‘Top Chef: New Orleans’ preview: A cream cheese catastrophe?
What is the only thing possibly more irritating than having a challenge themed almost all around a product? How about having two of them for two weeks in a row! As insane as that may sound (and it should sound insane), this is precisely what we are getting on Wednesday night’s “Top Chef: New Orleans” episode.
The challenge highlighted in the video below seems simple enough, at least when it comes to the basic premise of having to cook dishes that impress a pretty esteemed audience of critics, with it this time including a group of New Orleans chefs that contestant Justin Devillier is somewhat familiar with. Just in case he was not completely intimidated before with the idea of cooking, this is one of the drawbacks from being a New Orleans chef in the competition.
But now, we turn to that dreaded product placement that we have already spent a good bit of time complaining about. The product at the center of this challenge appears to be Philadelphia cream cheese, which seems to be the sort of thing that people are going to buy regardless of whether or not it is shown on this show. Are there really that many other cream cheese brands out there? Outside of store brands, they really have the market cornered. We’re grateful for the product integration since it keeps the shows on the air, but can’t it be spread out a little bit more over the course of the episode? While it is not the case here, we always find it somewhat strange to see contestants being forced to use products that they would not use in their actual kitchens. (That’s happened before, and it will probably happen again before the end of this season.
What do you want to see take place on this upcoming “Top Chef” episode, and does the idea of a few culinary catastrophes coming up in this sponsored challenge have you a little worried? Be sure to share your thoughts below, and click here if you want to take a look at some more news, including our review of the most-recent “Last Chance Kitchen” special.
Photo: Bravo