Sara Bates recaps Food Network Star episode 3 for season 9!

Food Network Star – Episode 3, Season 9

It’s week 3 already and there are 10 chefs left! Danushka has been in the bottom twice now. Do you think she’ll skate through another week? I sure hope not!

When the show opened, the chefs came into the kitchen to find black bags with question marks on them at their stations. Giada was in New York so it was just Alton and Bobby judging this episode. The finalists were told this was a mentor challenge. Alton and Bobby each mentored 5 of the finalists in a mystery ingredient challenge. They had 30 minutes to prepare a stellar dish with their mystery ingredient.

Each mentor picked a winner from their group and those two winners had an advantage in the Star Challenge later in the episode.

Bobby mentored Chad, who had salsify (a root vegetable) Damaris, who had mango pickle, Danushka, who had dragon fruit, Russell, who had arrowhead root, and Viet, who had umeboshi.

Bobby did not care for Chad’s grilled salsify hushpuppy. He said that the hushpuppies were very dense. Bobby loved Damaris’ mango pickle and grilled vegetables. He said there was a lot of mango pickle and he liked it and wanted to keep eating it.

Danushka made a shrimp and dragon fruit cup. Bobby wished she would have used the ingredient more creatively. Russell made a pecan and dried papaya pesto. Bobby said he would have liked to see more arrowhead root as the pesto overwhelmed a bit. Lastly, Viet made an umeboshi, crab and avocado salad. Bobby said it was good but he would have like a little more umeboshi.

Now on to Alton and his group. He mentored Chris, who had bottarga, Stacey, who had durian, Lovely, who had rambutan, Nikki, who had cuttlefish and Rodney, who had bitter melon.

Chris made a bottarga salad with celery, apple and white cheddar. The salad did not impress Alton at all. He said he could not taste the bottarga at all. Stacey made a durian custard and paid homage to her time with her father. Alton said although the story was a bit rambling, the custard was delightful.

Lovely made a rambutan bread pudding with a raspberry champagne sauce. Alton said the raspberry was a misstep and got in the way. Nikki made a cuttlefish salad with marinated carrots, zucchini, and peppers topped with raspberry vinaigrette. Alton said overall it was a good salad but she could have done more with it. Rodney made a bitter melon fruit salad with gin and bitter melon seeds on top. Alton said this is “pie style” and commended him for his work.

The mentors now picked their winners – for Alton it was Rodney and for Bobby it was Damaris. What will their advantage be for winning?

The mentors brought out a guest judge — Alex Guarnaschelli! They found out that their Star Challenge was actually a FNS Chopped Challenge. They broke up into two “heats” and 4 finalists competed at a time. The advantage for Rodney and Damaris was that they were on the judging panel and were both safe. Damaris sat with the judges during heat 1, Rodney for heat 2.

Chad, Russell, Viet and Danushka started off in heat 1. They had 30 minutes to prepare a dish with foods that are found at a sporting event – beer, hot dogs, peanuts and cotton candy.

Viet made ramen with grilled hot dogs. Damaris thought it was a complex dish. Bobby liked it as well, but wanted to see more passion from Viet.

Chad created a fried hot dog and waffles dish with a cotton candy, beer and maple sauce. Bobby said Chad has great confidence and Alton really liked the sauce.

Russell made a hot dog tofu dumpling. Alex liked his energy while he was cooking, but during his presentation he stumbled. Bobby said the dish was not his best.

Danushka made a hot dog rocket, which was a peanut and beer battered hot dog. The color of the sauce was beautiful, but the judges all agreed that during her presentation she didn’t seem excited to be there.

In heat 2, Nikki, Stacey, Chris and Lovely were given a basket of foods that kids love – chicken nuggets, fruit leather, cheddar fish crackers and apple juice.

Stacey made chicken pot pies with sweet potatoes and scallions. Unfortunately, the pie crust was not done and the judges were not impressed.

Lovely made stuffed bell peppers with a fruit leather and apple juice sauce. Alex said the dish was a little too sweet. Bobby commented that during her presentations she has been smooth and doesn’t stumble.

Nikki created a cheddar fish spring roll also with a sauce of fruit leather and juice. She rocked her presentation and Alex was impressed with how she repurposed the ingredients.

Chris made a buttermilk fried chicken with a fruit leather sauce. He mentions during his presentation that he had a broken life and food saved him. Bobby questions him and Chris shares that he was a drug addict and alcoholic and cooking changed him. Bobby said it was inspiring and courageous for him to share his story.

During elimination we hear that Nikki had the best dish of the day. The mentors also thought Chad had a great presentation and good dish and he is safe. Chris and Viet are also safe.

Lovely, Danushka, Russell and Stacey are the bottom four. Bobby said Lovely is polished on the camera but they want to see more of who she is on the inside – she is safe.

The mentors give quick feedback to the remaining three. Stacey’s pot pie wasn’t very good. Russell didn’t even make it close on his presentation and the flavors of his dish weren’t good. Danushka makes simple food and acts like she doesn’t care and doesn’t want to be there.

The final decision is made and Danushka is done. I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Three strikes and you’re out, right? This was her third trip to the bottom and she definitely deserved to go home. Do you agree?

We see a quick preview for next week’s show and the finalists will get to create a 60 second movie trailer. That should be exciting! See you all next week!