NFNS Week 5

The mini-challenge at the beginning of Week 5 really set some of these guys and gals apart. The contestants had 30 minutes to prepare an original dish using a basketful of ingredients preselected for them. At the end of that time, Cat Cora paired them up and made each person switch dishes. Each contestant then had 90 seconds to taste and describe the other dish in front of the camera (with Cat Cora watching!). Aaron, who I put in second place last week really dropped the ball because of his unease in front of the camera. Shane did a great job describing Kelsey's dish and he came out on top in Cat Cora's eyes.

For the main challenge this week, the contestants were paired up and given 45 minutes to re-create complicated, time-consuming dishes. Shane chose Beef Wellington for himself and Kelsey, Lisa and Jennifer got Turducken and Adam and Aaron got Coq au Vin. In the end, Shane and Kelsey came out on top and their main and side dishes will be featured in Bon Appetit magazine next month!

On to the elimination. I hate being right sometimes. Jenn was at the bottom of my list last week and she was eliminated this week. She was a very nice person, but she just never looked comfortable in front of the camera, in front of her audiences or in front of the judges. And what the hell was she doing banging a glass bottle against the range anyway? It ended up shattering (duh!) ruining her side dish and the duck confit Lisa was warming up to use in their main dish.

I'm going to take a new approach to the countdown this week. I don't think last week's took into account each person's ability to perform in front of the camera. Granted, cooking ability is very very important, but personality and performance on camera is what really makes a Food Network star. With that in mind, here's my Top 5 after Week 5:

5. Adam
Adam was definitely put on notice this week. Jennifer had more culinary skill but the judges decided that they wanted somebody who could play up to the camera. Bob Tuschman made it perfectly clear. During the elimination time, he told Adam: I think you know that you are still here solely on the basis of your personality. I really think his total lack of cooking skills is going to send him home next week.

4. Aaron
Last week I had Aaron as my #2 man. His stock plummeted this week after a horrible performance in the first challenge. His cooking skill and confidence in his abilities are there, but his knowledge of ingredients is sorely lacking. In the first challenge, he used fully 2/3 of his time before he started describing Adam's dish. Another problem Aaron has is that he is sometimes hard to understand when he's talking. His voice just isn't very clear and that hurts his presentation skills.

T2. Shane
Shane really pulled it together this week. He did a great job in the first challenge showing off a mastery of the ingredients and the ability to clearly and vividly describe a dish he'd never even seen before to the camera. He and Kelsey showed great teamwork in the second challenge. As the youngest contestant, he's done surprisingly well. I think a lot of his confidence comes from the fact that he has the skills and is able to rely on the fundamentals in the heat of battle.


T2. Lisa
I dropped Lisa out of first this week, but she still has a chance to get back to the top spot. I think she has the best overall skill of all of the contestants but she still needs to work on her personality. I thought she would finally open up after last week's spill but she was still a bit clammed up this week. She was by no means the alpha female she was in the first couple of weeks, but she just didn't show the warmth that needs to come out.

1. Kelsey
Ok, I can admit I'm wrong sometimes. Kelsey still has a bit of the annoying perkiness she exhibited the first few weeks but she has really reined it in. She's won a couple of challenges the last two weeks and that has given her a lot of confidence, not that she was really lacking it to begin with. By reining in her emotions she comes across as a lot more genuine and warm than before.

New Wine Bar Coming to Fayetteville

Thanks to some good friends in Dallas, I had the opportunity to experience my first wine bar, Vino 100. I came back thinking that opening a wine bar in Northwest Arkansas would be a great idea (if only I had the money!).

Now, I hear from an insider that a local development group will be opening one just off Dickson Street in August called The Wine Cellar. It's going to be an upscale full service bar with a great technological twist for wine dispensing. The system they are installing will hold 24 bottles, mixed reds and whites, and will preserve the wine for up to 60 days. I'm not sure if this is the same system in the picture below, but it seems similar.

If you can use an ATM machine, you'll be able to use the self-service wine bar at The Wine Cellar. Insert your card (shown at the top left of the machine in the picture) and your account information will be brought up on the screen. When you find the wine of your choice, you will use the screen to select the amount of wine you want - tasting glass, half glass or full glass. Place your glass under the spout and you will have a perfectly measured glass of wine.


All in all, I think is going to be a great asset to the Fayetteville entertainment district. It is very neat technology and will make the wine bar experience very novel. The sommelier and wait staff will be able to spend more time with the customers discussing the wine selection rather than running back and forth from the bar all the time. I also this will pique in interest in wine education. I'm really excited about the future of this bar and fully intend to make regular appearances.

I Hate Rachael Ray

I'm just going to get this out of the way early. I HATE RACHAEL RAY!!! I hate her perkiness, her special little colloquialisms and, most of all, her food. She's the queen of mediocrity and she embraces that. If I never heard the following words ever again, I would die a happy man:

• "EVOO, that's extra virgin olive oil!"
• "Delish!"
• "Yum-0!"
• "GB" (garbage bowl)

Look, she even has a special article on her website celebrating her inanity: Rachael-isms.

I think Anthony Bourdain has masterfully summed up the contempt many of us feel toward her, so in his own words, Anthony Bourdain on Rachael Ray:

Complain all you want. It's like railing against the pounding surf. She only grows stronger and more powerful. Her ear-shattering tones louder and louder. We KNOW she can't cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So...what is she selling us? Really? She's selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough. She's a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that "Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!" Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, "Hell...I could do that. I ain't gonna...but I could--if I wanted! Now where's my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?" Where the saintly Julia Child sought to raise expectations, to enlighten us, make us better--teach us--and in fact, did, Rachael uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys. "You're doing just fine. You don't even have to chop an onion--you can buy it already chopped. Aspire to nothing...Just sit there. Have another Triscuit..Sleep...sleep..."

Wines of the Week

Now, I'm not going to claim to have the expertise of a sommelier, but I've begun to learn a thing or two about good wine. I hope to be able to post about the wines I've tried and liked (or occasionally, disliked) fairly regularly. I'm going to create some kind of rating system but for now I'll give each wine a score out of ten. My score is based not only on taste, but also on value. As a broke recent law school grad, I'm on the prowl for high quality wines, but not at a high price.

My first wine for this week is a Pinot Meunier. Crafted by Domaine Chandon, a winery in Napa, this is a unique single varietal wine. The grape is normally used in champagne, but Domaine Chandon has done an amazing job of creating a deep, dark and delicious red. The website says it pairs well with grilled meats and I can certainly attest to that. The last meal I paired this with was grilled venison wraps and barbecued ribs. The wine stood up to it and still maintained its own distinct flavor. Might be a bit on the expensive side for some at $30-35 a bottle but well worth it to splurge once in a while. Click on the picture to find out more. My score: 8/10


My second wine is the 2005 Concannon Petite Sirah, brought to you from Livermore Valley, California. Great value, great wine. This is a dark red wine with a bold red taste. I've had too many bottles of this to count but it has shown itself to be very versatile. It's great to drink on its own or paired with dinner. As far as red wines go, you can't beat this one as an every day bottle. And as I finish my last sip from the bottle as I finish this post, I know just how right I am. Click on the label to visit the Concannon Vineyards website. My score: 9/10

The Beginning

So I think I'm going to have to credit Jeffrey Steingarten as my inspiration for this blog. After graduating from Harvard Law in 1968 he managed to avoid the courtroom to become one of America's foremost food critics. Fortunately for me, he often appears as a guest judge on Iron Chef: America. All that said, I hope to make this an entertaining adventure into the world of food and wine.