Food Network Star Exit Interview: Mary Beth Albright
Mary Beth Albright had quite a ride on Food Network Star. Multiple times she stared into the gaping mouth of elimination but persevered to make the final four. That’s impressive for the woman who says, “I’m not a reality show star, but I play one on TV.”
Throughout the show she had to cope with a knowledge of food that sometimes exceeded her ability to execute it. In other words she had terrific creativity but at times lacked the cooking chops to pull them of. It would be easy to say that was her final undoing and certainly arguments could be made to that point.
However predictable Mary Beth’s ouster this week was it was stunning to see just what lengths the producers went to to insure it. First she drew Vic as her challenger, the strongest cook of the remaining contestants and one with a lot of experience in cooking contests. Then she drew Penny as her sous chef and true to form Penny did her best to make sure Mary Beth went home.
Penny was deliberately lethargic while doing prep for Mary Beth. It was obvious enough that Bob Tuschman called Alton Brown over to have him quiz Penny about her apathetic movements. When Alton called her on the clear vandalism she shrugged, smiled and shot the camera a knowing look. I’m confident (the kind of confidence that comes from inside information) that was hardly the extent of Penny’s misdeeds but that’s all they chose to show.
I hope in the future that Food Network spares us this kind of barbarism. This is not Rock of Love or any of those other seedy shows who’s sole purpose is to entertain the lowest element of American society. Those people may watch a lot of TV but having no jobs they really can’t afford to buy anything the advertisers sell. Hopefully retailers will realize that one day and the whole “people behaving badly” genre will disappear from our screens.
For her part Mary Beth handled everything with grace and professionalism and earned a great deal of respect in the process. Take her post-elimination blog post for instance. There is no mention of the Penny/Food Network sabotage. I even gave Mary Beth a chance to vent and she passed it up. It’s clear that she only wants to focus on the positive aspects of her Food Network Star appearance. So if you came here looking for more of the fireworks we saw from Alicia, both Justins and Penny, too bad.
In commenting about the remaining contestants she said, “Everybody has really strong strengths. Jeff is an extraordinary performer.” On his food “He made this Asian tofu wrap in episode four,” she reminisced, “His tofu wrap was so good that I ate two of them and I can’t stand tofu.” Of Susie she said she, “has just the soul of a Mexican chef,” adding, “She has such deep history with the food that it makes me want to make it.” She ended with her thoughts on Vic, “I love Vic. He’s so endearing in person,” summing up his cooking with, “He takes risks with food.”
So what happened with your lamb being overcooked?
I roasted the chops individually and I usually roast the entire rack of lamb as one big roast when I do rack of lamb. I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough time to do the entire rack of lamb together. Because honestly, you hear that you have an hour on Iron Chef and then you’re running around and you look up at the clock and fifteen minutes has gone by and you have no idea where it went.
So I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough time to do the whole roast so I put in the oven individually. I think that I probably took them out at the right time. Then while you’re judging you have to keep your food warm and I think that it was probably in the oven for too long or I miscalculated in my own mind how long it would take them to warm.
I cook lamb. I cook lamb a lot and I don’t overcook lamb but you see that one shot of Giada De Laurentiis trying to saw through her lamb chop and it’s like “Ah, God!” But live and learn.
In your blog post you mentioned how having appeared on the show had earned you the respect of DC chefs – can you elaborate?
A restaurant in Washington just opened; it’s called Rouge 24 and RJ Cooper is the chef there. I just went there for a media tasting last week and he’s been on Iron Chef (click HERE for more on Forgione vs. Cooper). He and I ended up having this whole conversation about Iron Chef and it had nothing to do with food that I was sitting at the table eating.
I think that there really is a new appreciation. I wouldn’t call it new respect I call it a new appreciation that I have for what chefs do and I think that they probably know that. Not just the act of cooking food for a bunch of people but cooking for a bunch of people under time and pressure with limited resources which is what restaurant cooks do every single day.
I’ve already gotten phone calls from other chefs who’ve been on Iron Chef around town and I think it’s a really great experience for a food writer to have, to really understand what you have to go through.
What’s harder – facing the judges’ table on Star or facing a judge in a court room?
