Tag: Guy Fieri (Page 2 of 2)

The Next Food Network Star: and then there were three…

July 20, 2009 /

Is it just me or is this season of “The Next Food Network Star” flying? We are now down to the final three contestants, which means that in a couple of weeks we will have our new champion. I also have that same feeling I had last year…that is, that there is no clear-cut, Guy Fieri-like favorite. In fact, I think the network struck gold with Fieri and may never find anyone like him in this venue again. But that’s okay, because the producers and execs have to know that anyway.

So last night’s episode continued in Miami where the final four of Melissa, Jeffrey, Debbie and Jamika were greeted by Iron Chef Michael Symon at their hotel, the Eden Roc. Symon assigned them their first challenge of the day, a live cooking demo on a Miami network TV morning show. But what Symon didn’t tell them was that each of the chefs would be sabotaged in one way or another during their demo.

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

The Next Food Network Star: paying for past mistakes

June 29, 2009 /

On “The Next Food Network Star” Season 5, there have been some catty moments, and, well, moments of gameplay that border on vicious. So it wasn’t really a big surprise last night when the judges announced who they were eliminating. We’ll get to that in a bit, because this episode had a lot going on, including one of the finest (read: horrific) moments in the show’s history.

The show began with Bobby Flay playing network executive, and telling the remaining seven contestants that they would start off this week’s episode by creating a burger from a specific region of the country (not necessarily where they were from). The winner would have a burger on the menu at Bobby Flay’s new burger joint in Connecticut (book my flight, I want to go there right now). They would then have 30 minutes of camera time to describe their creation.

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

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.

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

The Next Food Network Star new season debuts Sunday June 7

June 2, 2009 /

Yes, it’s really been a year since Aaron McCargo, Jr. won Season 4 of “The Next Food Network Star,” one of the network’s most popular and talked about shows. Since then, McCargo has his own show, and Season 2 champ Guy Fieri is about as ubiquitous on TV as Peyton Manning or Oprah. So, you see, The Food Network takes this show very seriously, and well they should. Not only is it vital for them to keep finding new talent, but we are able to enjoy the process as ten finalists battle it out with tough challenges and nerve wracking on-camera experiences.

Season 5, which kicks off this Sunday June 7 at 9:00 pm ET/PT and 8:00 pm CST, features finalists Brett August (Washington Heights, N.Y.), Katie Cavuto (Philadelphia, Pa.), Melissa d’Arabian (Keller, Texas), Teddy Folkman (Alexandria, Va.), Eddie Gilbert (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Jen Isham (Orlando, Fla.), Debbie Lee (West Hollywood, Calif.), Jamika Pessoa (Atlanta, Ga.), Michael Proietti (New York, N.Y.) and Jeffrey Saad (Los Angeles, Calif.).

The challenges promise to be even tougher this time around according to a press release, and we had the chance to ask judge and long-time network personality, restauranteur and Iron Chef Bobby Flay how he felt about the challenges.

“I do think sometimes the challenges are hard, but that’s what this is about,” he said. “If everyone was perfect in every challenge, there would be nothing to watch. You want to see how they do under pressure and how they handle it.”

In addition, since Flay is the lone chef on the judging panel along with Food Network execs Bob Tuschman (Senior Vice President, Programming and Production) and Susie Fogelson (Vice President, Marketing and Brand Strategy); he admits that he is looking more for that special culinary talent first and foremost, while the other two may have different priorities.

“Since I’m the chef on the panel, I’m always protecting the food,” he said. “It’s three things–they need to be able to cook with authority, they need to be able to be a good teacher and inspire, and then if they have those two things they need to be entertaining. All three of those things are the recipe for success.”

In addition to Flay, there are several network personalities that will help with the challenges and with guidance to the ten finalists. Those include Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown, Guy Fieri, Ina Garten, Emeril Lagasse, Gina and Pat Neely, Masaharu Morimoto, Ted Allen, Tyler Florence, Michael Symon McCargo, Jr.

We’ll be blogging the entire season right here starting this Monday, so tune in and then read us right here and let us know what you think!

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

Guy Fieri’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown 2 Set to Start January 4

December 18, 2008 /

The Food Network has struck gold with Guy Fieri, who has four different shows and is about as ubiquitous on the network as misteltoe and egg nog this time of year. The guy is a workhorse and execs at the Food Network clearly love everything Fieri works on. And for good reason–he’s entertaining, knowledgeable and can grab the reins of any show and make it more interesting.

Fieri’s back again with Season 2 of “The Ultimate Recipe Showdown,” which begins airing January 4 at 9pm ET/8pm central. This season began with 12,000 recipes, which a panel of judges narrow down to 24, in categories of Comfort Food, Burgers, Hot and Spicy, Desserts, Cakes, and Hometown Favorites. Each week the winner takes home $25K and a chance to have their recipe featured on a T.G.I. Friday’s menu. Co-host Mark Summer is not helping Fieri this time, and while he claims to be bummed out about that, Fieri is ready for the challenge of hosting it alone. He’s also very excited and ready to rock.

“This second year is remarkable,” Fieri said yesterday during a conference call. “There is a real in-depth view of the contestants. It’s not just about the food on the plate and how it’s presented. Producer Art Edwards really got more of a compelling background piece on the show contestant’s giving the show much more depth.” He then adds, “The folks this year were a fantastic group and many of them had that one signature piece that just blew the judges away.”

Fieri, who was taking a break from filming his “Chefography” for the network at the time of the call, has possibly taken more air time away from his buddy and network darling Bobby Flay. Whether or not it’s too early to tell if that’s the case, the Food Network is definitely keeping Fieri busy. They shot the full season of “The Ultimate Recipe Showdown” in less than two weeks. “We shot a show a day along with bumps (ins and outs) but each show took about 10 hours to shoot,” said Fieri. “Each episode was shot back-to-back. It was a 12 day schedule for this year’s season.”

And while the show has already been taped, you’ll have to tune in each week to see who wins.

Reality TV, The Next Food Network Star, TV

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