Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
You're going to the movies.
(Giada) You'll be serving meals to movie goers
and you're gonna have to create a 60-second movie trailer.
I'm swingin'...
I don't want to be the guy that's bad in the trailer.
♪ Steak mush-ro and gru-ar... ♪
Did anybody else have a hard time understanding what Rodney said?
I understand.
Thank you.
but then the Spaghetti Western it fell flat.
I don't see you growing on camera.
The journey ends for Lovely.
(narrator) Three of Food Network's biggest stars
will lead 12 finalists through a competition
where one will win the ultimate prize,
their own show on Food Network.
The winner also gets an exclusive feature in "Food Network" magazine
and become a headliner at this year's New York Wine And Food Festival.
And this year the final decision is yours.
Who will get your vote and become the next Food Network Star?
Closed Captions Provided by Scripps Networks, LLC
(Nikki) I feel good about making it halfway
but now is when it really gets serious
and we're gonna really see who can be the next Food Network Star.
And now there are eight.
Congratulations, you guys, and welcome back to the kitchen.
A Food Network star has to be comfortable
doing all kinds of television
so today for your mentor challenge
you guys will be working live .
(Damaris) Great.
Ah, I've never worked live before.
Terrible.
There are no cuts, once you're going you are on the air.
(Giada) And, of course, a live TV show
needs an experienced host.
Please welcome the co-anchor of "E! News,
Terrence Jenkins.
(Nikki) Terrence is a pro at live TV
and I've never done live TV before
so he's definitely got something to teach us.
(Chris) How are ya?
Hey, listen, guys, live TV is always a challenge.
You have to keep it moving,
you have to keep it informative no matter what happens.
(Rodney) This is my medium, man, I'm good at thinking on my feet.
I like to role a little bit more improvisational,
a little bit more off the cuff.
Each of you will have three minutes to work with Terrence
and present the exact same dish.
It's a sausage and pepper sandwich.
(Terrence) There are no second chances so make sure your's counts.
(Giada) So at the end of this challenge
I'll determine a winner
and that person will have an advantage in the next star challenge.
I'll call you back into the kitchen one at a time.
(Stacey) All right, thank you.
I've done some local live segments in San Diego
and I just live for this stuff.
Not only am I interacting with the host
but I'm kind of teaching an audience, just a great energy.
All right, Terrence,
we're gonna throw a few curve balls at the finalists,
each one's gonna be a little different.
They don't have any idea this is happening
but I'll need your help.
We're gonna set them up properly, all right?
All right, have fun, all right?
Viet, go ahead into the kitchen, please.
(Viet) When that camera turns on my nerves automatically turn on.
Growing up very poor, you know, I was picked on a lot.
I've closed myself off,
it's really hindered me in a sense
that I'm just so not confident.
So here's your set-up,
your sausage and your peppers.
No, use those.
Okay.
(Viet) I'm feeling pretty good because I did my walk through,
I know exactly what to expect and what's gonna be there,
I just have to make a sandwich.
(Giada laughing)
(floor director) We're going live in five, four,
three, two, one, action .
(Terrence) Viet, I'm super hungry right now
and I can't wait to get this chicken and peppers sausage.
All right, let's do this, what do you usually like?
I love a lot of peppers.
I want to make sure the bread is good,
maybe a little crispy or toasty.
(Viet) Where are the peppers at?
I think I'm going crazy because a few seconds ago the peppers were there
and all of a sudden they're gone.
Where are the peppers?
(Viet) Where are the peppers?
What happened to the peppers?
Whatever happened to the peppers?
(Terrence) I would love some peppers with mine.
(Viet) Yeah, so how about we do this?
Okay.
(Viet) This is a live demonstration
on a sausage and pepper onion sandwich
and there are no pepper and onions
and I'm just thinking to myself
"I only have three minutes, time's running out."
So, listen, that's it for today.
Viet, thank you, we'll be right back with more.
(floor director) Thank you very much.
Whatever happened to the peppers?
Okay, yeah.
That's the point of live television,
you don't ever know what's gonna happen.
(Viet) Seriously?
Yeah.
The peppers totally threw me off.
I just dwelled on it too much.
(Terrence) Okay, guys, get ready to meet Russell
who's about to cook something real nice for us.
I'm good.
(Russell) I'm very comfortable with live television
and 80 per cent of my career has been an open-kitchen show.
I've been doing essentially live performances the entire time.
I'm gonna start with a little vinaigrette
so a little mixture.
