Next Food Network Star »
Next Food Network Star Finale: And The Winner Is…
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Another year… another terribly predictable finale of Next Food Network Star! As some of you may know, the Food Network screwed up and revealed the winner on their website only a few weeks into the competition. We broke the sad news almost 2 months ago right here on FNH. Were we right? Um, is Rachael Ray looking more and more like the Joker with every shot of Botox?
This week, Ray-Ray showed up to direct Tom, Aarti, and Herb’s pilots. And guys, she brought a clipboard, so you just KNOW the bitch meant business.
She flashed a few gigantic smiles, over-enunciated a few simple words, and then had private conversations with each of the finalists at a table with a ridiculous lemon centerpiece.
Herb shot his pilot first, and it was called “Cooking Con Something I Still Don’t Really Know How To Pronounce Because I Don’t Speak Spanish.” The poor guy was a mess. He went over his allotted time, constantly misspoke, and didn’t really get his act together until he TAPED PHOTOS OF HIS CHILDREN TO THE CAMERA. Sorry, Herb. Real life doesn’t work like that.
Aarti was up next. She made pizza with – surprise! – an Indian flair, and said that “pizza felt like a special occasion” to her. The camera panned to Ray-Ray, who was flashing a grin from ear to ear. So either she really liked Aarti’s comment, or she just passed gas. The choice is yours.
Tom was last, and once he got his nerves in check, he was by far the best of the three. He showed us how to “big chef” our chickens, and in the end, Rachael Ray really loved the way his big breast tasted. That – and not the hokey pokey – is REALLY what it’s all about.
Next, the Food Network judges showed the 3 pilot episodes to what can only be described as THE WORST FOCUS GROUP IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANKIND. Seriously, where did they dig up these toolbags? Did an “I can’t find work as an actor” support group just break for lunch across the street? And how much did Tuschman have to pay them to act so fake and giggly the entire time? Please. Pamela Anderson’s tits are more real than this “focus group” was. I wasn’t buying it for a second.
Tom’s pilot was great, Herb’s was “eh,” and Aarti’s was definitely the worst of the three. In fact, the only person who really liked Aarti’s demo was a random girl seated in the “rejected model” section. And even then, she only liked it because she had NO IDEA WHAT CHUTNEY WAS.
Fogelson, however, really liked Aarti’s lame Paarti. While watching her pilot, Fogelson exhibited her now infamous “money glimmer” – a facial glow that only presents itself when she feels she’s in the presence of someone who can sell a lot of branded products.
Next up was the judging portion of the show, which apparently took place in a planetarium this year:
Bobby Flay welcomed the finalists, and said one of them would soon be added to the “Food Network Wall Of Fame.” Too bad it was more like the “Food Network WALL OF THE WORST PHOTOS EVER.” Did you see those things? Some of them were straight-up nightmare inducing. Rachael’s was definitely the worst:
After some really boring deliberations, Bobby Flay introduced the finalists to the 97-year old president of the Food Network, Brooke Johnson, who was so happy to be there that she almost cracked a smile.
And then, without much fanfare, they announced what we all already knew: that AARTI WON NEXT FOOD NETWORK STAR. All of us here at FNH disagree with this decision, and think it was a big mistake. Aarti’s going to turn off a lot more people than she’s going to win over, and it’s only a matter of time before the network learns that the hard way.
Nonetheless, congratulations, Aarti! Welcome to the FNH family. We can’t wait to start making fun of you on a regular basis.
And that, my friends, brought another God-awful season to an end. There’s only one question left to answer: Exactly how long did it take Aarti to cram her Paarti into that fuchsia dress? Inquiring minds need to know!
Other posts on Food Network Humor:
---More Proof YOU KNOW WHO Makes It To The Finale On Next Food Network Star---Next Food Network Star: Season 7 Finale
---Next Food Network Star: Episode 5 Recap (7/11/2010)
---HUGE SPOILER: Did Food Network Reveal Next Food Network Star 6 Winner?
---Next Food Network Star: Episode 8 Recap (8/1/2010)
- Next Food Network Star
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242 Responses
How out of touch with reality are these killer clowns from outer space? Get to work hawking those pots and pans, Aarti! Bob and Suzy are broke, they need some dollars!
Forget the Botox and the Joker grin, who the heck is Rach buying her make-up from, the Brick factory?
Gee, I thought Rachel looked pretty good. I even like the way they are doing her hair lately.
That would be due to the fact most of it isn’t her own.
I was really holding out hope that the leak two months ago was just an error, and that because Aarti’s name begins with an A, that’s why she was uploaded first. But nope!
Tom really got ripped off and Herb did better than I expected. Aarti floundered and was just saying the worst things when she was pulled away from the camera. “This focus group doesn’t know about the history of my mother!” and “Tom is really good, what does that mean for me?”
The only thing I felt bad about, that might of called Tom’s downfall, is that I think Bob Tuschman compared him to “Guy Fieri” and I just suddenly feared that Tom would go down that fear of douchebaggery. That probably made Bobby Flaw want to push for someone else. :P
Not kidding: I had just turned to my Sweetie and said that Tom reminded me too much of Guy, then Bob compares him to Guy. Bleh.
Didn’t care for the “unvailing” of the winner. A la “Next Iron Chef.” Such a joke.
The Tom/Guy duality has been there all season, but I like Tom alot more. He comes across as a real person, compared to the ridiculously contrived “I’m so rad, dude” persona of GF.
Yeah…my husband too said that they would never pick Tom because the network already has one Guy Douchebag. But I totally agree with Northwester – Tom seems to be Tom.
TOM?!? I’m tired of people talking about how ‘real’ people are. This is television folks. I don’t want Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds cooking for me and PRESENTING me with food! He’s ugly, unkempt and is the reason he’s UNEMPLOYED still. Yes, yes, too many douchebags, but the network is full of them so what’s another one. The reason he wasn’t chosen is because he’s not presentable. You should be able to get a makeover in 10 weeks and that’s the best they could do with him. At least with Herb you can keep your appetite after watching his show. Yes, I do agree The Aarti Faarti Show smells bad. I’m Indian and even I’m offended…
lol! planetarium!
was waiting for the rest of the rejected contestants to appear, also the confetti, and no family members in the audience
wow this was some show stopper finale!-NOT!
Did anyone notice a new show clip called “family style” with a bro and sis? Sounds like Aria’s idea!
Aria’s “Family Style” was about serving up huge portions of her dumbed down meat and potatoes food to her extended dysfunctional family, nothing to do with a brother and sister running a restaurant, which is FN’s show.
Sorry, but I’ve always felt that Aarti’s camera-face trama was a put on to show how imperfect she was, lest we all agree that she was a shoe-in. How is it that she never seemed at a loss in front of the camera in between scenes?
Well, her acting leaves a lot to be desired. Won’t be watching her anymore. Would rather watch who stole the pea-puree on the ‘other’ cooking show.
Interesting point. There did seem something a bit contrived about her supposed on-camera meltdowns. Especially since she apparently has a lot of media experience. The producers wouldn’t want the early favorite to cruise to a win. They need to create drama and “story arc.” I think that’s also why Herb made it to the final. His extreme ups and downs made him a better story, in their mind anyway, than someone with more culinary talent and knowledge but less “dramatic value” like Brad.
Totally agree: it was all about the story, and they were wrong to eliminate Brad as early as they did. He would have been an asset to the network, and someone that I personally would have watched.
I never understood the Aarti hate myself, but I do agree that her whole confidence issues seemed totally contrived. I don’t even think she had that many camera meltdowns, she was almost always stellar during her camera challenges and when they had to interact with a group of people. I’m unfortunately someone who does have confidence issues and it was stunning for me to see someone who supposedly didn’t believe in her self at all seem so at ease in front of the camera. The only time her confidence issues rang true to me was during the Iron Chef challenge when she froze up during the commentary portion. Other than that she was always relaxed and warm in front of the cameras. She was consistently the best both at cooking and in front of the camera. I just can’t see how someone who supposedly suffered from confidence that badly was able to consistently do that well. I’d expect her to be more like Herb who was all over the place and completely froze up more than once.
I knew someone who was on a reality show and she said it was amazing what the producers do to twist the truth. Because you’re only seeing ‘part’ of what happens, they’ll take minor incidents and turn them into (seemingly) major ones.
She even said that, off camera, they would do things to stress them out so that there would be more drama when the cameras rolled.
She was so amazed at what the show looked like after it aired because it appeared far worse than what really happened.
If some network with integrity (*cough* PBS *cough*)doesn’t snap up Herb, whose “viewpoint” is unique an relevant to today, I’ll be surprised. Plus, someone needs to grab Tom before he grows discouraged.
Food Network has finally lost any semblance of respect I still had for them. What a crock this was.
its funny that i never thought i would tune into PBS for my cooking shows, but now i do.
Why is that? The cooking show genre really originated on PBS….well, the concept of an educational, technique-driven cooking show, that is. ;)
Cloverleaf is the Voice of Reason!
