Food Network Star Alums

[xaxat]

If it really is mountain lion meat, another poor association made by Lenny. 

 

Incredibly tone deaf. There was no one that told him this was a bad idea? He's just digging an ever deepening whole. At what point does FN  walk away? (Or maybe that's already happened.)

[howmanywords]

I decided to do a little searching to see if there is anything out there about maybe mountain lion being a term for something else, but eww. Yeah apparently people DO eat it. How gross.  Its not the most common thing but google turns up things like mountain lion steaks, stew,etc.  As if my opinion of Lenny couldnt be any lower.  I think back though when I saw some type of dolphin dish featured on DDD and when I looked on Twitter when it aired to see if I was the only one completely grossed out someone said "I guess there are people out there who will eat anything".

[cooksdelight]

I asked John Tesar (Top Chef) about it, because he is doing one of those James Beard House dinners as well. But normal stuff is on his menu. He didn't comment on it, but a friend of his did and we got into a discussion about it. John deleted the thread and started over. I guess it might be a touchy subject with some chefs, as it really is on menus, and these cats are raised specifically for eating. I'm sorry.... I just can't with that.

[xaxat]

I just can't with that.

 

I wonder if FN is saying the same thing, about Lenny.

[Totale]

I wonder if FN is saying the same thing, about Lenny.

 

Ever see the Canadian sitcom "Corner Gas", where whenever anyone says the name of the next town over they immediately spit on the ground to clear the bad taste from their mouth?  I suspect that's what it's like in FN Towers whenever Lenny is mentioned.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Totale

[Darian]

I Googled "Lenny Food Network mountain lion" and got a lot of hits, some recent, some not. This is nothing new for him.  

[howmanywords]

The other day on the FN Facebook page they posted about how Justin Warner is getting a webseries (and posted 3 pilots) and they want fans to vote and give feedback.  All these Justin fans came out of the woodwork complaining about how badly FN screwed him over, that hes too talented to be seen only online.  Do these people have any clue about the mess that went on when they tried to get a weekly show going with him? The thing that cracked me up is the same people are yelling about how they're sick of traveling food shows and want to see Justin in a kitchen cooking showing off his super awesome creative skills. Um newsflash Justin WANTED a traveling food show! SMH.

[chessiegal]

I saw some similar comments on the Food Network Gossip site when Matt posted about him getting a web series. But there were also comments about what a self-absorbed a#$hole he is, including people saying you couldn't pay them to watch him. I never cared for him. He came across as a smug punk to me.

[cooksdelight]

I lost all respect for him when I found out he ditched his wife for a younger version right after he became "famous." The wife who supported him during the lean times.

[mlp]

I didn't know he was/had been married.  I already couldn't stand him.  Now I'm sure he's the louse I always thought him to be.

[cooksdelight]

I think they showed photos of them on the show, and/or she may have been there for the finale. I remember her as being very pretty, and that they'd been together since they were teens, maybe? I was just shocked to see him with a new, younger girl when his "pilot" aired and he was talking about it on Facebook.

[Kromm]

The menu looked interesting until I got to this :

 

"American Mountain Lion, Veal, Pork, and Mace Meatballs with Wild Mushroom Ragoût, Pappardelle, and Shaved Truffles"

 

Is there some meaning of "mountain lion" I don't know about?  Since when do we eat cat?  Eating felines is not uncommon in some countries but in the U.S. that idea is just yecccch.

I dunno. While I don't think Mountain Lions are on the endangered list, I do think they've got enough conservationists on "their side' it would be real trouble even for a "Cowboy Chef" to serve them.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Kromm

[Kromm]

Like a fungal infection that NEVER QUITE GOES AWAY, I just saw an episode of Kitchen Inferno (hosted by Curtis "Emotes Like A" Stone) and guess WHAT popped up. Penny Davidi.

