Eric Adjepong Unveils Wildcard Kitchen Secrets!
Eric Adjepong Unveils Wildcard Kitchen Secrets! – If you haven’t watched Wildcard Kitchen…it’s my new favorite show on Food Network. What an absolute honor to chat with Food Network’s Eric Adjapong on Wildcard Kitchen. One of my new favorite shows on all of TV is “Wildcard Kitchen” on Food Network (Tuesday nights at 9pm) – it’s a wonderful combination of great competitive cooking, stress with the chefs betting their own money and a deliciously intense judging segment where they’re no more than two feet from each other.
(Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for D’USSÉ)
Eric Adjepong Unveils Wildcard Kitchen Secrets! – What’s different?
Each of the three chefs start off with five thousand dollars, and have to bet at least $500 in the first round. They’re all shown cards for what style their cooking (breakfast for dinner, surf and turf, etc)…then they find out how much time they have to prepare the dish…but what the other two don’t know is what the “wildcard” is (each person gets dealt a different card from host Eric Adjapong). This card could be “no dairy” or “prepare a drink to go with it”.
Obviously this changes the dynamic of betting, and that’s just the first part of the tension (in a fun way) that permeates Wildcard Kitchen on Food Network.
Eric Adjepong Unveils Wildcard Kitchen Secrets! – The Tension
We talked about a lot of things in the show, but I kept coming back to tension. There’s a couple of moments in each episode that jump out at me (and a couple of reasons if you love food network? watch wildcard kitchen:
- Having to bet your own money is tense (obviously), but for world class chefs who take so much pride in their cooking to fold…that has to crush their egos. To be a chef of this caliber means you have to be supremely confident in the kitchen. Watch their faces when they fold…it’s a moment of tension and frustration that’s compelling.
- The judge gets in your face: For the first round they don’t know who’s judging their food. And when they come out for the first time, it’s a wonderful moment of “oh wow” followed by “oh crap” as they sit face to face (this table is no more than three feet wide). BTW, the judge doesn’t know who’s dish they’re sampling – but they do know the time and style cards (NOT the wildcard that each chef has been saddled with). You can see the frustration in the chefs face as the judge critiques their dish and they can’t explain why they didn’t use butter or couldn’t use the stove top. Tension. Compelling.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 13: Chef Eric Adjepong attends the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One – Dinner hosted by Antonia Lofaso, Eric Adjepong and Sylvain Delpique at The Carlyle on October 13, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for NYCWFF)
Eric Adjepong Unveils Wildcard Kitchen Secrets! – Bottom Line
Eric Adjapong is a rock star at the Food Network. And if you Love Food Network? Watch Wildcard Kitchen! His work on Alex vs America as the host is wonderful, and if you’ve ever seen him cook on Tournament of Champions, you know he’s a world class talent.
There’s something else I love about how he hosts the show – the relaxed nature and intellect he gives the cooks comes across and they vibe off it. Wildcard Kitchen really feels like you’re hanging out with a vodka tonic watching your best friends cook up some amazing food. Keep doing what you’re doing Eric – it’s an honor to watch you develop – and as long as you keep Carlos and Jet apart, the show will be fine 🙂
