Spoilers!
It hasn't even been a week since the season finale of Top Chef, and I'm already into a new show. It's a rebound -- something new and exciting to occupy me for now, and who knows what it could turn into? A brief fling? A multi-season love affair? I feel so giddy.
So just to clarify: Last night was my first evening spent with The Next Food Network Star. I'm going to be writing recaps for the rest of the season, but my experience with the show is limited to one episode, plus all of the online content. That means that all you veteran watchers should feel free to help me out whenever possible with details from past seasons, etc. And if you haven't seen the show, start watching Sundays at 10 p.m. EST and we can learn together!
The show allows contestants to compete for their own show on the Food Network. I'm not going to run through all of the contestants individually, but you can check out all of their bios here.
For the mini-challenge this episode, the contestants had to show off their culinary points of view with a dish featuring one special ingredient: the potato. The dish had to be creative, tasty, and an expression of the contestant. It didn't take long for me to realize that the contestants are no Top Chefs. Initially, I was like, how on earth could these people possibly be on the Food Network? Their food isn't cooked! But I graciously decided to just accept it and move on. The contestants are funny and interesting, so it's okay with me if their culinary skills aren't out of this world. I have to say, though, that Kelsey's gratin with pancetta looked poisonously raw. I like her though -- she reminds me so much of Lo from The Hills. Does anyone else see that? Even Aaron's bacon-wrapped potato and Adam's cheese fries, which the judges seemed to like, didn't really appeal to me. And this was really kooky: Jennifer made a mashed potato pizza, and tried to pass it off as low-carb. I love crazy pizzas as much as anyone (fruit, chocolate, fig, whatever), but I found this one a bit too much. Poor girl was nervous out of her mind.
Moving on the to the second challenge, the contestants had to create their own packaged food product in a jar and market it to 50 buyers from food stores across the country. Essence of Emeril-style. This totally got me thinking about a product that I would jar for myself. I'm still deciding between a chunky berry french toast/pancake/waffle topping and perfect cream cheese frosting.
Anyway, the contestants headed to the food store to pick out the ingredients for their jarred selves. Nipa nabbed all of the cayenne pepper in the store for her sweet and spicy peanut seasoning (two ingredients: cayenne and sugar), leaving Aaron with none for his apple cider vinaigrette. This sorely disappointed him, since cayenne was his secret ingredient. After the contestants whipped up their products, they presented them to the food buyers and guest judge MARTHA STEWART. Lisa and Kelsey flipped. Lisa literally proclaimed her love for culinary goddess, and Kelsey couldn't stop talking about the fact that she served sloppy joe's/jane's (her product was an all-purpose sauce) to Martha Stewart. Ms. Stewart isn't really a sloppy anything kind of gal, as she made clear by requesting a fork with her sample. I think that the fact that Kelsey felt embarrassed about serving her sauce to Martha says something about the quality of the product itself. In other news, Adam, who created a smoke rub, broke out his harmonica and sang to Martha Stewart on his knees. Other contestants were more forgettable, though Ms. Steward certainly inspired some odd behavior in many of the contestants.
In the end, the judges (Bobby Flay and Food Network honchos Susie Fogelson and Bob Tuschman) liked Lisa and Adam, and Martha liked Aaron. Lisa's deal is that she likes high-quality ingredients, Adam is the BBQ guy, and Aaron likes BBQ too. The contestants are really into drilling their "personalities" into the camera. The judges sent home Jeffrey, the soul-food guy, because his soul-food salt rub lacked flavor. Perhaps my favorite part of the entire experience was watching his exit interview online with Adam Roberts, the Amateur Gourmet, who is one of my personal foodie heroes and inspirations. His blogging is one of the reasons I began watching the show to begin with. Adam, if you ever read this, just know that I love you like Lisa loves Martha Stewart.
So first impressions: Lisa's good, though I'm afraid she'll overwhelm herself and make a serious error. Aaron is awesome, ditto Adam. The judges are right that Shayne and Nipa need to step up their energy, and Kelsey needs to cool hers. Jennifer is a bit forgettable, but I could really see her developing. Now, you share! What do you think of the show?
What Can I Get You Folks? - Eating Out for Thanksgiving
In Defense of Guy Fieri
'Top Chef Vegas' - And Then There Were Five
