Food Network Star Makes Wise Decision

The new season of Food Network Star has begun (they dropped the “Next” from the title), and we’re three weeks in, which is enough to determine who we really don’t like, who we can tolerate, and who we want to root for. I’ll warn you now, if you haven’t watched it yet but plan to, you want to stop reading now. If you missed last night’s episode, you want to stop reading now. There will be spoilers. This season, Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, and Alton Brown have returned, but they aren’t mentoring teams as they did last season. Instead of a competition between the mentors, it’s a true competition between the contestants.

After the first week, the three front-runners as far as I’m concerned were Damaris Phillips, Stacey Poon-Kinney, and Rodney Henry. I like Damaris because she is from Kentucky (a culinary instructor from Louisville), she has a pleasant, down-to-earth personality, and she can cook. Stacey has previously been on Restaurant: Impossible, and Robert Irvine saved her restaurant. She seems more likable now than she did then, and she, too, can cook. Rodney is known as the pie guy, and since there isn’t a show devoted just to pies already on Food Network, he has an interesting point of view that could be fun to watch. He also has a pleasant personality and can cook.

Others that I could possibly root for include Chris Hodgson and Chad Rosenthal. The remaining ones at the bottom of my list are Lovely Jackson (she just seems fake), Nikki Dinki (she reminds me too much of Sandra Lee), and Russell Jackson and Viet Pham (who both need to clarify their points of view). While Viet does have to his credit that he beat Bobby Flay on an episode of Iron Chef America, he hasn’t shown enough personality to demonstrate he can carry a show.

Three have been eliminated. First was Daniela Perez-Reyes, and she didn’t make a lasting impression, and since that was three weeks ago, I don’t remember enough to say much about her. Next was Andres Guillama, who would have had a great point of view if he had focused on his weight loss; however, he didn’t want to focus in that direction, which left him a little aimless when it came to a point of view. He wanted it to be anything but the weight loss, but he only did well when he mentioned the weight loss.

Last night, finally, my least favorite of all was eliminated. Personally, I would have gotten rid of Danushka Lysek in week two and given Andres another chance. In week two, out of 100 possible guests to try her hamburger, Danushka had two people. While Andres didn’t have many more than that, Danushka’s personality was so flat and boring, that it was a chore to watch her for another week. She’s a former model, and she never looked like she was having any fun on the show. She was stiff and forced. In last night’s episode, she even openly acted bored during the star challenge. She didn’t attempt to revolutionize the basket ingredients in the Chopped-like star challenge. She made what basically looked like a poorly battered corn dog. I’m so glad they finally got rid of her, and now we can focus on contestants who are more interesting.

I’m still leaving Damaris, Stacey, and Rodney in my top three for now, but the remaining contestants (with the exception of Lovely and Nikki), could possibly earn their way up there. With Danushka out of the way, I’m looking forward to the remaining episodes.

Which Food Network Star Shines Brightest?

Last night was the big reveal on The Next Food Network Star. If you haven’t yet watched it yet and you plan to, you need to stop reading now and come back later.

Last week, the finalists were supposed to be reduced to three, one from each mentor, and last week, I told you how I didn’t like that format as it would result in someone who deserved it more being sent home in order to keep the teams even. I really do hope that when the next season airs, that problem is resolved. To further back up my case, when it came down to it, Bob Tuschman and Susie Folgeson couldn’t trim the finalists to just three. Team Alton had two finalists who were just so good that both were given the opportunity to make a pilot. After the four pilots were shown, American was given the chance to vote from the time the show went off that night through Tuesday evening at 5:00 P.M. Our choices were Michele Ragussis from Team Bobby, Yvan Lemoine from Team Giada, and Justin Warner and Martie Duncan from Team Alton.

If you read last week, you know my vote was cast for Justin Warner from Team Alton. If I had to rank the finalists in the order of how I would have liked them to finish, it would be Justin, Martie, Yvan, and Michele. Since Jimmy and I started watching The Next Food Network Star regularly with season four, we’ve picked the winner every time: Big Daddy Aaron McCargo Jr., Melissa d’Arabian, Aarti Sequeira, and The Sandwich King Jeff Mauro. After being 4/4, we were really hoping to keep our track record intact.

