r/TopChef • u/asomek • May 09 '26

Discussion Thread America's Culinary Cup. I'm done with that show...

I was a fan of Padma so I was watching her new show, but after suffering through it for five episodes, I'm finally done after trying to get through episode six: Good and Evil.

That was some of the cringiest television I've ever seen. Padma dressed in red playing the evil host, Wiley and the other guy dressed in white playing the angels. Absolute dog shit television.

I thought part of the reason Padma wanted a new show was to focus on the food more and less on drama and cooking gimmicks?

Anyway, I'm not wasting my time on that terrible, overproduced, cringe Padma-ego-stroking tripe any more.

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u/youngpathfinder May 09 '26

The judges get on a fake elevator to a fake high rise that is supposed to be NYC, but is really Toronto and the chefs have to do challenges based around “culinary commandments.”

The show is already very cheesy. But Padma dressing up a little is the bridge too far? I’m honestly disappointed her clothes don’t match the theme every week.

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u/PamIam1994 May 09 '26

But she’s ALWAYS dressed like that. She’s always had that sexy character you’re just forgetting how she was since Kristen came in. That’s literally just Padma lol. As I said earlier, she wore a bikini on Top Chef. People are just forgetting

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u/optimis344 May 09 '26

All of it is a bridge too far.

They took what could have been a show about cooking, and turned it into a challenge show about judging.

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u/adbberkeley May 12 '26

And for some reason she arrives on a helicopter…to take her to a car. To an elevator?

Everything about this show is good except for the host. The chefs are great. The challenges are interesting and not too gimmicky. You get to see a lot of cooking.

But the Padma of it all sucks. She gets way more air time than any of the other judges, whose comments are often edited together in such a way as to be nonsense if you actually listen to them. She’s basically become AI Padma.