And not even as a contestant. As one of the people the contestant on this mega-shitty copy of Iron Chef has to beat (they have to beat a series of increasingly harder to beat chefs and thankfully for the credibility of EVERYONE involved, Davidi was only advertised as the lowest/easiest level to beat).

[cooksdelight]

And she only appeared twice, I think. We've got a forum for the show.... some episodes more interesting than others.

[howmanywords]

Jeff Mauro tweeted that hes currently filming for the 2nd year in a row a Food Network/Disney special with his family. Much like for Guy Fieddddi a few years back this one it seems to be Disney Cruise based. This makes me happy for 2 reasons 1) I adore Jeff's wife and son.  As a family they are such a joy to watch and 2) Since Jeff is now getting the Disney deal instead of Guy who's already so horribly overexposed this gives me that little ray of hope FN sees Jeff is just as entertaining as Guy and more tolerable (and God knows better looking heh). I said after Jeff won I could see him being like a Guy Pt. 2.  

[Darian]

Oh, cool. Thanks for the heads up. I liked Jeff Mauro during his season of Food Network Star, and every time I've seen him on his own show or anything else, I have been impressed. I just saw him on Beat Bobby Flay and he was great interacting with the competing chefs. Very natural and friendly. Justin Warner was on, too, and he was just kind of weird, I'll have to look for that special.

[phoenix780]

I didn't like Jeff his season, but I like him now.  So good for him!

 

I hate to admit this but...I was watching Vanderpump Rules, and it looks like Penny is the executive chef at Lisa Vanderpump's new restaurant "Pump."  I didn't realize she was an actual chef, working in kitchens.  Or maybe she's just playing one on tv.

[cooksdelight]

That's her new job, she really works there.

[GaT]

I hate to admit this but...I was watching Vanderpump Rules, and it looks like Penny is the executive chef at Lisa Vanderpump's new restaurant "Pump."  I didn't realize she was an actual chef, working in kitchens.  Or maybe she's just playing one on tv.

First, don't be using the "P" word around here! Second, of course she's the chef of a restaurant in a reality show, a show is all she wants. If she can't get one on the Food Network, then Bravo it is.

[phoenix780]

My apologies for using that name.  I struggled with it, I should've listened to my gut.

[GaT]

My apologies for using that name.  I struggled with it, I should've listened to my gut.

I'll let it go this time, don't let it happen again :-)

[grisgris]

Penny and Lisa, sounds like a match made in reality TV heaven! Do the Kardashians dine there?

[GaT]

Penny and Lisa, sounds like a match made in reality TV heaven! Do the Kardashians dine there?

OK, I've already said no "P" word, don't you know saying it 3 times summons her? :-)

[cooksdelight]

I honestly don't think The Person Who Shall Not Be Named could find us here. :)

[GaT]

Yeah, you say that now, but someone will say her name & the next thing we know she'll be here to show us what a sexy momma she is & tell us all the chefs she cooks better than. Noooo way, no "P" word.

[Bella]

It's possible to do automated searches for your name via Google (or so I've been told by someone who uses that function). So yes, I believe "P-word" could find us if we invoked her full name.

[Totale]

Yeah, you say that now, but someone will say her name & the next thing we know she'll be here to show us what a sexy momma she is & tell us all the chefs she cooks better than. Noooo way, no "P" word.

I'm eating extra garlic this week to help drive her away if she shows up.  Mmmm, garlic.

[cooksdelight]

I will wear some around my neck. Just in case.

[cooksdelight]

Looks like Alton is still in Justin's corner

https://mobile.twitter.com/altonbrown/status/561295444882362368?s=04

[xaxat]

Soooo. . .  any news on Lenny? Or is FN just hoping we forget who won last season?

[cooksdelight]

The last thing I saw him posting about on Facebook, on his own page, was about some WWE wrestling matches. Nothing at all about food.