LOVE PBS cooking shows, especially Lidia’s Italy and America’s Test Kitchen. Their hosts are easier to watch. You’s NEVER see that pig Fieri on PBS.
for me, it’s just nothing more than not being aware that there were cooking shows on PBS. i accidentally came across America’s test kitchen, and now i’m hooked. i got my dvr set with that show, primal grill, and something else i can’t recall at this time. i don’t have anything set on FN :D at this moment. however, i’m thinking of putting sandra lee’s show on to see humor in motion.
Jillian your recap was excruciatingly funny!!!! Much better than the finale of the snooze fest that is NFNS.
That focus group was so bogus. I also thought that they were a group of out of work actors! And they were all very young. I don’t think there was one under thirty. If these are the people that the Food Network thinks watch their network they are really out of touch. No wonder I like less and less of their programing.
I thought Tom had the best pilot and that the “bogus” group liked him the best too. We all knew the fix was in for Aarti……..At least she should provide a motherload of material for FNH.
Thanks again for the brilliant recap.
The ‘focus group’ really WAS bogus. The only pilot that they had anything negative to say anything about was Aarti’s. Either they were totally bogus, or were a waste of space in the room, because it is clear that the selection committee didn’t give one iota what they had to say. It was my hope that the slip up early in the season was just some goofy mistake, that someone with some appeal to me would ultimately be the winner.
I know I won’t be watching a single episode of her show. :(
Or … was the portrayal of Aarti being the worst of the three just one final red herring to throw us off to the fact that she was the predetermined winner? Because I actually found myself thinking Tom might be the winner, and that supposed leak about Aarti was really not a leak. Yes, I am ashamed to say if it was a red herring, it worked on me ….
But I agree — how can you pick the winner from a pilot that was clearly number 3 out of 3? Now I’m flashing back to Season 4 and Aaron McCargo.
Jill P, I think it was a definite red herring. I felt all along she was going to win especially when Aarti began to bring out the self doubt once again. It was just so typical “Aarti doubts herself but really pulls out the win.” I don’t even think they made her necessarily look the worst. They had one negative comment about hers while nothing negative about the others, but everything else about hers was glowing. To me throwing in that one negative comment seemed like an extremely weak attempt at a red herring.
Interesting that tonight, when the whole shebang was allegedly on the line, NOBODY TASTED THE FOOD. Every NFNS competition until ow has included a critique of the food, but clearly that doesn’t matter, because on real FN shows NOBODY TASTES THE FOOD.
When people bring up that this circus is a stupid way to pick a Food Network Show host, with its irrelevant challenges based on speed cooking and spontaneous speaking, two things that never happen on real FN shows, they’re completely missing the point. NFNS is an end to itself. They keep doing it because it gets great ratings. For FN it’s a no brainer. Maybe, just maybe, they can actually come up with a competent show host. If not, they can squeeze out the winner after a few episodes (Amy Finley) or bury him/her in a Saturday afternoon time slot. (Big Daddy.)
Aarti was clearly the preordained winner, and other than hating the juvenile “Aarti Party” name (which I am sure they will change), I can’t get too upset. She is at least less annoying than that total phony white bread Melissa Ten Dollers. Tom’s “pilot” was the best of the finalists, but ala Adam Gertler, FN will probably find some way to use him. But I hope I never have to see Herb again. He was a disaster, both in food and on-camera personality and should’ve been eliminated weeks back, except FN kept him around to fulfill some demographic slot. His Latin cooking concept wasn’t even his own. It was handed to him a few weeks back after he had failed miserably at being “The Energy Chef.” There are scores of talented, creative, personable Latin chefs out there. Give one of them a show, because it’s a great cuisine that is barely represented on FN.
Agree. I’ve never cooked with Indian spices so I wouldn’t mind learning how to integrate them into mainstream food. Tom’s food looked like nothing we haven’t seen before, and Herb is just too nerve-wracking to watch.
Watch The Spice Goddess on the other cooking channel – 113 on my tv.
Or “Indian Food Made Easy,” also on the Cooking Channel. Obviously, Indian food is the next culinary “fad” (not that I’m complaining, I love Indian food, but Aarti’s food pales in comparison with Anjum or Bal’s), and that’s why they picked Aarti. Not to mention all the different curry powder mixes they can slap her face on to sell for $15 at Kohl’s.
Methinks we WILL be seeing Herb, the prozac poster child, again. Susie keeps reinterating his ‘star power’ which I never saw. Taping the family snaps on the camera was the end for me. Plus haven’t we talked about his ‘POV’ cooking with flavor? Ahhh duh, what would you cook with, cow dung?
Looks like Tom has already landed a show. http://www.examiner.com/tv-insider-in-los-angeles/check-out-the-two-new-shows-from-the-next-food-network-star-contestants-1
Interesting stuff.
A primetime show!? Good for Tom! I always felt he’d be better at DD&D than Guy. :)
I love your recap which was ten times better than this so call finale. First off, everyone knew that Aarti was going to win. It was just how the bozos at Food Network planned it. With that being said, I still wished that it was going to be. I really wanted either Tom or Herb to win. Tom is funny while Herb has a viewpoint that is very relevant in today’s society (trying to cook healthy but flavorful meals.
Meanwhile, Aarti’s viewpoint is quite frankly boring. Ok, we get it, it’s Indian food, but how many times can she do it until it gets boring. I can’t stand her voice, I don’t think it’s cute at all, I think it’s so annoying and honestly it makes me nauseous. I don’t think Aarti has this so-called shine in front of the camera that Tuschman keeps raving about. I think that she’s awkward and not cute at all and I just want to rip that flower out of her head.
Out of the three pilots, I thought Tom was the most natural and funny. I really like Herb’s as well, but Herb just needs to work on his presentation a little more. Even the phony focus group like Herb’s and Tom’s more than Aarti. In fact, Aarti was the only pilot in where someone complained about her talking too fast.
I thought Bobby Flay’s comment about Herb’s personality oozing out of those big muscles was probably the strangest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
When the winner was announced it was just like “Oh that’s it?” No confetti, no family, just a couple of twerps who don’t know how to run a network in a giant dome? It was so bad.
Needless to say, Food Network really dropped the ball with Aarti. I don’t think she’s cute, I think she’s rather vicious especially with those comments about Tom getting better and the focus group not knowing about her history with her mother. So, who cares? It’s a COOKING show.
Ugh…it was just awful.
Ya I agree – Aarti cooks ONLY Indian food. No range. No variety outside of her box. How many people out there besides Indian people are seriously going to tune in to the same type of cuisine every week? I would have watched either of the other two’s shows, but I won’t watch this one. This was the worst finale I have ever seen, and I am disappointed in the network for the way that they ended this season.
“No range.” Absolutely right. If Shamu was made to cook outside of her Korean box last year, why didn’t they make Aarti do that this year?? Personally, I have no interest in *just* Indian food, so I don’t think I’ll be tuning in.
I’m glad someone else is on board with the Indian cuisine thing…I would want that once, maybe twice a year but not every single week…I won’t be watching this one…even if she gets a primetime slot…unless I truly have nothing better to do…
Rachael looks like a bad drag queen, Suzy looks like a man in drag, Bob looks constipated, Bobby looks like he would rather be out hunting for his next wife and Aarti looks like 10 lbs of shit stuffed in a 5 lb bag. No wonder they had to start a new channel. With the crap they are showing on this, it is quickly becoming the laughinstock of television. Way to go food network, you continually lower the bar for all of us. Next season there will probably be some homeless guy win NFNS with the “culinary viewpoint” of how to eat good out of a trash can. Can’t wait for that.
“Next season there will probably be some homeless guy win NFNS with the “culinary viewpoint” of how to eat good out of a trash can. Can’t wait for that.”
And yet it would be the most informative show on FN. Go figure.
ROTFLMFAO! That’s it you certainly summed it up in nutshell,if they don’t continue Next Food Network Star after this, Tushie and Soosie will be ahead of the game. What an absolute crap fest! They could have kept Brad and spun and groomed him to be a major Hot Food Network personality, but look whom they picked as possibles? Herb,I think he was terribly robotic and phony in front of the camera as they come. Ray Ray called him Star Quality! What a bunch of BS! Tom, what a slouchy waste of time and air space; although he had more potential than Herb. As for Aarti, I hope she enjoys a plastic,bloated, BO-toxic,bleach toothing, ride to fame because it may not last that long. The NFNS was a raging disappointment this year, even more so than prior ones. Seriously Tushie,Soosie. Come on now! Think about re-naming the show,”The Least Of The Worst”,If you don’t give a damn about public opinion!
Bobby has been looking very cold and bored lately. He’s been projecting a pretty chilly persona lately. So much for “star power”
Yes he does seem to have a stick up his ass,very noticeably!!! I thought ….well he usually does.
I know everybody here hates Aarti and all, but I actually kind of liked her!
Its something different that FN hasn’t shown before, so its refreshing. But yeah, I do agree that Tom’s pilot was the best out of all three. Still, we all knew she was gonna win anyways.
