# The Next Food Network Star - 7/26 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 27, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428 "2009-07-27T14:26:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/1 "2009-07-27T14:26:03Z")
Finally, Debbie gets the boot. Kinda surprising after the disaster that was Jeffrey’s risotto. Marissa sailed through that challenge untouched. When one of the best pastry chefs in the world digs your work, you rock. Now let’s see who can actually put a show together. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/2 "2009-07-27T14:34:52Z")
Debbie actually seemed to do really well on this challenge, and I thought for sure they’d keep her another week. I’m perplexed that they’d kick her off for her performance this week, but let her slide on the capers incident last week. Still, she made further than she should have. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/3 "2009-07-27T14:38:37Z")
Melissa just keeps getting better and better. I think everybody, including the judges, under-estimated her. I would certainly give her show a chance. Jeffrey, OTOH, seems like he’s not really all there. I don’t think I’d make many of his dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/4 "2009-07-27T15:11:35Z")
I was shocked that Jeffrey stayed on after the really harsh criticism of his risotto. (And I missed it, what exactly went wrong with it?) My only guess is that they thought they recognized talent and creativity in him, and that Debbie couldn’t live up to what she similarly claimed. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/5 "2009-07-27T15:11:50Z")
Yay! I actually high-fived my husband when they booted her. He looked at me all bewildered-like. Hmm. That happens pretty often, come to think of it. 😉 ETA: **Ferret Herder** - it was soupy. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/6 "2009-07-27T15:15:51Z")
Ah, ok, that makes sense. I remember him talking about trying to essentially “undercook” it and have it finish between pot and table. I make homemade risotto infrequently and yes, it’s tough to pull off properly due to timing issues. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/7 "2009-07-27T16:08:13Z")
You know, I was watching this with closed captions, and they kept on typing Debbie’s catchphrase as “soul-to-soul.” No. It’s Seoul-to-soul. You miss the entire point of the wordplay if you screw it up. Bad captioners. Any of the final three would’ve worked on skill and talent. . .but Debbie made herself too unlikeable in the previous two shows, and I think that the execs knew that. They have to choose someone to carry a show, and drama and histrionics don’t fly. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/8 "2009-07-27T16:09:59Z")
Which is what made it such a **stupid** choice for a dish. You are going into the fight of your culinary life, against stiff competition, in front of the world’s harshest judges, and you make _risotto_? That’s insane. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/9 "2009-07-27T16:15:30Z")
It’s insane, but it’s also ambitious and interesting. Bobby Flay was on Debbie about not taking any risks, about playing it safe. Jeffery might’ve completely failed at making the risotto, but he _tried_. Melissa could have just as easily failed at making two pastries. If he’d pulled it off, it would’ve been impressive as hell. . .and that’s interesting and compelling. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/10 "2009-07-27T16:19:14Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](#): > > It’s insane, but it’s also ambitious and interesting. Granted, bet there are risks and there are _risks_. There were a million other choices he could have made that wouldn’t have had such a high “fail” rate that are just as delicious and challenging. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/11 "2009-07-27T16:23:53Z")
Oh, I agree. I’m just trying to guess at the judges’ thought process 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/12 "2009-07-27T16:28:34Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](#): > > It’s insane, but it’s also ambitious and interesting. Bobby Flay was on Debbie about not taking any risks, about playing it safe. Jeffery might’ve completely failed at making the risotto, but he _tried_. Melissa could have just as easily failed at making two pastries. If he’d pulled it off, it would’ve been impressive as hell. . .and that’s interesting and compelling. I know I’ve said this almost every episode, but Melissa is still impressing the hell out of me. She almost torpedoed herself on the dessert by nearly failing to mention the little pastries and that she made both of them, with separate doughs too. I totally underestimated her at the start, and **I’m** how she might describe herself, as a better-than-average “home cook.” Excellent catch on the overly-salty orzo, too. I can’t remember if Jeffrey checked the risotto right before he went out, but it seemed obvious from his commentary that he was not expecting the very disappointed faces. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/13 "2009-07-27T16:32:58Z")
Not much gets by Melissa. Remember how scared they were that her habanero dish would be too hot to eat? No problem. She tasted every pepper and made sure it was spicy, not nuclear. She’d better get her own show, winner or not! ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-next-food-network-star-7-26/504428/14 "2009-07-28T03:35:51Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](#): > > You know, I was watching this with closed captions, and they kept on typing Debbie’s catchphrase as “soul-to-soul.” > > No. It’s Seoul-to-soul. You miss the entire point of the wordplay if you screw it up. Bad captioners. Yeah! That was bugging me too. Good riddance. I got the feeling she was lying about Korean short ribs being less “fall off the bone” than what we eat in the U.S. Even if she was telling the truth. Wow, Melissa’s bio statement was so good, I’m convinced that some scriptwriter came up with that, or she’s got another career as an inspirational speaker after her show. I say “after her show” because I don’t see how poor Jeffrey can catch her. She sailed through the challenge and dish presentation/demo. Jeffrey, on the other hand, offended an entire nation with his risotto. :rolleyes: Seriously, judges, it’s fine to say a dish was poorly made and leave it at that. They gave that dude so much shit, I thought there was no way he was going to survive. He more or less limped into the finale. Debbie sucks. How is it that she could hammer that Seoul-to-Soul schtick week in and week out and not flavor her food? It’s not like it’s they’re subtle cuisines. Her food, at least, _looked_ good. Too bad she couldn’t cook worth a damn.