What happens if you hybridize The Amazing Race and Top Chef? There are two possible answers: "nothing good" and "Around The World in 80 Plates". And you know, both of them are true. But, please, don't get us wrong. It's not just another Bravo's disastrous TV show; it's just a cooking reality show, which is not about the cooking. How is it possible? With ease, here we have to lift the curtain off the series' plot. First of all, you have to imagine three clueless chefs walking down the streets of London, doing the classic "pub crawl" and pretending the "drunk Americans". It's pathetic scene, you know. But who are those unfortunate souls? Meet Keven Lee, or how he calls himself Cheven (mix of Chef and Kevin). He represents one of the endangered species of Hollywood private chefs. The next one is Chazz, his real name Chaz Brown from Voorhees, New Jersey, who is repeatedly semi-shocking us with his British accent, that's why it would be better if he kept silence all the show long. Our list would not be completed if we haven't mentioned the Tex-Mex half-naked chief Sai Pituk from Texas, who surprisingly said the she cooks Asian cuisine only. There are another nine contestants participating, that makes total twelve. The television show is divided into two parts. In the first part all of the participants are performing something like scavenger hunt in the uncommon environment of foreign culinary culture (you have to ideate the picture of dozen Americans wander the rows of Borough market; it's must be funny, isn't it?). In the second part of each episode the contestants have to cook (finally!) the local dishes which their tasted in the first part, and as a bisque, the winning team (those who won the "scavenger hunt") gets one secret ingredient, which will be in great help in the "cooking" part. That is most amusing part of the "Around The World in 80 Plates" because judges are the locals, and you should see their faces when they taste black pudding hash cooked by Americans.
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Anna Miko enjoys writing more than reading books. But most of all she likes to write movie and series reviews. Being fond of classic cinema, she nevertheless is the author of many research works on contemporary visual arts. She also writes short essays on new movies and series helping others to navigate the world of modern cinema.
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