I don’t think any of us truly hate her, it’s more of how the people at the Food Network practically groomed her to win, despite the efforts of Tom, Herb and even people like Brad.
no no, I really do hate her. Her annoying english from India accent, her stupid flowers and nests in her hair, her endless references to her dead mother (she is dead right?). She is doomed like the Gourmet Next Door because how many times can one make Chicken Vindaloo Tandoori with lentils and chutney ?
We can’t forget this jem of a comment from Aarti: “I feel like when God made me, he was like *dink* cooking show host.” Yes, Aarti, we all were thinking the exact same thing…
Aarti’s demo was by far the worst of the three (seriously? pizza?), and I actually thought Herb did surprisingly well despite the ridiculousness surrounding his taping. Tom really should have won, though, if it weren’t rigged. It felt like they set him up for failure by trying to make him carbon-copy Guy Fieri. Not that anything could have saved anyone from the inevitable *Aarti Paarti*.
Wonderful recap, as always!
“Dink” yep that sums it up. And I do like Aarti, but Tom was robbed.
Remember..Tom is the chef that made a Pork Belly Steak. ?????
Ok busted! Forgot about the bacon steak..at least he tried to be an Iron Chef…frankly some of their meals make me heave as well.
“God just –dink! — touched me here where the red dot should be, and said, ‘This girl’s gonna be an even bigger star than Melissa D’Arabian!’”
I was just waiting for the recap on here! Sooo true! I knew right away it would be Aarti’s farty party. Boo. It sure was an anti climactic finale though, that was a good point lol! I dont think I was paying any attention to that at the time though because I was just thinking ” yeah yeah yeah farty aarti just show the picture”. And I agree the focus group was totally bogus. It looked to me like they were all dressed by the same person. I mean, the hair, make up, and clothing, looked like all one persons taste. ugh :(
That the producers tried to pass off that bunch of out-of-work actors and models as a “focus group” represenative of FN viewership makes clear the contempt they have for the intelligence of the show’s audience.
Agreed!
I think they were the same people that populated the underground supper club!
Of course the editing is suspect, but those people laughed at…what exactly? Random shiny objects? Maybe they pumped the room full of nitrous.
And OMG, RayRay’s picture in the pantheon…horrifying.
The supper club had actual foodies and well-known chefs, and that segment took place in L.A. I think the focus group was in NYC, but I could be mistaken.
I think they were the rejects from this season.
I, too, was waiting for the family members, confetti, cast-offs to fake “happiness” for Aarti, and that all-important contract from Brook Johnson. We were ROBBED! It doesn’t get any more phony than the NFNS to sign his/her contract on stage!
I went on quite a roller coaster with this season. I started out an Aria fan (what an odd concept now), then favored Aarti, then Tom in the last couple of weeks. But I have to say, my favorite pilot out of the three tonight was Herb, which baffles me, but it’s true. I’ve always appreciated his knowledge of healthy alternatives to cook with. Forget the Latin show or the Energy show, he should host something called “Substitutions”, where he cooks and also educates his audience about better ingredients (tonight’s idea of using 10 egg whites and two whole eggs was a great one). The off-putting thing about him for most of the season was how spastic and roided-out he came across, just too intense. But if the Herb I saw tonight showed up every week on FN, I’d watch.
Also, if I hadn’t been privy to Aarti’s dramatics throughout this season and they’d simply put her on the air, I’d totally watch her show. I always thought she did well on-air, but couldn’t handle how high maintenance (to use Susie’s phrase) she was.
I won’t be watching Aarti. The Paarti thing is lame, her food is just Indian spices, and I think she’s phony. I don’t buy that insecure act for one second cause it’s easily replaced by the one who was all worried by Tom.
Nailed it on the focus group. I was tipped off as soon as someone said “Star power.” No one uses Bob and Susie’s buzz words but them.
Tom showed the most growth and his pilot was easily the best. He seemed like a down to Earth guy. I wouldn’t mind if he became the new host of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I’d probably watch it.
Herb’s point of view is great, so hopefully he does something with it…I won’t hate on pronunciation too much.
Hey, does anybody else think that when Rachel Ray was having that “throat surgery” she really went in for a little face work?
At the very least, she needs to fire her makeup artist. Those eyebrows serve only to make her look bitchy.
THE FOCUS GROUP FROM HELL
They kept filming that white guy in the front and that weird looking Asian-chick next to him. So I guess the average viewed of the FN are a bunch of yuppies?? And two black people apparently (who sat in the back of the bus). Such a white, scary crowd
White people are really frightening, I agree with you!
The way they revealed the winner reminded me more and more of America’s Next Top Model.
Aarti… WON!? My God… I’m shocked.
We are through the looking glass here people.
Jillian, your recap was much more entertaining than the finale, which was one of the most leaden shows ever. I thought all three did well with their pilots, despite having to deal with Rach, but Tom was really terrific. The lack of family and celebration was a disappointment.
Coming in October: The Next Iron Chef! I hope you’ll recap that series, too, Jill! :)
Good grief! How many Iron Chefs do they NEED?
Did you notice that Mario is no longer on the show?
Yes, I did, but can’t they let Jose Garces get a few battles under his belt before they bring a new one on?
There’s another show they do just for the ratings, and not because it has any validity. They have so debased the whole concept of Iron Chef by adding another one every year. And the contestants they have are not nearly of the caliber we see on Top Chef Masters, with internationally respected chefs like Hubert Keller and Marcus Samuelson. The contestants they brought on Next Iron Chef last year were good chefs but a long way from being culinary superstars. Probably any truly great chef would be embarassed to be associated with The Food Network.
The only real question for several weeks now has been whether Tom and Herb will get their own shows too.
Did you see the Cooking Channel after party show? Besides Aarti they had a big cutout photo of Tom (he was on his honeymoon) and of course Herb. But then who do they drag on halfway through the show–Aria! It was like Aria was jockeying with the runnners-up (Tom and Herb) to get some FN programming leftovers. She was doing her hammy exaggerated O-face, oblivious to the fact that the FN gravy train has left her at the station.
I think Touschman would love to peg Aria into something, just like that lameass Kelsey Nixon (infamous for making boxed chocolate pudding and calling it mousse?) who is now getting her own show on Cooking Channel. She’s horrid now, was horrid when she competed, but Touschman sees something in her the rest of us don’t, pretty par for the course. Aria can’t cook, overacts and is just plain annoying, the perfect ‘fit’ for Touschman’s FN.
i have never watched a season of NFNS, except when i turned on the tv and they were showing guy fieri winning. judging by the comments, i take it that there isn’t a phone or text voting thing where the people can vote for their next star? i would think that would be a lot better way for the people to tell the network who we like, instead of force feeding us “stars” we don’t care about. then again, this is the same network that brought us that lunch truck wars or whatever that hot mess of a show is called.
They did viewer voting for the winner one season only, Season 3. And it turns out the person who got chosen (Amy Finley) did her six episodes and then said “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Food Network has never done viewer voting to determine the winner again.
No, they did viewer voting for Season 1 and, I think, Season 2 as well. I remember voting for the Hearty Boys in Season 1.
Doing viewer voting on an non-live, edited show is pointless. The producers can sway who is voted for very easily by making some contestant disappear into the scenery and bringing other contestants to the forefront. The call-in format only works for live shows like AI.
Question about the focus group: did the big guy at the front right look familiar to anyone else? He didn’t say anything, but I’ve seen him in something and can’t place it.
Yeah! He was paid to be there like the rest of them.
He was a Chopped contestant who got chopped by the glamorous Ted Allen.
Yeah. The Asian gal in the front row looked familiar too.
I knew it was rigged, but wow they even took out the people getting to vote? Whether or not it ever actually counted I don’t know, but that just is screaming that Food Network doesn’t even care about their fans anymore. =/
Seriously, the voting page is STILL up with ALL of the contestants, not just the finalists. That’s either extreme laziness, or FN just went “ah fuck it, we’ve got better opinions than our viewers”.
Oh, and then Susie Folgenson probably went to go steal a little orphan’s soul afterwards with that smile of hers. I felt a chill rushing up my spine when I saw that “glow”. -shudder-
Aarti reminds me of a bad Old Navy commercial!
One of the focus group people was a contestant on Chopped.
There was more fake, canned laughter on this show than on season three of The Brady Bunch.
Why would Artie suddenly show up in a red dress with those huge bazoombas hanging out? LOL
That was hilarious! Im very disappointed in the finale; I liked Aarti but I was REALLY pulling for Herb.
1. Dan Smith & Steve McDonagh
2. Guy Fairy
3. Amy Finley
4. Aaron McCargo
5. Melissa D’Arabian
6. Aarti Faarti
The list of losers who have horrible cooking shows continues.
I actually used to like Party Time with the Hearty Boys. When I first started watching it, I had no idea they had on NFNS. The killer for that show was that it came on at like 0600. I guess that was back before a large chunk of their programming was infomericials.
I really enjoyed Dan and Steve, The Hearty Boys. They had good food and entertaining tips. I hope they are making a fortune in their catering business. I liked Guy Fieri at first but got over it quite a while back. The rest of the “winners” — no thanks! I really thought Jeffrey should have won but they gave his Spice Thief idea to someone else. More and more, I’m checking out the Cooking Channel. Chuck and the guy on Drink Up, and even reruns of Nigella are far better than the so-called programming on Food Network.
