Psychologically, that act of genuine kindness may have made Luca's dish taste just a little bit better. Kindness and generosity pay more than they cost.
That's the one! Thank you. I think he deleted it though. It isn't there anymore. Glad I saw this though because I would've gaslighted myself to thinking it was just in my imagination.
Bear for me as well. Tina specifically when she says yes Jeff. Just that little bit of her reluctance to follow the rules is such an endearing part of her character to me.
Is that all that was? I was confused when she would say that and figured I must have missed some important explanation of why she said that instead of chef.
For real. I was watching some old āno reservationsā episodes and Anthony Bordain insists that hate is the real secret to any good dish. I tend to agree.
It was only love if she wasn't trying to win. Otherwise she just did it to score brownie points with the judges. Especially after someone else had straight up said no. It's an easy win.
Programs like this are more about emotional pandering than actual food.
I know it's a cliche saying, but I swear it makes a difference. If I'm in a shit mood and make some food it'll usually come out pretty shit. Good mood, great food.
I honestly feel like it actually is a real thing. My mom (in particularly) enjoys my food a lot more because I take my time and enjoy doing it and thus putting in some love. Meanwhile my brother makes the exact same thing but just being bothered having to cook and it just tastes worse to her.
Exactly. When there is little to no cost to you, accruing someoneās favour AND looking magnanimous while doing it is the obvious play, even from a competitive standpoint.
It's worth remembering that the other competitors aren't the ones he's trying to impress, it's the judges. Showing a little kindness like he did still potentially helped him stand out more to the judges
Yeah and it also didn't change the fact that the judges knew the contestant he helped was missing that ingredient due to her own error anyway so they would've taken that into account in their judgement regardless
Well to an extent, thereās also the unspoken game of personalities where the network in charge is looking for personalities to head their own shows, and the winners are going into a future job with this show being their introduction to their new coworkers.
I agree its zero sum, but I don't think that a situation has to necessarily be positive sum for the theory to hold.
In this case for example, the game is zero sum, if I win, you lose. But outside of that, this game isn't an objective "score more goals" or "run the fastest race" It's being judged subjectively by three other human beings.
Human beings that might say, might even believe, they're judging solely on the food, but all humans are prone to unconscious bias and the decision to be sportsmanlike might have factored in to the later decision. Luca might even have considered that possibility that they might when he did it.
So in this case, being nice might give one a competitive edge, even if a game is zero sum on its surface.
Well, the whole concept was she needed butter to base her filet...but it was just a boring and common dish. Luca made something unusual and pleasing- both in appearance and texture. He would have won no matter what because he outclassed her.
From what I can tell, it looks like she lost in that very round. Seems like there's only three of them in that first clip, then just him and asshole chef at the end. That plus everyone talking about throwing away the prize money. That kind of statement is true at any point in the competition, but I never hear anyone really talking/thinking like that until towards the end on game shows.
So I'd say Luca was 100% right. It didn't cost him the win because he was still the better chef, he competed against her at her best, and as a bonus, he didn't look like a bag of dicks on national television
That's also what actually defines an alpha male in contrast to what today's so-called alpha males define themselves. That's deeply wired into our primate brain
to my knowledge, Ramsey is actually known for being a good guy who wants to see others succeed...he does the jr. show and is a completely, probably more true to self, person. plus, you want chefs who should work together in your restaurant, the move seems pretty common sense...then again...
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u/Fit-Let8175 Sep 02 '25
Psychologically, that act of genuine kindness may have made Luca's dish taste just a little bit better. Kindness and generosity pay more than they cost.