The first part of the show allowed everyone to gather together again and remember the highlights of the season. After the first commercial break, Bob revealed the first contestant eliminated, the one with the fewest of the 4 1/2 million votes that were cast. That finalist was Martie. I’ll admit I was surprised, though I can’t help but notice that the three teams are evened up again.

The mentors revealed the “winners” of some anonymous polling Food Network did with the contestants. Nikki won the most competitive award, while Malcolm won the cockiest award. These awards were followed by footage of Nikki and Malcolm demonstrating their competitive and cocky streaks. This footage was a reminder why I’m glad Nikki and Malcolm were not among the final contestants. I can’t help but notice that both were from Team Bobby, the team labeled “the jocks.” Interesting. (By the way, Team Giada was labeled “the cheerleaders,” and Team Alton was labeled “the nerds.”)

After announcing Martie’s departure from the finalists, leaving just three, the rest of the show was a highlight reel, saving the announcement of the winner until the end. Seeing the never-before-seen footage was interesting, and in its own way, really just served to reinforce the opinions I already had about the contestants. I kept telling myself that Justin would be the winner, as he was clearly the most interesting of the three who were left.

Right before the big reveal, each mentor was allowed to show why he or she thought his or her candidate should be the winner, by showing footage from the season. After watching this footage, I still felt good about my choice of Justin. Michele still grated on my nerves. Yvan didn’t grate on my nerves, but he didn’t really stand out either. For me, Justin was still the one with the most spunk, creativity, and personality; in short, he’s the one I would definitely watch.

Finally, after the commercial break, the contestants and their mentors stood on the line one last time, to reveal the results of the 4 1/2 million votes, and I was so very excited that once again Jimmy and I had called it. Justin Warner, the culinary rebel with a cause, was proclaimed the winner and will get his own show, produced by Alton Brown, in the fall. I, for one, am looking forward to it. I may never cook anything that Justin demonstrates on his show, but I’m sure I’ll be more entertained than I am by some of the current stars on Food Network.

Justin Case You’re Wondering Who I’m Voting For …

Next week is the season finale of Next Food Network Star. Jimmy and I have watched this season, and as it’s winding down, here are some of my thoughts about going into the finale next week.

I’m not crazy about this new format of having the three mentors with their teams. I like Giada, Alton, and Bobby. The problem is that it seems that keeping the three teams with an equal number of contestants took precedence over everything else. After the first three weeks, when one person from each team had been dismissed, it was clear that Bob and Susie were going to try to keep the teams even throughout the competition. I understand there is probably something to be said for having each of the three mentors with a contestant in the finale, but more important than that is keeping contestants that the fans like and will watch.

Going in to last night’s episode, each team had two members left, and three of the six remaining contestants were going to be sent home. Going in to the episode, I had no doubt that one member from each team would go, leaving one member from each team for the finale. And I was right. Well, almost. From Team Bobby, Nikki was eliminated (thankfully) but Michele moved on to make a pilot (ugh!). From Team Giada, Ippy was eliminated and Yvan moved on to make a pilot. When it came to Team Alton, Bob and Susie admitted this was the toughest decision they had to make. When the big reveal was made, for Team Alton, both Justin and Martie were given the green light for a pilot. They changed the rules and let both of Alton’s contestants stay. If, however, they had not gone to this format of wanting somebody from each mentor, they could have easily eliminated Nikki, Michele, and Ippy, and that would have let them keep just three for the pilot, Yvan, Justin, and Martie.

Ultimately I realize they want to tweak the format of the show to keep it fresh and to keep viewers coming back, but when they’re looking at the format for next year’s program, they need to leave this year’s format behind. If they want to continue having mentors and teams, that’s fine, but work something out so that decisions about elimination are made based on cooking and personality, not on making sure that each team keeps an equal number of contestants.

In the past, Season Two, when Guy Fieri won, was based on viewers voting after the field was narrowed to two contestants. The other seasons that I’ve watched, the judges have made the final decisions. This year saw a return to fan voting. I do like that idea; after all, the fans are the ones who will ultimately be watching, or not watching, the new show Food Network puts on the air. I’ve been keeping up with the fan vote on Food Network Online, so it’ll be interesting to see how that compares to the actual voting that will be taking place to choose this season’s winner. I’ll have to let you know if I still feel the same way about fan voting after a winner is crowned next week.

