Wildcard Kitchen AKA The Greatest Cooking Show You've Never Seen

Hello everybody!

I have been considering writing this blog post for a while now, but for whatever reason, I never got to it, so let’s get to it now!

Here’s something that I have told you all before, I enjoy watching The Food Network. I really do. In fact, I genuinely think I enjoy watching it more than any of the Gordon Ramsay shows on Fox. It truly feels like there is more of a focus on the cooking here, and the creativity of the chefs, and I genuinely feel like the regulars on these shows are more memorable and likable than anyone on a single Gordon Ramsay show. 

For the most part, I enjoy watching standard cooking shows like Beat Bobby Flay and Tournament Of Champions. But there is one show that stands out a lot more than the rest, because it is unlike any other show that I have ever seen. I don’t just mean cooking shows, I mean cooking, reality, and game shows of any kind. Today, I am going to talk about Wildcard Kitchen.

Here’s what the basic premise of the show is. It is hosted by Chef Eric Adjepong, the Head Chef at Elmina Restaurant in Washington DC, and one of the main personalities at Food Network. Basically, he takes over The Food Network Kitchen after hours with an invitation for three chefs to bring $5,000 of what is supposedly their own money to play across three hands of what is literally a culinary poker game. The three chefs participating in each episode all know each other very well, and they all have to create dishes based on the cards they are dealt, and then bet with their own instincts and money. The first cards that are dealt determine the dishes and the cook time, while the wildcards are there to completely throw the chefs off. From there, guest judges arrive to do blind taste tests over the course of three rounds, and from there, decide who won that round, and the money along with it. And the judging is so blind that the finished dishes are moved around so that they are not in front of the chef that made them before the judge arrives. 

First of all, I am just going to say this right now, blind judging is absolutely the way to go for a cooking competition, because that reduces the chances of there being blatant favoritism. I mean, think about how many times on Next Level Chef that Pride Rock Hair tried to insist to Smiley and The Gordfather that the best dish belonged to someone on his team. It’s actually way more annoying than I made it sound. With the blind judging on this show, not only do the judges not know who made what dish, they also have no idea what disadvantages all the chefs were at. 

It also feels like all the chefs in every episode are friends in real life. It’s not like Hell’s Kitchen where they all hate each other and will turn on each other at any point in time, nor is it like MasterChef where the three judges feel more like coworkers that are just there to do a job and get a paycheck.

Now I’m going to explain how each of the three rounds works. 

The first round is The Speed Hand, which has a $500 buy-in, and requires the chefs to create a dish in 20 minutes. 

The second round is The Make Or Break Hand, which has a $1,000 buy-in, and the reason for its name is because it determines whether or not a chef will have enough money to play in the final round. 

The final round is The High Stakes Hand, which has $2,000 to participate, but the chef with the lowest cash on hand sets the buy-in for the other chefs. Also, for this round, and only for this round, the chefs can trade their Wildcards for another one if they don’t like the one they have, but they have to use the card they end up getting. 

Once the Wildcards have been revealed, the chefs can then choose to add more money to the pot, check to see what the other two chefs are going to do, or fold and not play the round if their Wildcard really is that bad. 

So, there you go. I have explained how this show works to all of you. 

I would do write-ups of all the episodes, but if there is anything I have learned from doing write-ups of cooking shows, it’s that doing so almost always drains me. I know that I am able to write about The Masked Singer episodes with no trouble at all, but that is because I am incredibly passionate about the show, and there is always a lot to talk about in every episode. With cooking shows, there isn’t as much happening, and I end up forcing myself to be creative in what I write, which ends up making it way more challenging for me. 

But at the same time, this truly is a show that all of you reading either need to watch or learn more about. So what I am going to do now is go over some highlights of the truly insane dishes the chefs have had to make. 

In one round, the chefs had to make a dish that was “Breakfast For Dinner,” and they only had 22 minutes to do so. That seems fairly reasonable, but one chef had to add a Fruit, which now that I think about it is actually not that challenging, but another chef could not use any dry seasoning, and the other chef could not use any fresh produce. 

Another time, the chefs had to make a Pork & Apples dish in 28 minutes, and they all had to incorporate Langoustines. That does seem possible, but one chef had to include an ingredient that started with the letter K, another chef had to pair their dish with a beverage, and another chef had to use a whole jar of Jelly. First of all, I can only think of two ingredients that start with K, and they are Kale and Kohlrabi. Second of all, making a completed dish and a beverage in 28 minutes is basically impossible. Third of all, adding a whole jar of Jelly to a dish should not be allowed, because that is absolutely disgusting. 

Another time, the chefs had to make Soup & Sandwich in 25 minutes, and they also had to include Okra, which is one of the slimiest foods out there for those of you that don’t know what it is. This seems reasonable, but wait until you hear what cards the chefs got. 

The first chef had to serve it on a stick. Yes, you read that correctly. And in a truly bizarre turn of events, he chose to stick with this card. 

The second chef could only use six ingredients, and he immediately realized that it was impossible to do when you are making a Soup and a Sandwich, so he traded his card in for another one, and now he had to use the spiralizer, which is a slight step up, as you can use the spiralizer on any type of fresh produce. 