Was it just me or did Suzie look like a cadaver in the final judgment? It looked like she had absolutely no color on her face at all (way worse than normal even).
I agree that this was the most boring finale of NFNS to date. I fast-forwarded through much of it.
I TOLD YOU!!! I BROKE THE STORY WEEKS AGO ALONG WITH FNH!!!!!
NFNS was upsetting this year. I wanted Tom to win, but I knew that Artii was going to take the prize because of the discussions the three amigo’s had before they announced.
Not sure if Bob and Suzi understand that a focus group SHOULD be a random sampling of viewers. As is age, race, culture. This group seemed to be a Yuppi convention. Someone described them as a tool. I like that.
Tom and Herb, you got ripped off. I hope for reality’s sake the TRAVEL CHANNEL or PBS calls you soon for a real show where you can both educate and entertain.
I seriously doubt I would ever watch Artii Paarti. Who came up with that name?
BIG CHEF and Cooking con Sabor, they are a lot better names and describe what they contain. Paarti, what does that mean. She is teaching you to drink. Well, watch her show enough and I am sure it will drive you to drink…..
As much as it may disagree with the public opinion, I don’t hate Aarti, and I think she was, tied with Tom, my favorite to win. (Not like I didn’t know she was going to win anyway.) But does it matter? It’s not like Food Network is going to give her a more honest, not annoying show. She’d probably be better of on the COOKING CHANNEL, and they already have a show with a concept exactly like hers.
I noticed yesterday that several FN shows in the hours leading up to the finale featured Indian food. I found that very interesting, but still held out hope that it was not a bellwether of Aarti’s success. Tom blew me away and clearly deserved to win if progress and dependability had anything to do with how the judges made their choice. Herb’s pilot-taping made me nervous; he was really uneasy, weird, and uncomfortable to watch. Compared with the Indian chefs on Cooking Channel, Aarti seems very inauthentic and milquetoast. What a disappointment.
MK, I noticed the Indian-food episodes as well, though I was hoping it was a sign that, “Hey, other FN chefs can do Indian food, so we don’t need Aarti’s Paarti!” Alas, it wasn’t to be.
I also noticed that, during one NFNS commercial break, “The Road to Stardom” spot featured several eliminated contestants AND AARTI talking about their passion for food; Herb and Tom were, apparently, not invited to the paarti. More foreshadowing of the grand finale, I suppose. Disappointing is right – I’d much rather watch Bal Arneson.
Ha! Glad I’m not the only one–and point well taken about other chef’s being able to sprinkle in some Indian offerings. Also noticed that, as I was fast-forwarding through the commercials this morning, the “Road to Stardom” segments were very Aarti-centric. I do wish they weren’t cramming her down our throats. Kinda makes me think they rue their choice and are over-compensating.
I don’t think I’ll be watching the next season of TNFNS. It’s been unbelievably bad this year, and Tom should have won. Aarti just doesn’t have it. The recaps here on FNH are so much better than the real show!
So much hating on Aarti. Look, you’ve got to give her credit. NFNS constantly harps on “culinary point of view”. She came in with a well thought-out one and stuck to it throughout the whole competition. Her food was consistently good and her on-camera presence was also consistently good. I agree her constant self-doubt was annoying but she’s only human…and remember that the hours of tape are cut down and presented by someone else, so maybe we aren’t getting the whole picture.
Yes, her schtick is Indian food, but how different is that from Giada’s Italian food schtick or the various Latino chefs they’ve had on. I think she’s got the potential to introduce a lot of people to Indian flavors, and that’s better than another Italian (Serena) or Latin (Herb) show. It’s something FN has obviously been looking for for a while.
Tom did great and really started to shine the last few weeks, but he’s too much like Guy. Herb was a mess. The other contestants were train wrecks, with the exception of Brad.
I do, however, sincerely hope they don’t go with “Aarti Paarti”.
I think that Aarti is the biggest target, because in all honesty, she’s the easiest to make fun of (I mean, flowery hairpieces, questionable meltdowns, the cutesy-ness, etc.). But in all honesty, she is bringing some Asian flair to the FN, which they have been in desperate need of for a while, and when it comes to consistency, she was a shoe-in for the winner.
agree on all points, uth!
I agree also. And many think her pilot wasn’t the best, but I think the judges also decided on the winner based on the finalists’ performance throughout the whole season, not just on the pilot. Aarti won several challenges, her food was often praised, and she was the most natural in front of the camera. Many would have nerves/doubts in this competitive situation, heck she’s only human.
if Food Network reads any of this please note:
I WILL NOT WATCH THIS SHOW
AND no one cares about your phoney “MUM” stories and your fake british accent, stay on youtube
That lilting fake accent seemed to wax and wane, depending on whether she was doing her pitiful me schtick on camera or commenting on her competitors. Everytime she mentioned her “mum” I wanted to give her a swift kick in the “bum.”
I will not watch her show. But I would like to know how many people it took to stuff her into that red dress. Her “bum” sure stuck out in detail.
The wall of fame photos was bad enough, but did anyone notice that Aunt Sandy was at the way far end, and they never showed a close up of her mug shot?
I also wonder if they nixed the studio audience concept to keep the chance of a leak to a minimum. If so, that worked really well….
I never even saw Aunt Sandy’s picture–I was wondering where she was. And I like Ina, but how old and photoshopped was that portrait of her?
Did you also notice that D’Arabian and Big Daddy were not on the wall at all?? Guy Fieri was though. So I guess that is the proof that out of all of these NFNS winners, Guy is the only one that FN considers a success and worthy enough to be up on the wall.
And they Photoshopped Rachael Ray a nice rack.
Another craptacular in the can.
I was also wondering what was up with the lemon centerpiece. And the focus group? You are going to tell me young, “hip” New Yorkers do not know what chutney is? And that one guy in front? LOL, I got the feeling he was more into Herb and Tom than their food. Did Ina lend them one of her spares?
Herb, was a mess till he taped pictures of his family to the camera. What a miracle! How far is that camera from his cooking station? Didn’t Jeffrey do something similar with his family last year? His final product was good IMO, I was not a fan of his all along.
Tom is just lovable. He is unemployed and I hope something comes of this for him. His show was fun.
Artti? I have been making naan pizzas for years! (Trader Joe garlic naan people!) That dress, did she borrow it from Brianna? He presentation was the worst. And had the least amount of cooking of all the shows. Give me a break!
I had hoped that maybe FN had dropped that Aarti clue as a bit of PR misinformation – “Hey, they let the winner slip on their website! Let’s watch the finale and see if they really did screw up that bad!”. But no. It was not a clever PR stunt, but just true stupidity. That is saddest thing about this season – is that FN is that poorly run and can’t keep a secret to save their lives.
Aarti was ok, really. But I’d watch Tom’s show in a minute. I already know how to smear chutney on a piece of naan and call it pizza – but those mushrooms had me interested.
Blah to this season.
Sorry, I don’t get the Tom love. He looks like an older version of my teenage son–a guy sometimes in need of a shower and NOBODY I want making me food.
I think Tom is overrated. I liked his personality, but he was the least credible chef of the three. He had so many missteps with his food throughout the competition that I could see why he is unemployed.
Very funny. I too found Tom’s food choices questionable and inconsistent. He’s probably a fun guy to hang with, but I would not take cooking cues from him.
Wow you people are haters. I’m not surprised that so many racist and sexist pigs on the internet would hate Aarti. Yes let us have another boring family style person win or Guy Fieri Douche ^2.
You people are pathetic. Seriously. I’m happy for Aarti and i’m happy the Food Network shows so many cultures and so much diversity.
I get the feeling you have some connection to Aarti. And who exactly is forcing you to read all these comments that you find so insulting?
Which FN were you watching that is so open minded and diverse?
Somebody happens to like Aarti and you decide they have a connection? That’s a stretch. I like Aarti to but no nothing about her other than what I’ve seen on FN and her Youtube channel.
@Aimee not at all. I was commenting on the intensity of Jenkins rant. Calling people sexist and racist for not liking her is a bit OTT.
And what is so racist about making fun of a boring host that was handed the win on a silver platter?
Pay Sam no heed. I think it’s obvious that FN routinely sends their interns around to tell us we’re pathetic.
Get the fuck outta here.
Screaming racism and sexism, the perennial cry of pathetic douche bag internet trolls who are too stupid and non-creative to come up with a real argument.
How boring was that? FN couldn’t spend the money to bring the “contestants” families to celebrate>
They also didn’t bring back the other contestants, as they did last year. We were deprived of our last fond glimpse of Dzintra referring to herself in the third person.
They were probably afraid Dzintra would manage to get plexiglass in her eye again.
