. My wife and I were in the audience for the last couple of episodes and each presenter and each judge talks for 2-3 minutes in reality and it gets edited down to a few soundbites.
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u/LipsRinna Mar 11 '25
I appreciate you posting this! People have to realize this is edited to fit on TV. Judging doesn’t take 90 seconds per dish. I assume they have more praise/critiques and ask Justin and Tiffani questions as well?
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u/OhTheHumanatee Mar 11 '25
Yeah, a lot more questions. I think as they know the TV viewer already knows the dish they cut that stuff out to not be too repetitive. Especially in the early rounds.
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u/newnewtab Mar 11 '25
Totally agree with this. If Parks and Rec season 1 has taught me anything, it's give things a chance...
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u/DarthMog Mar 11 '25
I miss Alton Brown and his commentating with iron chef. He would have been perfect if he was still with the food network
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u/Rexyggor Mar 12 '25
Get the guy from the original Iron Chef dub "Quison!" (Or however it is spelled)
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u/R1PElv1s Mar 11 '25
Also an excellent suggestion
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u/Novel-Organization63 Mar 11 '25
I see Alton Brown more on the level of Guy and Bobby Flay as far as food network hierarchy. I also don’t think Andrew Zimmern is kind of Food networks staple Judge, he probably doesn’t want a steady gig. Plus he has competed a few times recently maybe they can get him to compete in TOC. What about Ted Allen? He kind of Matches Justin’s vibe, TBH, I know I am in the minority here but I think Tiffani was a good choice.
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u/tyme2b Mar 15 '25
Miss his commentary too, but from some comments and things I have seen he will never be on Food Network again.
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u/Illustrious-Syrup405 Mar 11 '25
Ted Allen would also be good.
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u/EmosewaRechaet Mar 11 '25
Let’s not sully Ted Allen with Guy’s circus. I think TOC is awesome, but I feel Guy makes each of his shows more and more about him & not the cooking. 😢
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u/Tbplayer59 Mar 11 '25
How so? I've always thought he plays the host role well and stays out of the way of the cooking.
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u/Illustrious-Syrup405 Mar 11 '25
I agree. On TOC all he does is introduce the chefs and spin the wheel. The only show where his personality is forefront is triple D.
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u/EmosewaRechaet Mar 11 '25
I think it has to do with creation of nicknames…the smoke, editing, weirdness that was not part of the first two seasons…that’s Guy…he thinks flasher is better…just my opinion.
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u/MrBaseball1994 Mar 12 '25
Reminds me of the way Chris Berman took over at ESPN...by being the goof.
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u/Illustrious-Syrup405 Mar 11 '25
OK, you know who else might be fun because they have such a big personality which is what I think Tiffany is missing— Damaris. 😜 She would definitely bring lots of enthusiasm to her descriptions of the food.
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u/Nesquik44 Mar 11 '25
I'm with you. I don't think Ted's more refined style fits with this WWE, over the top style.
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u/rudesweetpotato Mar 12 '25
Ted Allen co-hosted an episode of GGG and seemed to really lean in. He brought in some Cutthroat Kitchen gimmicks and it worked well.
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Mar 11 '25
you know who would be good? guy’s homie, troy johnson.
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u/PhantomBanker Mar 11 '25
Too similar to Justin, though.
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u/theMadcap Mar 11 '25
Ehh I see Justin as a food-nerd and Troy as more of a food-clown/joker/critic I'd be happy with them both doing the sideline job
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u/The_Amazing_Emu Mar 18 '25
First year of TOC, I don't think I realized they were different people.
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u/JudahDG Mar 11 '25
I think Troy was a judge in the earlier seasons
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Mar 11 '25 edited Mar 11 '25
he hasn't been a judge on toc yet. he judged a ggg ep that was part of a "past winners of tournament of champions" competition series.
this link includes a list of judges per season. he is not included on that list- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournament_of_Champions_(TV_series))
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u/BenedictineBaby Mar 11 '25
I think Tiffani is doing very well. She has the perspective of a Chef who understands what its like to be in the shoes of the competitors.
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u/WitchesDew Mar 12 '25
I like Tiffani in this role. It's (not) funny that every comment I've seen up to this point with a suggestion for someone else is suggesting a man. Is anyone surprised?
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u/R1PElv1s Mar 14 '25
Well if TOC has taught us anything, it’s that blind judging seems to level the playing field in terms of male vs female chefs. The fact that all 5 winners (and a very strong majority of the winningest chefs each year) are women leads me to conclude that misogyny is alive and well, even if only on a subliminal level. I can’t help but wonder if any of the judges will experience an unconscious bias purely based on the gender of the person presenting the dish…
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u/FormicaDinette33 Mar 11 '25
I think she is doing fine. Better on the second episode than the first.
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u/Delicious_Screen7002 Mar 15 '25
Tiffani did seem more relaxed the second episode. In past years viewing Eric Adgepong judging he was rather wooden, not at all the warm congenial host that he now is after gaining experience. Tiffani is an excellent chef and can mentor, but I have a feeling this role as someone highlighting someone else's cooking, may not be a natural fit for her large personality. I think she's fiery (not fieri lol) and knows it, and is toning down her personality to fit the situation.