After it’s all said and done, though, we are left with four choices for the Next Food Network Star, and we get to vote. I can tell you who I am not voting for – Michele. There’s just something about her that sits the wrong way with me. I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly, but I know I won’t watch her show if she wins. I don’t see myself voting for Yvan either. He doesn’t get under my skin the same way Michele does, and of the dishes presented in the pilots, his was probably the only one I’d actually eat. His pilot was OK, but I don’t want to vote for something that’s just OK, which is why Martie’s pilot won’t be getting my vote either. Martie’s grown on me; she wasn’t one of my initial favorites, but she seemed to make the most progress since the beginning. That just leaves Justin. He’s a little weird, but he’s weird in an Alton Brown kind of way, and I really like Alton’s weirdness. Even though I’d never eat the Caesar Salad he prepared in the pilot, I think he would present some very interesting other things on Rebel with a Culinary Cause, and some of them might just be something I’d try. Now, I just have to convince Jimmy to agree with me so that our votes don’t cancel each other out.

Have You Made Your Choice for the Next Food Network Star?

Two weeks later, and I still haven’t decided on the one to root for in The Next Food Network Star. I can say, at least, that as of the beginning of Sunday night’s episode, the five I had chosen as my top five had not been eliminated. Those are Emily Ellyn and Justin Warner from Team Alton, Ippy Aiona and Martita Jara from Team Giada, and Malcolm Mitchell from Team Bobby.

This week’s episode featured season 2 winner Guy Fieri. By the way, can somebody explain to me how that “r” in Fieri sounds like a “t”? They always say “Fee-et-ee” but there is no “t” in Fieri. Anyway, Guy’s always a lot of fun, so we knew going in that this episode should be a lot of fun, even though the advertisements showed more than one of the contestants crying.

It’s really hard to write a blog about the show and not reveal any spoilers, so I’ll go ahead and warn you at this point that spoilers will be forthcoming. So, if you haven’t watched the episode but plan to, you might want to come back and read this blog after watching.

The episode began with Bobby, Giada, and Alton giving individual pep talks and advice to each of their team members. The advice is good, but the ultimate question is which potential star listened? Guy showed up and gave each team their instructions for the next team challenge. They would be hosting a food special – live, not taped. Each team was then assigned a theme. Team Bobby’s team had to cook for kids, Team Giada’s team had to cook for game day, and Team Alton’s team had to cook for Halloween. Each team met to discuss dishes and strategy before shopping.

The one thing that I did appreciate was how the teams worked together while cooking, sharing supplies when one forgot to buy flour and helping peel bananas when one’s mixture was lost in the wrong blender. When it was time to present their dishes, Team Alton went first. Justin, one of my top five, froze and faltered somewhat. The judges said his food (sardine bones) was good, but I can’t begin to fathom that. Judson might have found his point of view in trying to present food that has flavor but can help you lose weight. Martie did what Martie does best and talked and talked and talked, cutting short the time Emily, another of my top five, had to present. Judge Susie said it best when she said that they didn’t really work as a team, though I think Martie failed in that respect more than the others by leaving Emily just over a minute to present her dish. Out of these four, I thought Emily did the best, considering she did maintain her composure and pulled off a presentation in less than half the time the others had.

Team Giada went second. They blew the challenge out of the water. The judges seemed to like the food for the most part, but this team had amazing energy, and their live demo was just fun. Ippy, one of my top five, seemed to have more fun this time around, though his dish may have been the judges’ least favorite from Team Giada. Yvan and Linkie contributed to making the presentation fun, but they still come across as more irritating to me, and I doubt I would watch their shows. Martita, another of my top five, is quickly becoming my favorite. I’m not really interested in vegetarian dishes per se, but her presentations are great, and I could see myself watching her shows.

Finally, it was Team Bobby’s turn to present. Team Bobby may have had the toughest challenge because since they were cooking for kids, some kids tried their food, and you know how kids are. If they don’t like it, they will let you know. My only favorite from Team Bobby is Malcolm, and he didn’t talk about his own kids, but he’s still my favorite from this team. Michelle still grates on my nerves, and so does Nikki. Of all the teams, in my opinion, Team Giada did the best.

