The Massive Brunch Assessment: Dan Levy’s New HBO Max Collection Has Massive Coronary heart

A cooking competitors that duties cooks with making brunch — the No. 1 most dreaded meal in {most professional} kitchens — at first appears like a recipe for Sisyphean ache. Within the fingers of “Schitt’s Creek” co-creator Dan Levy, nevertheless, “The Massive Brunch” instantly establishes itself as the entire reverse of that bleak image, with its emphasis on congeniality and heat above all else. Leaning on the latter-day “Schitt’s” beliefs of staying true to oneself, this mild twist on a “High Chef” method doesn’t precisely deliver the drama — however for these craving one thing with much less chew, “The Massive Brunch” ought to show tougher to withstand than that one final mimosa.

The eight-episode collection (premiering Nov. 10 on HBO Max) opens with Levy introducing 10 contestants who’re “every making a giant distinction of their neighborhood,” although just one will win the ultimate (and impressively giant) prize of $300,000. Right here, “The Massive Brunch” establishes altruism as its final objective. Over time, although, its definition of what “making a distinction” means varies wildly from individual to individual, making it exhausting to not choose one chef’s dream towards one other. Opening a pop-up bakery through the early days of COVID is spectacular, however does that individual “deserve” the cash greater than, say, the chef hoping to purchase the impoverished church that hosts his neighborhood backyard and meals for the needy? It’s not the fault of both contestant that their tales find yourself pitted towards one another, however ought to the present see a second season, it’d do properly to ensure its casting and mission assertion are higher aligned.

Complicated although its broader goals may be, “The Massive Brunch” finds a groove as a cooking competitors present rather more shortly. Given his years of internet hosting expertise (together with the tonally related “Nice Canadian Baking Present”), Levy’s appeal comes as no shock as he assumes the driving force’s seat. Becoming a member of him as judges are restaurateur Will Guidara (previously of Eleven Madison Park) and prolific recipe developer Sohla El-Waylly, with El-Waylly specifically exhibiting simply how snug and educated she is each as a chef and as an on-screen authority. Simply as vital within the stability of issues is David Korins’ glittering set design, which includes a kitchen decked out in sky-blue tile, a Parisian bistro-esque eating room and bar to host the judges (and their brunch cocktails), and a sliding partition separating the 2 when it’s time for deliberations. Even figuring out it needed to be a set and never an actual kitchen, I nonetheless felt a shock halfway by means of the season when the forged walked off it and into the parking zone for an impromptu farmers market.

As for the brunch of all of it, the temporary fortunately proves extra versatile than not. What may have simply been a parade of egg preparations is as an alternative a celebration of family-style meals and the totally different traditions that may make the noon meal so vital. There could also be solely so some ways to serve up brunch, so a second season must discover but extra modern concepts to stretch the premise. Given the way it dealt with these first eight episodes, although, “The Massive Brunch” has earned its place on the subsequent desk.

“The Massive Brunch” premieres with three episodes on Thursday, Nov. 10.