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Mar 11 '25
Tiffani isn't terrible or anything, but I do agree that Andrew Zimmern would be better!
He's a lot of star power for a correspondent though, so I think that my even hotter take is that Noah Cappe could do it. He's a bit of a goof on some Food Network shows, but I really love him as the host of Wall of Chefs. He has a sort of dry Justin/Simon vibe there.
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u/lelma_and_thouise Mar 11 '25
Didn't he host wall of chefs? Damn I miss that show.
Edit: I apologize, you literally mentioned wall of chefs in your comment. I'm so tired, I missed it. I hate insomnia.
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u/R1PElv1s Mar 11 '25
That’s a really good point. He might steal too much thunder from the competitors. I’m not sure if I’m familiar with Noah Cappe… I’ll have to check him out.
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u/Yurastupidbitch Mar 11 '25
Noah Cappe was great on Wall of Chefs - I loved that show!
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u/Mysterious_Zebra9146 Mar 11 '25
I loved Wall of Chefs! I kept hoping it would comeback and it never did.
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u/rudesweetpotato Mar 12 '25
I would love this, but I also think that Tiffani could settle into the role. I'm not the biggest Tiffani fan, but I'm giving her grace for her first season. On the most recent episode, she was overly psyched about everything the chef's were doing, a little awkward with how she talked to the camera, and didn't really infuse any humor like Justin does, but she is knowledgeable and I think could do well. All that being said, Andrew Zimmern would crush it and I want them to make this change immediately.
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u/transat_prof Wild Card Kitchen 🃏🃏🃏 Mar 11 '25
Tiffani is doing fine. Let Justin be Justin and Tiffani be Tiffani.
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u/jphilade- Mar 12 '25
No Tiffani is doing a GREAT job, love her take on the chef’s technique and ideas during the cook. Her knowledge and enthusiasm is where it’s at.
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u/nilknarf114 Mar 11 '25
I have never been a fan of Tiffani, and I am a MAJOR fan of Andrew so I would love this.
But give Tiffani a chance to grow into her role. She is well-versed in cooking competition strategy, and she may yet be able to grow into the role
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u/discussatron Mar 11 '25
I have zero issues with Tiffani in this role; she's doing a fine job. She brings not just a competition chef's experience to her commentary, but a ToC champ's experience.
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u/R1PElv1s Mar 11 '25
To be fair, I don’t think Tiffani is horrible. She’s very very unmatched with Justin. I feel like I’m constantly learning things from Justin, which makes the show more exciting for me. Tiffani is doing a fair job. She is fulfilling her role at a relatively minimal level. I will give her props for being better than Hunter, though!
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u/sunnylagirl Mar 11 '25
I agree with this comment. I know she has the culinary chops, but she doesn’t have the presence or the vocabulary that Justin or Simon do.
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u/Particular_Ad8156 Mar 11 '25
She has such a rough edge. She's just not very likable.
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u/joemoore38 Mar 11 '25
I agree. For some reason, I've just never liked her much. Not even as a judge. Might be a great chef but has zero personality.
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u/Julie-AnneB Mar 11 '25
I have really liked Tiffany ever since she came back for Top Chef All-Stars. I don't think she's doing a bad job. But, I agree that she's not doing as great a job as Justin. I don't really see Zimmern having an energy that matches Justin's. I know he'd never do it, but I would be very curious to see what Rocco is like opposite Justin. Frankly, Justin is just so good in his role that it would be incredibly difficult to find his equal.
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u/marthajett Mar 12 '25
Zimmern wouldn't go for it. He's had his own shows so I don't think he would take a commentator role.
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u/Beautiful-Method4170 Mar 13 '25
She doesn’t fit as a commentator. Why isn’t Simon doing it?
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u/allieoops881 Mar 14 '25
He is recovering from brain cancer and standing for that long is too draining on him.
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u/Sea-Passage-8950 Mar 16 '25
IMO, Tiffani is starting to come into her own as a food network personality in general. Something seems like it just clicked or maybe she’s just more relaxed or comfortable in life right now. I’ve always respected her but can’t say that I was a fan, but she’s definitely way more likable now for whatever reason.
Since we’re talking hot takes though…For the first time, I got a little annoyed with Justin during the qualifiers, specifically when Maria was competing. Maybe it was just the way that the episode was edited, but he came across kinda snobbish & kinda bashed how she handling one of the ingredients. I never recalled him just straight up criticizing a competitor mid battle like that before!
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u/venusinfurs10 Mar 11 '25
Tiffani can't keep a professional distance. The second a chef does something she wouldn't do, you see it on her face.
