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The Next Food Network Star Season Six: Episode Five Recap
After a week off due to the holiday, the ‘Next Food Network Star’ returned this week with a special 90-minute episode. To make things even more special, this week marked the half-way point of the season. This wasn’t exactly welcome news for our remaining contestants, as that meant they would each receive a ‘midterm’ progress report from the judges.
Last time, we left off with Austin cook Brad seemingly on the rise. Based on the teasers Food Network has been showing, we already know that this week’s big challenge involves food carts (and special guest Paula Deen), a pretty central part of Austin’s food scene at the moment. Brad should have an advantage here.
Before they got to the carts, though, the contestants were asked to develop a product they could sell in a grocery store, and to prepare something using that product before a live audience. A lot of the contestants made some type of tomato sauce (do we really need more celebrity chef-branded tomato sauce?); Brad went with an onion marmalade, which he used to dress a pork chop. Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), he froze up in front of the audience. Tom and Aarti were voted the winners, earning them an advantage in the next challenge.
Brad didn’t fare much better with the food cart challenge. Partnered with Aria, who surged early in the show but hasn’t been very impressive as of late, they prepared sliders and hotdogs. Bobby Flay was less than impressed with Brad’s overcooked slider, and Paula commented that her 6-year-old grandson could have made the hotdog they offered. Ouch.
Fortunately, they weren’t as bad as some of the others, and Paul was sent home. It’s impressive that he made it this far. As for Brad, his midterm evaluation said the same thing the judges have been saying all along—he has the potential to succeed, but his camera presence isn’t cutting it. While there are probably a few more contestants that will be eliminated before Brad, he really needs to improve or he’ll be next.
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