This week during “The Next Food Network Star,” mentor Giada Di Laurentiis announced that the finalists who made it past this week were going to New York City to finish the competition. So much for having this season in a different city, huh? They must have realized they had way more resources in New York to draw from.

Anyway, this episode began with Giada asking the chefs to make their signature dishes and to present them on camera in a one-minute presentation. Sounds too easy for this point in the competition, doesn’t it? Well it was….Giada showed up 10 minutes in and threw them a curve…they would have to add in their least favorite ingredient, and to present them with that ingredient were their family members. Pretty emotional stuff! Aria’s was anchovies, Tom’s white pepper (really?), Aarti’s was okra, Brad’s was ranch dressing and Herb’s canned peas.

The two favorite dishes were Tom (salmon with cous cous cake) and Aria (mashed potato pizza with anchovies). And the winner was Aria, who suddenly felt like she was back in the game. But we’ve seen chefs win the initial challenges before only to fall flat later on and go home.

For the “star challenge,” the contestants were first told they would be competing for a spot in the final four and that they’d be going to New York City. They then were asked to create a dish at the restaurant owned by celebrity chef Todd English and actress Eva Longoria. They would pick from five different emotions randomly–joy, jealousy, melancholy, fear and surprise. Aria picked melancholy but was told she could swap out hers for another if she wished because she won the initial challenge. She swapped with Herb, who had chosen joy.

Aria made a beef tenderloin with potato gratin, signifying her joy of cooking for her young son and his dad, who she had reunited with recently.

Brad made a surf and turf but dubbed it “land and sea” as his surprise. BO-RING!

Herb had melancholy and made short ribs and scallops with mofongo, a plantain dish popular in his native Cuba.

Aarti’s was fear and she made a lamb pulao, something her mom taught her to make but that she was not good at making.

Finally, Tom had jealousy and made tuna two ways.

Brad went first and forgot to say what his emotion was, and his dish fell a bit short. And he just didn’t quite hit it out of the park. Tom’s presentation was phenomenal, as he had fun with describing the jealousy between his two tuna dishes, and then also delivering with the food.

Aria failed with her potatoes, which she didn’t taste and which were still “crunchy,” not a good description for a gratin. How many times have we seen that happen on this show? Kelsey Nixon comes immediately to mind. Her presentation was okay but not stellar…and she also forgot to mention that she had joy as the emotion.

Herb had a difficult one in melancholy and I’m not quite sure what the connection was, but he did nicely on camera and his food was loved by the judges. And when Bobby Flay raves about your dish, you’re not going home. Does anyone get the feeling Flay is like the Godfather?
Aarti made that lamb dish and it fell flat, and so did her presentation, as her fear literally reared its ugly head again. Susie even told Aarti she might wind up being “high maintenance” as a food network star…yikes!

Anyway, the top two were Tom and Herb, and Tom won, hands down. So those two guys were on their way to New York City. It would be down to Aria, Aarti and Brad. Aarti was safe. Down to Brad and Aria. I thought it would be Aria, but she was declared safe by Bob Tuschman. Brad was going home. Boring Brad, who oozed personality off camera but not on. I thought about this for a second….and I just don’t think I would have watched his show. Would you?

So your final four–Aria, Aarti, Herb and Tom. Tom is really starting to emerge as the front runner, incredibly enough. But really…this guy could be a Guy Fieri type…he’s hilarious, easy to watch and seems to have the cooking chops to back it all up. It’s going to be his competition to lose in New York.

So that’s it folks…..this season is winding down fast. Thanks for reading and see you all next week!

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…