I'm gonna add in just a little bit of corn
and I love working in the dark.
(Russell) Tomato.
I'm good with this.
(Russell) In the world of underground restaurants you don't know what to expect.
Lights going out, no big deal.
Nice job, Russell, you did recover very well.
Thank you.
They cut the lights.
For me, there were no peppers.
I swear, I walk in there, I was like,
I started questioning myself,
like, is my mind playing tricks on me, where are the damn peppers?
All right.
(Terrence) Now are there any particular techniques to whipping this up?
The best thing is gonna be a whisk.
(Stacey) There's no whisk.
I'm like, this is not okay.
We don't have a whisk but we have a fork.
Okay.
I feel like I'm recovering quickly here.
Thank you.
So what happened to your tools, Stacey?
They're gone but you have to adjust.
I thought you did great
and you really kept your cool, which is really nice.
Thank you very much.
(Chad) So the only experience I have with live TV
is watching the Flyers play at home, I mean, that's about it.
We're making a sausage and pepper sandwich.
Pepper and onions, yeah.
Yeah, I'm good.
Need some water, you need a beer?
You're good, okay.
So we have red and green bell peppers.
Yep, no problem.
Terrence starts coughing a little bit
and he leaves the set.
How's everyone doing out there?
Good, all right.
So we'll get this working.
(Chad) That's when I freeze and think, you know,
we should stop the take
but I should let this guy work his cough out and we should start over.
(Terrence) All right, Chad, we are out of time.
Out of time.
(Chad) but we don't have that option here, it's live TV,
now you know why I've never done live TV before.
Yeah.
There's many times I've done a live show
and you think that something's not right
Right.
He basically had a heart attack.
(Stacey) What, what opened that door?
I did think it was real.
I'm using Dijon mustard, just a little bit,
then you always want to put in your seasoning, seasoning in.
Oh, sh...
I hear a huge crash.
Cake tiers have just flown off the shelf.
I'm just gonna put my head down and keep cooking.
(Terrence) What's happening here?
Okay.
And done!
All right, and that's a wrap for "Cooking With Damaris."
All I remember are things flying off the shelves.
I have no idea how I just did.
The Poltergeist remark was adorable, you did good!
Thank you.
I'm so relieved.
I did so much better than I expected.
Nikki Dinki!
(Nikki) I'm feeling very nervous.
Everything that I do on the Internet
is things that I really take time to do
so there's not much of a live element there.
So let's make a little vinaigrette for this salad.
(fire alarm ringing)
You know, I'm still hungry.
Oh, I'm sorry, is this part of the challenge?
(Damaris) Oh, man, like, I far from nailed this one.
Oh, my gosh.
Tell me you all had fire alarms and no lights.
It was like, a total fail.
Okay, guys, it's time to meet Rodney.
(Rodney) I've heard this a lot of times that I rush too much
so I want to be understandable,
I want to take my time and think.
That's the truth.
(Terrence) All right, we actually don't have any pies today
I'm gonna make you a sausage and pepper sandwich.
Take some sausage, put it right here on this grill,
make sure you get it nice and browned up.
You gotta have toasted bread, my man.
Okay, Rodney we're being told our time is a little bit short
so we're gonna wrap this thing up in 30 seconds.
Well, you know, no sweat.
So I've got some peppers and onions
I'm just sauteing them up in this pan right here.
Just get 'em all nice and soft.
(Rodney) He's rushing me, no problem.
I want to use the time that I have to shine.
(Rodney) So you mix this up here.
We've got 15 seconds there, let's get a taste of this thing.
Look at that, it turned out really good.
I'm knockin' it out of the park.
Whoo-hoo!
Hey, man, super cool meetin' ya.
And that's a wrap, the pie man, Rodney Henry, baby.
(Giada) Rodney, I liked that.
Cool.
And you had great chemistry.
He rushed you and you bounced back and I understood everything
Thank you very much.
I feel awesome, man.
Terrence, how are you, welcome to the kitchen.
Holy crap, my heart starts racing,
I'm excited to start cooking.
We're gonna make you a sausage and pepper sandwich.
Then we're also gonna make a little salad with a little bit of corn.
I'm gonna bring a little lemon into it.
Don't even worry about it, baby,
sometimes that sort of thing happens
but when we start with this
we just want to add a little bit of binder.
Oh.
Standing right here, I gotcha, baby.
(Chris) Me being loud is me being passionate.
(yelling) Put the corn in the bowl!
(Giada) What did you think, Chris?
He spilled the olive oil but you gotta keep going.
