At least Mario stays with Italian stuff, which he does well. And I've heard through the grapevine that he runs a good (if somewhat rough) kitchen.
/johnny
>> I love Bobby Flay’s BBQ, but he’s an ass, and if he gets out of his area, he founders. Same with Emeril.<<
In his defense, Bobby Flay’s “Throwdown” is a great combination of extremely thoughtful cooking combined with a great sense of humility and fun.
In the end he became fanatically opposed to a variety of staples in his earlier shows. He lost enough weight to become gaunt and sickly looking. His attitude became hostile and judgemental toward the sauces, deserts, cakes and sweet delicacies that he taught us to make. We lost Alton somewhere along the way....
Your analysis pretty much mirrors my take. Bobby Flay... puhlease... always about him! I don’t watch anything with him in it. Alton actually was a good teacher with a lot of humor thrown in.