They don’t allow cameras in courtrooms anymore. It’s tough not only being in front of the Food Network judges because of all of the cameras and everything tat is going on while you are being evaluated but you’re being evaluated on your dream. That’s a tough thing to handle. When you’ve left a really good profession and really good money to follow a passion it hurts a lot for somebody to be critical. And of course they have to be critical; it’s a very important job to give someone their own cooking show and to trust them with the Food Network brand. I get that
But it’s really hard to be judged on your dream. Which a lot of people don’t do, a lot of people don’t follow a dream because it’s easier to keep it in a box somewhere. I’d say Food Network judges I really would. I know that sounds like a crazy answer. It won’t be the craziest thing that’s happened in my life in the past year.
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Food Network Star 7 EP 10 Recap
Iron Chef
The Iron Chef showdown returns to the competition, along with the pressure it brings to bear on the finalists. Alton Brown will provide criticism from his usual commentator’s spot, and Michael Symon will join the judging panel.
Last week we saw:
. . . the elimination of the only remaining contestant I was confident can be credible hosting a cooking show, Whitney. That’s the second week in a row that the person with the best performance was booted. Don’t worry Jyll and Whitney, it worked out alright for Kelsey Nixon.
At this point it’s two pretty good cooks with descent personalities against two average cooks – one with an iffy personality and the other who is nothing but personality. I believe this to be the weakest final four in the show’s history.
Personality is important but I don’t care how friendly you are on camera if you cannot cook no one will watch the show. To me Mary Beth’s POV is a little to much like Sunny Anderson’s. Susie and Vic can cook pretty good but of the two Vic is the only one who brings anything new. There are at any time a half dozen shows on with Susie’s exact POV. Of the four Jeff has the freshest POV – I love the king of sandwiches I just wish I had more confidence in his cooking.
I saw a bit on the Wall Street Journal where they summized that Food Network had chosen Jeff Mauro as the winner early on and then had to make it happen. This was a good line from them, “After this week, it’s starting to feel less like a competition and more like a showcase for Mauro to test some of his ideas before he hosts his own Food Network program.” I don’t know if that is the case but I do know this, they’ve done it before.
One thing is for sure, they had to get rid of the real cooking talent before this week’s Iron Chef challenge because there is no way Mary Beth, Jeff or even Susie would have stood a chance against Whitney, Juba or Justin B. in Kitchen Stadium. It’s the one place remaining on Food Network where you actually have to be a serious cook. I hate that we are being robbed of a chance of watching a truly exceptional cook in this challenge. Vic, I think is the only one left who has the chops for Iron Chef although I wouldn’t put it past Susie to make me eat my words.
With all viable contestants removed from the contest all that’s left in season 7 is trying to figure out which of the remaining four will be the next Aaron McCargo Jr. That means their name will one day be inserted into this conversation:
PERSON1 Whatever happened to _____ who won Food Network Star?
PERSON2 Their show’s still on the air.
PERSON1 I’ve never seen it.
PERSON2 No one has.
Let’s get this over with.
This week:
Battle Iron Chef – need I say more?
After 10 episodes here are my thoughts on each remaining contestant:
Alicia Sanchez – Eliminated week 3.
Chris Nirschel – Eliminated week 7.
Howie Drummond – Eliminated week 1.
Jeff Mauro – It’s a good thing he’s likable. Jeff, by virtue of last week’s wins(?) got to chose his opponent. He chose Susie. In a fair fight, he’s a goner but he also got to choose Whitney as his sous chef. Jeff’s commentary was pretty good – more personality than substances but still good. Theme ingredient was lobster. Jeff made three sandwiches. I know he’s the king of sandwiches but three sandwiches for Iron Chef. I’ve got to take off majorly for that and the judges concurred. They also banged him for not making his own mayo.
Juba Kali – Eliminated week 2.
Justin Balmes – Eliminated week 4.
Justin Davis – Eliminated week 5.
Jyll Everman – Eliminated week 8.
Katy Clark – Eliminated week 2.