You gotta make sure that he knows it's okay that he spilled the olive oil.
Well I thought you handled it very gracefully.
But I get very excited in the kitchen
and I think I screamed his ear off.
The minute you walk on you're very loud
so, you know, you gotta work on that.
I'm definitely concerned that my energy could be an issue,
it's always been that over-the-top loud energy.
Thanks, Chris.
So I just gotta channel that energy, passion and love for food
in the right way.
I'm sure you'll all agree that today was very demanding.
Being natural while working live
is an essential skill for a Food Network star.
You guys really did a great job and I really enjoyed myself.
(all) Thank you.
So based on what we saw today...
the finalist we thought was the most entertaining,
informative and calm
no matter what we threw at you was...
The finalist we thought was the most entertaining,
informative and calm
no matter what we threw at you...
was Rodney.
Thanks a lot, that's totally awesome.
Hell yeah!
Thank you very much.
And the good news, Rodney,
is that you're gonna have an advantage at the star challenge.
Excellent.
(Rodney) This is my second advantage in the star challenge.
I want to keep going and improving
until to the point where I'm unstoppable and no one can touch me.
And thanks to Terrence
Thank you.
(Giada) All right, finalists,
the next time I see you it'll be the fourth of July.
(Russell) Oh, boy.
What do you guys think we're doing in our competition today?
We're cooking something for fourth of July.
And I'm the barbecue guy, what goes better with the fourth of July
than maybe some beer and some barbecue?
I'm excited about it.
(Chris) Wow, there's stars,
streamers, flowers everywhere in the kitchen.
This is gonna be one amazing fourth of July.
I love fourth of July.
I actually got my start as a cook flippin' burgers at McDonalds.
I ended up the most burgers flipped in one day
which was on a July 4th.
I've come along way and I'm proud of that.
(Alton) Welcome back to the kitchen.
Each year Food Network produces a live holiday television event
called "Thanksgiving Live."
It's a chance for Food Network viewers
to have access to their favorite stars
during a live broadcast.
I've been part of this for the last two years.
It's entertaining but it can also be stressful at the same time.
The next test of your Food Star skills is called...
"Fourth of July Live ."
Now we're about halfway through the competition
so this challenge can serve as kind of a midterm exam.
And serving as today's one-man focus group
is Food Network's General Manger of Programming,
Bob Tuschman.
(Chad) Bob Tuschman, he's back.
We saw Bob the first week and it's been a few weeks without him.
You know, he runs programming,
if you're gonna get a show on the Food Network, he's the guy.
(Bob) Hey, guys, great to see you again.
(Nikki) Good to see you.
One of the reasons we love live TV so much at Food Network
is because it gives our viewers a chance to connect with their favorite stars,
today you are those stars.
Live TV can be challenging
so show us you can hold on to your star power under any circumstances.
Giada, Bobby and I will be off stage to watch how it all goes down.
Good luck.
(Damaris) I've watching "Thanksgiving Live" before
and people can call in with any question.
So if you're not a hundred per cent comfortable with what you're making
it can make you look like you're a big, ol' dummy.
(Alton) Each of you will be assigned
one of eight fourth of July food stations.
Some of the stations you might be cooking,
at others you'll be paired with another culinary expert.
I will visit each of you during the show
and you better be ready
because you just never know when I'm gonna drop by.
Rodney, you won the last mentor challenge
so you've got an advantage going into this live show.
As noted, there will be stations for this program
and, Rodney, you will assign your fellow finalists to each of those stations, okay?
All right, go ahead and pick your station
and then assign the rest.
Oh, Rodney.
(Rodney) I'm doing dessert because people know me as the pie man.
That's my thing.
Nikki Dinki.
(Nikki) Being the veggie girl
I think Rodney heard meat and said
"I'm putting Nikki with that."
Potato salad is gonna be Russell.
(Rodney) Chris.
Viet.
Ooh.
Chips and dips, thanks, Rodney, it's super boring.
Damaris.
I'm from Kentucky, I do like to drink.
Okay, who's gonna be out at the farm stand
with Farmer Lee grilling up some veggies.
Chad on the veggies.
(Chad) I'm the barbecue guy.
Veggies aren't my thing
but I need to make 'em my thing today.
All right, that means that Stacey is going to be out at the butcher station.
Yep.
(Stacey) Awesome.
I have no idea what to do with a huge slab of meat.
I buy my meat already broken down for my restaurant
and at home my husband was a vegetarian for 15 years
so I feel like I'm about to march to my death.
