Last night’s finale of “The Next Food Network Star” featured two contestants in Melissa D’Arabian and Jeffrey Saad who were, frankly, both worthy of winning. So the challenge that they both faced in taping their own pilot would pretty much be the determining factor.
Being that this final episode was taped before a live audience, there was a lot of time to fill. So they began with shots of both contestants with their families back home–Jeffrey in Los Angeles selling real estate and hanging and cooking at home with his wife and two kids, who I believe they said were 13 and 9 years old. Melissa, meanwhile, is from Keller, Texas, and they showed her with her husband and four kids, all girls, between the ages of 1.5 and 4….are you kidding me? No wonder Melissa is so frantic all the time…they showed a shot of her driving a minivan with the four car seats. Yikes.
Anyway, Alton Brown would be directing their pilots, and he first met with Jeffrey and Melissa before filiming. Jeffrey’s “Cooking without Borders” was quickly shot down, and his new and more accurate theme, “The Ingredient Smuggler,” was agreed upon. Melissa’s “Cuisine Copine” was also shot down, when, after she explained what it meant to Brown, he replied, “Okay, we’re done.” Brown suggested “Kitchen Survival Guide” and Melissa loved it. Both of them were shown having problems getting started, Melissa not looking at the correct camera and Jeffrey forgetting to smile and looking all flustered. But both rebounded and did well, though they would show more of the pilots later.
The other eight finalists were brought out and interviewed randomly, and if you looked at each of them, you had to wonder how any of them would manage to do this pilot challenge effectively. Then they showed a look back at life in the cramped Food Network dorm for the show, and there were some hilarious moments. Who knew Katie was such a character? Why didn’t they let any of that come out on camera during the challenges? It’s also worth noting that Jeffrey and Melissa are the only two contestants with kids.
On to the pilots..Melissa made her 4-step chicken, in which she makes chicken breast in four easy steps that are inter-changeable. She did an excellent job, even if her overall style is a bit like Rachael Ray’s. Jeffrey made a steak sandwich with the secret smuggled ingredient, harissa.
He did great as well, and in fact I thought his pilot was just a notch better than Melissa’s.
I was starting to have this feeling that Jeffrey would win, when in fact I’d been picking Melissa for weeks. But after some intense deliberation between Bobby Flay, Susie Fogelson and Bob Tuschamn, and after Food Network president Brooke Johnson made her grand entrance, Flay held the winning name in his hands…….Melissa D’Arabian!
I couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for Jeffrey, because he was every bit as worthy. But Melissa, the “underdog,” worked her butt off to win this thing. She listened to every bit of criticism, and overcame the fact that she had no formal culinary training to win. Even Flay was consistently impressed with Melissa’s food, which was no easy feat. So props to you Melissa…..and now we all wonder how your show will do for real, and how you plan on juggling life with four very young kids. Maybe that would be a real ratings grabber–a reality show with cameras chasing Melissa and her family around. Bob Tuschman, are you reading this?
Anyway, thanks for reading this season with us…we’ll be on a conference call with Melissa today and will be interested in what she has to say. Stay tuned!