Mary Beth Albright – I’m convinced this is her last week. She doesn’t inspire confidence with her cooking and her personality is starting to let her down. How lucky was Mary Beth to have gotten Penny as one of her sous chefs? I wonder if there was any other name in the hat. Theme ingredient was lamb, her opponent was Vic. This is a battle between arguably the weakest cook left against arguably the best cook left. Penny sabotaging Mary Beth didn’t help. Honestly Food Network – that was just a little too obvious. It looks more and more like Mary Beth’s ouster was just in the script cards. In judging Vic’s food her critiques were not in harmony with the judges at least according to what we saw. The overwhelming judgement from each judge on her food was, “not bad.” Her commentary was like her whole season – up and down.
Orchid Paulmeier – Eliminated week 6.
Penny Davidi – Eliminated week 7.
Susie Jimenez – She’s cute and her food is pretty good but her POV is not very original. Susie got a bad break in having Chris as her sous chef but it could have been worse; it could have been Penny. Her commentary was not very good. Theme ingredient was lobster. As it turns out, Chris was more interested in showing off for the cameras than helping Susie. That’s curious – Chris and Penny both hindering their chefs. Her judging was not great but her food was amazing. I can’t see her losing to three sandwiches not matter how good they were.
Vic “Vegas” Moea – The best of what remains. Vic drew the weakest cook of the four for his opponent, Mary Beth. Jyll was his sous chef in battle lamb. His menu was inventive. The judges seemed to like it at all. When judging Vic sounded like he’d been there before. His commentary was similar to Jeff’s in that he used humor to bail out of sticky situation. Vic was the clear winner but he should win – he had all the break and he took advantage of them. Vic was, in my opinion, clearly the best tonight – the past two weeks that got you booted.
Whitney Chen – Eliminated week 9.
Be sure to check out the WTVC Food Network Star Polls – six categories for contestants who best embody the spirit of former Food Network Star competitors HERE. Don’t forget to follow the live Tweeting there you’ll get to chat with people who know this season has been a waste of time.
Top Tweets:
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/hstone4/status/100373891658166272″]
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/lynfrancisco/status/100373213883805696″]
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/roadtohell/status/100374788706533379″]
[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/MDMRN/status/100376128635670529″]
Stats:
“In it to Win it” type quotes – 0.
Number of people crying – 1.
Number of WTF moments – Mary Beth getting Penny as her sous chef. Really?!?!? I’m supposed to believe that wasn’t rigged?
Who should have won: Whitney
Who will win based on what we’ve seen in the past: Jeff or Susie
Winner(s) first week: Lobster challenge: Susie. Lamb challenge: Vic.
The finalist(s) who will be going home is . . .
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Mary Beth
Review: The Perfect 3
With voice over from Kelsey Nixon and recipes from your favorite Food Network/Cooking Channel stars the Perfect 3 is more than the sum of its parts. At first glance it may look like they are just piecing together stock footage from past cooking shows. Not at all.
In each episode there is a theme recipe (burgers, cake, soup, etc. ) and three different TV chefs demonstrating their favorite interpretation of said recipe. At the end of each episode Kelsey is joined in the kitchen by a Cooking Channel viewer who’s recipe was chosen from thousands of submissions as the best in the land.
Take for instance the upcoming Burger episode. Here’s how the Cooking Channel describes how the Perfect 3 tackles the all American burger:
Tyler Florence’s classic version using ground beef brisket, topped with bacon, onions and the works. But wait, on Everyday Exotic, Roger Mooking challenges the classic with a ground lamb burger blended with Chinese 5 spice, finished with cucmber relish. Then Giada de Laurentis’ tuna steak burgers topped with tapenade and roasted red peppers on Everyday Italian is a total game-changer.
As it turns out, my Perfect Bacon Mushroom Burger was one of three finalists for this episode. The fact that I am allowing myself to do a review of this show should tell that I did not win but heck to have one of the three best burgers in the country is still pretty awesome.
Every time I watch Nixon on one of her hit shows on the Cooking Channel I can’t help but think of how wrong Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson did her on season four of Food Network Star. She was clearly the best contestant that season. Her work on the Perfect 3 is just more of what we saw three years ago – bright, engaging and knowledgeable – the perfect host.
