PILOT REVIEW: America's Next Great Restaurant

AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT

Judges: Bobby Flay, Lorena Garcia, Curtis Stone, and Steve Ellis
Directed by Brian Smith

NBC's newest reality show is another nationwide search - this time four well known chefs are the judges (and financial backers) looking for a new restaurant owner. The winner will open a new chain restaurant on May 1 in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and New York City. It was billed as a cross between The Apprentice and Top Chef and from the beginning, it's apparent that was an accurate label as the feel and style is very much a cross between those two shows. In the first episode, they narrowed down their contestants to a group of ten.

There is nothing new to see here but yet, as is often the case, it is engrossing at times. Every The show has a flair for the dramatic even when the situation is not that dramatic, the contestants are over-the-top, and the judges are crueler than necessary and somewhat snobby. Yet it had its moments. The most interesting part was seeing the unique foods and concepts that were pitched to the judges including some food I was curious to try! But the dialogue between the judges and contestants made it almost unbearable. It's nothing new or exciting in the genre but it's harmless enough. Maybe we'll get another good chain restaurant out of it.