Last night began the new season of “The Next Food Network Star” and they changed things up dramatically this time. Instead of taking place in New York City near the network’s offices and studio, they moved it out to Los Angeles, putting the focus on the “star” portion of the show’s name. Also this season, in addition to regular judges Bobby Flay, Susie Fogelson and Bob Tuschman, the show added Giada Di Laurentiis as a mentor to the twelve contestants. Oh, and the fact that there are twelve instead of ten is also a change.

And here is the field:

Dzintra Dzenis, a 40-something cooking instructor from Austin
Doreen Fang, a caterer from L.A. who is this season’s Debbie Lee clone
Alexis Hernandez, a private chef from Indiana
Brianna Jenkins, a caterer from Atlanta who claims to be a party girl
Aria Kagan, a private chef from south Florida who is a natural on camera
Herb Mesa, a personal trainer from Atlanta who has more energy than any contestant on this show, ever
Serena Palumbo, an attorney who found out she has a passion for cooking
Tom Pizzica, a “former restaurant manager” from PA who will remind you of Seth Rogan in looks and goofiness
Aarti Sequeira, a former TV producer specializing in Indian food
Darrell “DAS” Smith, a caterer from LA who likes himself
Brad Sorenson, a chef from Austin who claims to be adventurous in the kitchen
Paul Young, a waiter from Chicago with improv experience

The first challenge they had in this two-hour opener was to create a signature dish that showed their own personality using two basic ingredients–chicken and potatoes. Then they had to present that dish on camera, giving them instant trial-by-fire.

Aria made chicken with walnuts, grapes and dates and was so natural in front of the camera, I’m surprised Susie and Bob didn’t hire her right then and there…..Doreen made pan seared chicken with herb butter and offered this beauty: “I love butter.” I told you she was this year’s Debbie Lee….Herb made a mojo marinated chicken with charred corn salsa. Yum…..Tom made a pan roasted chicken but was horrible on camera…Dzintra made a chicken Napoleon but that’s all I remember…Serena made a Mediterranean roast chicken but was so nervous her plate was shaking….DAS made a chicken roulade that was raw in the middle. Oops….Aarti made an Indian spiced chicken that was also raw in the middle. Oops again…..Paul made pan roasted chicken with jalapeno but Bobby flay said he didn’t taste the jalapeno….Brianna made sticky chicky in a piggy or something like that but came off as fake on camera….Brad made fried chicken thighs with a cream sauce but he was not good on camera either…and finally, Alexis made a gratin with braised Caribbean chicken, but he was totally intimidated by the camera.

The judges chose Aria and Herb as the best, and Tom and DAS as the worst. Tom and DAS didn’t lose anything other than pride, but Aria and Herb had the chance to choose their own teams for the next challenge, which was a team task of creating a 6-course meal for a celebrity chef, who turned out to be Wolfgang Puck. Before they cooked, though, they each had to shoot a 15 second promo with director Andy Fickman. Some of them were natural (Aria), while others floundered (Alexis).

Anyway, Aria’s team was Dzintra, Brianna, Tom, Aarti and Paul, while Herb’s was Brad, Serena, Doreen, DAS and Alexis. The team captains also chose which part of the dish each person would make.

Dzintra had something happen to her eye and a medic told her to go to the emergency room. So she did, leaving a couple teammates to finish her dessert.

Highlights from this round were Brad’s salmon, which Wolfgang praised as well as Bobby, putting Brad understandably on a cloud. But Brad was a robot on camera….Herb, who did pushups on command….Tom, who was absolutely hilarious…and Aria, who just gets it.

Lowlights were Alexis, who was all over the place on camera…DAS, who was punching the camera…Aarti, whose “giggle and spice” was not giggle-inducing….and Doreen, who was just uncomfortable and awful on camera.

The winning team was the gray team, but the judges were torn on whether or not Dzintra should be disqualified. They gave her another chance based mostly on the fact that her team won.

So the black team lost and one of them would be going home. The judges declared Brad, Herb and Serene safe. That left Doreen, DAS and Alexis. DAS was the first one safe and then it came down to Doreen and Alexis, who were both horrible on camera. In fact, both were so bad that they both should have been sent home. But it was Alexis, whose fear of the camera was his undoing.

Okay, we’re off! And today we’ll be on a conference call with Alexis as well as Bob and Susie to hear what their take on last night’s premier was. Thanks for reading and see you all next week…