S10.E05: Live Demo at Knott's Berry Farm

[Bella]

 

Live demos are a staple of every Food Network Star's repertoire. In this week's challenge the finalists take the stage at Knott's Berry Farm — an amusement park built on a deep culinary tradition — to perform a food demo for hundreds of park visitors. The finalist who fails to wow the crowd with his or her show and food goes home.

 

The finalist who fails to wow the crowd goes home ... hmm, that would be all of them, right?

[cooksdelight]

Right!! Fried chicken there is their staple meal.

[ari333]

"LIVE! No re-takes! Think on your feet or go home!" I can hear it all now. Then they'll probably throw in some snafus that are grossly uneven and unfair to various degrees  like someone will have an oven that doesn't work or some other necessary item missing while the fire alarm is blaring. Someone else will be missing a spoon or something they could totally do without in the first place. FAIR!. Except not. :)

[RealityGal]

"LIVE! No re-takes! Think on your feet or go home!" I can hear it all now. Then they'll probably throw in some snafus that are grossly uneven and unfair to various degrees  like someone will have an oven that doesn't work or some other necessary item missing while the fire alarm is blaring. Someone else will be missing a spoon or something they could totally do without in the first place. FAIR!. Except not. :)

I hope this time its a heckler!  I don't remember a heckler last time, if they have a heckler this time, they each should get one and each heckler should be as obnoxious as possible.  Or maybe they go crazy guy running up on stage with a fake gun.

[ari333]

I hope this time its a heckler!  I don't remember a heckler last time, if they have a heckler this time, they each should get one and each heckler should be as obnoxious as possible.  Or maybe they go crazy guy running up on stage with a fake gun.

 

OMG great minds! hee. I so started to write "heckler" as one of my examples. But yes, they should all get one and the chef-testants that get heckled first can't warn the others (the competition) of what is coming; not that that would be good strategy, but I've seen it happen. That "sitch" would be hilarious. I can see it now.

"Heckle, heckle"

"Ah, yes, I remember my first beer."

 

"Heckle, heckle"

"Hey, do I come to McDonald's and bother you while you're trying to work?" [/seinfeld]

(No offense to anyone working fast food. It's honest work.)

Edited June 28, 2014 by ari333

[RealityGal]

OMG great minds! hee. I so started to write "heckler" as one of my examples. But yes, they should all get one and the chef-testants that get heckled first can't warn the others (the competition) of what is coming; not that that would be good strategy, but I've seen it happen. That "sitch" would be hilarious. I can see it now.

"Heckle, heckle"

"Ah, yes, I remember my first beer."

 

"Heckle, heckle"

"Hey, do I come to McDonald's and bother you while you're trying to work?" [/seinfeld]

(No offense to anyone working fast food. It's honest work.)

 

LMAO!  Seriously, how are we not running this show?!?? ;)

[cooksdelight]

They should make them cook something while on the roller coaster. >:)

[GaT]

I hope this time its a heckler!  I don't remember a heckler last time, if they have a heckler this time, they each should get one and each heckler should be as obnoxious as possible.  Or maybe they go crazy guy running up on stage with a fake gun.

 

 

OMG great minds! hee. I so started to write "heckler" as one of my examples. But yes, they should all get one and the chef-testants that get heckled first can't warn the others (the competition) of what is coming; not that that would be good strategy, but I've seen it happen. That "sitch" would be hilarious. I can see it now.

"Heckle, heckle"

"Ah, yes, I remember my first beer."

 

"Heckle, heckle"

"Hey, do I come to McDonald's and bother you while you're trying to work?" [/seinfeld]

(No offense to anyone working fast food. It's honest work.)

You have obviously forgotten (easy to do in this case) about Justin at the South Beach Food & Wine festival during his season. They gave him a heckler.

http://www.thebraiser.com/watch-justin-out-snarks-heckler-on-food-network-star/ 

 

I also remember Damaris shaking her boobies all during her demo. Yet she still won (as did Justin)

[Lillybee]

They should make them cook something while on the roller coaster. >:)

 

Didn't they do something like that on MasterChef? I remember them having to cook on a gondola in the mountains.  At least they are finally cooking something.

