Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Big Brunch’ On HBO Max, Where Dan Levy Hosts A Cooking Competition Where Chefs Make Brunch Dishes

Brunch is a meal that’s notorious for two reasons: It’s a relaxed way for people to hang out, have a little bit of adult beverages and something good to eat. But chefs hate it because there isn’t a lot of room to show their creativity. How much can you do with eggs and pancakes, after all? A new cooking competition show tries to prove that brunch can be a more creative outlet for chefs than people think.

THE BIG BRUNCH: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Scenes of the chefs participating in The Big Brunch making dishes in their restaurants or wherever their kitchens are.

The Gist: Dan Levy hosts and is an executive producer of The Big Brunch, where ten chefs from around the country cook their versions of brunch favorites. Each week the competition will consist of a starter course, which will be judged by Levy with judges Sohla El-Waylly and Will Guidara, and then a main course. The ultimate winner of the contest will win an impressive $300,000.

As Levy describes the game, he talks about how the chefs that were selected have all given back to their communities in some way, from either running a pay-what-you-can food hall or wanting to teach what they know to people in search of a new start, and more.

The first episode’s theme is about the chefs themselves. The starter is a dish that reminds the chefs of what got them interested in cooking in the first piece, and the main is about a dish that reflects where they each see themselves going. The winner after the two rounds gets a chance to present their dishes first in the next episode, and one chef will be selected to go home.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Big Brunch is a very relaxed way to present a Top Chef–style cooking competition.

Our Take: It may be cliché to say that The Big Brunch feels just like how a relaxed brunch with friends might feel, but sometimes the cliché is the right way to go. Instead of being stuffed full of side interviews where the chefs talk about how they felt at a particular moment, a frantic soundtrack and quick camera cuts, The Big Brunch has a more languid pace. Even the mini profiles of the chefs are artsy and relaxed.

A jazzy soundtrack accompanies the usual scenes of the chefs making their dishes, with a lot of funny conversation between Levy, El-Waylly and Guidara filling in the rest of the time. In the first episode, for instance, Levy tells a funny story about being the face of Clamato juice in Canada in an earlier part of his career, after explaining why he likes the clam-tomato concoction in his Bloody Mary. There’s also a scene where El-Waylly and Guidara chat about who the “bad guy” of this reality show will be as Levy talks to the chefs.

Because all of the episodes will take place in the studio, things might start seeming a little static, but that hasn’t stopped similarly-set shows from thriving. Levy’s comedic skills will come into play, but El-Waylly and Guidara are pretty lively coaches who don’t mind mixing it up with Levy and the contestants, even as they stay respectful with their critiques.

Sex and Skin: Food porn shots, but that’s about it.

Parting Shot: In another nod to how calming this show is, the eliminated chef walks out of the kitchen with the rest of the contestants, instead of doing the Walk of Shame by themselves.

Sleeper Star: El-Waylly isn’t afraid of throwing f-bombs in her assessments of the dishes she tries, and she admitted she was full after trying a couple of starters. We also wanted to try all of Danielle Sepsy’s dishes right away.

Most Pilot-y Line: It’s funny when Levy says “We’re trying the bell” as a time’s up signal. But it’s actually not loud enough to make an impact both on screen and in the studio.

Our Call: STREAM IT. We appreciated the laid-back atmosphere of The Big Brunch, along with contestants who have ambition as well as a philanthropic bent.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.