(Alton) All right, you're gonna have 15 minutes to prep your station
and meet with our guests.
After that it's show time so move it, go, go, go, go!
(Russell) We have 15 minutes
to get ready to cook on live television.
It's a huge challenge.
I'm making a high-concept potato salad.
I'm gonna grab the things that are really gonna make my dish stand out --
Dijon and goat cheese.
You really are a farmer, they weren't kidding.
Please to meet you.
I got nothin' for ya.
(Chris) I'm pretty worried that my energy is gonna come off
a lot more angry than actual passion.
You know, it happened yesterday with Terrence
and I really don't want it to happen again.
Don't yell on TV.
Corn, baby, always had corn on fourth of July.
I hear the sounds of knives being sharpened.
Hi, I'm Stacey.
(Stacey) I see Lindy and Grundy at the butcher station
wielding knives and sharpeners.
I have no idea what I'm doing here.
What's going on in here?
Okay, it's not a whole animal, I feel better, yeah.
Oh, whoo.
I was really thinking I was gonna see a side of cow.
Correct.
That's true,
and especially if they're pasture-raised animals,
Okay.
(Stacey) We instantly just kind of have this rapport
and so instead of being afraid I'm starting to get excited.
Ten minutes remaining.
(Nikki) Coming through.
When I first thought about it, chips and dips, whatever,
but at the same time I want to add some pizzazz to it
because Bob Tuschman's in the house.
(Russell) Mine, mine.
I mean, absolutely, if you want to.
(Damaris) Rodney paired me with liquor on purpose
because sober I'm just teetering on the line of acceptable,
a couple cocktails in me and that line has been sailed beyond.
She'll drink everything she makes.
I will drink everything I make.
Ladies and gentleman, we go live in five minutes.
Forty-five minutes is not enough time to make a pie
so I'm making this pasta creme stuffed baked meringue.
Man, I can frickin' blow some people's minds.
It's on.
(Nikki) Can you close it for me?
I've never made fried chicken before
but that doesn't mean that I don't understand the basics of it.
More chicken.
And I want to tie it into my point of view of meat on the side
so because I use smaller amounts of meat
my meat has to be the best it can be.
1 1/2 minutes and your prep time will be over.
Let's get this straight, we've got a minute and a half left
and I'm gonna use these veggies just like I'd use meat
and turn it into an amazing veggie sandwich.
I'd like to season it like we're gonna season a cheesesteak,
Great.
(Alton) Finalists, your prep time is over.
All right, get ready, we're about to go live
and we will be for 45 minutes.
I feel super nervous like I'm gonna vomit.
Maybe I will take a shot.
Ow!
(floor director) Going live in five, four, three..
(floor director) Going live in five, four, three...
Here we go.
(Alton) Welcome to Food Network's "4th of July Live."
I'm Alton Brown and for the next 45 minutes
we will deliver all the information that you need
to whip up a festive and delicious fourth of July holiday feast.
Now I think we should probably just dive right in on Chad
at a remote farm stand.
Hey, Alton, how you doing?
We're out here, we're making steak sandwiches out of veggies, Texas-style.
We're making a dry rub, a Texas dry rub seasoning.
(Alton) Chad, I just want to stop you for a second,
who are you with out there, there's somebody there with you,
that's your guest, so you better bring 'em to the party.
Yep, I'm here with Farmer Lee
and I'm using his amazing veggies to get this thing done.
He's got this guest out there,
a very important person in the food world
and he didn't even bring him into the mix.
Keep in mind, a guy like Farmer Lee's a lot more famous than you are,
Absolutely, for sure.
Pshew.
(Chad) You want to check the barbecue sauce?
It's difficult having to incorporate Farmer Lee into this
when I'm being a cook and a host,
it's a lot going on at once.
(Farmer Lee) I don't know, I don't want to make the call on the barbecue sauce.
I mean, it's your's, if you want the emphasis to be on the barbecue or...
He left the guest no where to go.
Thanks, Chad and Farmer Lee.
(Chad) Very good, thank you.
(Alton) I didn't expect that the dip man, Viet,
was gonna be back here setting things on fire,
I am, you know what,
when you think about fourth of July you think of barbecues.
I want to do something different,
I want to add some smokiness to my dip.
He has sort of a magnetic smile and look to him.
I'm hoping he can find the personality to back that up.
I'm smoking crab in some cedar.
(Viet) I would never play that safe route
and just make some chunky guacamole.
I just want to add some complexity to the depth
because that is the only way that I'm gonna set myself apart.