[RealityGal]

Didn't they do something like that on MasterChef? I remember them having to cook on a gondola in the mountains.  At least they are finally cooking something.

I know on Top Chef they made them cook on a ski lift if I remember correctly.  And some of the food looked delicious.  I would be scared to eat what some of these contestants eat with a totally stationary, fully stocked kitchen I'm not sure what I would do if they had only a few ingredients and were moving...yikes!

[Uncle Benzene]

This week on Food Network Star: Each contestant must perform a live demo at Knott's Berry Farm. Lenny gets the wrong idea, drops his pants and attempts to live demo his own berries.

[Lillybee]

So Gaida got her way and was able to get Christopher sent home.

[cooksdelight]

Lord have mercy at these people thinking they were going to a berry farm. A farm. Seriously? And based on the comments, no one must have tasted their food while they were cooking.

How many times did Loreal say "What up???" My god, you are not a teenager.

Sarah stands by her bad burger because she loves Bobby but this time he must be wrong.

Emma's voice .... I know what it is now that bugs me. It's not the lowness of it, it's that she sounds like she has a constant cold. Maybe that's why she can't cook, she can't taste her food.

Lenny did the best, in my opinion, just because he fit in with the surroundings. Nicole did well food-wise, but didn't connect why she cooked what she did with her coastal background. I'm not sure why they picked Loreal in the top two when they didn't like her steak nor her method of cooking it. I wish it was like Miss America, and we knew which percentage of presentation versus food taste they were scoring them on. In other words, which one carried more weight.

WHY didn't they ask the audience to fill out comment cards about the presentations? What a lost opportunity. Except that they probably already had their minds made up about who was leaving. Christopher can cook, even Giada had to admit that. Can't he be taught how to present to the camera? Damaris needed work, and she got it, apparently, since she's a different person on her show than she was shimmying around during her season. Giada is so transparent in her hatred of Christopher. Did he knock out Luca when he was sent out? I can't remember who had the best gig that show.

I'm starting to feel like I'm watching a half baked show that never had a recipe to start with.

And I hate the screeching moaning doors. Enough already! :)

[Rusty Skywater]

Hmmm... I'm of two minds with this episode. On the one hand, none of the contestants did all that impressively. I have a soft spot for Loreal, so I'm still holding out some hope that she'll hit it out of the park in some episode (just being in the top two in a week when everyone had some flaws doesn't count; ditto for Lenny). On the other hand, the trainwreck-esque moments were actually entertaining at points in this episode (namely, Sarah being so adamant that she cooked her burgers correctly, and Giada and Bobby's argument about contestant elimination).

 

Grading on the FNS curve, I'd say that this episode didn't suck completely.

[mauras]

Christopher bored my socks off, so I'm glad Giada apparently threw some sort of tantrum and got him sent home. But almost no one did very well this week, so I'd have been fine with any of them leaving, except Emma, who's the most natural presenter, and Nicole, who's my pick to win the whole thing.

 

Loreal must watch a whole lot of daytime TV. She's got every tell-all talk show cliche down: the raise-the-roof gesture, her endless "what up"s, and the rest. Can't stand her. Sarah is worse because she's so plastic, and Lenny annoys me more, but Loreal is right up there on my Please Go Home Now list.

Edited July 4, 2014 by mauras

[TiffanyNichelle]

That is not the bottom two I expected. And the guy who made the best tasting dish went home? Say what?

 

I did like the whole "I'm your Butcher Babe" tagline. Emma was really good. Lenny is exhausting.

Edited June 30, 2014 by TiffanyNichelle

[Lillybee]

At least they cooked tonight but it seemed meaningless since the guy who cooked the best dish went home.

[GaT]

At least this challenge was much better than the last 2. This group doesn't seem to be all that great in either cooking or talking, and the fact that the person who made the best dish got sent home pretty much confirms that personality is more important to FN than cooking ability. 

