Just announced - they’re heading to…The Carolinas. Mostly Charlotte, NC, but some in Greenville, SC.
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Interesting that they’re heading back to that neck of the woods, considering they had a season already in Charleston. Given how long the show’s run, it’s inevitable they will revisit old regions. Still rooting a New England season… 
I wonder if they might tie in some of the rebuilding they’re doing in Asheville.
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Well, they DID do Boston. But they could do Maine.
That would be a good thing!
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Yeah, and while there were a few fun twists and few strong cheftestants (love Gregory and Melissa!), I didn’t love the Boston season. Katsuji…boooo. I think they missed the chance to showcase more of the cuisine in Boston, without the hokey baseball/sports or pilgrim homages. I loved the idea of doing Thanksgiving dinner, but wish the challenge was more interesting.
I’m the recent resurrection of Portland, ME destinations, I proposed they do a New England episode so they can pluck from a lot more local talent - Portland is an easy one, but also a few of those gems tucked away in VT, RI, and I’m sure there are some ex-NYers ensconced in CT too. I would love for then to try to pull more local talent in. Each location they maybe have 1or 2 chefs. I kind of wish they would try to have more local chefs (but still pass the bar on quality) too.
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There are some great places in Portland, but also some great spots in Kennebunkport .
Maine has a lot of good food, and their emphasis on local farm to table or sea to table really is top notch. We are spoiled, being in New England, to be able to hop over to Maine and neighboring states quickly for beautiful locations and great local foods.
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I haven’t really rewatched a lot of re-runs but happened to have caught the last few episodes of the Richard Blais v Mike Isabella season (was that first All Stars?). It definitely re-ignited a desire for a good cooking competition show. Hope 23 will be a good season. Shuai from last season is in the Carolinas, I think. Would be fun to have him come back, though I wonder if it’s too soon.
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That was the first all stars season. Watching the old shows makes me wish the shows were more like those. I did like the last season with Kristen better than the first.
Blais was so much fun to watch. And I don’t remember why but I sort of disliked Isabella, which gave me some emotional investment in the whole thing. Paul Qui was great too, and of course Kristen Kish. I stopped watching regularly the next season after hers; no one that season seemed to me even remotely in her league. Agree that the older shows seemed better; the challenges weren’t quite so over-the-top and there was somewhat less focus on interpersonal drama.
Honestly, some of the recent challenges were so pretentious. Make food like Frank Lloyd Wright. Sloppy plates. Seriously?
The worst for me are the movie tie-ins. The Mission Impossible and then the Jurassic Park ones were painful since they were so woefully connected to anything food related. If they said re-create or re-interpret Big Night or something, that might be interesting. I get it, they have to make money and get those sponsors, but then someone needs to be way more creative in design of the challenge.
I actually thought a good Frank Lloyd Wright should have been to ask them to make something architectural - quite literally. Of course we don’t need 5 layers of food balancing on top of each other (though would have loved to see someone try), but something along those themes that focused on plating rather than some obtuse “food that reminds you of design” thing they did.
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Blais was so much fun to watch. And I don’t remember why but I sort of disliked Isabella, which gave me some emotional investment in the whole thing. Paul Qui was great too, and of course Kristen Kish . Blockquote
I absolutely disliked Mike Isabella in his first season, and he still annoyed me when he returned. I admit that he came back stronger as a contestant in that All Stars season, but I disliked his attitude on the show. There’s being confident, and there’s being a smart-ass, cocky SOB and he leaned for more into the latter for me. Paul Qui cooked really strong, but his personal life has since overshadowed his accomplishments in the kitchen.
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Fortunately Charolette / Greenville is very different from the Charleston area. And Greenville has had quite a surge in food.
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Except if you go back to TC9-Texas when they did Fit for an Evil Queen with Charlize Theron as a guest judge and her movie “Snow White and the Huntsman”, THAT one, while still gimmicky, was still rather inventive.
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I just had to google that one. I had no idea. All I can say is, yikes…
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So is Ashleigh Shanti, but she in Asheville. Asheville would make a good road trip!
I can’t say I agree with all the comments reminiscing about “the old seasons” ( I can’t even rewatch some of the first seasons!) , but I sure look forward to sharing my enthusiasm with you all this season. 
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