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WHo will follow in the footsteps of Dan Smith & Steve McDonagh, Guy Fieri and Amy Finley to become The Next Food Network Star? Recaps by
Jason Block, GSNN |
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Star
Quality The place: Chelsea Market in New York City, the home of the Food Network. Our contestants start filing in. Kelsey Nixon, 23 is first. She is a recent culinary school graduate who hosted "Kelsey's Kitchen" in college. The 2nd is Kevin Roberts, 39, a restaurant owner/radio host who wants to bring romance and fun back into the kitchen. Shane Lyons, 19, is next. He weighed 250 pounds at 16 and used his self-taught techniques to lose all that weight. He saw food as an outlet for change and was the one of the youngest graduates of the Culinary Institute of America at the age of 18. Jennifer Cochrane is 32 and a single mom. She is an executive chef. Cory Kahaney is 44 and a standup comedian. People on the site may have seen her on Last Comic Standing. It was funny that someone asked her, "Have you been on TV? She kind of shied away from that. She has an advanced culinary degree in France and wants to bring the worlds of comedy and food together. Jeffrey Vaden is 43 and a caterer. Adam Geriler is 30 and had 15 years of experience in kitchens. He is a restaurant server. He sees himself as a performer/cook. The next woman made a grand entrance. Lisa Garza, 31, claims to be a renaissance woman and stylish. She is from Dallas and runs a restaurant with her husband. Aaron McCargo, Jr, 36, came up from the mean streets of Jersey to become a chef in a hospital in Philadelphia. The last one is Nipa Bhatt, 35, a self-taught chef who is a marketing manager. As the contestants are mingling in the studio our host, Bobby Flay enters the room along with the selection committee: himself (of course), Susie Fogelson Vice President of Marketing and Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President of Programming and Production. They explain to the 10 finalists what they are looking for. They all toast and Flay tells everyone the 1st challenge is around the corner. And after a few minutes, he walks in. It's Alton Brown, of "Good Eats". Everyone is excited. He explains that it's not just about the cooking. It's about getting the culinary point of view to the viewer. Which leads us into the first challenge of season 4: CHALLENGE: You must use 1 sentence to explain your culinary point of view to a camera. There is a prop table where anything can be used. You don't have to use the props if you don't want to. Jennifer is 1st. She uses a rubber chicken and says she wants to keep it simple if you don't have all day to do it. Alton said if you dont trust your voice, then you have to explain it. The first line was great and hooky. Don't explain yourself. Jeffrey uses Bacon. He says he will uses French Training with Soul Food. There will be a lot of pig, he says. Aaron is next and Alton calls him "The Spice Guy." Nipa calls her view approachable. She is proud of her take and is a "one take woman". Shane goes next. Adam uses humor and chaos to represent his point of view. He inhales what he thinks is a gallon of milk, but it's heavy whipping cream. The contestants laugh. Cory was about to do her promo...but she FROZE. Literally blanked out. The contestants were shocked that she couldn't nail it. Kelsey, Kevin are next. Lisa is Last and uses a ton of props and her promo went right over Alton's head. Lisa thought it was unfortunate that he didn't get it. Alton tells them to rest and tomorrow morning is the next challenge. We go back to the Carriage House in Greenwich Village where the 10 are staying. Lisa is doing yoga the next morning. Kevin says the vibe is very exciting. Nipa knows she is not going home. The 10 goes to the Food Network Kitchens where Alton is waiting. We have the first culinary challenge. CHALLENGE: By drawing colors, the 10 will be grouped into two teams of 5. They have to prepare 3 dishes in 30 minutes. One dish must be made by each member and one must be a collaborative effort. They will be judged on the presentation of their culinary point of view and the taste and look of the dish. They will be feeding the selection committee, Masaharu Morimoto, Sandra Lee, Alton Brown, The Neelys(Patrick and Gina), and Giada De Laurentiis. They have 10 minutes to prep the meal. Kevin didn't want Lisa. He got her. These are the teams we have planning their meals. Aaron/Kelsey, Jennifer/Adam. Lisa/Kevin, Cory/Jeffery and Shane/Nipa are the teams. We see them shop at the Westside Market. Lisa's knees were shaking. Nipa couldn't find Tumeric. So let's see what the teams have in store: The first team is Nipa/Shane. Nipa is doing Suki Bhaji(curried potatoes). Shane is doing Pork Tenderloin. The team meal is a Curried Squash Soup. Shane says a good cook is a clean cook. They have to present 10 plates...1 beauty plate and 9 presentation plates to the judges. But when Shane cuts into the presentation plate...the pork tenderloin is RAW. They present to everyone. Nipa explains she couldn't find tumeric. Flay asks about the use of curry powder. Patrick liked the cooked pork on the tasting plate, but laughs at the presentation plate. Morimoto had the line of the night: "This