 

Sarah is getting on my nerves big time, she keeps cooking specifically for Bobby, or trying to cook for Bobby because she keeps failing. I wish she would just cook what she thinks will taste good instead of for one judge.

 

 

WHY didn't they ask the audience to fill out comment cards about the presentations? What a lost opportunity.

I was wondering why the audience didn't vote too, 2 seasons ago they had the audience using those vote thingys all the time, what happened to them?

[ramble]

They all bored me & I hope the people who watched this got free tickets to the park. Snore.

I don't know why LBH can't stand Christopher but she even hated on him when they did the walk through before presentations. She borrowed Nicole's bitch face for the moment. For that reason alone I was hoping he would stay. I find it hysterical that the guy cooking the best food leaves. I'm surprised they didn't edit that differently. You'd think that TPTB would want to keep the illusion going that this a show about finding someone who can, you know, cook. Ha!

[cooksdelight]

 

2 seasons ago they had the audience using those vote thingys all the time, what happened to them?

 

 

Probably because they were picking people that the 3 amigos didn't want to win.

 

I am seeing Alton helping Lenny with tips and stuff, so my guess is that's his boy this season.

[Lillybee]

Pageant girl needed to realize that Bobby F. is a master chef who knows burgers and if he says that your burger is bad, it probably is and you should have listened to him.

[NYGirl]

I can never wrap my head around them sending the best chef home.  I agree with Bobby and he could have been taught how to be on camera.  But geez can you teach someone who's good in front of the camera how to cook?  I don't think so.

 

Sorry...I'm pissed that my eye candy went home and that idiot Sarah is still there.

[cooksdelight]

I'm sorry that Giada is single-handedly ruining this show for me.

[jcbrown]

I rather enjoyed the death ray look Giada gave to Sarah when Giada came to her station to taste something and Sarah said, "oh, the big spoon, huh?" when Giada used a serving spoon to taste. Sarah would have been melted into the dust if Giada's look actually had the power she was trying to put into that look. Yikes! Sarah can go home anytime now.

Edited June 30, 2014 by jcbrown

[cooksdelight]

Giada can go with her. She's just downright rude to people this season. If she's not happy in this job, then go already!

[Tyrone Biggums]

I'm trying to figure out who the bigger bitch was on this episode.

 

IN THE OVERLY RED WHILE MAKING HER DEMO CORNER...almost breaking out into laughter when Alton rips Loreal over not seasoning her meat...flipping Giada shit about the "big spoon"...arguing with an Iron Chef who has multiple burger restaurants and just being the worst person on this show since day one...Sarah!

 

IN THE BLINDINGLY WHITE LIKE HER 72 TEETH CORNER...shooting Sarah a death stare about how she ate the pasta salad...being snotty to most of the contestants and essentially snarling and baring her overabundant fangs when sending Christopher home...Giada!

 

Oh, look.  Next week they're going to be attempting to sell things in front of a green screen! They should call this The Next Food Network Pimp.

[mlp]

Well, crap.  They get rid of the good looking guy who can cook and keep Sarah the twit.  That says volumes about what FN values these days.  I cannot stand Sarah or Loreal and I like Giada even less.  I was sure the top two would be Lenny and Emma and I have no idea why they chose Loreal.  Emma is lovely and Loreal creeps me out.  They both had problems with their food so my guess is that Giada preferred the homely person who is no competition in the looks department. 

 

I will never forgive Giada for her behavior on the Thanksgiving show so I'm totally biased against her.  I admit it.

[RedheadZombie]

I liked Loreal, but it's quickly wearing off.  Someone needs to tell her not to say, "Hi y'all".  Has she not heard of Paula Deen?

 

I'm still liking Emma and Nicole, and Lenny is growing on me.

 

I am glad Christopher went home.  He comes off (to me) as extremely arrogant and I don't feel he takes direction well.  There's an air of superiority about him.