Today we're gonna make a cream base by using creme fraiche.
If you think of things that are really good with crab --
jalapeno, apple,
I'm gonna incorporate all of that into a cream-based dip
and they're gonna get that smokiness, that crunch, all the texture, so...
There's no excitement, do you know what I mean,
he's listing off ingredients and stuff.
All right, bring it on.
because a lot of people are very excited about this subject.
All right, caller for Viet, go ahead, caller.
Hi, I'd like to make a dip trio.
What's your favorite combo of dips?
(Viet) I'm trying to think quickly and give them an answer
but once again a little of the nerves kick in
and I kind of panic.
A dip trio.
So you could do a trio of dips,
let's say we could do a...
a cream cheese-based dip.
You could...
Uh, another dip would be refried beans.
If you just go down to your grocery store and get some refried beans,
add maybe some pork to it.
Um... um...
And the third dip, good, ol' salsa,
you can add other things in the salsa to jazz it up.
Sounds good.
Totally.
(Bob) I wish Viet was bringing more excitement, joy, energy.
(Alton) Rodney, this is not pie, this is meringue.
I'm making a pot de creme stuffed baked meringue
with blueberries and raspberry reduction.
Do you have a tip for folks on how to control the meringue during this time of year?
Basically try to keep it cool where you're baking it.
(Bobby) What?
or you're not getting it fully baked,
it'll start to melt and you don't want it to melt.
Basically you don't want it to dry out either
but you don't want it to be too,
you don't want it to be too moist.
He doesn't really give us anything, he just talks in circles.
Don't do it outside, I mean, it's hot in this sucker right now.
I knew you wouldn't be able to actually
I was like, "sucker"
and I was like, "Oh..."
(Alton) Do we have a dessert phone call for Rodney?
(female caller) Hi, I love dessert but I hate to turn on the oven when it's hot outside.
A great no-bake dessert?
Take some sort of whipped topping and mix it up with whatever you like.
You can mix it up with chocolate,
you can mix it up with fruit,
put whatever you want in that sucker, just mix it up.
(Rodney) Two suckers, man, in two minutes is a lot of suckers, man,
you know what I mean, that could be my death nail.
(Giada) I-yi-yi-yi-yi.
No sweat.
(Bobby) Just slow down and take a breath.
Yeah.
Does it?
because I can smell some fried chicken.
What makes your's special?
You know I like to cook my meat on the side
and when meat's on the side a small amount's gotta go a long way
so I'm gonna apply that to my fried chicken
make sure it's so good you only need one piece.
I'll probably have a drumstick,
you know, kind of getting in there.
I think she's really fun and playful
but there's something lacking in authority for me.
♪ Fried chicken ♪
We've got a video call coming up, go ahead video call.
Hey, I'm gluten free but I love fried chicken.
Is there a flour substitute that I could use?
You can use a ton of different flours,
you can use no flour at all.
(Nikki) Between the live TV, doing a dish I haven't done
and having Alton Brown in front of me asking me questions
I feel a little bit more of that nervous energy than I would like.
The skin can get nice and crispy if you fry it correctly.
What do you mean fry it correctly?
Well, you know, Alton Brown, come on over down here.
(Bob) You know what, she has cute-si-ness that comes across
(Giada) Yeah.
I'm sorry?
I'm just seeing things here that I'm not used to seeing on potato salad.
I've got nice flavors, it's simplistic,
but it's not too, like,
there's nothing that's...
gonna outdo the potato.
The potato's really, really nicely blended.
(Russell) I say to myself "Don't rush."
I've gotta talk concisely and consistently
because I want to keep the audience intrigued.
That works, I like that, nothing too out of place.
(Bob) He stays in a really narrow range.
I want him to explode a little bit, yeah.
(Giada) Yeah, he needs more excitement.
Let the dogs out, Russell!
Oh, listen, we've gotta go a commercial
so I want you to go to commercial, you know who to do that, great.
It's time to go to a commercial break.
Please come right back and hang out with us
here at Food Network "4th of July" live.
He did so good!
Yes!
Thank you, sir!
How do you like me now?
(narrator) Coming up next...
She's trying to seduce Alton.
I look like an idiot.
(Alton) You've gotta get this buffet loaded up with food.
It's attacking my mouth.
Welcome back to our fourth of July party
with Alton and me and my best new friend
Marcos Tello.
What are you talking about?
Now how are you gonna bring some fireworks to these festivities?
Well we are gonna make a traditional punch.
