The Julia Child Challenge (2022– ) User Reviews

Love the "family dinner" at the end

[laurahowardstown · 8/10 · 22 March 2022]

I like this show. It's not flashy or celebrating a holiday or season as some other FN show do, but it's more classy. It's neat to see the B&W Julia Child videos. The best part is at the end when the judges and contestants all sit around a big cozy table and try all the dishes the contestants made during the competition. What a great learning experience for all the competitors. They get to taste what others have done and discuss techniques, ingredients, etc. With each other and the judges.

Julia Is Spinning

[the_urbanite · 6/10 · 6 April 2022]

I can't help but think that Julia Child would hate this show. I understand amateur cooks make good TV because there is drama when they screw things up, but this show is just bizarre. I also couldn't help but notice the lack of white men on the show. We're talking about French cuisine... something invented and perfected over hundreds of years, largely by white men. So why are almost none of the contests and (five episodes in) none of the judges French men? The casting seems like an effort to be woke. I also think it's incredibly disrespectful to a cuisine you're supposed to be cherishing by lavishing praise on contestants who bastardize it by bringing in elements from other cuisines. Wouldn't it be the most challenging to get to understand the traditional French way instead of just throwing in some Japanese ingredients and calling it inventive?

Boring

[drednm · 15 March 2022]

Antonia Lofaso and guest judges assign various cooking challenges to a group. The twist is that the challenges all come from Julia Child's famous cook book. There are also many clips of Child from various TV shows.

Main problem is that the format is dull and the competitors are not very interesting. More low key than other Food Network cooking competitions.

Lofaso tries but she can't force much life into this dead fish of a show. The most interesting part is the barrage of Child clips.

Sentimental and Entertaining for Julia Child Fans

[rebecca-78648 · 10/10 · 1 May 2022]

As a lifelong Julia Child fan, I started watching this with a little trepidation. I thought it would be too easy to turn Julia into a caricature and I was concerned about how they would incorporate her into the show. It turns out that my concern was unfounded. They did a great job.

I loved this show and I'm not over-fond of many current cooking contests on Food Network. My complaint against most shows is that they prefer flash-bang, edgy contestants and weird banter that ends up detracting from the cooking.

The Julia Child Challenge seems to take a page from The Great British Baking Show play-book; kinder, gentler, but no less entertaining and certainly more educational than most of the current crop.

I love that the contestants are nice folks, that they genuinely support each other, and don't talk smack. Each of them is truly talented as a home cook, too.

Antonia Lofaso does a great job connecting with the contestants and providing honest constructive criticism.

I'd happily watch more seasons of this.

Excellent

[lcantoni · 10/10 · 24 March 2022]

What a refreshing change from the nasty, vulgar competition shows that seem to breed like, well, rats in a kitchen. This one is about the food and Julia Child's amazing legacy of making great cooking accessible to all. The contestants and the judges are respectful to each other and clearly find joy in what they do, as Julia did. The interspersed videos of Julia are so inspiring.

The Dead Fish Is Livelier

[waldoborolibby · 1/10 · 23 March 2022]

Boring cooking competition that uses Julia Child as an "inspiration," but it's just a rip-off of Child's name and reputation. But I'm sure the Julia Child Foundation made some money on this.

The most boring collection of cooks I've ever seen on a Food Network shows "compete" by making dishes that really have nothing to do with Julia Child. Example: Julia used wine in her fish stew. Make us a meal in which you use wine. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

There's more time spent on the contestants yapping about themselves than there is on cooking. Antonia Lofaso (host) and two guest judges ooze on about Julia Child and have a "family" dinner at a big table where everyone is forced to eat the food. Raw salmon? Raw chicken? NO THANKS!

I guessed in the first 5 minutes of episode 1 that Bill B. Would be the winner since he sells cookware. Stay tuned .... I won't.

Missed Expectations

[mikebinder82 · 3/10 · 11 April 2022]

Came into the show with the idea that Julia would be guiding the contestants on how to prepare certain dishes. Not necessarily the "worst cooks" level but slightly elevated family cooks. These people are not those type of people and they use Julia in tidbits to bring in some nostalgia for the viewer but the chefs themselves don't care.

The premise of the show should be: Provide some footage of Julia cooking and the chefs follow along with cutting a fish for the first time and then cooking it a certain way as shown by Julia and judged.

The end.

This is "Chopped" on a vintage looking set.

No thanks.

Rolling over in her grave

[deborahchambers-75218 · 2/10 · 11 November 2023]

Well another food network show ripping off the hard work Julia Child did to get where she was . Can't anyone think of anything better that a bunch of more or less home cooks getting a lot of food that doesn't go together and making something stupid that no one would order or eat ,but the so called judges try to make you think these are great dishes they made. I think this show is embarrassing and shame on the food network for using Julia Childs name to make money. Please try to go back to shows where chefs actually cook things and show you how, just like Julia Child did ,how about that food network wouldn't that be something.