I was so scared by Rachael’s joker face, I couldn’t figure out that “Hold onto you GB’s meant Garbage Bowl until just now… at least now I can loosen the grip on my Granny Bloomers
HbI was so scared by Rachael’s joker face, I couldn’t figure out that “Hold onto you GB’s meant Garbage Bowl until just now… at least now I can loosen the grip on my Granny Bloomers
My problem with all of it is that the Food Network, in trying to make us love Aarti, made many people hate her.
The constant praise and “atta girl”s and “you just need some confidence” made me sick to my stomach. Watching Aarti’s pilot, I thought she was really personable and friendly. I would, as Fogelson said, “just hang out” with Aarti. And I am actually looking forward to seeing a non-British cook prepare Indian-inspired food on television, instead of lame flavorless tikka masala’s made from canned tomato soup and half-and-half with a scoop of yogurt on the side.
But FN just shoved Aarti and all of her insecurities in our faces through every fucking episode. I felt like they were trying to tell us, in advance:
“Hey, when Aarti’s show is on, cut her some slack when she seems nervous, because she is REALLY INSECURE. Remember how she was on NFNS? We TOLD YOU!!! Nerr nerr nerr! But please, LOVE HER ANYWAY, despite her faults, because we GAVE HER A CHANCE! See how nice we are?”
Seriously, after the Melissa D’Arabian example (a no-personality cook that was GIVEN a bull-shit show concept that has absolutely NOTHING to do with her cooking aesthetic or “culinary POV”, and neither said nor did anything – at least, nothing that the camera caught – to endear her to the public or FN’s audience) it makes sense that they wanted us to see some of Aarti’s personality. Particularly because so many FN watchers are close-minded and only want to see Giada-esque characters on the channel. FN got the best of all worlds *eye-roll* with Aarti – she’s got an “average” sized American body, she’s brown, she’s got big tits, she makes “ethnic” cuisine, AND she’s got a British accent. Score.
FN has absolutely NO diversity. Every cook on the channel – with the exception of the brown ones – cook, or claim some influence to, Italian, Southern or South-Western food. It’s about time we got something new. But they didn’t have to be SOOOOO incredibly ignorant about it. NFNS really made me hate Aarti, even though she was the one I wanted to win from episode 1.
Brooke Johnson= Crypt Keeper.
She always seems so thrilled to be there.
This is supposed to be FN’s biggest show. Yet each year they dust her off and bring her out she looks like a total slob, as if she has slept in her clothes. I’ve seen homeless people take more pride in their appearance.
She jumped right out of 1967, I bet she looked just the same then.
Omg!Brooke Johnson!!!! She seriously, looked like they used up all the botox on Pauler and Ray! And Soosie was looking pretty scary too! I could understand Aarti’s stress though. Those photo editors, will need to airbrush the hell out her.
Can we get some screen grabs of the scenes were Aarti was applying joint compound to her crater face and Tom’s manboobs were bouncing out of control?
Booo!!!
I have to admit, when the show first started, I had high hoopes for Miss Aarti’s party, agreeing that FN definitely needed to spice it up with something OTHER than another BBQ or “let-me-help-you-make-a-cheap-meal.” but then I kept watching (against my better judgement). And I never really GOT anything from her.
Here’s hoping her show actually SHOWS you something about Indian cooking, or I think she will go byebye.
I did stick to my guns and did NOT watch the finale. I’m glad I didn’t!! I also hope to see Tom get his chance somewhere on FN, too, ala Adam. He really started to grow on me.
I love Indian food and don’t really mind Aarti, as long as she never wears that red sausage casing on the air again. During the finale it hit me (before Tuchman remarked on it) that Tom really is like a Guy Fietti who can’t be bothered with bleach and hair gel. And Herb said a couple of completely ignorant things, repeating the old “sugar makes kids hyper” myth and actually referring to his “bicep,” of which there is no such thing. (It’s BICEPS muscle, moron.) So . . . I don’t know whether to be glad or frustrated that with all the air time between Food and Cooking channels now, both of the also-rans are likely to turn up again prattling on their own shows!
Good call on the bicep/biceps issue, Lyn. The English major geek in me just had to look into this. Here’s what I found on Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge, heh):
“The proper plural form of the Latin adjective biceps is bicipites, a form not in general English use. Instead, biceps is used in both singular and plural (i.e., when referring to both arms). The form bicep [sic], although common even in professional contexts, is considered incorrect.[1] The error may originate from a mistaken belief that biceps is a plural noun (rather than an adjective in the singular), since English typically forms its plurals by the addition of the letter s to the end of a noun.”
Regardless, I still liked Herb’s concept better than Aarti’s. Well, until he started claiming a sausage-and-cheese frittata was “healthy” because it was made with egg whites, that is. I have yet to see a chef on FN who knows anything about healthy (i.e., clean) eating.
The “health” of the fritatta is relative. Just having sausage and cheese doesn’t automatically make it “unhealthy”.
I don’t really see the big deal with the biceps or sugar/hyperactivity stuff. As long as a show about cooking for health teaches us how to cut calories in a recipe, that’s pretty much all that’s important.
Eric, that’s why I said clean eating. Cutting calories is only a small part of the equation. You could eat 18 100-calorie packs of cookies and meet your calorie goal for the day, but it’s still terribly unhealthy.
Anyway, I realize my dietary preferences are only mine, though I’d like to see a show focused on clean eating. Even so, though I was disappointed that Herb didn’t completely fit what I had in mind, I still liked his concept the best. And, compared to Pauler, Aunt Sandy, and the like, his recipes were at least palatable!
Disregard that I am a boring pedant.
Ok, that’s it. I stopped watching NFNS 4 episodes ago and now have stopped watching FN altogether. The entire channel and all of it’s programming is lame. I made the mistake of going to the F&W/FN extravaganza last year and saw up front and personally how really. truly fake it all is. Give me PBS! Give me America’s Test Kitchen, Everyday Food and New Scandinavian Cooking. FN can F-off!
And really, how could anyone think that Tom was going to win with his “Big Chef” concept? I don’t understand how NO ONE from the FN payroll said to him “Hey, we already have a BIG DADDY, and we’re not going to have 2 shows with the same concept.”
Every “Latin-inspired” show on this channel tanks because of the time-slot. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Mexican Made Easy sticks around.
And in all honesty, how could ANYONE think that any reality show on ANY channel is real? Of course they had Aarti picked to win from the beginning. Her contract was signed before NFNS even aired. Being a contestant on the show was OBVIOUSLY a part of her contract, just like every other fucking cook that’s “won” one of those competitions. That’s why she got more air time than any other contestant. That’s why, even though audiences kept saying they didn’t particularly like Aarti, she STILL kept pushing through.
My personal opinion is that NFNS is not a contest for the winner – it’s a contest for 2nd place, because 1st place has already been determined. 2nd place is ALWAYS people’s choice, in just about EVERY reality show. People outraged by Aarti’s “win” will tune in to watch Tom or Herb in droves – that’s where the money is.
Why in holy HELL does everyone keep saying that Tom’s pilot was the best? It was my least favorite out of the three! I mean, come on, he was loud, annoying, and was basically a re-hashed version of Guy Fieri (And I actually LIKE Tom a lot! But come on, that pilot was awful.) I even thought Herb did a better job, and he’s been one of my least favorites throughout the competition.
This is probably not a big deal, but her last name doesn’t sound Indian, do you think she’s Indian and Spanish or is she married? Sequeira is her last name.
She’s married – we saw her husband a few episodes ago.
Her husband is named Brendan McNamara–he’s an actor. Either Irish or British.
There are Indian people who are Christian and they tend to have last names such as Sequeira, Joseph, D’Souza, D’Costa…one of the famour ones being Pinto these days (Freida Pinto of Slumdog). This may not be her married last name.
Although it really bugs me that 1. An Indian 2. Brought up in the UAE 3. Has a British accent 4. Calls her mother ‘mum’ (part of the Brit accent)…how very very phony!!! Being of the Indian descent, I am truly irked by this…
They speak British English in the UAE, so why wouldn’t she have a British accent or use British terminology?
Well, British English and British Accent are not one and the same. British ruled over India for 150 years and taught Indians their language, but NOT their accent. And people in the UAE do not have British accent.
Um, being of Indian descent you should know of the HUGE British influence there was over India considering the Brits ruled over it for almost 100 years. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I thought the Brits rule took place from the mid-1800s to around the mid-1900′s. Not sure why you’re so bugged by this.
A simple Wikipedia query should answer your question about the period of Brit rule over India…so I won’t waste my time doing that.
I think I have already explained why I am bugged by Faarti’s Fake Freaking Brit accent…Kindly read above :-)
Sorry, I prefer to use slightly better sources than wikipedia for my sources. I am still highly amused by your outrage – that’s all. Kindly re-reading above only intensified that amusement :-)
I agree that those pictures of the FN “stars” were mostly awful. That picture of Aarti was no better – she looked good, but why was she holding a fruit cup?
it looked like baby food in a fancy dish lol
I honestly thought Aarti was already on tv somehow. She’s the only one in the commercial(s). I recently saw another ad with her in it, claiming that she would do whatever it takes to win or some other such nonsense, which made me think they were letting us know she had already won.
She looks like the woman on the Cooking Channel and I think the show is Spice Goddess.
