The Next Food Network Star

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Next Food Network Star

Logo for the third season
Format Reality, Cooking
Presented by Marc Summers
(Seasons 1-2, season 3 finale only)
Judges Bob Tuschman
Susie Fogelson
Bobby Flay
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 28
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Food Network
Original run June 5, 2005 – Present
Chronology
Related shows Party Line with The Hearty Boys
Guy's Big Bite
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
The Gourmet Next Door
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Next Food Network Star is a reality television series produced by and aired on the Food Network in the United States which awards the winner his or her own series on the Food Network. The fourth season is currently airing.

Contents

[edit] Season One

[edit] Summary

The first season of The Next Food Network Star series was taped in February 2005, and was composed of five episodes premiering on Sundays at 9 PM in June 2005. Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh were the winners of the first season. These two Chicago area caterers host a show called Party Line with Dan & Steve, now titled Party Line with The Hearty Boys, which premiered on September 18, 2005. The runner-up, Deborah Fewell, was chosen to host a special on food at beaches, Surf N Turf, which aired in June 2006. Michael Thomas is the recurring chef on The Tyra Banks Show. Susannah Locketti has made an appearance on The Tony Danza Show, and is also an on-air chef for Publix grocery stores in the southern United States. [1]

[edit] Finalists

Finalist Hometown Place
Brook Harlan Columbia, Missouri 8th
Harmony Marceau New York City, New York 7th
Michael Thomas Venice, California 6th
Eric Warren Los Angeles, California 5th
Susannah Locketti Plymouth, Massachusetts 4th
Hans Rueffert Jasper, Georgia 3rd
Deborah Fewell Los Angeles, California Runner-Up
Dan Smith & Steve McDonagh Bellmore, New York and Wayne, New Jersey Winners - Three Mushroom Tart


[edit] Season Two

[edit] Summary

The second season of The Next Food Network Star series was taped in December 2005 and began airing in March 2006. Guy Fieri was announced as the winner on April 23, 2006, beating Reggie Southerland. Guy's Big Bite premiered in June 2006 and was picked up for a second season in 2008; Fieri's second series, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, premiered April 23, 2007, a year after he won. Fourth-place contestant Nathan Lyon began hosting his own series, A Lyon In the Kitchen[2], on the Discovery Health Channel in March 2007.

[edit] Finalists

[edit] Season Three

[edit] Summary

The third season began on June 3, 2007, and the winner was announced on Sunday, July 22. In season 3, judges narrowed the field down to 2 with 1 or 2 contestants going home weekly. Once the field was down to 2, the viewers picked winner. During the season, the contestants lived in a shared house in New York City. The contestant's challenges included cooking concession food for a NBA game (with guest Darryl Dawkins) to a mini version of Food Network's Iron Chef America (with guest judges Bobby Flay and Cat Cora). The judges (the "selection committee") always included Food Network executives Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson along with one guest. Other guest judges included Alton Brown, Giada De Laurentiis, Duff Goldman, season two winner Guy Fieri, and Robert Irvine. Paula Deen and Rachael Ray also helped the contestants with their challenges during season 3. During season 3, Bobby Flay also played an important role in the guidance and selection process. Despite making it to the final round only after "Jag" withdrew, Amy Finley was chosen by America as the Next Food Network Star on July 22, 2007. Her new show The Gourmet Next Door premiered on October 14, 2007.[3]

[edit] Finalists

Name Age Hometown Eliminated
Amy Finley 33 San Diego, CA Winner (Eliminated week 7, then reinstated)
Rory Schepisi 31 Vega, TX Runner-Up
Joshua Adam "Jag" Garcia 25 Havelock, NC Week 7 - Allowed to withdraw before Finale
Paul McCullough 36 Los Angeles, CA Week 6
Adrien Sharp 29 Jackson, MI Week 5
Michael Salmon 53 Brooklyn, NY Week 4
Tommy Grella, Jr. 34 Methuen, MA Week 3
Colombe Jacobsen-Derstine 29 New York, NY Week 3
Nikki Shaw 38 Oakland, CA Week 2
Patrick Rolfe 33 Seattle, WA Week 1
Vivien Cunha 40 Hermosa Beach, CA Week 1

[edit] Contestant resignation

Amy Finley was originally eliminated in week 7. Joshua Adam "Jag" Garcia falsely claimed to have graduated from The New York Restaurant School and to have been deployed to Afghanistan as a member of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment infantry unit.[4][5] After Food Network discovered that he had falsified his records and lied about some of his past, he withdrew from the competition.

[edit] Season Four

Season four of The Next Food Network Star premiered on June 1, 2008. Food Network executives, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson, are joined by Bobby Flay as the selection committee for this season.

[edit] Finalists

Name Age Hometown Occupation Eliminated
Aaron McCargo, Jr. 38 Camden, NJ Chef
Adam Gertler 30 Philadelphia, PA Food server
Jeffrey Vaden 43 White Plains, NY Food service management
Jennifer Cochrane 32 Woonsocket, RI Chef
Kelsey Nixon 23 North Ogden, UT Assistant Culinary Director
Lisa Garza 32 Dallas, TX Restaurant owner
Nipa Bhatt 35 Victoria, MN Marketing manager
Shane Lyons 20 Colorado Springs, CO Actor, Dining service owner
Kevin Roberts 39 San Diego, CA Radio talk show host, restaurant owner, author Week 2
Cory Kahaney 45 New York, NY Stand-up comedian Week 1

[edit] Week 1

The contestants were met by Alton Brown when they arrived. Their first challenge was explaining their culinary point of view in one sentence while on camera. A table full of props which the contestants could use was provided. The second challenge paired the contestants into five teams. Each team was required to prepare three dishes: each contestant prepared one dish and they prepared one joint dish. The teams presented their dishes to the selection committee and current Food Network personalities Masaharu Morimoto, Gina Neely, Sandra Lee, and Giada De Laurentiis.

Winners: Aaron McCargo, Jr. and Kelsey Nixon
Eliminated: Cory Kahaney

[edit] Week 2

Former Food Network Dinner Impossible chef Robert Irvine, who was not retained by the network due to lying on his resume some time after taping Week 2[6], was the special guest judge. He woke the contestants at 3:00 A.M. with a lot of loud noise for their next challenge. The remaining contestants were separated into three teams. The teams raced to three locations around Manhattan, where they were asked a culinary trivia question. If they answered their question correctly, they could select an ingredient and continue to the next location. They must preform a food preparation task before continuing if their answer was incorrect. These tasks included rolling dough for baguettes and butchering a chicken. Then each team prepared a meal for the selection committee, Robert Irvine, and 30 guests aboard a moving train (M&E Railway) using the ingredients they collected. The winners of the challenge were featured in USA Weekend.

Winners: Aaron McCargo, Jr. and Lisa Garza
Eliminated: Kevin Roberts

[edit] References

  1. ^ Where are they now? (HTML). Food Network. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
  2. ^ A Lyon In the Kitchen (HTML). Discovery Health Channel. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
  3. ^ The Gourmet Next Door (HTML). Food Network. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.
  4. ^ Friedman, Corey. "TV chef spiced up credentials", Havelock News, 2007-06-19. Retrieved on 2007-07-16. 
  5. ^ Brinkley, C. Mark. "Food Network contestant cooked up details about Marine service", Army Times, 2007-06-25. Retrieved on 2007-07-16. 
  6. ^ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334348,00.html Food Network Axes Chef After Resume Exaggerations Revealed

[edit] External links