[Intuition]

Every season they get more blatant and unapologetic about this being a stage audition and not about finding a really good cook.  Even last season I liked Damaris but so far her show leaves me uninspired because her cooking does not appeal that much to me.  I remember when Aaron McCargo won they knew he wasn't exactly ready for prime time, but they figured they'd work with him and he was on the air for several seasons.  I don't know why they now think everyone wants to watch a gimmick or a snake oil salesman.  I am sorry they sent Chris home but he still has "Star Salvation".  At least Bobby sticks to his principles about preferring the person who can cook over the one with the personality that's the worse cook.  Perhaps that's because he himself isn't exactly "Mr. Personality" and it hasn't stopped him from becoming a major star on the network.

[SecretHaze]

Ugh this show!! Sending home the guy who made the best dish just because he didn't conform as well to the "entertainment" aspect -- like someone said above, that speaks volumes about what the FN is looking for these days.  I remember the days when they had shows with people like Sarah Moulton, who just taught you how to cook stuff and didn't have an exaggerated personality.  Christopher could've easily hosted a show on FN, if it was a show about cooking and not a show about grandmother stories or acting like a clown.  

 

I officially hate Giada now. She's always bugged me, but her extreme bitchface this episode and her foul attitude just made me think she's nothing but a "mean girl" who embodies everything I dislike about the present-day Food Network. 

[xaxat]

So all of the contestants either cooked, but didn't demo. Demoed, but didn't cook. Or couldn't pull of either task.

 

That's not good for a cooking demo.

[Intuition]

I agree about Giada.  I have never loved her but she is a total bitch this season, and yes, exactly what I don't like about Food Network these days.  She seemed to actively have it in for Chris.  He wasn't my favorite but I definitely didn't see him going home over pageant girl this time.  And why wasn't she in the bottom 2?  I can usually predict who gets in the bottom two on these competitions but not with this show.  Which just goes to show how fake it is.  I still miss Kermit and Medusa.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Intuition

[phoenix780]

That is not the bottom two I expected. And the guy who made the best tasting dish went home? Say what?

 

It's starting to make sense to me, in its own weird way.  They don't need someone who can cook, really.  They need someone who can host a gameshow and perhaps credibly demonstrate other people's recipe to fill a timeslot in the morning.  

 

So, I kind of get the logic here.  It is, however, making me wonder about their other chef/hosts.  Is this a network shift?  Or did they just reveal themselves?  Who else on the channel makes bad food in real life?  I mean, I'd never know- I'm like those poor folks at Knott's (side note: If this were Top Chef or MasterChef or, heck, even Hell's Kitchen they'd have had to cook portions for everyone...they got off too easy, imho.).  I'll never taste it, I'm just watching.  As long as their advice isn't wrong, does it matter if they can actually cook?

 

I don't get Sarah.  She looked dirty during the demo to me, I thought her story dissed local Texas cuisine ('cause the restaurant with the great big sign about awesome burgers made crap food).  They said her food was bad.  How was she not at least bottom 2?  

 

I feel like I'm watching Giada for the first time.  It's like when Alton got over his need to hide his douchebaggery, seeing her be a bit of a jerk is making me appreciate her. 

[Lillybee]

I guess I am so not in the FN target demographic because I want to watch shows that teach me how to be a better cook. I want shows that introduce me to new cuisines and new recipes. I couldn't care less about personalities, a chef's personal history with grandma or having them cook for random people who drop in. I really want more shows like Tyler Florence's Ultimate or even Bobby Flay's BBQ Addiction. I think this show is why FN is going to hell in a handbasket.

[gryphon]

I hope Christopher makes it back onto the show...I've not watched Star Salvation yet.  I really want to eat his food.   I still like Lenny aka Chuck Wagon.   I like the fact that he's cheesy but he's also backed it up with pretty good food.  

 

Sarah can leave yesterday....Chris is also getting annoying.   Emma is pretty good even though I still think she's perfect for any show on NPR.  "This is a Taste of Fresh Aire......"

 

LBH really had it in for Christopher...that was kind of uncomfortable.  

