Tonight’s a new episode of Top Chef: New York (oh, I pray to the spirit of Julia Child, please let Leah be booted) and thus another opportunity for judge Toby Young to prove once again that he’s the worst critic on TV, and yes, I’m not forgetting Ben Lyons.
Young arrived at Chef fresh (or rather, stale) from a stint reviewing restaurants for newspapers in his native England (sample bit of prose: “The ultimate test of a meal is whether it produces the same mouth-watering, eye-rolling effect that a donut has on Homer Simpson”–d’oh!), with a short stop at mini-celebrity for writing the book How To Lose Friends and Alienate People. As the weeks go by and Young’s pre-fab critiques now arrive with stand-up-comedy groans attached (“If I had to come up with a name for the dish, I’d call in Pablo Escolar“–thanks folks, be sure to tip your waitress!), we must wonder: Why did Young get this Chef gig? His descriptions of food veer off into lame movie or TV references instead of–well, food. And it’s not as though he’s a brilliant Brit wit–the Chef producers would have done better to import Nicholas De Jongh, the clever theater critic for Young’s former employer, The Evening Standard.
No, Toby Young will not do. He’s mucking up a season of Chef that needs all the liveliness it can get. If I had to come up with a name for his work, it would be (this is my salute to Young’s groaners) Toby Or Not Toby. I pick Not-Toby, please.
I agree, Ken. In the words of my favorite cheftestant (Carla), “this is the new judge? Gail?! Gail?!” The fact that he looks like a member of the Adams family doesn’t help.
thank god someone finally said it! Toby has no food experience and everything that comes out of his mouth is negative and has no basis! He is just trying to be the foodie Simon Cowell! Tom Collichio is tough but you know he knows his food! Please fire this hack ASAP!
Ken, you hit the nail right on the head! Toby Young treats his Judges Table presence as an opportunity to try out lame one-liners, rather than a serious discussion of the merits of each dish presented. I keep waiting for him to break out with a quip like, “Take my plate…..Please!”
When Tom critiques your dish – you listen. Whether he likes it or not – he comes off as fair.
This new dude hates everything. Comes into each meal wanting to hate everything.
I don’t respect him like I respect Tom or Gail.
Padma….hmmm…when it comes to food, I’m not sure I agree with her palette – but she is a very good host.
Off subject – why is it so complicated to leave a message on this thread?
Other articles on EW, I just put my name and comment and hit “post”. With Ken’s column, you have to put in your e-mail address and do that stupid code thing which I never can see correctly.
Is Ken that protective? I don’t get it.
Ugh! I totally agree. Toby takes a great, classy show one step closer to the atrocity that is Hell’s Kitchen. Please get rid of him!
He is just awful. I can’t wait for Gail (or anyone other than Toby) to judge.
Your comments are bang on. Toby is an absolute disaster. The only plus side is I noticed he gets far less air time than Gail did. I guess even the producers are seeing how lame Toby is.
Right on Ken! Toby Young is pathetic as a food critic. As an 80′s bad stand-up comic he shines; maybe he could switch over to Last Comic Standing. And I thought I was the only one who loathed Ben “I cried at Benjamin Button” Lyons. Someone at E! must have lost a bet to Jeffrey.
Toby is truly awful, and he pales in comparison to previous guest judges like Anthony Bourdain, who is actually funny and knowledgeable. Plus, I don’t think the regular judges can stand him either! Every time Toby unleashes one of his lame insults, you can totally see the annoyance written all over Tom’s face.
I miss Gail too, and isn’t it obvious with the way Padma leers at him that she hates him too? I keep hoping for a throw down, I thought it might come over Ariane who Padma seemed to want to keep, but alas, the mean kids (Leah, Hosea and Stefan) got to stay.
i hate toby
I can’t stand Toby Young. He’s AWFUL. Please bring Gail back soon. Unfortunately Ted Allen has a new show, so they can’t get him to fill in. Toby from The Office would be better than this Toby.
Not only does Toby have terrible taste, but he’s a total… ahem, jerk. He’s infamous in Europe for having a big mouth spouting drivel. I have no idea why Top Chef when with such an idiot.
I am so sick of Toby. I can’t wait for Gail to come back from her wedding vacation. Bravo should pay as much as it takes to get Ted Allen back from Food Network, who is wasting him on crap like “Food Detectives”.