Food Network Star is back for another season.  Sara Bates recaps the premiere episode for season 9!

Food Network Star – Season 9, Episode 1

Last night was the premiere of Food Network Star – Season 9. I have been waiting for months for this show to return and the premiere did not disappoint! Were you all watching?

At the beginning of the show we were introduced to the 12 finalists: Nikki, Rodney, Stacey, Chris, Daniela, Russell, Damaris, Andres, Connie (aka “Lovely”), Chad, Danushka, and Viet.

A few of the finalists may have looked familiar to you.  I’m a huge fan of Chris’s already, as he was on Season 2 of The Great Food Truck Race where he and his team made it to the finale but ultimately ended up in second place. His truck, Hodge Podge, was my favorite from the beginning so I was very excited to see him on this season of FNS.

You also may remember Viet, who was on Season 2 of Extreme Chef, and also a contestant on Iron Chef where he beat Bobby Flay.

After the finalists were introduced the mentors came out. Bobby, Giada and Alton each spoke a few words and I loved the last thing Alton said… “may your food be tasty and your personalities sparkle.” Perfect way to start the competition!

The finalists were then told that their first challenge would be a 30 second pitch tape that would be shown to the Food Network Executives, Susie Fogelson and Bob Tuschman.  Most of the finalists were very nervous and overwhelmed as they did not expect to be on camera this early in the competition.

Hands down, Chad did the best on screen. He has great energy, a good personality and is totally down to earth. He felt comfortable in front of the camera and talked about his passion for BBQ. Stacey, Nikki and Rodney also did well.

A few didn’t do well…

Danushka looked uncomfortable and as the mentors put it, “pained and angry.” Damaris was a bit nutty and crazy and kind of all over the place. Viet, as much as I like him as a chef, was not good on camera at all.

The chefs’ approach to food is rather varied, including Stacey’s “Vintage Kitchen”, Lovely’s “Glam”, Rodney the Pie Man, Nikki’s “Meat on the Side” and Damaris’ “Southern Food with a light and modern flare.”

The first Star Challenge was to create a dish with potatoes in 45 minutes. As Bobby put it, make us “an unforgettable potato bite.”

The challenge was somewhat chaotic with Nikki cutting herself twice, Rodney slipping and almost falling down and Danushka’s first batch of potato puffs being raw.

After the cooking time was over the finalists went out to meet the judges and were thrown a curve ball. Not only would they be presenting their dish to the mentors, Susie and Bob, they would also be connecting with a live audience! The audience was a focus group that was given a little device that would allow them to judge the pitch tapes.  They could rate how much they liked or disliked the tapes, which would be taken into consideration during the judging.

Each finalist was brought out, their tape was viewed by all and critiqued by the team, and then their dish tasted.

Russell didn’t do well on camera and his Potato Tasting Trio was just mediocre. Bob said Damaris’s tape was the “oddest 30 seconds” he’s ever seen. Susie gave Danushka similar feedback, saying she had a “bizarre tape.”

Stacey did well and the judges said her Fried Potato Balls were a “good dish.” Although Viet did not do well on tape and did not get his point of view across, Susie said his Potato Soup Croquette was “ridiculously good.” Chad’s tape was so well liked that the focus group actually applauded him! His Potato Latke with BBQ Sauce was also enjoyed by the judges.

At the first elimination the mentors announced that three of the finalists rose above the rest. Those three were Chad, Nikki and Stacey; they were safe and could leave the room. Next they let Damaris, Viet, Chris, Lovely, Rodney and Andres know that they were all also safe. That left Russell, Danushka and Daniela as the bottom three.

After some deliberation the mentors announced that Russell was safe. It’s now down to Danushka and Daniela. In my opinion Danushka should have gone home, but the mentors thought differently. Giada said they wanted to see more of Danushka and that Daniela would be leaving them.

I already have a few favorites in this group am looking forward to seeing what’s in store for us next week!