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The Final Table S1 Power Rankings (Pre-Game: Top 12)

Dec 2, 2018 by PowerRankings101

We have a brand new culinary competition on Netflix, “The Final Table,” which pits 12 teams of 2 star chefs against each other to accomplish several food challenges involving different areas of the world. Since this is an elimination based show and there are no spoilers, I have decided to rank the teams each week based on how I think they’ll fare in relation to the upcoming episode. This week was Mexico, so let’s see how there chefs fare with first impressions (they are all extremely qualified and this is strictly nit-picky).

12. Charles Michel and Rodrigo Pacheco- Rodrigo is a seafood expertise, which is nice in a competition spanning so globally, but it looks Michel’s credentials are very focused on the production side of the culinary world and not necessarily the food itself. They talk about performance art, public speaking, and event producing. This is all great in the real world, but how about a culinary competition? I’m not so sure.

11. Johnny Spero and Jessica Lorigo- Spero is all about modern American cuisine, which is great, but this show looks like it’ll be heavily showcasing foreign types of cuisine, which may work against his strengths. Luckily, Lorigo has strengths in Latin American cuisine which could help them in the first challenge or so.

10. Rafael Gil and Esdras Ochoa- These guys look super competitive, and I believe this Mexican cuisine opening challenge should be a walk in the park for them. Unfortnately, it looks like “the taco missionaries” have such specific strengths that they may have weaknesses aplenty. Either way, I think they’re a wildcard that we’ll just have to keep an eye on.

9. Shane Osborn and Mark Best- These two guys look older, which shows experience. I think they’ll both show lots of strength in their cooking, but could be maybe a bit too arrogant for a competition like this. They have to make sure they don’t get too cocky, or they could be going home sooner rather than later.

8. Timothy Hollingsworth and Darren MacLean- These guys have some incredible credits under their belt, but I am definitely interested in the fact that Timothy never went to culinary school. This means his natural gift is incredibly great, or he’s going to struggle to keep up with other trained chefs. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

7. Ash Heeger and Alex Haupt- The tattoos alone are intimidating, and I think this competition lends itself to some cutthroat nature. Will they be the top dogs, I am not sure, but I could see them lasting for quite some time!

6. Ronald Hsu and Shin Takagi- There will probably be some Asian inspired challenges in this competition, and even if there aren’t, their expertise in Asian cuisine will surely come into play, showing off a wide variety of skills. I like them.

5. Monique Fiso and Amninder Sandhu- I love supporting a Manhattan chef and Fiso is one of them. I think their expertise in culinary arts like Indian, New Zealand, and Italian will make them very well rounded and could put them above a lot of others in the competition.

4. Benjamin Bensoussan and Manuel Berganza- Michelin-starred restaurants, Singapore, Spanish, Malaysia, Indonesia, French-born, Madrid. There are lots of buzz words in their credentials, and I could see these two bringing their impressive resumes to the table. I’m excited for them.

3. Graham Campbell and Aaron Bludorn- These guys both started cooking when they were super young, and have since then grown and made names for themselves. They specialize in contemporary cuisine, which seems to be a trend, and seem to be pretty well rounded in their skill sets. I think they’ll be in it for the long haul.

2. James Knappett and Angel Vazquez- Knappet definitely believes in making anything work together on a plate, as long as it’s fresh and local. I think his innovative working method will pair well with Vazquez’s wide variety of knowledge in terms of variety of cooking methods (burgers, seafood, contemporary Mexican, etc). They seem to be a match made in food-heaven.

1. Colibri Jimenez and Collin Brown- Jimenez specializes in Mexican food, while Collin exceeds in Caribbean food based in the UK. That’s three totally separate, diverse cultures, and I think that will definitely come to be a strength for the two of them, as their skill set seems blatant. I can’t wait to see them as well.

I think we’ll see lots of early contenders, but based on bios, Colibri & Collin, Graham & Aaron, James & Angel, and Benjamin & Manuel seem the most promising off the bat. The only true negative that stood out to me was Charles’ work being based more on culinary related business rather than cooking itself, which is why I predict them to be eliminated first, but literally ANYTHING is possible since they are all so esteemed.

PREDICTIONS:

Going Home- Charles & Rodrigo

#casting

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Please, no spoilers, since I will be watching and ranking as I go! Enjoy it, it's right on NETFLIX!

Sent by PowerRankings101,Dec 2, 2018

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The Final Table S1 Power Rankings (Pre-Game: Top 12)

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