I wonder how TOm’s food actually looked.
He stuffed those portabella’s inside the skin of the chicken?
With his dazzling clams and french toast imaginary food, I bet this looked like a roadkill chicken.
Come to think of it! Tom could have been the Food Network, “Food Slob”! Get in the Kitchen cook,eat, whatever the fuck you please! Leave the mess for someone else to clean! Yeah! Stay Unemployed! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!
Aarti’s pilot was painful to watch. She said she was going to “inject” Indian flavors into her food. I had the mental image of her piercing her naan with a hypodermic needle full of garam masala.
I really like Aarti but I do have to agree that her pilot didn’t do anything for me. I want real Indian recipes, not “pizza” made with Indian flavors. If her show turns into everyday food with an Indian twist I’ll be super disappointed. Fried chicken with curry powder anyone? Unfortunately I have a feeling this is the road TPTB are sending her on. :(
I agree with you about the adding of Indian ingredients to American food schtick. But luckily there are already two good Indian shows on the Cooking Channel, Spice Goddess and Indian Made Easy. I like Indian Made Easy more, because it focuses on one region of India every episode so you learn a bit about how their type of food is different.
Cooking with “ethnic” flavors, rather than cooking authentic non-western food, is the whole FN approach. Note that they don’t even have a Chinese or Thai chef on the network, but Rachel Ray or Tyler Florence or whoever are always doing Chinese or Thai “influenced dishes,” using 5 spice powder, lemon grass etc. You can imagine that the FN execs went nuts when they saw Aarti, who with her vaguely exotic looks and posh British accent and “Indian flavors.” is not going to scare away any FN viewers, the way a “real Indian” might do. Herb wasn’t going to win, but for FN he had the same kind of homogenized appeal. A second generation Latino, not someone from the Dominican Republic or Columbia, because, you know, they talk funny. FN doesn’t even have a “real Italian” doing its Italian food show. Amazing that they hired The Neelys and not some white yuppie to do their barbecue/soul food show.
omg I would *love* it if they had a Thai chef on FN.
I think Aarti’s pilot was the worst out of the three. She was boring to me.
I liked Tom and I see no parallels between him and Guy. Not one.
rachel is not amused. mainly because her over-botoxed face leaves her void of expression.
joan rivers better watch out.
and who the fuck does her eyebrows? some one jacked your shit up!
and aarti looks like an over-stuffed sausage about to pop in that dress.
hot fucking mess!
Was it just me, or did the Food Network Wall of Stars look more like Mme. Tussaud’s museum of wax rejects? Those were some of the creepiest looking photos I’ve ever seen!
Giada’s was especially scary.
Yeah it looked liked something you’d see going into a Haunted House ride.
I like Aarti and am glad she won, I’ve made a couple of her recipes and they turned out good. Her Youtube show is cute and informative. IMO, she was the only one who was really true to her POV and it seemed to fit her really well. Herb should have been gone a long time ago, I never understood the cooking con whatever thing and I don’t trust anyone who changes their pov to suit the judges. I liked Tom a lot, especially the past few weeks but non of his food was memorable. I can’t remember one thing he cooked, let alone remember anything I would want to try making. He was too inconsistent. And I swear last night was the first time I ever heard of the Big Chef? WTH? Nice funny guy, but I doubt I’d try a single recipe after the Iron Chef disaster.
Tom has been using “Big Chef” for at least the past several shows. But Aaron McCargo never used “Big Daddy” until the finale when he had to tape his pilot. The FN producer who was directing the pilots came up with it. And like someone else said, “10 Dollar Meals” had nothing to do with Melissa d’Arabian’s “POV” during her season on NFNS. That the woman hostin a show about $10 meals is a wealthy MBA married to a top Microsoft exec is more proof of how lame FN is.
Aarti won! And I had NO IDEA!!~
Seriously though, I actually liked her better than the two other guys. They just seemed like alternative Guy Fieris. I just hope she doesn’t stick with that awful title “Aarti Paarti” as her real show’s name. It makes me gag.
Premieres Sunday 8/22 at 12pm/11c
Aarti Party
The Next Food Network Star winner Aarti Sequeira is bringing her beloved Indian flavors to everyday dishes.
They’ve kicked Aunt Sandy to the curb and put Mz Party on ahead of Mommy McBacon. Probably hoping Mz Party’ll lure more watchers for Melissa’s horrid show.
I like Aarti but her pilot blew. I want real indian recipes, not “pizza” made with indian flavors. If her show turns into everyday food with an indian twist I’ll be super disappointed. Fried chicken with curry powder anyone?
And how many times will she mention her Mum in upcoming episodes of her new show? And how many different uses for naan can she find?!
That has Drinking Game written all over it.
Its France and frozen bacon all over again!
Forget the Botox and the Joker grin, who the heck is Rach buying her make-up from, the Brick factory?
I agree that those pictures of the FN “stars” were mostly awful. That picture of Aarti was no better – she looked good, but why was she holding a fruit cup?
I *think* she was holding something that looked like mango pudding. But I completely agree – that pic was not good.
Yeah, I’m one of those people who doesn’t understand the Aarti hate. She seems like a likable gal to me – sure the self-confidence thing was probably just a result of clever editing, and it does bug me that nobody else really stood a chance, since it was clear that they favored Aarti from the beginning. But other than that – I would watch her show. I personally think she won because the whole Indian/Ethnic idea is something that’s completely foreign to FN.
Cause really, if you think about it – how many Asian chefs do you see on FN? (Morimoto is like the only one & he’s only really on Iron Chef) How many other Indian chefs are on FN? FN is not a very diverse place, which is why they most likely were grooming Aarti. Personally, I’m happy she won, but I would have been just as happy if Tom had won too. Even though we found out who won like 3 weeks ago.
The thing I really take issue with is having to be exposed to the horrific face of Rachel Ray. I had to hide under a blanket every time she was on screen. Her clowny face is nightmare inducing.
And also, is it just me or is Bobby Flay morphing into Alfred E. Newman? I think Bobby Flay is one of the most unattractive, unappealing people on the planet….
Actually, I would have called it for Aria in the very beginning, but Aarti did start to outdistance the pack pretty soon in the season.
FN has obviously been looking for an Asian chef for some time – there were Indian contestants in previous NFNS seasons who crashed and burned very early.
I also don’t agree with those who say she should be doing straight Indian, not American infused with Indian flavor. I think a straight Indian cooking show wouldn’t have much appeal, but more regular watchers would be inclined to try something they were familiar with (i.e. pizza) with an Indian twist.
For the hall of fame photos, where was our buddy Tyler?
He probably hasn’t sold enough merchandise to qualify yet….
Well, when his lasagna dish costs $80, that’s not so surprising.
I thought Ray-Ray has lost some weight. Those books were not flattering at all her legs looked like stumps in those boots.
I meant “lost some weight”. “Those boots…”
Why all the Aarti-hating? She’s actually not bad…i.e., cute, warm and interesting. Out of the three, she was the better choice. Herb is too frantic, you never know if he is going to laugh or cry! …And Tom? Who would actually eat anything he makes? He looks too and unkempt and nasty…Seems like a nice guy, but he looks like he smells…lol!!!
Personally, I think this season of NFNS really missed what being a FN cook/host is all about: cooking (duh!) and hosting. Shouldn’t there have been some make overs done? Help with hair, makeup and the shooting of whatever was roosting in Aarti’s hair? Running for groceries has never been a part of any FN program and only for very special occasions has a FN host appeared on Iron Chef, so why is it on NFNS?
Aarti is OK. She’s something that isn’t on FN right now (THANK YOU COOKING CHANNEL!), but why didn’t she discuss using Naan as her pizza base? That’s as “exotic” as chutney, isn’t it?
Herb. Oh Herb. If only you has asked The Wizzard for some confidence early on we wouldn’t wince every time you lose it for the camera. The Season Finale was your best work yet and I was beginning to think maybe the FN was thinking of slapping together another Latin fiasco/program. Perhaps you’ll show up as Kelsey Nixon’s cooking partner?
Tom. Dear Tom. A shave and a haircut (2 bits!) probably cost you, but as you’re Adam Gertler 2.0 (and not a GF knock-off) I’m certain we’ll see you again.
Anyone else blow Pepsi through their nose when Bob Tushman pronounced Guy Fee-airy, and not the BS Fee-ettie??? Precious!
“Running for groceries has never been a part of any FN program”-but it is a big part of Top Chef which NFNS clearly aims to be…except without the cooking talent
Personally, I think this season of NFNS really missed what being a FN cook/host is all about: cooking (duh!) and hosting.>>>>
When was NFNS EVER about the cooking?
I am going to disagree with most of you and say that the correct person won this year. There are so few ethnic cooking shows on the air, and no Indian cooking shows (unless you count the snoozer Indian Made Easy on Cooking Channel, which is incredibly boring). I have printed out almost all of Aarti’s recipes and prepared several. They are easy to make and get rave reviews. In addition, they are unlike any other recipes I have. Herb made an egg white frittata and Tom made a roasted chicken. B-O-R-I-N-G! Who needs a recipe for that?
