I was incredibly excited for the premiere of the new Travel Channel show Food Wars.  After the success of Man v. Food, I thought Food Wars would live up to the hype.

I was wrong.  Boy was I wrong.

The host, with her Peter Pan like stance (fists on the waist, legs spread in a ‘V’) and overenthusiastic response to everything, tries very hard to be Adam Richman from Man v. Food and fails miserably.  The premise of the show is that Camille Ford (that host I was just talking about) goes to different towns with big food rivalries and tries to declare a winner.

The first stop is Buffalo, New York, for battle Buffalo Wings.  The Anchor Bar is where Buffalo wings originated, before them the wings were generally thrown away.  The Anchor Bar claims that they have the best wings ever because they created the dish.  Duffs, a bar across town, claims that while The Anchor Bar made the wing, Duffs perfected it.

A blindfolded taste test is done with five judges.  In this group, each bar was allowed to bring one “super fan” to the judges table, a local food critic, a Buffalo hockey player, and Miss Buffalo Wing- five judges total.  Each judge tries one wing, then the other and votes on their favorite.  Whoever gets the most votes wins the competition.

OK, this method makes sense, but tastes vary from person to person.  I like vinegary barbecue sauce much like most people south of the Mason-Dixon line.  My husband likes sweeter sauces since he’s a Yankee.  Who wins the competition doesn’t actually solve the debate and possibly only makes things worse.  People are still going to eat at The Anchor Bar, but now when tourists roll into Buffalo are they going to go strictly to Duffs because they won the competition?  This show could potentially hurt businesses.

I was excited for the show and after watching it I was left disappointed, irritated by the host’s repetitive speech, and left speechless by the appalled/sad/angry faces the losing team gave the camera when they lost.  I will not be watching Food Wars again.