I'm finding it utterly fascinating that the two youngest contestants on Next Food Network Star, Kelsey, fresh out of culinary school, and Shane, fresh out of puberty, are kicking ass in this competition.
Theories on why the youngest ones are doing better
I'm wondering if the kiddos are doing better simply because they are less caught up with what other people think. As any of us get older, we can start developing more hang-ups and fear simply because we've experienced more. For example, Aaron keeps losing his personality as soon as he goes on camera because I think he's getting too hung up on trying to "impress" the audience which ends up with him coming off as more boring than Vanilla. Aaron totally should have used that "Changing a Hooptey into a Deville" line to the Bon Appetit staff. That was hilarious and very entertaining.
Good for the Dynamic Duo, Kelsey and Shane for their Bon Appetit "No Nightmare Wellington" win. Kelsey is still a bit too Stepford Cotton Candy for me but at least she's getting less sugary. That Wellington dish looked like a fancy dish that you could easily whip up on a Thursday night for a dinner party at home for friends. I loved their idea of stacking the dough, beef, and mushroom sauce on top of each other versus having to do all that wrapping that traditional Beef Wellington requires. I also like the idea of smaller controlled portion sizes so that your guests won't overeat and feel stuffed before dessert.
What up with Lisa and her Veloute? The Veloute, Veloute! It sounded like she was talking about some decorative vellum paper for plating. And yeah, Aaron, you should have put tighter reigns on Adam at the very beginning when he first saw him put those honking huge pieces of chicken on the grill.
Describing "the senses" on camera
When everyone had to describe a dish on camera, Shane was clearly the winner. I loved how Shane described his dish as a Mediterranean delight he'd enjoy eating outdoors. He made me feel like going on a Greek vacation. I did find it interesting that when Chef Cat Cora mentioned "describe the senses" that no one but Shane did that. Watching a food writer do that task would have been like watching a maestro with his symphony....Okay, I'm working the descriptive thing too much like an overly sappy Hallmark card.
And speaking of bad Hallmark cards, yup, uh-huh, we had crying again. Lisa cried but I'm not going to be too tough on girlfriend this week because it was frustration tears resulting from her teammate Jennifer completely hosing their dish with that "what were you thinking" glass breaking incident. In fact, I thought it great composure on Lisa's part that she didn't go off on Jen at all because I probably would have. I have no idea what Jennifer was thinking banging that jar of juice on the counter near the grilling squash. Lisa put her overbearing Perfectionist side in hibernation like the judges asked, and she did a good job of it, so I'll give her slack.
Who is the least bad of the worst two
Jennifer and Adam both really, really, blew it this week. In fact, when it came down to the two of them standing at the judge's table, I couldn't decide who was worst, but if I had to pick someone to go on, I'd pick Adam because as poor as his cooking skills have been so far, he is entertaining and more confident in himself. Jennifer just can't stop apologizing, and Food Network stars need to at least appear like they know what they are doing if they don't. So, bye bey this week to Jennifer, and honestly, I was surprised that she didn't hug anyone goodbye or stop and say thanks for the memories to any of the cast. Guess Jen just wanted the hell out of Dodge and back to her little girl. I'd be homesick too.