[howmanywords]

I just looked at the Chef Lenny Fan Club page and it looks like he was supposed to go to NY the first week of January (I guess that James Bear dinner?), then his brother said he had to cancel at the last minute.  People have been saying on there that they have come to the conclusion he wont be on FN at all, and while one lone person said they should be positive and keep the faith since its a fan site I think his supporters have given up and neither his brother or friend Chris are chiming in to put people at ease.  A few months back his brother was the one who said he would be filming "in the winter".  So yep I'm thinking FN is embarrassed by him and hoping we forget who won.

[Bella]

This is more proof that they need to restructure the show, top to bottom.

 

It's a big ratings draw, so they need it for business reasons. But the outcome has become meaningless, with the last two winners going invisible or close to it.

[chessiegal]

I agree the show is a ratings draw, but it is Season 8 and Season 10, Justin Warner (kind of around on the web and occasional appearances on other shows) and Lenny (MIA) who didn't make it. Season 9's winner, Damaris Phillips, has had 3 seasons of her show.

You'd think after Justin they would have learned their lesson. Apparently not.

[Bella]

Oh, right, I forgot Demaris. But still, two out of the last three being duds is one too many. (As my first "real" boss told me, you can make any mistake once. Twice signals a need for vigilance, and more than than means there has to be a change.)

[cooksdelight]

Damaris' show is really good. Good enough that i've gone onto FN's site to get her recipes for a few things. She's Paula Deen lite. Everything of hers that I've made is delicious. She has an occasional show where she gets sort of hokey, but for the most part she teaches me things I didn't know. I bake a cake from scratch differently now, thanks to her.

[Uncle Benzene]

I enjoy the hell out of Damaris and her show as well. She is incredibly pleasant, and for the most part I find her food appealing. She can be a bit of a goofball at times, but I like that, as long as it's not too much, and I've never felt that she's trying too hard or going overboard with it. I feel like she'd be big fun to hang out and drink beers with.

 

Or in other words, to me, she's pretty much the polar opposite of Paula. ;-)

[cooksdelight]

Exactly! That's what I meant by 'lite'. She's southern but not overboard sugar-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth southern. And she doesn't think every recipe requires two sticks of butter.

[Totale]

I like her, and Louisville sounds cool, and I'm glad they downplayed the dating/romance aspect on her show because that really wasn't working out.  But I still haven't seen her make anything I really wanted to go after myself - although I've only seen about half of her episodes.  Can you suggest a particularly good savory episode (I don't usually bake, or make desserts).

[cooksdelight]

Her green bean casserole is da bomb! You can look up her recipes on FN by searching her name.

[grisgris]

Has Demaris toned down her show any? I gradually got to the point where I couldn't stand to watch it because of her shimmying and cutesy-poo behavior. She also talks too fast and puts coconut oil in everything. However, I didn't watch that season of FNS, so I don't really know her backstory or have anything invested in her.

 

Justin who? Lenny who? Good riddance. Yeah, ITA that FN needs to step back and re-evaluate after two dud winners. There is a difference between having a personality and being a "character" or in Lenny's case "caricature."

 

Both FNS and "Worst Cooks in America" need to quit pulling from the central casting pool.

[Totale]

Her green bean casserole is da bomb! You can look up her recipes on FN by searching her name.

 

Thanks, I may try it.

 

Both FNS and "Worst Cooks in America" need to quit pulling from the central casting pool.

I actually have come to accept that part, at least as far as FNS goes.  ("Worst" is all fantasy so they can cast whoever they like, I just want a more entertaining or at least less annoying selection than they've been coming up with).  My internal image of FNS is that they decide who they're going to offer the job to, and cast a bunch of personalities and also-rans around them just in case one of them clicks.  (I remember they gave a travel channel type show to a frat boy type who lost a few years back - maybe in Aarti's season? - but it didn't last).  Since that would be the sensible way to go about it, perhaps that's not what they do.  Maybe they actually have a couple of possible candidates on tap, because I think it was pretty clear they planned Pah Stahl to win and just hadn't anticipated the intense reaction of near universal hatred he got.  Maybe whoever around the vagina table had to concede on that one said "I don't have to like it, but OK - but we'll have none of that crap next year, next year my choice goes" and to pacify her they let Lenny through without bothering to assign an intern to spend an afternoon on Google vetting him.  Tough luck.  The Pioneer Woman franchise makes cake and is dropped in their lap all ready to go with no production effort, so if they called and said "BTW, if you want to renew that contract we need assurances Ree will never be seen on the same channel as that asshole", that asshole would be instructed to hit the bricks. 

