Category Archives: Food Network
The Underdog Wins ‘Food Court Wars’
Jenn and Trish Tirado with Tyler Florence
Food Court Wars may not be original, but it is certainly consistent. In this week’s episode, The Taco Spot competed against Tirado’s Empanadas & More.
The two teams had very different motivations for wanting a kiosk at Spartanburg, South Carolina’s WestGate Mall. The Taco Spot’s owner, V.J., and his store manager, Michael, want to expand past their current two locations. If they win the mall space, Michael will get to own a Taco Spot location. The Tirados, Trish and her daughter Jenn, want to move up in the world. Prior to the Food Court Wars, Trish and Jenn sold their empanadas out of a food cart.
Food Network Didn’t Win the ‘Food Court Wars’
Erika Lipe and Stevo McCain from Po’ Boy Station
Food Court Wars, hosted by Tyler Florence, is another competition show from Food Network. The show is nothing more than several self-contained episodes that are all condensed versions of the The Great Food Truck Race‘s final season, when teams with no prior experience running a food truck were given one. Instead of having eight teams compete for a full season, Food Court Wars has two teams compete for one episode with the winner receiving a food court restaurant free from rent for a year.
The Anticlimactic Finale of Food Network Star
From left to right: Yvan Lemoine, Justin Warner, Michele Ragussis
As this is a review of the finale, naturally, it contains the winner. If you have not seen the finale and want it to remain a surprise, please stop reading now.
The finale of Food Network Star brought all of the season 8 contestants, their mentors, and the judges together for one last time. In what amounted to a glorified talk show clip show, the contestants shared their thoughts and behind-the-scenes footage and flashbacks aired between the conversations.
Most of the show consisted of high school superlatives and gossip. Viewers found out that Team Alton liked being called the nerds, Giada didn’t mind that her team was called the cheerleaders, and Bobby felt that “the jocks” was an accurate term for his “take no prisoners” team. Then the show went into how annoying Michele and Nikki found retro-rad Emily because she would wake up the house with a shrill good morning, which was followed by Malcolm being voted cockiest and Nikki being voted the most competitive.
Cool TV Video of the Day: The First Good Eats Episode
Last night, Food Network Star crowned a new winner. In honor of Alton Brown’s team winning, today’s video is the first Good Eats episode, which is Steak Your Claim, in its entirety.
Food Network Star: Promo Time
This season of Food Network Star has been underwhelming because many of the contestants were boring and the format did not work. Other than the handful of finalists, I do not remember anyone’s name because most of the constants were instantly forgettable. As for the format, it managed to make Giada DeLaurentiis, Bobby Flay, and Alton Brown unlikable because they had just as much at stake as the contestants: they would produce the pilot of the winner, if the winner is on their team.
Last night’s episode of Food Network Star seemed rushed. It could have easily been extended to 90 minutes or split over 2 weeks because it contained to distinct situations. Each situation could have made a complete episode, but for some reason neither one got the time it deserved and both were compressed down to a half hour. The first 30 minutes saw the remaining 6 contestants shoot 30 second promos for their potential Food Network show.
Spoiler Alert
The Forgettable Season of Food Network Star
The Next Food Network Star is one of those shows that I watch because I think it’s going to get better, but it never does. It’s hard to believe that Food Network Star made its debut in 2005 with Marc Summers as host. The show hasn’t had a true host for about 5 season. Instead, the judges take turns announcing rules, so that the show does not completely lose its way. Each year Food Network Star continues without a host, I wish Marc Summers was back to keep track of things and help viewers keep track of the contestants.
Spoiler Alert
The contestants for season 8 of Food Network Star.
Wait! What's A Dial? 