has not reached a level to serve a human being." Alton and Giada didn't like the curried potatoes, but Sandra did. Bob Tuschman said Shane was intimidated by the star power in the room. Kevin and Lisa are second. Kevin is doing a French Kiss Onion Soup. Lisa is doing a Poached Salmon. The team meal is an Arugula Salad. Kevin calls her the Diva from Dallas. Lisa said the plate is like artwork...and she did in a dress and high heels. They present their meal. Kevin wants to bring romance back into the kitchen and Lisa wants to bring the 3 C's into the kitchen(cooking/community service) but doesn't get to the third C, because she is confusing. Gina Nelly liked the soup. Flay hated the salad. Susie was confused and she spoke in circles. Jennifer and Adam are next. Jennifer did the Glazed Carrots. Adam did a Potato Gratin. The team meal was a Kitchen Sink Meatloaf. Adam keeps worrying about time. He is trying to get usable pieces of meatloaf for the committee. He said Morimoto"stares with the eyes that pierce the back of your soul." He is worried about the food. They present and Giada complains about the raw potatoes. Bob said Jennifer's presentation was appealing. Flay said Adam would be someone I would watch and hangout with. Kelsey and Aaron are next. Kelsey did the Orzo Salad. Aaron did a Cajun Summer Sandwich and the team meal is a Tomato Soup. Kelsey said the 1st 5-10 minutes were good. At 8 minutes...Everything falls apart. The plating was a disaster and there were incomplete plates with no bread. They present anyway. She explains the plating and saves herself nicely. Everyone agreed the salmon was good, but disagreed about Kelsey's personality. They felt Aaron was overwhelmed by Kelsey. Jeffrey and Cory are last. Jeffrey does Deviled Eggs Provencal. Cory does Honey Glazed Salmon. Team Meal was Parsnip Potato Pancake. Cory was nervous about the Presentation. She does the Presentation with her eyes closed. Flay asked that was serious and if she could add humor? The salmon was too sweet and the eggs were way too salty. And Cory seemed "Tortured", according to Susie. Evaluation time and elimination time: Adam isn' confident. He might be the one to go. Lisa is excited. Nipa(as she has said the entire show), won't be going home. The committee reminds everyone what they are looking for: a unique food perspective with personality. They recap the challenge. Aaron/Kelsey are first to be evaluated. The meal was the favorite of most of the panel. They covered up the miscount of the plates well. Kelsey was told the panel was conflicted...some thought she was upbeat, some thought she was a "hyper-caffeinated cheerleader." She must watch her energy. They thought Aaron closed down. Aaron: "I wanted the food to speak for itself." Bob: "But this is Food Television." Bob complimented him that the food was liked by two Iron Chefs. Adam/Jennifer are next. It was a comfort style meal, according to Flay. They all wanted to like it. But the potatoes were undercooked. Susie said that he was funny, but there is a seriousness that must be remembered as well. Jennifer has two things going for her...she is bubbly and isn't intimidating. She needs to focus, focus, focus. Kevin/Lisa are next. Their salad didn't go over weell. Lisa's presentation was baffling, according to Bob. And Kevin's point of view was way too generic. Cory/Jeffrey are next. The deviled eggs were way too salty. Flay said the salmon was way too sweet and that is the risk with using honey. Their presentation was on the lower end of the scale and Cory was "dark", according to Bob. Finally it's Shane and Nipa. Susie said her Suki Bhaji was way too light on the flavor. Susie then challenges Nipa (after yet again explaining she couldnt find all the spices she needed) Susie: "So you went ahead with the dish, even though you knew you didn't have the spices and the ingredients to bring your A-game?" Flay said her overconfidence was surprising. She said she wasn't nervous at all. Flay said after 12 years, even he gets nervous because he thinks about doing the dish better. Bob said Shane needed to show a little bit of youthful exuberance. Shane was upset he didn't give the best presentation and sets a high standard of himself. He wasn't proud of the food he showed "A little bit of you goes on the plate." He gets emotional and says to Flay, "You know, right?" Ok...staying are: AARON, KELSEY, JEFFREY, KEVIN, JENNIFER and ADAM. They leave and are happy. NIPA, SHANE, CORY and LISA are the final four for now. Bob said Cory looked unhappy up there. Nipa was way overconfident, according to Bobby. Shane needs to show personality and less self-consciousness as Susie says. Bob says Lisa needs to be less Rigid and less overpowering. Bobby keeps NIPA and she KNEW she wasn't going home. "No matter what the committee said, I am still the Spice Queen." (J-Note: Does anybody want to slap her silly already?) Susie keeps SHANE. That leaves CORY and LISA. Lisa stays and Cory goes home. Kelsey thought Cory was safe. Lisa says being in the bottom two was a wake up call. Cory shares hugs with everyone...and leaves. We have 9 left...and next week Robert Irvine puts the candidates through their paces...on a moving train! Find out who moves on next week! |
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