Edited June 30, 2014 by gryphon

[bluepiano]

Well, as if we needed it, we got confirmation tonight that being a Food Network Star has nothing to do with being able to cook, because the only real chef in the bunch, Christopher, got sent home, and although they hated Sarah's burger she wasn't even in the bottom two. (And on top of cooking horrible burgers twice, she has a really annoying personality. They've stopped dinging her for being pageanty, but she still feel completely phony to me).

 

Actually, they pretty much didn't like any of the food. Except for Christopher's dish, so of course he got axed. Luca, another legitimate professional chef, got an even earlier exit.

 

I find Lenny to be another phony. He's always snarky and non-supportive about the other contestants. But the one who completely drives me up the wall is "Butcher Babe" Loreal.  Everything about her reminds me of every cliched Seattle/Portland pretenious wannabe faux retro hipster chick I know. I'm horrified to think that TPTB are keeping her around because they see her as potentially a female Guy Fieri.

 

I feel that the judges are especially hard on Reuben. Based on their feedback, theres' no way he should've been bottom two. But this show has a history of being really tough on contestants from a Latino background. Maybe they don't want to give any competition to network golden boy Bobby Flay, the Irish-American New Yorker who's their resident expert on Mexican and southwestern food.

 

I don't think they have any chance of winning, but I really like Nicole and Emma. They seem like decent, genuine people. Rarely have I seen a contestant on this show who has the self-awareness and honesty to kid themselves the way Nicole did when she joked about her "bitch face." And on a superficial male level, I enjoy looking at both of them. Although I would advise Emma not to continue telling the story of how her future husband realized he wanted to marry her while he was fishing for crabs. There are a few different ways you could go with that, none of them good.

Edited June 30, 2014 by bluepiano

[cooksdelight]

There's an air of superiority about him.

After seeing his talking heads on this episode, I think it's more a problem of shyness for him. He said several times he needed to come out of his shell a lot more. So, in my opinion, what we've been seeing as him thinking he's better than the rest might be him being terribly shy and insecure when having to speak to a crowd.

I still think that Giada hit on him and he didn't bite, therefore he's a goner. Might be the same with Luca since the camera didn't shy away from showing Giada looking at Luca with that goo-goo face of hers. Then again, Bobby and Alton may have voted for Luca and she got outnumbered....and is therefore going to be a bitch the rest of the season.

The camera did no favors for Sarah this episode, so I was sure she was a goner. The angles they kept showing her face showed her mouth looking really strange. I never realized she had such a bigger lower lip until this episode. And I'm not one to ever criticize someone's looks when they can't help how they look, but they kept focusing on her with her head down.

[Jasmine]

When Chris made his "Lollipop" Chicken, I immediately thought of Giada, with that balloon head of hers.  She was insufferable this episode, absolutely over-the-top hateful.  A few thoughts:  A few weeks back, I bet my husband that Lenny's belt buckle would get bigger each week, and my theory was certainly validated last night.  It was almost the size of a dinner plate, I love it.  So hilariously cliche, he just has to win.  I'd love to see his show, but only if he gets psychotically into the whole Lenny The Cowboy Chef role to the point that he embarrasses the network.  It would be so great if he's really putting them on, gets the show, and then becomes a total loose cannon.  I posted on the Food Network's Facebook page last week about how ridiculous the show had become, how tiresome Giada's cleavage was, I and suggested a new challenge:  give the contestants kitchen knives, let them hurl them at each other, and whoever draws the most blood wins.  The level of ignorance of most of the contestants in last night's episode can be summed up by the line:   "Ooohhh...we're going to a berry farm!"  OMG.  

[cooksdelight]

Yes, Emma was absolutely over the moon thinking she was going to do a challenge at a farm. She was so sure she had it in the bag since they were going to a farm. LOL

[tv echo]

I don't know why I'm still watching this show.  Giada and Alton have become insufferable.  I can't stand half of the contestants, especially Sarah and Lenny.  Why bother to keep up the fiction that the winner has to be a great cook and impress as a "cooking authority"?  The judges just want someone with an outsize personality who is good at faking being a good cook on TV.

