TNFNS, Season 6, Ep. 9

SPOILER ALERT!!!


It was Iron Chef week on The Next Food Network Star with Aarti and Herb squaring off in Battle Shrimp and Tom taking on Aria in Battle Bacon.

Aarti was again the big winner. Her dishes prompted Bobby to offer to open an Indian restaurant with her and Cat Cora declared “Damn girl!” Aarti wasn’t without her missteps though, showing little enthusiasm as the floor announcer and being unable to answer Alton’s questions. And during her battle the judges feared she wasn’t going to finish (of course she was paired with Brad who always waited until the last minute to cook everything). But in the end Aarti did finish, and I would be surprised if she isn’t the winner next week.

The other side of Battle Shrimp was Herb who teamed up with his bromance partner Paul. The judges liked his first dish, but the rest? Not so much. He did receive some compliments from the judges on his floor announcing, but he still struggled when speaking to the camera. The judges criticized his inconsistency, but I disagree, I think he’s been consistently annoying from the beginning. Despite all that, Herb survives to make the finals.

In Battle Bacon, Tom (who wowed as an Iron Chef announcer) decided to go against the grain and cook food no one would want to eat. First he had a crab cake sans crab but with bacon, which probably would have been better with crab . . . and without bacon. Then he brought out a “bacon steak”, which doesn’t even make sense to me. The knife that Susie had (was that thing plastic?) proved to be no match for the steak. I believe it was compared to eating a boot. Anyway, Tom finished it off with bacon stuffed French toast with, uh, clam sauce, which probably tasted worse than it sounds if that’s possible. Needless to say, the judges won’t soon forget that meal. I could see Tom hosting some Unwrapped type show, but that food won’t get him a cooking show.

Finally, Aria made a family style breakfast in Battle Bacon, with French toast (and a side of bacon), eggs (and a side of bacon), and a salad (topped with bacon). Her meal would have fit right in at Eat N’ Park (or Dennys for those unfamiliar with Eat N’ Park). Unfortunately that didn’t impress the judges (shocker!) Couple that with her poor performance as a floor announcer and needless to say it was bye, bye Aria.

So we’re looking forward to the finale next week. It will most likely be the last time we watch any of the three finalists on TV. Until their appearance on next year’s The Next Food Network Star of course.