Author: Mike Farley (Page 58 of 117)

The Next Food Network Star: they should have kicked off two

June 22, 2009 /

Last night on episode 3 of “The Next Food Network Star” Season 5, the theme was entertaining on a budget, and in my humble opinion, one contestant was lucky that the judges didn’t issue a double elimination when they had every reason to. But more on that shortly. The show began with all 8 remaining chefs meeting up with Food Network star Tyler Florence at Stew Leonard’s grocery store, which looked sort of like a Whole Foods. The first part of their challenge was to pick out ingredients to serve a dinner party of 12, but with only $60 to spend. In addition, they each had to offer a budget-conscious tip on camera for Florence, who would judge them and declare a winner, with that person to have an advantage in the main challenge.

Jeffrey won the challenge with a brief but very effective tip on how to use Nutella to make crepes for both dessert and breakfast with his family. Melissa and Debbie also did a nice job with their tips. Teddy (who Florence referred to as a cartoon character of himself), Jamika (who advised to re-use marinade) and Michael (just a complete mess) all bombed in the budget tip portion of the challenge.

Continue reading »

External TV, Reality TV, The Next Food Network Star, TV

Top Chef Masters: simple yet powerful

June 18, 2009 /

Last night on Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters,” four more talented chefs squared off in Round 2–Graham Elliot Bowles of Graham Elliot Restaurant in Chicago; Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 in New York City; Suzanne Tracht of Jar in Los Angeles; and Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake in San Francisco.

Host Kelly Choi announced that their initial “quickfire” challenge would be one of the favorite Top Chef challenges–the vending machine challenge. They had to use a roll of quarters to buy a few vending machine items and then make a small tasting dish out of them–and the judges would be Ilan, Betty and Michael from Season 2 of “Top Chef,” three contestants who had experience with the vending machine fun. They also called these tastings something like “moot vooch,” another of those French culinary terms that flies straight over my head.

Continue reading »

External TV, Reality TV, Top Chef Masters, TV

Five questions with Brett August of The Next Food Network Star

June 17, 2009 /

Season 5 of “The Next Food Network Star” is still young, and New York based Brett August was the second contestant to be eliminated. August was brash and bold, maybe like a stereotypical New Yorker, but ultimately it was the fact that the judges perceived August to have a lack of desire to really want to be a Food Network Star, at least compared to the other contestants. We had the chance to ask August a few questions on his way out…..

Premium Hollywood: Did you think you could have told Bob Tuschman and the other judges that you really wanted to win and that you could win a bit more convincingly, and that if you did you wouldn’t have been eliminated so early?

Brett August: I don’t know if that would have affected my outcome. But you look at yourself and you learn so many things, like I looked at myself and knew I was going bald on top of my head. There are so many things you learn, and it was just great. I loved it.

PH: Did you think April Fool’s Day was a tricky holiday to work with?

BA: Yeah, it’s a wonderful holiday to some people but I have never cooked for it. But now that I’ve come home, I’ve written up about twenty recipes for April Fool’s Day.

PH: What are your plans for the future?

BA: I think I’m going to start playing basketball for the Lakers. I’ll be their 2- guard. Well, really, the sky’s the limit, and I am hoping that this opens up so many doors for me.

PH: Do you feel bad about speaking up regarding helping Melissa or did you feel like something had to be said?

BA: It’s the competitive spirit in me that came out a little bit and for people who don’t know me; you might not want to watch me play basketball in Central Park. But Melissa and I are friends, and we might go out for martinis.

PH: Who do you like of the remaining eight to win it all?

BA: You know, it’d be great if they could all get their own TV show…they are all great individuals and amazing people. I’m going to wish them all luck, and whoever comes out on top deserves it.

The Next Food Network Star airs on Sundays at 9pm/8pm central on The Food Network.

External TV, Reality TV, The Next Food Network Star, TV

The Next Food Network Star: easy to spot duds

June 15, 2009 /

Even after sifting through hundreds and thousands of applicants, the ten finalists who make it to the TV portion of “The Next Food Network Star” are there for a reason–they impressed several judges along the way with their combination of cooking ability and the way they present themselves on camera. But something funny happens when they get to this pressure cooker known as national TV….and the first few weeks of each season usually expose the pretenders. Last night was no different, and the same will likely go for the next few weeks.

The show began last night with an initial challenge, and the theme for this week was magazines. Bobby Flay was ready to greet the nine finalists along with Ryan, an editor from men’s mag Esquire, and they had a rapid fire challenge in which they had to uncover a serving tray and create a meal from what was on said tray. Since this would be geared toward Esquire’s male audience, the ingredients were some kind of meat, and another weird ingredient.

Continue reading »

External TV, Reality TV, The Next Food Network Star, TV

Top Chef Masters: Four dudes having fun

June 11, 2009 /

Last night was the premiere episode of “Top Chef Masters” on Bravo, a spinoff of the extremely popular “Top Chef” show that recently completed its fifth season. As we reported on Monday, this show pits four established, top-notch chefs against one another six weeks, and then the six winners compete against one another for a few more weeks, with one elimination taking place each week until the master is crowned.

The first episode featured Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys in San Francisco; Michael Schlow of Radius Restaurant in Boston; Tim Love of the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Fort Worth; and Christopher Lee of Aureole in New York City. Kelly Choi was the host and her first assignment for the chefs was to create a dessert dish for the distinguished palates of four girl scouts. They mostly cringed, with Schlow in particular admitting he had no formal training as a baker.

But they forged ahead. Schlow’s cakes literally flopped but he managed to put something on the plate. Love made a favorite of his daughters — strawberries three ways, including a “chicken fried” strawberry. Lee went with French toast cubes, and Keller won with his play on chocolate mousse and meringues — which he shaped into little animals. So he had a jump start in points with 5. Love and Lee had 3.5 each and Schlow started with 2.5. Those points would go toward their final score after the main challenge.

Continue reading »

External TV, Reality TV, Top Chef Masters, TV

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Premium Hollywood

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