[howmanywords]

  (I remember they gave a travel channel type show to a frat boy type who lost a few years back - maybe in Aarti's season? - but it didn't last). 

Tom Pizzica, the show IIRC was called Outrageous Foods.  I also think that was the last time they actually gave anything to a lower place finisher. Tom was kind of a slob and obnoxious.  I remember thinking they were hoping to make him like a Guy type. Then there was Adam Gertler who also annoyed the hell out of me, he was runner up in season 4 who I still see occasionally on shows like The Best Ever.

 

The Pioneer Woman franchise makes cake and is dropped in their lap all ready to go with no production effort, so if they called and said "BTW, if you want to renew that contract we need assurances Ree will never be seen on the same channel as that asshole", that asshole would be instructed to hit the bricks.

 

You know what though? I actually wondered myself if the disgusting remark Lenny said about Ree is what really sunk him.  I could see her or her husband getting wind of that and putting their foot down.  Ree is one of their cashcows and ratings monsters - I dont doubt they would yank a winner who already seems like a trainwreck to please her.

Edited January 31, 2015 by howmanywords

[GaT]

Has Demaris toned down her show any? I gradually got to the point where I couldn't stand to watch it because of her shimmying and cutesy-poo behavior. She also talks too fast and puts coconut oil in everything. However, I didn't watch that season of FNS, so I don't really know her backstory or have anything invested in her.

 

 

It's funny that you didn't see her season because she got called out on her "shimmying" a number of times. Now it sounds like it's part of her show. I've never seen her show, & now that I know she's still shaking her boobs, I'll permanently pass.

[cooksdelight]

Damaris is nothing like she was on FNS. Shimmying is very limited. She gets excited sometimes about things, and her exuberance overflows, but she has toned it way, way down. In my opinion, anyway. She's much more of the culinary teacher on her show.

[Aquarius]

I like her, and Louisville sounds cool, and I'm glad they downplayed the dating/romance aspect on her show because that really wasn't working out.  But I still haven't seen her make anything I really wanted to go after myself - although I've only seen about half of her episodes.  Can you suggest a particularly good savory episode (I don't usually bake, or make desserts).

 

I'm glad they downplayed the "romance" aspect of the show, too.  Especially after seeing Damaris and her "gentleman" together - what a strange vibe they have.  I can't define it exactly but it makes me uncomfortable to watch them.  It's none of my business and to each his own, except when you put it on television and want me to watch. 

 

As to her recipes, I agree, there's really nothing I've seen that makes me want to run out and try it.  I've learned a few different techniques for tasks I already knew how to do a different way, so there's that.  She's likable enough but she underwhelms me.

[LazyToaster]

I think the problem FN has with Lenny, as it relates to Ree, is that I just don't think there is any way to come back from what he said about her. It was so nasty, so random, and yet so personal. As far as I know there is absolutely no justification for it.

So, what can they possibly do to fix it? I imagine they are just holding him off and eventually they will announce something vague like he is involved in too many other projects and they wish him well. I don't see how he could ever be trusted.

[xaxat]

If I were well connected in the food world and someone said that about my SO or member of my family, I would be working pretty hard to bury that person's entire career.

 

Food Network Star might be the least of Lenny's worries.

[cooksdelight]

Today is Lenny's birthday. I have no party hats.

[Earl Is Dead]

I forgot that Lenny even existed until the other day and was just coming here to see if there was any news of his show happening.  I am so relieved to see he may have disappeared from more than just my brain.  :o)