'Next Food Network Star' Recap - "Network Pitches"

And then there were four.

In the penultimate episode of the 9th season of The Next Food Network Star, our four remaining contestants do only a little cooking but finally show their star power.

“Network Pitch” started with Stacy, Russell, Rodney and Damaris having to pitch two show concepts to the judges, one of which will be presented in front of the Food Network development team of Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson. Afterwards, Tuschman, Fogelson and the main judges (Bobby Flay, Giada DeLaurentis & Alton Brown) will cut one contestant who will not go on to shoot their pilot.

First up was Stacy who pitched two ideas based on giving old-fashioned food a face-lift. With the judges help, she honed it down to a Restaurant: Impossible style show that went to restaurants and homes to reinvent failing meals. At the judging, she revealed how the Robert Irvine show helped her restaurant and how she plans to pay it forward, but the pitch was a bit too sad and weepy for a up-beat food show.

Russell had his own troubles in the round, where he once again came off as stiff and a bit militaristic. The judges did like his concept of reinventing restaurants’ classic dishes with his famous culinary sins.

Rodney gave his best performance yet when he went full pie force into a Throwdown - esque show based around the transformation of food into pie. The Pie Man would show up at a restaurant where the chef challenges him to make their signature dish into pie, which would then be judges by some regulars.

The best showing and concept was from Damaris, who wants to teach men how to attract and keep ladies through food. "i'll teach him to make a pecan pie that'll make her cry," she says. Think The Bachelor meets 30 Minute Meals. Called Eat, Love, Date, the judges loved the inventive idea and Damaris’ “magic and humor.”

While the judges easily picked Damaris and Rodney to shoot pilots, they struggled over the final slot. After Alton served as a tie-breaker, they sent Stacy packing.

The last half-hour was the filming and airing of the final three’s pilots. Here’s a recap:

Pie Style with Rodney Henry
Pie Style is an inventing show idea and the perfect foil for Rodney, who is a strong television presence but sometimes lacks the culinary skills of his competitors. Here, he’s challenged by Chef Greenspan (of Next Iron Chef ) to create an amazing pie from his award-winning grilled cheese sandwich on raisin bread with braised short rib. While the cooking portion was a little rushed (this was a 5-minute pilot for a full-length 22-minute show), Pie Style was really fun and entertaining, all ending with a little competition to shake things up. All in all, I’d give it an A-

Guilty Pleasures with Russell Jackson
Guilty Pleasures started with a stylsish premise but seems a bit stilted due to its host that just doesn’t come off as a warm and inviting TV host. At an LA ice cream shop, Russell tries some sorbert and then makes his own ice cream using bacon and bourbon – two of his culinary sins that are now stashed in a briefcase taken from the Deal or No Deal tag sale. But like the namesake Guilty Pleasures, I have a feeling the show will soon become one-note and a bit, well, overindulgent. Overall: B

Eat, Date, Love with Damaris Phillips
Damaris is one of the quirkiest and, dare I say, oddest contestants in Star history and Eat, Date, Love is one of the best pilots I’ve seen from the show in a while too. Inventive, funny and heartfelt, Eat, Date, Love is Food 911 with a fun Southern spin and a bit of romance too. With Paula Dean off the network, the channel could use a new, fresh (non-racist) face for southern cuisine and, for my money, Demaris is the person for the job. Rating: A

To vote for the winner, visit the Food Network website.