NFNS: Vegas, Baby!

 NOTE: I have added links to TFN’s page with recipes for the show.

Paula Deen joined Bobby Flay, Adam, Aaron, Kelsey, and Lisa for dinner at Bobby’s Mesa Grill Las Vegas before they got back to the competition. Lisa was star struck. Her moments when she is in the room with the likes of Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, and now Paula Deen are absolutely precious. If we could see more of this Lisa she could be hard to beat.

The challenge for Vegas had the four finalists squaring off into two one-on-one Throwdowns with the most accomplished cook in the contest, Lisa taking on easily the worst cook Adam, and Kelsey and Aaron who are both solid in the kitchen pairing for the second battle. This Throwdown had a twist – each had to prepare their signature AND their opponent’s signature dish in 75 minutes.

Lisa went with the French country classic cassoulet and Adam stuck with good old mac and cheese. Many folks may not know that macaroni and cheese is also a French comfort food first introduced to America by Thomas Jefferson. Adam had never tasted cassoulet which did not bode well for him going against Lisa. To add to the stress the contestants had to field questions from the judges and a “field reporter,” Extra’s Dayna Devon.  Susie Fogelson was rather subdued this week.

Adam was somewhat humorous in the interviews but never looked at anyone. Lisa was great – she made eye contact and spoke from the heart. It was shocking when Paula confessed to hating Lisa’s mac and cheese especially after she told Adam that she loved his lobster mac, a dish she had never enjoyed before.  For those of you scoring at home this brings the total now to two things Adam has prepared that were edible the other being chili cheese fries. Lisa brightened when the judges gushed about her cassoulet, Paula loved it, Bob Tuschman told her that it tasted like it had simmered all day, but Flay knocked her out when he proclaimed it the best he had ever eaten. Adam’s cassoulet did not go over well. As odd as it sounds, if this challenge came down to personality and camera presence then Lisa would prevail.

Kelsey and Aaron then took their 75 minutes to prepare chicken Parmesan (Kelsey’s signature) and stuffed pork loin (Aaron’s best dish). Kelsey was adorable when she referred to Aaron as “Big Daddy.” Aaron’s struggles to be warm on camera surfaced again but he did do a slightly better job though he failed to cook and talk at the same time. Kelsey was going great until she brought up culinary school again; something that Tuschman has scorned her about repeatedly and the look on his face showed his distaste. Both struggled to get their two dishes done which leads one to believe that the loser of this challenge is the one who goes home. Aaron actually forgot to do Kelsey’s dish until there was less than 20 minutes left and Kelsey over cooked her tenderloin. Kelsey clearly took the personality part of the challenge. Aaron’s “Big Daddy” chick parm was actually better than Kelsey’s designer version. Aaron edged out a win in the cooking aspect.

Going into judgment I would have to say Lisa was the overall winner and that most likely Kelsey is headed home. But what do the judges think? I mean they sent Shane home last week when Lisa clearly did the worst job on the episode. Will their prejudices continue to influence their decisions? If so Adam may be history.

Surprisingly the panel was not impressed with Lisa’s on camera performance – which I thought was great but they did agree that it was better than Adam’s. The panel also reinforced that they brought the final four to Vegas because they wanted to raise the stakes, to see people gamble big which is what Kelsey did, and then they ripped her a new one for it. Kelsey has repeatedly done whatever the panel asks of her but for some reason Tuschman is never happy with it. She says that it is beginning to make her over think things and as a result she has lost touch with her “culinary point of view.” After this week’s evaluations I really do not know what the judges are looking for and honestly, I am not sure that they do either. Going into the final decision I have now idea who is gone but considering Bob’s dislike for Kelsey I am still thinking that she is toast.

Big Daddy was the first to get to stay (huh?). Then Lisa which leaves us with two: Kelsey and Adam. Both are great on camera but only one can cook (Kelsey) while one cannot (Adam). So naturally they sent Kelsey home.

Kelsey, Shane, and Lisa were the only three people in this contest that truly had star quality and two of them got sent home . . . in successive weeks . . . when there were others who did not perform as well as they did. I have already thrown my name into the hat for NFNS 5 but now I am unsure. What I have seen this season makes one wonder.  After last week’s episode Sunny Anderson (Cooking For Real, How’d That Get On My Plate) predicted an all male final – was she prophetic, or was it informed foreshadowing?  Funny, during her exit interview, Kelsey predicted the same thing.  Watching the extended previews for next week’s challenge it looks like Lisa is being set up for failure, but we shall see.

I frankly think that they need to take a look at what they want out of this competition. Look at their track record so far – they are 1 for 3. Only one winner of the Next Food Network Star has actually become a Food Network Star, Guy Fieri (who guest hosts next week). If Lisa goes home then it will be between Big Daddy and Adam which means they will likely be 1 for 4. So are they actually trying to determine the Next Food Network Star or are they only looking for controversy and headlines and the ratings that come with them? At this point I sincerely don’t know but perhaps they should consider changing the title to the Next Food Network One Hit Wonder.