In addition, I think she is adorable. Just because she has a curvy figure does not give people the right to criticize every outfit that she wears. She looked great in her red dress at the finale. Her style is unique and original. I wish people would stop being so judgmental and just accept that everyone is different.
I actually like her voice and accent. One of the reasons I can watch Ina is because she has a soothing, modulated voice and I see some of that in Aarti’s presentation. It’s also why I can’t listen very long to the voices of Rachael Ray, Melissa D’Arabian, Gina Neely, Fieri and of course Aunt Sandy–MY EARZZ!
I have nothing against chubby people. Your body is your business. BUT if you want to have a TV show, please for the love of God don’t wear outfits designed for people who weigh 50 pounds less than you.
It’s certainly possible to have a larger body and wear clothes designed for a body of that size. That red dress was just too damned tight.
This IS her way of dressing according to her size/shape. If you go to her blog, there are photos of the Final Four at a festival earlier this month and she was raving about this great designer who designs for voluptuous women sizes 10 and up. Go take a peek…if you dare…
I won’t judge Aarti yet until I see a couple of her shows on FN, then we will see how good or not good she turns out to be. I’m a little apprehensive if it does turn out to be just adding Indian ingredients to American food. If that happens I’ll just keep watching the Cooking channel to learn to make true Indian food (and I have grown as a cook because of it).
Also I’m not sure the self-confidence thing was faked, because I’ve read some of her blog and she expresses the same doubts there. You can also just see it on her face every time she got a compliment, she looked truly surprised.
I thought it was pretty telling last night when Tom said he knew that Aarti would not like her own pilot.
Also pretty interesting was how we finally got an explanation of Tom’s cooking style – which was him experimenting on his own at home as a Latch Key kid :) It seems like he still cooks that way sadly (explains the Iron Chef fiasco.)
When they filmed the pilots, were they using the same set used for $10 Dinners?
I noticed no one opened the freezer door, I guess they were afraid of an avalanche of bags of reconstituted dried beans, peeled ginger, and packages of bacon.
The finale was a snooze, Aarti’s pilot was ok but the weakest of the three and her “pizza” looked disgusting to me. Smearing chutney on naan? Ugh. Is that what her show will be like?
Really the whole concept of NFNS is a joke, a “star” isn’t announced by management of the network, they can announce a new “show”, but a star is created by viewer support. What they are really doing is 1) trying to create ratings over the fairly dead summer months, and 2) launch a new show with an unknown that they are trying to create some buzz around. I think both McCargo and D’Arabian are mediocre and neither has become a “star”. They both have shows that are hanging on in dicey weekend time slots when few people are watching tv.
Actually I didn’t think Melissa was that bad at the start but the 8/15 show was not very good. She seems a bit, anxious, particularly when screetching not to put the pizzas on the grill before the toppings are handy. And using pop cans of pizza dough? That stuff is disgusting. Plus her fake marinated black olives also looked disgusting. It all looked like a cross between Money Saving Meals and Semi-homemade.
So Aarti won, big surprise. I think demographics factor heavily into the mix, and they wanted a show with an Indian
POV. Fine, but how authentic is Aarti really with her phony
British accent picked up at an push Brit expat school? And she seems phony to me, for example when a judge praised her food, she would bug her eyes with a fake “you LIKED little ole’ me??????” expression. And she seems too needy.
I like Indian food, I find it very tasty but I’m not too willing to make it at home. Where I think a show on Indian food could fill a niche is for a host/cook to present a way to prepare it using smart, reasonable compromises. I’m not going to shop for, pay for , and grind 63 different dried spices to create a flavor base. What I would be interested in would be an intelligent compromise that sacrifies a bit of subtltey but still gives a good result. Or a good online source for a quality spice blend. And I wonder if Aarti is clever enough to realize that.
Yea I saw that show. Let me quote Dennis Miller and say “I don’t want to go off on a rant here….but….”
It is not hard at ALL to make pizza dough. Seriously, FN needs to take the position of making things from scratch – the more processed shit we eat, the more health problems (obesity, diabetes) there will be. /rant
Adding mango chutney and canned tomato paste and calling it an “Indian” pizza sauce is like putting Parmesan cheese into chocolate pudding and calling it Italian.
Having grown up on two generations of homemade Indian cooking, I can tell you that Bal Arneson’s Spice Goddess show on the Cooking Channel is a thousand times more authentic than anything I’ve seen on the Food Network or TNFNS.
Meh, I see why they made the decision that they did but I’m just not interested.
It seems people fall into two camps on the Indian Infused dishes or straight Indian dishes. It’s interesting, for a cooking show I think I like Indian infused more. I have several Indian cookbooks that I love but they tend to use very specialized ingredients and equipment. Just not very accessible in 1/2 hour format. Allowing someone to use the tools they have in their kitchen already, with the addition of a few ingredients works better for the person who is watching a show to be inspired for dinner that night.
All that being said I think Aarti will fall into the same category as many of the current hosts, I will use their recipes from the website but never watch their show.
I think Tom would have been the right choice for me, but perhaps not for the mainstream food network audience. I could see Tom actually presenting me with a recipe idea or technique I would be able to take and expand on. The bacon steak was a failure sure, but braised pork belly is an amazing treat. With the food network kitchen behind him I think his creativity could be polished into some fantastic food.
Jillian, thanks again for the great recaps – I didn’t watch a single minute of this show, so have no opinion on the star quality or cooking ability of any of the 3, but that dress Aarti is wearing in your last picture should have been enough to eliminate her on the spot.
I didn’t watch a single minute of this show,>>
Me neither, nor to I have any plans to watch much of FN in the future. The only ones I can really tolerate now are Alton and Ina. Used to like Giada quite a bit, but that boat has long since sailed.
And if it sinks, her bouncy boobs will probably serve the purpose of a flotation device.
Tom is getting his own show. From the Futon Critic:
In additional news about The Next Food Network Star, Food Network is excited to announce that runner – up Tom Pizzica will host the new primetime series Outrageous Food, premiering November 2010. Production begins today for this traveling food show featuring out – of – this – world eats. Additionally, casting for season seven of The Next Food Network Star, set to air in 2011, is currently underway. For information about open – call auditions, applications, rules, and submission instructions, visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/starcasting.
Read more: Breaking News – New Daytime Series – ‘Aarti Party’ – Premieres August 22nd at 12pm ET/PT | TheFutonCritic.com http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2010/08/16/new-daytime-series-aarti-party-premieres-august-22nd-at-12pm-et-pt/20100816food01/#ixzz0wnDVH2AU
Of course!
Did anyone watch that After Party show that Adam Gertler, Sunny Anderson, and Kelsey Nixon host? Last night’s was … interesting. Not only did they have Aarti there, but they invited back Herb, Tom, and Aria. Tom could not be there, he was supposedly on his honeymoon, so they had a cardboard stand-up picture of him wearing the life preserver and chef hat in episode 1. Anyway, they gave Aarti a congratulations, asked her a question or two, and then proceeded to spend the rest of the episode talking to Herb, then Aria, and even fake-Tom. Then Suzie Fogelson and Hern talked. Then they showed some flashbacks of Kelsey and Adam from Season 4. Gotta wonder about that — there is Aarti with her big win, and they barely talked to her!
Jillian, did you noticed when Bob Tuschman referred to Tom as being another Guy Fierri, he pronounced Guy’s last name (Fee-air-E)?? Didn’t that linguistics dude make fun of you for not pronouncing it as (Fee-et-E)??
Hmmmm, maybe he should email Food Network next because apparently they don’t even know how to pronounce it. LOL
They should give Tom and Herb a joint show and call it Big Flavor.
ok was i the only one who thought that all the dudes in the “focus group” were totally gay for herb? they were all like, “id like to buy him a few drinks!” or “he can teach me how to workout (wink wink)”. seriously, their boners almost poked me in the eye through the tv!
just my 2 cents….
Exactly what I was thinking. They’d have to fight Susie for him though. Herb would be wise not to leave his drink unattended around Susie, she’d probably roofie him in a heartbeat.
I think Dzintra should have been in the finale not herb.
I still like the idea someone here had for her show way back:
“Cook, Dzintra! Cook!”
Team Dzintra too!
She likes to twirl, you know.
I thought Brooke Johnson was Lily Tomlin there for awhile.
Does she ever look like a witch.
Honestly, what was the point of the pilot and focus group when it was clear that it would have no impact on the final decision.
It could have gone down like:
Tom and Herb, you’re pilots were great. The crowd loved you. We’re buying (although apparently not).
Aarti, you flipped off the camera, faarted into the oven, and threw a grenade into the crowd, killing four.
And the winner is…Aarti
Hope to God Artie does not wear those ridiculous, “I’m a grown-ass woman but have the maturity of a 12 year-old” flowers in her hair on every episode of her show! Nice to have flair and style put change it up once in while, honey!
Why was Guy Fieri the only past winner included on the Wall of Food Network Stars? What message does that send the winners?
“Congrats. You might get to be on this wall, as long as we don’t cancel your show or forget that we haven’t cancelled it yet.”
