The Next Food Network Star Premieres: Kelsey and Aaron Shine

Kelsey NixonUnlike many of the reality train wrecks that fill MTV and VH1 nowadays (not that they’re not entertaining), shows like Top Chef, So You Think You Can Dance, and the subject of today’s blog post, Food Network’sThe Next Food Network Star feature some pretty sane people doing some pretty talented and sane people doing some pretty impressive things.

If you’re unfamiliar, The Next Food Network Star is about just that, finding the next host of Food Network’s next great cooking show. Last season’s winner, Amy Finley, decided that television was not the place for her, saying “It was a very bittersweet victory. By the time I was announced the winner, family issues had also helped me determine that working in television was not going to be in my future.”

Ultimately, Amy’s show The Gourmet Next Door is indeed no more. The show has spawned star Guy Fieri of TGIFridays commercials and diner specialist fame over the course of three seasons. Clearly, the show needs to crown a real star, to the level of a Giada De Laurentiis, this season to legitimize its title.

In its first week, the ten finalists were challenged with trying to describe their style in one sentence, along with a three dish cooking challenge while paired with one of the other finalists. After it was all said and done, one team, Kelsey Nixon and Aaron McCargo Jr., with their yin-yang of simple and bold, stood out as early front runners in the competition.

While their team soared, finalists like alleged gourmet specialist Lisa Garza and French/Soul Food specialist Jeffrey Vaden failed to impress. Ultimately, it would be comedian Cory Kahaney that would go home after the first week of competition after her humor and cooking skills failed to translate to anything of note throughout the first two competitions.

Aaron McCargo

In the three dish challenge, the teams and dishes were as follows:

Kelsey and Aaron

Orzo Salad with Citrus Vinegarette

Grilled Salmon Sandwich

Tomato Soup

Adam and Jennifer

Potato Gratin

Glazed Carrots

“Kitchen Sink” Meatloaf

Lisa and Kevin

Poached Salmon

French Kiss Onion Soup

Arugula Salad

Jennifer CochraneCory and Jeffrey

Honey Glazed Salmon

Deviled Eggs Provancal abbott and costello meet the invisible man movie

Parsnip Potato Pancake

Shane and Nipa

Pork Tenderloin

Suki Bhaji (Curried Potatoes)

Curried Squash Soup

After just one episode, it’s painfully obvious that neither Lisa nor Nipa will be winning this year’s competition based on their attitudes. They both appear surpremely overconfident and their inherant bossiness that showed after just a single episode will easily deter the judges from believing that either chef could carry their own Food Network show.

While it is the Food Network, the judges are equally as interested in personality and ability to hold an audience captive for a half hour, which is why players like Kelsey, Jennifer, Kevin, and Adam stand a good chance at staying in the competition at length since they are oozing with natural charisma. Unlike a Hell’s Kitchen or even Top Chef, where the winners are chosen more based on their talents than anything else, TNFNS looks for a total package and will sacrifice cooking talent for someone who is more of a total package.

TNFNS moves quickly through a season en route to choosing its next star, a huge plus for viewers. However, now four seasons in, the show definitely needs to find its diamond in the rough. With this season’s good-looking and pretty talented cast based on the first episode of the season, the show is off to a good start.

Or they could just be great chefs AND show awesome cleavage like Giada

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  • #1
    Posted by Danielle on June 3rd, 2008 at 8:10 am

    Argh I’m so bummed I missed the premiere!!! I have to find it online or rerunning soon.

  • #2
    Posted by Bert on June 6th, 2008 at 12:19 am

    Look out for Aaron — this guy has huge potential. He has a large client following in the south jersey / philadelphia food scene.

    His creativity is amazing and he has a killer personality – even though he seem somewhat muted during the first episode. But his Salmon sandwich took Top Billing !!

    GO AARON !!

  • #3
    Posted by forced cum facials on June 13th, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    eh… thank you..

  • #4
    Posted by ?????????? ??? ???? on December 17th, 2009 at 11:07 am

    ? ??? ??: ?????????????!

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