It's called Schuylkill Fishhouse,
it's from Schuylkill Fishhouse
and it's a Philadelphia fish house.
That is one of the oldest punches in America?
Yes, it is.
Yes.
Words are not coming out smoothly,
I'm just stumbling
and when I'm stumbling I'm realizing it's live
and there's not a chance to do it again
and I look like an idiot.
But we're gonna make it instead of with rum and cognac
we're gonna make it with bourbon.
(Bobby) I don't feel like she's taking this seriously.
Now social media has been really a buzz with questions for the bar.
I am praying to God that I can answer this question.
And here's one from Danny in Boston.
Really, any, any cocktail can be made a mock-tail.
You're just gonna bump up all of the other flavors in it.
She shimmied.
Do it without the shoulder,
you know how I feel about that.
I feel like she's trying to seduce Alton rather than the viewer.
(Bobby) She should be trying her hardest to impress us
with her skills in front of the camera
and that's not what we're getting.
And she has to remember she's speaking to the world.
(Alton) All right.
I'm fine.
I love slaw, why do I want to eat yours?
Why, because the fourth of July
I remember my grandma making that loose, really creamy, watery coleslaw
so I went on a mission to make better coleslaw
held together adding corn.
very local in Ohio during the fourth of July,
some roasted peppers...
Chris actually seems to be getting a little more comfortable in his performance.
and cabbage.
So how do you keep it from getting watery.
I actually don't salt my cabbage
because when you salt your cabbage before
it pulls some of that moisture out
and you're gonna have all that loose liquid.
So I over-season the dressing
and add the dressing into the actual coleslaw base.
I'm really feeling like I'm able to bring my energy down
and channel it in the right direction.
So you really treat it a lot more like the original slaw,
a salad essentially that your dressing at the last minute?
Yep.
It gives me hope.
(Alton) We've got Stacey who's out working with some local butchers.
I am here at the best place in the house for the fourth of July.
I am manning the grill with a bunch of ladies.
So today I have Lindy and Grundy,
they own one of the biggest and fast butcher shops here in Southern California.
It is such a pleasure and joy to work with them.
Thanks for having us, we're having a blast.
Yep.
(Stacey) In here we have this chicken special.
It's something that most people know as a brick chicken
but what is it called, tell me the fancy name.
Spatchcock chicken.
Really simply it just means we took the backbone out
and we also took out the breast plate
so that we could lay it flat on the grill so it cooks evenly.
I'm feeling like I'm owning this stage.
It's just very simply seasoned,
we're gonna offer you two different sauces for dipping.
She also highlighted her guests while staying a star herself.
I know what she's cooking and it's great.
(Alton) Thank you, Stacey,
you better wrap things up 'cause there's not a whole lot of time left.
(Stacey) All right, take care.
Cheers.
Listen, everybody, you've gotta get this buffet loaded up with food.
(Chad) We're going.
(Stacey) Take care, gotta go.
Whoa.
Oh, yeah.
(Chris) Let's do it.
Well food fans,
our finalists have loaded up the buffet with their offerings
and I can not wait to dig in.
I'm Alton Brown, be safe, have fun,
and you know what, recycle those paper plates.
(Bob) I would hire that Alton Brown guy, I thought he was good.
(Bobby) He is pretty good.
(Alton) We'll see you next year.
Ba-da-da-va.
Finalists now Bob Tuschman, Bobby and Giada will join me in the kitchen
to taste your food.
Out of the kitchen, go !
That leaves me with the chicken.
(Chad) Good times.
(Russell) How much fun was that?
So welcome to the table.
Fine with me.
which was a take on a very old American punch,
the Philadelphia fish house punch.
Damaris took it to Kentucky with some bourbon.
I thought it was appropriate she had cocktails
'cause she only seems slightly drunk to me.
(finalists laughing)
I mean, I've got this.
What about the punch?
I think the peach liqueur is a nice idea
especially because the fourth of July is in the summer.
I think it works.
Okay, well the next logical step here
is to go to the smoked crab dip that was made by Viet.
(Bobby) It's not a bad flavor combination
but I think the problem is,
he used creme fraiche as a way to create that dip texture.
No, it gets watery, yeah.
My overall reaction is it's a little under-whelming.
(Bobby) So Chad described this
as a Philly to Texas barbecue vegetable sandwich.
(Alton) Which is a lot to say.
I love it.
(Bobby) Rodney stuck the barbecue guy with the vegetables
but he did a great job.
Okay, let's talk about Nikki,
that would be the fried chicken.