[smiley13]

So this hit yet another low last night for me, they ditched the chef who can cook, but put the Hair Product in the top two??  The woman is obnoxious!!  Her constant "Wut, Wut" and "Butcher Babe" line make her seem cartoonish to me.  They did not like her food, but rewarded her because she said a piece of meat was her friend??  

I think Nicole and Emma were the best of the lot.  They both were comfortable on camera.  I wonder week after week if the judges are watching the same show I did?

 

And Giada's intense dislike for Christopher only made her look bad, or should I say worse than she already did.  She practically spit whenever she said his name.

[Johnny Dollar]

Knotts Berry Farm is to an actual farm as Colonial Williamsburg is to:

A. The Garden of Eden

B. An accurate representation of life in Virginia during the Colonial Era

C. A cheesy, overpriced theme park

D. What What!!

Edited June 30, 2014 by Johnny Dollar

[Intuition]

I'm not in their target demographic either, but I don't know anyone who is and I can't imagine anyone who would want to watch an infomercial-style show given by a phony rodeo clown on a channel that's supposed to be about FOOD (unless they're somehow missing half their brain cells).  I initially liked Loreal but now I am seeing her as more of a Lenny in every episode - over the top kitschy and fake.  In past seasons I often thought that these caricature contestants were just there for entertainment for THIS show, but that the REAL contestants were people like Emma and Nicole, both of whom have grown on me.  Too bad about Christopher.  He is probably one of the "real" contestants.  I really hope he works his way back just to spite Giada.

 

ETA:  Although I am from the Northeast I have always known about Knotts Berry Farm.  It has always gotten to me how when the phrase is pronounced, the emphasis is not on the word "berry", where it probably should be.  But knowing what the place really is, it actually figures somehow because it's obviously been a long time since it had anything to do with berries, lol.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Intuition

[cooksdelight]

When I was little (10) we went to Knott's Berry Farm and there weren't a lot of rides. I think I remember a log ride. They had a petting zoo, I think, and the emphasis was on eating their fried chicken. I think the place started out as a shack/food stand that sold the chicken and pies. It's now the commercialized place we saw last night.

This season may, in my opinion, kill off this show once and for all. The outrage from people on various boards that a chef who could cook was let go in favor of characters is pretty fierce.

[JTMacc99]

I still like this show, and I still mostly like the way the Food Network goes about entertaining me (although a lot of that has to do with the existence of the Cooking Channel.) As long as the common thread between all of the "stars" is a genuine love of food, I'll take any mix of attractive, personable and knowledgeable and pick and choose depending on my mood. They can populate the knowledgeable group from Next Iron Chef and other channels that give them genuinely successful professional chefs. I accept slightly less attractive people from that group in exchange for enthusiasm and good ideas. The can populate some of the other shows with people like the ones (who aren't professional reality show contestants) we sometimes find on this show. I accept slightly less than professional chef knowledge for TV-likeability, but the person HAS to demonstrate a genuine love of food. Demaris was a really good example of this. I thought she really loved to cook, and I am hoping that when she settles in at the Food Network, that she'll take advantage of being immersed in the food world and take us along on her journey as she experiences and learns new things.

 

So, having said that, I'm trying to pick out who I would like to give a chance from this group. Bobby interestingly thought that Christopher had the cooking talent and that they could teach him how to present it on TV. In this case, I agreed with Giada and Alton. It's a short competition, and he was never going to get even remotely good at presenting by the time it's over, so he had to go. The other thing about Christopher on my personal standards is that his inability to present made it seem like he was just going through the motions instead of being genuinely excited about the food he was creating.  If you can't convey the enthusiasm, even if you have it, then I will never watch you on TV.

 

Of course, if this were a real interview process, they could have cut it down to Lenny, Emma, Nicole and I guess Loreal by now and go from there. They've all made food that has either been really good, like when Bobby said that he wanted to keep eating Nicole's Pineapple and Pork thing this week, or at least had an excuse for being not that great such as the constraints of the Cutthroat Kitchen challenge.

