Last night on “The Next Food Network Star,” the final four faced off in a Bobby Flay-style “throwdown” in Las Vegas. In two separate two-against-two matches, they had to make their own signature dish, dressed up for Vegas, and then a version of their opponents’ dish. But as they always do on this show, the contestants were asked to do this in 75 minutes time, and while being interviewed by Extra’s Dayna Devon. In addition to the three regular judges–Bobby Flay, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson, network star Paula Deen was also recruited to judge the dishes.
First up was Adam vs. Lisa. In real Food Network terms, this is like pitting Guy Fieri against the Barefoot Contessa. Adam’s dish was macaroni and cheese, which he decided to amp up with lobster. Lisa made a cassoulet, which is a bean and sausage type stew. Adam had never made a cassoulet, so you would think he was at an extreme disadvantage. Anyway, the judges loved both signature dishes, and Adam’s Vegas style gamble of using lobster paid off. But Lisa’s mac & cheese fell short…of course, she had to foo it up by using goat cheese..blech! Paula Deen said she “hated it,” which had to hurt. Meanwhile, Adam’s cassoulet was a good try but also fell short with the judges. Also, both of them kind of brushed off Dayna during the interview segment, which is not good when you’re trying to be a Food Network Star. They fully expect you to walk and chew gum and cook a gourmet meal at the same time.
Then it was Kelsey vs. Aaron. Kelsey’s dish was chicken parmesan and Aaron’s was stuffed pork loin.
But Kelsey tried to simplify her own dish, putting the chicken on skewers and making it almost kid-friendly. She also admitted that a big dish like a pork loin was beyond her realm, especially with a little over an hour to work with. So she instead used a pork tenderloin, layering it with th stuffing. It looked good but Kelsey overcooked the pork and she knew it. To make matters worse, she made reference to culinary school again, something Bob has chastised her for. Meanwhile, Aaron’s stuffed pork loin looked amazing, and he managed to put some side dishes together with it. But with a little over five minutes left, he had forgotten to make the chicken parm. Yikes. But Aaron used his friend, the deep fryer, and managed to plate something that frankly looked amazing. It was big and bold, totally the opposite of Kelsey’s. And both Aaron and Kelsey did better with the interview, though Aaron stopped cooking when talking to Dayna. Again, walk and chew gum, people. The judges loved Aaron’s dishes, both of them, while they did not like either of Kelsey’s. Uh-oh.
At judgment time, I was wondering why they didn’t announce individual throwdown winners, but then I realized why…..pitting them randomly against opponents was fair and not fair at the same time, so in the end it had to be an individual performance that mattered. The first to be safe was Aaron. The judges continue to be wowed by his cooking ability but tell him he needs a bit more work on his camera skills. Next, Lisa dodged elimination again and probably got by on the strength of her cooking as well.
So it was down to Adam and Kelsey. Adam has flaws but he keeps managing to pull good performances out of his ass. Meanwhile, Kelsey did three things wrong–she didn’t make the chicken parm with any flair, she overcooked the pork, and she mentioned culinary school. See ya, Kelsey.
It’s down now to the final three–Aaron, Lisa and Adam. Adam has the least overall cooking skills and knowledge, but he brings an engaging camera prescence and humor that the other two clearly do not have. So really, it’s pretty wide open and should be an interesting sprint to the finish. Next week my boy Guy Fieri is a guest judge and from what I can gather, they are still in Vegas. See you then!