This is super-crunchy fried chicken
and the meat inside is incredibly moist
so she did something right.
All right, let's move on to Chris who made slaw.
It's not my favorite.
I think the chiles shouldn't be here
because they get slimy.
And quite frankly for all the ingredients that are here
I think there ought to be more flavor.
All right, let's check out Russell's potato salad.
(Giada) I don't get this.
Yes!
And everything's competing and it's attacking my mouth.
It's got a weird texture
and I think that he really likes to cook,
I think he really likes food and ingredients.
No, I didn't make mashed potatoes
but I folded in the goat cheese,
it creamed up and melded a lot of flavors together that I really like.
(Bob) This has just so many contrasting flavors and shapes
that I don't quite know what I'm eating but it's okay.
So Stacey, she had not one but two culinary experts
that she had to bring to the party.
How did it go outside?
The butchers, they made it fun
so actually I want to say thank you
My pleasure.
Let's taste her mixed grill.
Yep.
Me, too.
Yep.
All right, Rodney.
(Bobby) Okay, let's check out the chocolate pot de creme
with the meringue and some berry sauce on top.
Good grief.
The meringue is way under-cooked.
(Giada) Well I like the idea, it's a creative dessert.
It is.
I wanted to try something a little bit different.
It was weird, the meringue didn't turn out exactly like I wanted it to.
Who knows, man, I had fun doing it.
Well we certainly have a lot to think about
after these performances and all the food.
Let's sleep on it and tomorrow we'll figure out who stays and who goes.
Cheers, happy fourth of July, everybody.
(narrator) Coming up next...
Yeah.
(Giada) You picked dessert and you didn't blow us away.
Unfortunately one of you will be going home tonight.
♪ (suspenseful music playing ) ♪
This week's challenge was all about performing live.
(Bob) You know, the last time I saw you guys was a month ago
and I see some really clear front runners among you
but I see one or two I'm a little nervous about.
(Giada) So, Rodney, I always enjoy watching you,
you're unpredictable and you're fun.
The problem is when you look closely
what you're seeing doesn't really make sense
and you picked dessert and you didn't blow us away.
What I will tell you is this,
the concept was brilliant but it wasn't executed well.
(Bobby) Damaris, I think that you can really cook,
I also think that you have really fantastic natural humor,
but the thing that I'm concerned about more than anything
is you weren't taking it seriously.
If we don't see that you're really gonna take this seriously
you can't be the next Food Network Star.
Okay.
(Alton) Viet, you're impossible to not like,
then you start talking and you have no authority.
You're a confident cook,
but you are not a confident speaker in front of the camera.
Now let's talk about your dish for a second.
As a dip it was watery,
a little bit of sour cream or mayonnaise and that would have been a dip.
Okay, thank you, Alton.
Hey.
How many times have you made fried chicken before?
You did a good job, we loved the crunchiness of it.
But in terms of your performance yesterday
you had this sort of giggly thing going on
and if you look around the Food Network
the women of the Food Network
have serious edge in their authorities.
This is a very overwhelming experience for me,
it gets me all like this,
but, yeah, I mean, I guess there is an edge there, for sure.
Of course.
So, Chris, how did you feel you did yesterday?
I think I did okay.
Well I'm here to tell you that I thought you were right on.
Pshew, thank God.
(Giada) I think we all saw someone that we really enjoyed.
I was very comfortable.
Moving on to your food,
Okay.
but your performance I was impressed and very happy to see.
Thank you very much.
Russell, tell me the story of your potato salad.
I didn't want to make just a boring, everyday potato salad,
I mean, I perceived that you wanted innovation from us.
If you innovate and it's not good
we only remember the not good.
So you're saying that my potato salad sucked.
Okay.
Now you did one thing yesterday
that made me think, "Wow!"
When I asked you to do a throw to commercial
you did it without hesitation
I was like, "Whoa, that guy, that guy!"
(Bob) Chad, part of what the best hosts do
is they make their guest next to them a star
Understood, yeah.
Let's talk about your food,
I thought it was fantastic.
You made this grilled vegetable barbecue sandwich.
The fact it was vegetables
you instantly filtered it through the barbecue lens
Thank you.
Hi.
You had the same challenge Chad had, you had the other live remote.
What you did was pretty close to perfect
and there's the rub
Okay.
and that's a challenge for you
and what I'm looking for is someone who's gonna surprise me,
let us see a little of the imperfections.
Let's talk about your food,
Awesome.
