I actually don't mind the new format because the old version was getting vveeerry slow. SC does taste the food, but after the chefs (rightly) because they are the experts - you see them encouraging her to eat. I don't think all the chefs are good at interviewing each other.
like you all, I've been disappointed with a lot of the dishes. It's a brilliant brief (better the Wimbledon for instance) but not a lot of creative thought linking books and dishes. And, unlike some years, they've been allowed to get away with it rather than having been called on it.
Also, things are a bit confused - and I wondered if they got edited in later.
For instance, being "encouraged" to link to authors from their region, but it not being essential, I don't think was mentioned at all in the first episode. Likewise, they keep occasionally mentioning that there will be some children at the banquet - but the dishes are all very grown up. My two (admitted highly fussy) were laughing that there will need to be a separate children's menu at this banquet.
But my biggest bug bear is the authors. With the exception of the Blessed Julia Donaldson (who should be a Dame by now), the rest are famous people who have written books and some bloke from Harry Potter. Did Malorie Blackman, Nick Parkes, Lauren Child, Robin Stevens, Quentin Blake etc etc all turn them down?