When the judges came to announce results, the startling news was that two teams tied for best presentation and both of them would be safe from elimination, and from the losing team, the remaining contestants would all be up for elimination. Teams Giada and Bobby were safe. I definitely agreed with Team Giada, and actually, I thought Giada’s team should have been the outright winner. Team Alton had to shoot darts at a map of the United States and then had to cook a dish to represent the state where the dart landed. Justin ended up with Nebraska, Judson ended up with Arkansas, Emily ended up with Arizona, and Martie ended up with Pennsylvania. Obviously, since Judson and Martie are not in my top five, I was hoping that Emily and Justin would win the challenge. My choice for the one to go home, before they even cooked, was Judson. I know Martie is a rambler, but she can sometimes be more interesting than Judson, who just bores me.

I was right. Judson was the one who was eliminated from this week’s episode. He seems like a really good person, and he has a lot to be proud of, but he really didn’t win me over as being the next Food Network star.

Finally, about six weeks into the show, I’ve almost made my decision about the one person to root for. Out of my top five, I’m going to choose one from each team to be the top three at the end: Emily from Team Alton, Malcolm from Team Bobby, and Martita from Team Giada. Right now, I’m thinking Martita will be chosen as the next Food Network star.

Who Gets Chopped from Next Food Network Star?

The third episode of the new season The Next Food Network Star aired tonight. This season has the contestants divided into three teams of five, and each team is led by either Giada de Laurentiis, Bobby Flay, or Alton Brown. After two episodes, teams Alton and Bobby are down to four members each while Giada still has all five of her team members. And after two episodes, I can’t decide who I’m rooting for, either as a team or as an individual. I really like all three team leaders, so it’s really difficult to decide which team I would like to see the winner come from, so I’ve been trying to choose a specific contestant to root for. After two episodes, I’ve managed to decide two or three I don’t want to win. I would not watch a show starring them on any channel. Two episodes haven’t given me a clear idea of whom I would watch, though. As I’m watching the third episode, where each team has to face a Chopped challenge which will result in three contestants, one from each team, facing the Producers’ Challenge at the end of the show, I’m still trying to find that one contestant to root for.

Chopped judges Mark Murphy, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Scott Conant were guest judges for the teams’ Chopped challenge. I’m writing as I watch, and I’m going to try to be very careful and not have any spoilers in here, just in case you decide to start watching. Food Network shows reruns frequently, so if you haven’t started watching, you can easily catch the first three episodes and be all caught up by next Sunday night.

Team Alton just completed their challenges, and after watching their performances and presentations, I think I can narrow it down to either Emily Ellyn or Justin Warner as possibilities to root for on his team. Both of them were just quirky enough to keep my attention, and both had very interesting dishes. Martie Duncan lacks confidence and her dish is something I could have come up with. When I watch the shows on Food Network, I’m looking for new dishes to try. Judson Todd Allen did better this week, but he, too, lacks confidence, and his dish was not interesting to me at all.

Team Giada has now completed their challenge and presentations. It’s a little harder to choose from Giada’s team since their personalities seem more subdued than those of Alton’s team. I can, however, say that Josh Lyons is not one of my favorites, and I wouldn’t be interested in watching a show that starred him. He just seems too nervous and disjointed to me. Yvan Lemoine and Linkie Marais aren’t among my favorites either. Their personalities just aren’t there for me, and the dishes they prepared were not something I’d be interested in. That leaves Phillip “Ippy” Aiona, from Hawaii, and Martita Jara, from Mexico. Both of these have enough personality that I would give a show of theirs a chance, and I think I’d be interested in food inspired by Hawaiian or Mexican influences.

Team Bobby has finished their challenge and presentations. The food from Team Bobby’s team always looks good, so when deciding who to root for or not to root for from Team Bobby, I have to go solely on personality. Nikki Martin just doesn’t present well enough for me to sit down and watch a half hour show she’s hosting. There’s just something about Michelle Ragussis that strikes me the wrong way. I wouldn’t watch anything she was hosting. That leaves Eric Lee and Malcolm Mitchell. Both these guys have some personality, but if I had to choose which one to watch on a show, it’d be Malcolm.