You could bottle either of those sauces and have a hit on your hands.
My dad will be proud.
So, Stacey, you are safe
and we have more good news for you,
we felt that you were the winner of this challenge.
Thank you, wow, awesome.
(Giada) Congrats, Stacey.
(Chris) Congrats, Stacey girl.
Okay, the next person who is safe is...
the queen of fried chicken, Nikki.
Thank you.
(Alton) Chris, you sure did improve on your presentation
so you're safe.
(Giada) Rodney, you are safe.
(Bob) There's one more person who's safe for now and that is...
Thank you.
(Bob) The five of you who are safe, congratulations,
and you can leave the evaluation room.
(Chris) See you guys.
(Bobby) Okay, Russell and Viet,
I had high hopes for both of you as really innovative cooks,
unfortunately one of you will be going home tonight.
(Rodney) What's up, man?
Viet, dude, I had this expectation of standing next to you,
Really?
How the hell did we get here?
Once the camera's directly on me
there's just something that clicks off
and I kind of get all tongue tied, you know?
(Bobby) Viet, Russell,
two guys who have competed very well,
unfortunately one of them is gonna go home.
Why don't we start with Viet.
Viet is very likeable,
Viet looks good on camera.
The problem that Viet has and I think that most chefs have
when they come into a situation like this
is they tend to innovate themselves right into hot water
and he was so busy about flavors that he forgot to make a dip.
He does not look like he's enjoying himself on camera
and I don't think bodes well for his star power.
On the other hand he does have this beaming smile
Absolutely.
We know he has ability,
can he just turn on the light bulb and go in a different direction?
Russell, we need a little bit more from him.
(Giada) I don't think he has enough energy a lot of the time on camera
except for that one moment that Alton had him throw to camera,
which was unbelievable.
Russell has consistently fallen into the same trap that has snared Viet right now,
which is that he is so busy trying to be different
that he's not making food that's often good.
I think there's a lot going on in Russell's mind
but it's not interesting to watch
because none of it's coming through.
(Russell) It's funny,
we spend our lives talking to people about our food every single day.
We walk up to a table, you have no problem being eloquent,
Yeah.
Okay, guys, do we need to continue to debate or are we good?
We're all in agreement.
All right, let's bring 'em back in.
♪ (suspenseful music playing) ♪
(Alton) Gentlemen, all too often
chefs try to innovate themselves so far away from the pack
that they actually fail on a dish,
that happened to both of you.
The other problem the chefs often have here is communication.
Viet, you've got charm to spare,
yet every time the camera turns on
you glue up and the sweat starts
as though there's just a wall that you cannot get through.
Russell, you do not necessarily bubble forth with warmth
but you do have a charisma that one would want,
but without the ability to communicate to us
it only leaves us not trusting you.
So frankly the two of you were almost dead even --
you didn't have great showings during the show
and your dishes in the end were just not very satisfying,
however one of you showed one small glimmer
that actually put you ahead here.
And, Russell, it was your throw to that commercial
that showed us the person you can be,
that's good enough to keep you here.
I'm sorry, Viet, we love you, you're warm and you're a great cook
but not everybody's cut out for this job, best of luck.
Thank you.
Bye.
Oh.
I'm going home, guys.
(Viet) It's been an absolute pleasure and I battle my nerves.
My nerves won.
But you know what,
you don't get to become better if you don't fail.
I'm still that great, accomplished chef
but now I have learned so much more about my abilities
and my weaknesses
and I'm that much better.
All right, good luck, guys.
See you.
Take care.
It's really, really about being in the moment
and when I did the throw I was in the moment.
This is a soul siege,
humbling, crushing experience.
This is a wake-up call.
Enjoy the moment because we fight tomorrow.
(narrator) Robert Irvine, host of "Restaurant Impossible"
is offering eliminated finalists
a second chance to chase a dream of culinary stardom
and re-enter the "Food Network Star" competition.
(Chef Irvine) We'll be conducting a series of challenges.
I will declare a winner and that person will re-enter
the "Food Network Star" competition.
(narrator) Watch "Star Salvation" on Foodnetwork.com
Next time on "Food Network Star..."
You'll have a rare opportunity to pitch your product
to three high powered food executives.
Just to get in front of people like this is a once in a lifetime situation.
What, (bleep).
Oh...
This is the moment of truth.
Come with me and sit.
Why do you think you're the one who needs to bring this to the marketplace?
I just didn't feel the connection
you have with the product.
I can tell.
'Cause I feel like you've gone backwards.