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u/fatkittee Mar 11 '25
I agree. He would do a great job. I feel like Tiffani is doing an injustice to the chefs in her descriptions of the food and randomizer. Justin spouts poetry and she, very rapidly, spouts off generic facts about the dish
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u/echos2 Mar 11 '25
I was watching the most recent TOC, and I noticed Justin saying that something was "enrobed" in something else (meat enrobed in a reduction sauce or something). Tiffani was like, this is the meat, this is the sauce.
It was such an obvious difference in the way they describde the plate.
I hope Tiffani finds her footing, but it may be that she's just never as poetic as Justin with her descriptions.
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u/xriva Mar 11 '25
I think part of the job is to sell the dish, not just describe it. I don't hear a lot of selling going on. It's not just listing the randomizer usage and ingredients.
I also think the two commentators should be on the same level - two Justins or two Tiffinis. You can't have mismatched commentators, which is what you have now.
You could have Tiffani who is uninterested and Hunter who is clueless. That would be fair - it's just the judges would have to figure out everything by themselves.
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u/Mysterious_Zebra9146 Mar 11 '25
I love Andrew. I would love to see him in that role but I'm guessing he's too expensive. He was on the episode of Wild Card Kitchen this season where they had the bigger money pot aka "these people are bigger stars so their appearance fees are higher."
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u/Buchholtz Mar 11 '25
Literally anyone would be better than Tiffani.
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u/RAD_Sr Mar 11 '25
Almost anyone. They could tank the whole show by letting Hunter do it for the main the show.
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u/NeonGremlin Mar 11 '25
I think they should bring Alton on......although the idea of Justin and Alton together might be too much. But I'd definitely watch it.
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u/Stephann526 Mar 17 '25
I agree Tiffany is just a hair above Hunter. I agree with Eric Adjepong being great in the commentary role on TOC.
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u/SublimeForce Mar 11 '25
Totally agree! Told my spouse the exact same thing after Episode 1. There are specific details about the chef’s dishes that Justin and Simon would capture and explain perfectly, that Tiffani just seems to miss. I know it’s early and she’s new, hopefully she gets better but I’m not sure she is suited for this type of commentator role.
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u/eyes4lv Mar 11 '25
Did we learn why Simon isn't in that role any more? They're hardly showing him for the judges correspondent role
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u/duffs007 Mar 11 '25
He has brain cancer :(
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u/jackie0h_ Mar 12 '25
Oh no, so sad. I was hoping he was just toobusy. I guess he is but in a bad way.
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u/MrBaseball1994 Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 12 '25
TBH, Cat Cora or Michael Symon would be much better than Tiffani.
Or how about Brian Mularkey? He had great personality on WCK.
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u/saturday-grrl Tournament of Champions 🏆 Mar 16 '25
Tiffani is way better than Hunter Fieri as a commentator.
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u/artlover3 Mar 11 '25
I think Tiffany is doing a great job, I mean I don't think anyone could compare to Simon. Just thank goodness Guy got rid of Hunter!
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u/therealhedgehoggy Mar 11 '25
I'd try Justin doing both as that would make for a more level playing field during the judging
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u/Routine-Battle-7551 Mar 14 '25
I prefer Simon Mujandor. He was awesome. Tiffany can sit in the parking lot talking with the judges.
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u/jnugzzz Mar 11 '25
Tbh I feel like her being the reporter will get the chefs penalized. I felt like having two male reporters was best, because it removed all possible implicit bias. So far she’s definitely also not as descriptive about the use of the required tool
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u/DarthMog Mar 11 '25
The big issues for a lot of the competition shows is location. Most of the guy shows are west coast. And Bobby Flay shows are new York. So you aren't going to get a lot of new York chefs fly in to LA to judge one cooking show and vice versa. So they are kinda stuck with their local talent.
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Mar 11 '25
[deleted]
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u/fordinv Mar 11 '25
I believe he's pretty much washed his hands of the travesty that Food Network has become
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u/WitchesDew Mar 12 '25
Deleted comment. Who was op talking about?
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u/fordinv Mar 12 '25
Alton Brown was who I was referring to. OP had said something regarding Faison being a poor chef's rep on TOC (she is) and someone said bring back Alton Brown.
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u/WitchesDew Mar 12 '25
Thanks for the context. Why is she a poor chef's rep in your opinion?
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u/fordinv Mar 12 '25
The episodes I've watched she does a poor job communicating to the judges, use of the random equipment, style, etc. No enthusiasm, just blah... especially when compared to Warner and Simon from previous years. Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of the whole premise, I don't think highly skilled chefs should have to compete using a lot of the garbage they force on them. I've heard Bobby Flay say several times that on Triple Threat and BBF he always wants to give competitors ingredients that make sense so that the real skill of the chef can be the focal point.
It's entertaining to a point, but it's also like watching Tiger Woods play a tore up municipal course with a seven iron and two three wedges using reclaimed balls. Doesn't really do his abilities much justice.
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u/Appropriate-Win3525 Mar 11 '25
Watching his commentary on Wildcard Kitchen and Alex V. America, I think Eric would fill in that position superbly. He's knowledgeable about so many things and comes across as calm and intelligent.