The third chef got a card that said that his dish… had to be a duo. Yes, he got a wildcard that literally helped him. And in a bizarre turn of events, he still didn’t win. 

Another time, the chefs had to make Surf & Turf, and from there, things immediately went bad. They had to make their dish in 25 minutes, which I feel is not enough time for a dish like that, and the ingredient all three of them had to include was… Peanut Butter. Yeah, a Surf & Turf dish with Peanut Butter. And that’s before getting into the Wildcards that each chef got. 

One chef had to use the Ice Cream maker in the making of her dish. Putting aside the fact that it’s a very bizarre piece of equipment to use when making Surf & Turf, she actually chose to stick with this card. 

The next chef could not use any fresh produce, but she immediately realized this was a problem when creating a dish, so she traded in his card for another one, and now she could not use any Butter, which is only slightly less bad when it comes to making a Surf & Turf dish.

The last chef could only use seven ingredients. He immediately knew this was a problem with a challenge where three ingredients were already picked for him, so he traded it in for another card, and now his Surf & Turf dish with Peanut Butter… had to be served in a cone. Yes, you read that correctly. He had to make a restaurant quality dish, and serve it in a cone. But truthfully, the joke was on the other two chefs he was competing against, because he had the best dish of the round. 

Another time, the dish the chefs had to make was Elevated School Lunch, but they also had to use the incredibly normal ingredient of Molasses in their dishes. Yeah, because that’s an ingredient I would definitely put in any dish. To make things even worse, one chef could not use any dry seasoning, another chef had to use the ISI canister, which is a pressurized metal kitchen tool that turns liquids into light foams, mousses, and whipped cream, and the last chef had to take a four minute timeout, in a round where they were cooking for 20 minutes. Yeah, so clearly the cards had it out for all three chefs this round. 

But let me tell you all something right now. By the time the show got to Season 3, the Wildcards got exponentially way more brutal. Part of this was due to the fact that the Final Round saw the introduction of The Diamond Deck, which consists of the most evil Wildcards in Chef Eric’s Deck. 

Some examples of the show being way more brutal on the chefs include this round, where the dish had to be an Asian New Year’s Celebration, and the required ingredient was Pineberries, which are White Strawberries that have a flavor similar to Pineapple. That alone seems challenging enough, but one chef also had to make Eric a Sandwich while he was cooking his dish for the round, another chef had to make her dish a Pizza, and another chef had to use one ingredient three ways.

Another time, the dish the chefs had to make was “Cali Fresh,” and they also had to include Tater Tots, which I don’t know why, but to me feels like the opposite of Cali Fresh. 

The Wildcards in this round were also about as brutal as it gets, as one chef had to use a full bag of Marshmallows, which she quickly realized would be impossible, so she traded it in and could no longer use any bottled sauces, while the other chef had to break down and use a whole Chicken, which not only uses up so much time, but also makes it harder to figure out what you’re making, as you then have to figure out how to use every part of the Chicken.

But if you want my opinion on what the best and craziest episode of the whole series is, look no further than Episode 9 of Season 3, which is an episode that I can easily describe as being “Oops, All Wildcards!” What I mean is that there were no Dish Cards or Ingredient Cards in this episode. 

As a result, the first dish had to be “nutty,” and one chef had to use a black ingredient, one chef couldn’t use dry seasoning, and one chef had to make a dessert. 

The second dish had to have a frozen component, and also be a cold dish at the same time, which in my opinion is just two ways of saying what is essentially the same thing. And then one chef had to make an Amuse-Bouche, which is smaller than an appetizer, one chef had to use an ingredient three ways, and one chef had to make a vegetarian dish, which is really not that outrageous when you actually think about it. 

Then, the third dish had to have a whipped component and a batter, which are again, almost the same exact things. 

The first chef then had incorporate a Curry, which I feel is a bizarre thing to incorporate in a dish with a whipped component and a batter, the second chef either had to give one of the other two chefs five extra minutes, or lose five minutes herself, and the third chef had to cook with only one hand for three minutes. Yes, you read that correctly. Putting aside the fact that I don’t even know if that’s physically possible, the chef also knew that it wasn’t possible, so he traded it in for another card that said that he had to go all in with his money, which really didn’t matter, because that’s what he was already doing. 

So, yeah. That’s how crazy this show can get. As of right now, it is unclear when the show will be returning for another season, but I do know that there is apparently another season coming, but with a very unique twist. It’s going to be called “Wildcard Kitchen: High Rollers At Sea.” This will apparently take the game beyond the kitchen and into international waters, where the rules are different and anything can happen. It will also be formatted as an arced tournament, feature some of the most memorable chefs that have already been on it, literally take place on the water, and feature the largest pot of money in the history of the show. 

Overall, this is a truly fascinating show, and you should all check it out. It’s currently streaming on HBO Max, and for those of you who don’t have that, you can watch it on Food Network Go by signing in through your TV provider. 

I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog post, and I’ll see you all soon with another one!