In the season 8 opener, 15 wannabe t.v. chefs are divided into three teams to be mentored by Bobby Flay, Alton Brown and Giada De Laurentiis. Robert Irvine presents them with their first challenge: create a pop-up restaurant from the ground up with a limited budget and very little time.

Each producer or team leader viewed hundreds of submitted videos from hopefuls and invited several for personnel interviews to formulate their 5 chef teams are competing to be the Next Foodnetwork Star. Based on those interviews the following teams were formed.

The teams are as follows;

TEAM BOBBY

1. Eric Lee - Petaluma, Calif.
2. Kara Sigle - Chicago, Illinois
3. Malcolm Mitchell - Washington, D.C.
4. Michelle Ragussis - Brooklyn, N.Y.
5. Nikki Martin - West Hollywood, Calif.

TEAM ALTON

1. Cristie Schoen – New Orleans
2. Emily Ellyn – Ohio / Orlando, Fla.
3. Judson Allen – Chicago, Illinois
4. Justin Warner - Brooklyn, N.Y.
5. Martie Duncan – Birmingham, Ala.

TEAM GIADA

1. Josh Lyons – Jupiter, Fla.
2. Linkie Marais – North Attleborough, Mass.
3. Martita Jara – San Diego, Calif.
4. Phillip “Ippy” Aiona – Hawaii.
5. Yvan Lemoine – New York

The team leaders introduced their teams and after introductions Robert Irvine showed up to issue the teams their first challenge. Create a restaurant with $5,000 and 24 hours to do so. Each team a crew to decorate their space and waiters and a hostess. They have to pick out a concept, a menu, the food and have 6 hours to prepare their food before 120 guests arrive to choose their restaurant and fill out rating cards on their dishes and their concept. Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson will dine at each restaurant with the team leaders and Robert Irvine.

1ST CHALLENGE

Each team shops for the food and restaurant decor and each team member must prepare one dish from soups to dessert. When time runs out on preparation each team must do a short presentation on their dishes to get the 120 guests into their restaurants. They have 15 minutes to prepare a presentation for Bob and Susie and the 120 guests.

Team Alton – Do South
Alton’s team does a haphazard presentation with occasional flare.

Team Bobby – The Tasting Space
Bobby’s team is all business and talks strictly food.

Team Giada – Blu
Giada’s team puts forth the best presentation, cool, calm and collected.

Bob, Susie, Robert, and the team leaders dined at Blu first. They did not like Josh’s soup. They really liked Ippy’s salad. They did not like Yvan meatball dish. They liked Martita’s salmon dish but she froze soon as she was asked a question. They liked Linkie but not her key lime pie.

Bob, Susie, Robert, and the team leaders dined at The Tasting Space second. They loved most of the dishes at the restaurant from the homemade lasagna made by Eric, the mussels made by Michelle, the shrimp & grits made by Malcolm and the cookies made by Kara but did not like the presentations of the dishes by Eric, Malcolm and Nikki.

Bob, Susie, Robert, and the team leaders dined at Do South last. They thought that the deviled eggs made by Martie needed spices and salt. They loved Justin’s salad and his personality. They loved Judson’s creole shrimp and him as well. They did not like Cristie’s re-fried bean puree and thought she came off angry with her presentation. They loved Emily’s peanut butter pie and brittle and her presentation.

LICKING THEIR WOUNDS

The next day Giada, Alton, and Bobby critiqued each team member on their strengths and weaknesses prior to going before Bob and Susie. All of the teams and their leaders went before Bob and Susie and they declared Bobby’s team the winner of the competition. They were safe from elimination. They gave Ippy, Michelle and Justin great reviews on their combination of food and presentation. They chose Josh from Giada’s team and Cristie from Alton’s team as the bottom two.

NETWORK CHALLENGE

Josh and Cristie have to prepare a Mothers Day Brunch and a minute camera presentation. The winner of the challenge would be safe from elimination and the loser would be eliminated. They had 30 minutes to prepare their brunch and 10 minutes of rehearsal prior to their 1 minute camera presentation.

ELIMINATION

Bob and Susie tasted their dishes and watched the presentations. Josh made a frittata and Cristie made Scottish eggs. She replaced the sausage with turkey so it was healthier. Their coaches made a last ditch effort to convince Bob and Susie why their team member should stay. Bob and Susie deliberated and called them back into the room. Josh was told he was safe and Cristie was eliminated.

Check back next Sunday for next weeks recap. Who do you think will win? Comment on the show and tell us who your favorite is early on in the show.

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