[Day2Day]

I find Kenny's Corny-Chuckwagon-Cowboy schtick as annoyingly distracting as Justin's red lip-glossed mouth from a past season!! Is there really a difference between the term "POV" and "Gimmick"???  I expext to see Butcher Babe wearing a stained with blood, white meat-cutters coat. Sarah will appear with a pageant crown and parasol, "y'all". However... she better skip the puss and hands on her hips look of defiance when standing before the judges.  Bobby couldn't have made it more crystal clear how poor her food was. AND... this is an observance from watching many episodes of Judge Judy.....if you are gonna lie, or get anxious/nervous/stressed, don't wear scoop neck / v-neck shirts. Sarah's blotchiness became more and more evident as her judging critique went on.

Could someone please get Rueben a return ticket to Miami.  He doesn't belong on this show, Lo siento mucho!!!!

Finally, I'll admit it to the world. I don't like to cook !!!  Enjoy eating but NOT preparing the food. BUT, I do know that the meat should be seasoned BEFORE it goes on the fire, or into the pan.  Major mistake !!!

[MortysCleaningLady]

I just don't understand! 

 

Instead of assigning the contestants food, why not ask them a trivia question to get to pick a meal? While I think Christopher and Lenny can cook a wide variety of meals, the rest of them don't seem as able to do so.  Nicole could have tried to get the fish tacos or the shrimp and corn salad, staying in her POV. 

 

When the winners were announced I was horrified.  Sure, Lenny winning didn't surprise me.  He's a chuckwagon cook.  He has to feed people and put on a show daily.  Based on the producer's criteria, he could be their winner.  (I don't think they want him though.)  How did Loreal win?  My understanding of cooking steak on a grill is that you salt it to draw the moisture to the edges for optimum cooking.  Instead she splashed on some super flammable bourbon and tossed the steak on the grill.  And then she pounded the meat on the grill -- I thought that was also a no-no as you'll mess up internal fluid distribution.

 

In my opinion the bottom two were Loreal and Sarah.  Both had crappy food. Both had bad techniques in their cooking demo, where they were allegedly teaching people to cook.

 

Christopher, go on Iron Chef or Top Chef -- you are skilled.  You on Food Network Star was like a skilled diplomat in to break up a toddler fight over a doll.  Or sending a NASA engineer to adjust the thermostat.

[JTMacc99]

I just don't understand! 

 

Instead of assigning the contestants food, why not ask them a trivia question to get to pick a meal? While I think Christopher and Lenny can cook a wide variety of meals, the rest of them don't seem as able to do so.  Nicole could have tried to get the fish tacos or the shrimp and corn salad, staying in her POV. 

But I really liked that Nicole had to figure out what to do with BBQ within her POV. And if she had just either thought of or remembered to say, "I'm bringing you to the coast of Mexico!", she would have won the challenge.

 

Being able to have a fairly narrow POV but also be able to present a wide variety of food is one of the most important things to bring with you to the Food Network.  Rachael Ray killed it with 30 minute meals. Giada had a really good and long run with everyday Italian. Jeff Mauro is trying to do with turning everything into some kind of sandwich (which by the way is too narrow compared to my first two examples.)

 

If Nicole can turn BBQ pork into coastal cuisine by just switching countries, then she might be on to something.

 

To me, that was way more impressive than the butcher getting a steak.

[schnauzergirl]

Remember that video of Giada's first TV efforts?  Well, if she could be taught, then so could Christopher.  

[Madding crowd]

Giada was horrid last night, she seems to actually despise people on this show. Christopher failed at showing anything being made though, and I have never seen a cooking show with no cooking.

I really can't stand shtick of an kind so chuck wagon Lenny and Loreal can just go now. Rueban can always get a job as Jake Gyllenhal's Cuban cousin. I'm thinking Nicole or Emma are the only real contenders.