How shocking, Aarti won. FN did a fantastic job of screwing the pooch, as always. Thanks, we knew weeks and weeks ago she was the winner. The finale was quite boring. The “focus group” like someone else stated looked like a bunch of yuppies, all around the same age, all privileged.
I don’t mind Aarti, I think she’s fairly personable. I thought all the pilots were ok. Just ok. How Herb got to the finale instead of Brad is beyond me. He was the most inconsistent contestant this year. Dizzy aside… we didn’t get to see her for that long though.
This show has become ridiculous, really. It really seems as if the winner is preordained before it even starts. Ugh.
Does anyone recall the Filitstones episode where Fred becomes a gambling addict. At the word ‘bet’ he goes in trance repeating ‘bet’ the whole time. It the same expression that Suz has with her “money glimmer” except that she repeats the word ‘brand’.
that’s really disappointing I stopped watching NFNS a long time ago, The FN has enough overrated idiots crammed into one another without the need of adding more. what I’ve been reading about this season of it no one was really qualified to be chose as the next anything, they screwed up earlier by eliminating the only one who did have potential, didn’t get rid of the one who didn’t soon enough. the Tom guy finally shines through yet they still end up choosing that dimwit Aarti! these morons have no idea what their doing at all, for years they have never brought anyone who could hold the viewers interest in the place of the ones that did. this network is doomed and so is it’s ratings, I know I’m not watching some airhead bumble her way around a tacky kitchen with no backbone.
Hey FNH! I love your site, but sadly I have to say, Fuck you, you are wrong! There are enough whitebread middle of the road hosts on FN. I like Tom too, but Guy Ferry sort of serves the same function, except Tom doesn’t suck! Aarti is cute and personable,but more importantly, it’s nice to haveone of the world’s major cuisines represented. They got rid of Ming Tsai. I’m glad FN is trying to add more “color” to their programming, but other than the Neelys, the other two (Aaron,Sunny) just suck! Aaron sets us back 300 years every time he opens his mouth! What’s worse, it comes off as “affected blackness.” I think she’ll do well. But then I liked RR when I first saw her, so I “might could” be wrong!
“Bobby Flay introduced the finalists to the 97-year old president of the Food Network, Brooke Johnson,”… who looks even more like an old lesbian than Anthony Bourdain does! Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Tom pwned everyone last nite. Would love to smoke a bowl with that dude.
I cannot believe that they will give Tom a show, traveling around the world tasting food! What a waste. He can’t cook. He looks like trifling hell. I think Brad would have done better in a show. I won’t watch the “Food Slob”! No way!
I know this show (and network, for that matter) is completely lame, but I truly do not understand why so much of every single season seems to be devoted to each contestant “finding” their culinary POV. Don’t you think that’s something that should be settled in the application process? Why are people who do not have a clearly stated and potentially marketable POV chosen to participate? It’s all such a complete crock.
Will. Not. Watch.
Will a real Indian please chime in on my theory that Aarti is about as authentic to Indian food as someone who was born in Mexico, moved to Dallas when they were 2 and were only exposed to their family’s cooking and Tex-Mex restaurants is to Mexican food? I have a feeling there’s so much more to Indian than she’s capable of presenting because she just plain doesn’t have the knowledge.
I learned more about Indian food from a 23 minute Good Eats episode than I did in 10 weeks of seeing Aarti. She doesn’t teach well, she’s not that creative, she’s not that charming (sorry, she ain’t), she’s just a glorified gimmick with a concept that makes Susie’s granny panties moist. Her show is going to put the bomb in Bombay.
You are absolutely right!!!
No I will not have mango chutney on my roasted naan with paneer…thank you! Just the thought of the combination of ingredients makes me puke in my mouth a little. I have eaten pizza with paneer/chicken tikka and it tastes good, but never will eat one with a sweet mango sauce. Also, chutney does not just automatically refer to reduced fruit pulp, there are multiple kinds of them.
To answer your question, NO she isn’t cooking with authentic Indian flavors. She does not seem to have a thorough knowledge of Indian cooking (by that I mean of various different regional styles).
Is she any worse than Giada, sticking basil in something, sprinkling (overly enunciated) parmiggiano on it, and calling it Italian?
I’ll give Aarti a chance…I like Indian, but if I cook it myself it’s generally using a masala mix from the Indian market, or a jar of Patak’s. Sauce + protein + naan = Indian! (although I do make a pretty decent saag paneer from scratch, don’t make my own paneer though)
I will admit to having picked up some interesting concepts from RR, hoping Aarti will have something enlightening to bring to the (can’t resist!) paarti.
I thought that intro pic was just a color swap until I looked at it and the next pic simultaneously. Yeesh.
OH MY GOD! I JUST SAW THE PROMO FOR AaRTI’s SHOW AND IT WILL BE CALLED “Aarti Parti”! This is the sign of the Apocalypse surely!!!!
Yes. The reason for the floods in Pakistan and fires in Russia is Aarti Paarti, it’s karma. The earthquakes in Chile and Haiti were warnings that the FN did not heed….
She was branding it “Aarti Paarti”
They’re calling it “Aarti Party”
It’s a stupid show name, but it’s more stupid without the aa and i. And Tom is getting the more prestigious timeslot. The network is already screwing her over, day one.
It truly is the stupidest name for a TV show, ever. I don’t think I could even get a five year old to watch it.
AARTI – I am not surprised. I don’t dislike Aarti as much as others, but she wouldn’t have been my first choice. I enjoy Indian cuisine very much and think I can learn from her – I’d like to know how to make my own chutney. I just wonder if the concept will fly longer than one season?
TOM – He’s lovable. With some aesthetic magic to the hair, wardrobe and maybe some weight loss, he could really shine. His food looked great this week. I would make that roast chicken.
HERB – I grew to like him. He’s easy on the eyes, girls. Fills out a pair of jeans very nicely and, let’s face it, he would be wonderful to watch mid-day. It’s too bad he didn’t get his act together until too late. Nonetheless, if Food Network gives him a show, I would totally tune in. Although introduced later (his undoing) – the idea of healthy Latin cuisine is very welcome here.
Complete and absolute trash. I would however “do” Rachael Ray.
Aw, c’mon, FN! The “fix” was in from Day 1…the way Tushmann was sporting a massive tandoori boner for Aaaaaaaarti. I think watching paint dry would be more interesting than “Aarti’s Party” or WTF they’re calling it.
I knew, from reading this site, that Aarti was going to win but I was still shocked. I really could not believe that anyone with a brain would put a woman with severe acne on TV as a cooking show host. The greasy hair and nose stud are bad enough, but why anyone would think an overweight woman with pimples was a good choice to host a cooking show is bizarre.
Then I watched the after party on Cooking Channel. Did anyone see what Aarti was wearing? She was wearing the ugliest strapless dress I’ve ever seen. The woman is 50 pounds overwieght and was all fat shoulders and arms. She made Sunny Anderson look thin in comparison. Oh, it was gross.
And there was Fogelson sitting right there. Unbelievable.
I looked up the Indian pizza recipe made by Aarti on the FN website. She barely cooked anything. She used store-bought naan bread, cheese and prosciutto. The only thing she “cooked” was the sauce, which was just marinara with a little chutney blended in. Then it would only need to be heated in the oven for like 10 or 15 minutes. I may try pizza on naan sometime. It looks like it makes good pizza crust. Comes across like an Aunt Sandy russipe though, mostly storebought and assembled.
Yes that is an Aunt Sandy recipe alright! So it looks like Ms Aarti Party, will be taking the place of the Original
“Hamburger Heifer”. So now I guess we will be seeing more of the Semi cooked shit,just read the back of the box and add the curry powder and pray your kids will eat it. Oh! Don’t forget that famous boiled pomegranate juice,that is sure to impress.Are you looking forward to Aarti grinning through a vaseline,lens at you? I personally can’t wait!
Cannot believe she won. What a crock.
I have never actually watched the Next Foodnetwork Star, but I did catch one episode where they did foodtrucks.All I have to say is that Tom looks sloppy, sweaty, and the kind of guy who would scratch his nuts and then roll your burrito with his bare hands..EWWWWWWWWW. Sweaty balls extract with that burrito?? Yuck!
I guess that’s why He and Aarti their truck was called “Dick Bombay’s”,Ha hahahahahah!
good lord, i hadn’t seen what ray-ray looked like in a while. someone once said her eyebrows were two points now thanks to botox. they weren’t kidding. the make up person didn’t even try to make the eyebrows look like it’s an arch and not the end of them.
and i’m also not surprised about aarti winning. but wtf is up with aarti paarti/party being the title? shouldn’t it be aarti’s party or whatever? the former makes her sound like a two year old.
I am happy Aarti won, But I feel like Brad should have been in Herbs place. though sometimes I do feel Tom should have won too, but I like Aarti more and can’t wait to watch her show!
Indians feel the need to have a British accent, yet they don’t know how pathetic is to the Brits. Some of them (women) went as far as recording a ‘British-Accent’ greeting on their answering machines.