Ciao House

What a disappointment that.this show follows the Food channel's formula--ridiculous time constraints, cruel food critics, crushed competitors. Alex's biting comments are vicious. Gabriele's arrogance is irritating. They even insult the Tuscan guests--nona's, wine makers, and butcher so far--by allowing them only few minutes and missing a chance for the contestants and the audience to learn about Tuscan food. Isn't learning about Tuscan food supposed to be the point of this show? Apparently not. What a wasted opportunity. Not the best choice of chefs, but if culinary education were truly the goal of the show, there were many missed opportunities.

Alex G is the worst hostess. Her feedback is mostly negative, in a hurtful meaningless way. She's out Gordon Ramseying Gordon Ramsey, minus the yelling! Not one meaningful suggestion from her.

Sending only the captains to the cheese maker, not telling them what meal to plan, then coming into the kitchen for the smaller team with 5 minutes left and throwing negativity about their items - that is simply unpardonable hosting!

Also the show is spending money in sending all the contestants to lovely Tuscany, but poor production quality in setting the specific competition rules - both teams get same ingredients, but one team gets more time and look at the competition before they even start to plan! In which feverish nightmare of Alex G is this a real competition?

I have never been impressed with her cooking, even though she did advance in TOC 5. But seeing her character in this show revealed how shallow a person she really is because of her constant negativity. Please retire her Food Network!

Scenery, setting, production, judges all get a thumbs way up. But, honestly can they not find contestants that don't make every chef in the world look like giant, whiny egotistical jerks? There is not one person here you hopes win or root for! You watch every week hoping the worst of the worst go home! There must be nice, decent talented chefs somewhere! Please find them for Season 3. I know being a successful chef requires immense dedication and hard work and an ego but the Season 2 contestants are so ridiculously over the top. I had one I thought was talented that I did back but of course they were eventually eliminated. Please do better casting wise next season.

Best accidental find I've had. This is the first culinary arts program that showcased what a chef does as a director of a kitchen: organizing, coordinating & utilizing the talents of chefs to prepare regionally themed meals. Moved beyond the gimmicks of single ingredient focus competition to a unique take on elimination. The personality traits of chefs are shown in the what & how they cook, yes; but moreover how & if they can lead. Gabrielle B. Was a great complement to Alex G. As cohosts. Alex shines in her pointed but superbly constructive criticism which helps participants learn & grow. The regional focus backdrop of Tuscany & sharing a villa's small kitchen adds a great dynamic. Beyond a focus on "rooting" for a personality to a fuller understanding of each chef. How do they respond to challenges of all sorts - whether cooking, interpersonal, situational. Steps up the quality of the Food Network's offerings. Can't wait for season 2 & an answer to the question: will Omar return?

My fiancée and I were intrigued by this show when we saw the commercials. Set in Tuscany, lots of opportunity to showcase the locale with all the foods etc. Unfortunately, while they've shown some of those things, the format of the show is ridiculous and super unfair. Constantly lopsided teams, people being captains multiple times while others not at all, has allowed floaters to get further than they should have, while better chefs have gone home. The judges are different and their choices for choosing the winners are wishy washy and we just watched an episode where a judge pointed out something to the chefs about their choice for the menu, questioning it, thusly allowing them to make a change which really gave them an advantage. Ridiculous.