Categories: Food & Wine

The Next Food Network Star – Season 5

Competition is winding down for Season 5 of The Next Food Network Star. Did your favorite make the choice cut and come out on top, ready to be The Next Food Network Star?

Starting the season with ten finalists, The Food Network entertains us over a period of several weeks by putting the contenders through myriad challenges, eliminating one each week until that single culinary master is left braising in the limelight – The Next Food Network Star.

The ten finalists starting Season 5 of The Next Food Network Star were:

Brett August, New York, NY
Debbie Lee, West Hollywood, CA
Eddie Gilbert, Los Angeles, CA
Jamika Passoa, Atlanta, GA
Jeffrey Saad, Los Angeles, CA
Jen Isham, Orlando, FL
Katie Cavuto, Philadelphia, PA
Melissa d’Arabian, Keller, TX
Michael Proietti, City Island, NY
Teddy Folkman, Alexandria, VA

The first episode had the ten finalists catering a press party for The Food Network’s 16^th birthday. Jen Isham, a housewife who once worked as a line cook at Walt Disney World, was the first to be eliminated during that challenge. The remaining finalists struggled to put their best dish forward while judges Bobby Flay, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson guided them through situations that would have even top chefs boiling over in the kitchen.

Subsequent episodes of The Next Food Network Star saw the finalists facing such formidable tasks as:

Preparing an All-American meal in the galley of the USS Intrepid for a group of military servicemen and women returning from the Middle East
Performing a cooking demo in front of a live studio audience while taping The Rachel Ray Show
Catering a dinner party for Ina Garten, The Food Network’s own Barefoot Contessa and her guests

The contestant that won the challenge each week was not only guaranteed to continue to the next level of competition, but also had their recipe featured in various entities such as Good Housekeeping Magazine, on the menu of Red Lobster Restaurants, Esquire Magazine, and USA Weekend.

Week after week we were guests in their kitchens, witnessing Michael struggling with his on-camera presence, Katie crying over yet another undercooked meal, and Debbie still failing to take ownership of her shortcomings. Tempers got shorter as oven temperatures rose, with finalists beginning to question if they had what it takes to be The Next Food Network Star.

Tonight’s episode has two finalists on the menu – Melissa d’Arabian and Jeffrey Saad.

Jeffery and Melissa have simmered past the other contenders, exhibiting considerable growth in both entertainment and culinary skills. They’re ready to put it all on the table on the final episode of Season 5 of The Next Food Network Star.

Who will be the main course?