America's Next Great Restaurant, 4/17/11 (Spoilers)

[Joanie]

Now they have to cook for kids. Because if families are in the malls, kids will decide where to eat much of the time. Bobby's well spoken daughter helped judge, tough critic. Kid cooking worked out well for Joey Meatballs who finally won something. Harvest Sol did okay too but I'm not down with her for some reason. The poor guy with the Indian food was screwed trying to cater to kids and the judges went from loving his concept to giving him a hard time. Maybe he should have tried those tacos again with less spice. If his burger was mushy, that's one thing but if kids just don't want Indian food, seems unfair. Soul Daddy kept getting a hard time about the healthfulness of his food even tho he used whole wheat flour and turkey sausage, then chicken. It's one thing if they don't like the execution but another if they're all gung ho on the soul food for 6 shows and now he's gotta work health into the mix. Grill Billie's had a food spill and a chef hissy fit and the judges didn't like the dynamics of the team. Soul Daddy was very emotional which helped keep him from being eliminated and while Grill Billy's (not sure if it's IE or Y so I'll use both) seemed to please the judges for weeks, it was their time to go. Had a feeling it would be them but it seemed random.

[saeyedoc]

I think they're just running out of challenges.

[Seth Chadwick]

I know it would have spelled certain doom to any contestant who did so, but I would really have liked to see one of them call out the Chipotle guy and rail on him about his pontificating about a kid's menu when Chipotle has the most lacking kids menu I have ever seen. It is a choice of a "make your own taco" plate or you can get small quesadillas. And for all the hoopla they were doing over the designing of a toy, I am trying to figure out what toy they give out at Chipotle because they certainly don't advertise it on their billboards or in their stores.

I rarely see kids at my local Chipotle and the ones that are there are eating burritos just like their folks. I completely agree with coney that kids are most certainly not driving the decision to eat at Chipotle.

So, I am hard pressed to take seriously someone who harps on others for leaving out a demographic when their own concept is hardly a beacon for children.

[chicgail]

I hate the idea that anyone thinks children need a separate menu made up of most white, flavorless boring food imaginable. Child-sized portions? Yes. Different food. Ridiculous.

[celfie]

arent children's toys the antithesis of fast casual???

the indian guy has it right, fast casual is designed for urban professionals, not children

in addition, urban professional parents are probably not taking their children for fast food, casual or not

[Miss Needle]

I'm not sure why I keep watching this show as it's a bit moronic. Ultimately I'd like to see Spice Coast win because I think it would help Indian food become more mainstream and lead to an improvement in the quality of Indian restaurants here in the US.

[goodhealthgourmet]

I'm not sure why I keep watching this show as it's a bit moronic.
~~~~~~~~~~~
yeah, i have very specific & personal reasons, but i don't understand why the rest of you bother ;)

[chris2269]

GHG its like crack...I can't stop...I want to ...I really do...It's like a bad girlfriend that I complain about at the bar with my boys and then show up at her house at 2:30am.

[goodhealthgourmet]

huge sigh of relief that Soul Daddy & Spice Coast are still in the running - i had been hoping GrillBillies or Brooklyn Meatballs would get the ax last night.

what's up with all these contestants who complain that their chefs railroad them into doing things they don't want to? you're the boss. grow a pair, assert yourself and get a new chef! it boggles the mind.
re: Harvest Sol, i know what you mean. Stephanie may be an intelligent woman, but no matter what the challenge or critique, she always looks like a deer in headlights. it's frustrating to watch - i just want to shake her and tell her to get with the program! and her chef is an idiot - the apricots were sour because they were RIPE? oy.

i didn't understand the issue with the lack of healthfulness in the Soul Daddy offering either...i have to wonder if he *did* at some point try to explain to them that he specifically used a whole-wheat waffle and turkey sausage for that reason, and it just got edited out.

Joey Meatballs got lucky. the guy has zero vision, and i felt like it took every ounce of self-restraint the toy developers had not to roll their eyes and throw up their hands in despair with him. the Connect-4 knockoff was a bizarre choice.

in terms of Curtis' comments about how kids in the US won't eat Indian or spicy food, they're not baseless. but instead of taking such a negative, defeatist position on the matter, i'd like to see him to just the opposite and encourage Sudhir to be the one who tries to *change* the current attitude and introduce kids' palates to new flavors.

i'm still pulling for Spice Coast or Soul Daddy.

[celfie]

it's such BS that kids won't eat indian food in the US
kids in the US already do eat indian food. this show
and next food network star give the american people
very little credit. maybe if they would stop telling america
how much they dislike indian food and stop being so safe
about it, peoples attitudes would change

[goodhealthgourmet]

to be clear, i didn't say there are no kids in the US who eat Indian food. my point was that Curtis didn't pull this claim out of his you-know-what - the options available to kids in this country aren't as diverse as what one might find elsewhere.

and yes, i wholeheartedly agree that needs to change, but it's still the state of things right now. i think the biggest problem is that *adults* just assume that kids won't like something new, different or spicy, so they don't even try to introduce it. i see it all the time with clients, friends, and even in my own family. and look at restaurant menus in this country - if they offer a separate "Kids" menu, it's always the same - grilled cheese, plain pasta, chicken fingers, pizza, fries...so, is it exasperating to hear Curtis say it over and over again? absolutely. particularly to those of us who disagree with encouraging/perpetuating the current trend and would like to see a change. but it's not untrue.

man, if i had a dollar for every time i heard "I don't know if s/he'd like that, so I'll just stick with [insert bland, unoriginal food here] because I know s/he'll eat it..." i'd be sitting on a pile of cash right now.

[chris2269]

The funny thing is that.

Chipotle's kids menu consists of a build your own taco plate or a quesadilla.
Bobby's Burger Palace has a kid size burger combo as the only option
Curtis doesn't have a restaurant
and Lorena Garcia's Miami Airport location has nothing of a "kids" menu

I have never been more soured on someone or thier company based on TV (which I know isn't real) but I really dislike Steve ells.

[Parrotgal]

I just couldn't agree with you more. I find him so unlikeable I don't ever want to eat at Chipotle again. What an unpleasant personality!

And the whole "kid's menu" thing was just lame. Why can't a restaurant be geared to adults? I would have liked some Indian food as a child, but children don't rule the world. Why does everything have to be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator (i.e., picky children who only want chicken nuggets and fries)?

And how are whole wheat waffles and turkey sausage or chicken unhealthy? If you only feed your kids fast food, you should know you're not getting a really healthy, balanced diet.

All that said, Sophie Flay was a pretty self-possessed and well-spoken little girl! I would probably want her in my focus group. Wonder how much coaching she had.

[msjess]

The whole challenge seemed odd. Most fast causal places don't have a kids menu (or if they do it's more of an after thought) or offer happy meals and toys.

[coney with everything]

Glad it was Grillbillies gone as I like Soul Daddy and Spice Coast...well, "like" might be a bit strong.

Stupid stupid criteria though...do kids drive the decision to eat at Chipotle?? I seriously doubt it.

What kills me is that Curtis Stone surely knows how ubiquitous and accepted Indian food is in the UK, yet we continue to hear the blather about how Americans won't eat it.

The toy design stuff was ridiculous as well...it seems that if you create a restaurant concept, you would be smart enough to hire out these types of decisions.