After each team completed the Chopped challenge and faced the judges, the bottom person from each team was chosen to present in the Producers’ Challenge, which is basically a cook-off. I don’t want to put a lot of spoilers in here, but I will put this one. None of the people I chose as possibilities to root for were selected in the bottom three. So as far as that goes, I’ve at least chosen well enough that when I watch again next week, I can possibly refine my choices and narrow it down even more, without the judges eliminating somebody I’d like to see starring in a show.

I’ll stop the blog now, even though the Producers’ Challenge is going on right now because I’ve accomplished my purpose of identifying who to possibly cheer for, and as my purpose is not to include spoilers, there’s no point in writing to reveal who has been eliminated. If you haven’t watched any of this season, I suggest you play catch up and start watching. Food Network is the network I watch most often. I love to cook, and I love the ideas, suggestions, and recipes I get there. If you haven’t already, you should give it a try.

It’s Hummus vs. Hubris on Next Iron Chef

As you already know, my husband and I are huge Food Network fans. We have particular hosts we love to watch, including Giada de Laurentiis, Bobby Flay, Anne Burrell, Paula Deen, Rachael Ray, Michael Symon, Guy Fieri, the Neeleys, and Robert Irvine, just to name a few. We also enjoy the competition shows, such as Next Food Network Star, Chopped, and Next Iron Chef. So, when this season of Next Iron Chef was being promoted, we anxiously awaitedthe  October 30 premiere of the Super Chefs. Of course, we had our favorite picked out the moment we saw the lineup. We’re for Anne Burrell all the way.

Ideally, I would’ve liked to see it come down to Anne Burrell and Robert Irvine in the final episode, with Anne winning. I like Robert Irvine, but I like Anne better, and I do enjoy watching her beat him, as she did on Worst Cooks in America and Chopped. I was hoping for showdown number 3, with Anne coming out on top again. Last week, when Chef Spike chose to put Anne and Robert together for a team, it was quite funny, especially for those of us who know their history. It was with great relief that we learned that they were not the bottom team and did not have to face off against each other in the premiere episode. There was hope that they still might get the chance to fight it out in the finale.

That hope died tonight when Robert Irvine was eliminated from the competition. I was speechless. Robert manages to complete Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible challenges all the time. Robert is very well respected among the chefs employed by the Food Network. How can it be that it is episode 2, and Robert is gone? For what it’s worth, which isn’t really much since he was eliminated, the decision wasn’t unanimous. At least one of the judges wanted Robert to stay. And I’m going to guess that more viewers would have liked for Robert to stay than for Chef Michael Chiarello to stay.

Robert Irvine is such a popular chef, it was startling not just to viewers but also to the other Super Chefs that he was eliminated so early. And as Alton Brown pointed out, because his hummus was too thick. Personally, I thought Chef Chiarello’s attitude was too thick. Of course, since this is Super Chefs, there are going to be some Super Egos to contend with, and while the viewers get to see all the comments the chefs make after their food has been evaluated, I’m guessing that the judges don’t get to see all those comments. And that’s probably a good thing since if I were one of the judges and I heard one of the competitors dissing how I judged, I’d be more likely to eliminate them.

Tonight’s episode was a huge wake-up call to fans and chefs alike. If a chef like Robert can be eliminated so quickly, anybody can. As for this fan, though, I still have a preferred order for elimination, which simply calls for all the chefs I’m not really familiar with or that I just don’t like as well to go first. The next ones I’d like to see go are Michael Chiarello (didn’t like his attitude), Elizabeth Faulkner (just don’t really know anything about her), and Chuck Hughes (don’t really know anything about him). After that, Geoffrey Zakarian, Marcus Samuelsson, and Beau MacMillan would be the next three to go, leaving Anne Burrell and Alex Guarnaschelli to compete for the final spot. Since I can’t have Anne and Robert in the finale, then let’s have Anne and Alex and add a female Super Chef to the prestigious Iron Chef crew.

Of course after tonight, it’s hard to speculate about who will win this competition, but it’s certainly going to be interesting to watch, and it’s not going to be an easy task for the competitors. But since it is Next Iron Chef, it shouldn’t be easy for them. One thing I’m wondering, though. When this is over, will those who serve as Chopped judges be any more sympathetic to those competitors than they were before? That may be as interesting to watch as these episodes are.