The Perfect 3 airs Saturdays at 4:00pm ET on the Cooking Channel. You can watch the videos of each recipe winner HERE. Here’s a sample from the Burger episode:
Food Network Star Exit Interview: Whitney Chen
For the second week in a row the person who had the best overall performance got eliminated. Whitney Chen, who’s resume is so good they should have canceled the show this year, rocked the judges’ table with both flavor and personality. The moral of this story? Don’t you dare have a better day than the preordained winner.
This is all anyone should need to know as to whether Whitney was the best candidate this year, she worked at Per Se. Don’t know what that means? It’s knowledge dropping time.
Depending on your school of thought there are two men that at any given time are considered the best chef on the planet today, Ferran Adria of Spain and Thomas Keller of America. Some will throw around a handful of other names but if you ask chefs, critics and restauranteurs from around the world those are the two names that come up most of the time.
If you have ever heard of Yountville, CA it is because Thomas Keller opened a restaurant there, The French Laundry, which makes it to virtually every “Top 10 Restaurants in the World” list worth reading. Per Se is Keller’s, “urban interpretation of The French Laundry.”
Ferran Adria closed his restaurant El Bulli just this past weekend. Prior to that he received over 3,000 applications a year from chefs willing to work for free at El Bulli. Thomas Keller has nine world class restaurants so one can only imagine how many applications he gets for folks so willing to work for him that they’d do it for free. Whitney worked for Keller and got paid.
Contest over.
Or at least it should have been anyway. But let’s not forget that Food Network is not looking for someone to draw great ratings on a weekly show; they are looking for someone to draw ratings to this one show. If the winner turns out to be another Guy or Aarti then great but they are perfectly happy if the winner is another Aaron or Amy.
One thing that is clear when speaking with Whitney is how damned smart she is. Her intellect is stunning. Listening to her handle the cleverly worded questions from a gaggle of food writers was like watching Bo Jackson running the football or Yo Yo Ma manipulating the strings of his cello. If she decides to run for politics Washington had better watch out because she’s a lot brighter than anyone in DC.
Observe how deftly she handled a question about the notoriously deceptive editing on the show, “Interesting things happen,” she understated. “. . . and I think it’s just too bad that everyone can’t see the whole thing and how everything works behind the scenes because it’s pretty cool.”
“In terms of the editing, they’ve got to tell story lines and we totally get how it works. But there were times where I felt like I was really happy and my personality was totally shining and then it didn’t get on. But it is what it is.” One of the things she regrets from the editing room was in the Cupcake challenge with guest judge Ina Garten. Whitney actually made three different cupcakes that represented her evolution as a cook. Read about them in her column for the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Patch HERE.
What one moment best defines your experience on the show?
The show to me really did ebb and flow. I think the Fourth of July episode and being on stage there was really a great moment for me. I think I was really comfortable perhaps because I had a couple of beers before I went out. I was really comfortable; I was spontaneous. I was having a good time. I got to talk to people and be around people which is what I love doing. So I think that one moment for me was a highpoint.
Since the purpose of the show is to find someone who can inspire the home cook do you think more emphasis should be put on a contestant’s ability to actually cook something?
I think the Food Network knows what they’re doing. It’s a really successful network. I learned a lot in this experience about what you have to do and what you need to make a successful TV show.
Of course I think there are people who probably watch the Network to see people who focus on the food more. I think there are also people who watch the Network that probably want to see people are more there to entertain people. I am certainly in the previous category.
For me the food is of the utmost importance. That’s why I’m doing this. That’s why I left my job before. It’s what I love. It’s my passion. Although that (cooking ability) wasn’t the focus of this season maybe, and it’s not what the Network is looking for right now there’s certainly a place for it in the future.
What is your current project?
My current project is just to enjoy the rest of the summer and spend time in the heat and sunshine with my family and friends. I feel like I’ve kind of been off the grid with them. We couldn’t tell them anything about the show. I’ve been very secretive so I’m going to take a few weeks off and enjoy that.
I’m really excited; I’ve got a lot of stuff going on in the fall. I’m going to be writing new recipes, a contributing editor at Gilt Taste (Ruth Reichl’s new venture) which is great because I love to write. I’m excited to do that. I’m just going to continue to pursue the passion and to learn about food.
I’m still not counting the possibility of me having a cooking show out. I’m still going to continue to go after that.
I for one look forward to that show more than any other that might emerge from this season.
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