The final nine “Food Network Star” contenders faced Bobby, Giada, Alton and 100 moviegoers! (Photo by Eddy Chen/Food Network)
By: Jacob Elyachar
For the past three weeks, nine candidates have faced proved themselves to three of the Food Network’s biggest stars: Alton Brown, Bobby Flay and Giada de Laurentiis.
Tonight, they faced a big challenge! Did anyone crumble from the pressure? Was a frontrunner eliminated? Who was in jeopardy? Read on to find out….
This week, Alton, Bobby and Giada challenged the contestants to create a movie-themed menu to feed hungry moviegoers who will be judging them based on their trailer and their food.
To ante up the challenge, the best trio who received the most votes from the audience and the best critiques for their food will be safe for this week. The other two teams will be up for elimination!
Damaris, Viet and Chad tackled the Romance genre as they prepared a three-course meal that featured a diverse group of food styles. Chad kicked things off with a spicy Korean chicken wing. Damaris tackled a Southern classic with grilled shrimp and grits and Viet concluded the group with an intriguing dessert regarding berries and cream. Despite Chad being cold on star power, Damaris and Viet made up for it as their trailer left Giada speechless and Alton declaring it: “50 Shades of Hot Sauce.”
The Western trio was made up of Russell, Nikki and Stacey. Despite the problems that Russell faced while making his trailer and Russell and Stacey worried about Nikki not having enough restaurant experience, the trio showcased their star power through their trailer and was able to sell their chili shoot-out, spaghetti western and s’mores dishes.
Chris, Lovely and Rodney were left to tackle the Musical genre. All three of them sang their hearts out but made some crucial mistakes with this task. Rodney was hard to understand, Chris put too much flavoring into his lobster mac and cheese and Lovely made a doughnut from pre-made pizza dough, which transformed into a very dense disaster.
While all three teams were able to sell their meals, it turned into a brawl between Western and Musical for the most dishes sold. In the end, the Western trio was able to walk into the sunset with a win and made Nikki, Russell and Stacey safe! Despite not winning the challenge, Chris, Damaris and Chad were safe this week!
This left Viet, Lovely and Rodney were in the Bottom Three. Despite not being liked by a focus group, Alton, Bobby and Giada gave Viet and Rodney second chances but eliminated Lovely.
Next week, Bob Tuschman returns as Food Network Star goes live!
