So Next Food Network Star is going to Miami! I wonder who is going to shine and who is going to sink this week.

So Ted Allen meets our friends at JFK with the fine dining chef for that part of the airport. They each got assigned a restaurant and they had to cook a dish appropriate for the restaurant. During the assignments my 4 year old wants to know where Katie is. But anyway. They have 30 minutes. The knives are tied down in this place!
Jeffrey got the Italian place and decided to go with bruschetta. Jamika got the sushi place and was doing a seared rare tuna salad. Michael got French and decided to do oysters but they didn’t have a shucking knife. So he went with clams and shrimp. Melissa got the tapas bar and decided to make chicken a la plancha. Debbie got the modern American cuisine/steak place and decided to a spinach salad.

Jamika did ok but she started talking about not eating anything to heavy because she doesn’t like airplane bathrooms. Eww, gross. The Debby talked about women wanting a salad to watch their weight. Susie didn’t care for that at all. I think Susie was just miffed that Debbie didn’t make her a steak. The last person who talked about “women” got tossed. Jeffrey shared about his ethnic background and that was new and interesting. Melissa did really well sharing her background and her food. Michael did ok. He didn’t really add anything other than what is on the plate. He didn’t execute the dish well. Jeffrey’s dish won and Michael’s dish lost.

Then we are off to Miami. The hotel was pretty. Ted Allen was waiting for them in the lobby. They had to work as a team to cook for a cocktail party. They each need to create 2 appetizers and as a group have a signature drink. Jeffrey gets to assign tasks to everyone as his prize. Michael is going to be the bartender. Debby is going to be in charge in the kitchen due to her catering experience. They got 2 hours to prep and cook before the party. They all seemed the mess in the prep kitchen. I don’t know if anyone caught this but Debby says that her dish is a marinaded chicken then grill the chicken and then soak it in the marinade. Does she mean clean marinade? If she is putting it back into the marinade she used, she can get someone sick! Debby was also going to head up the kitchen during service and she doesn’t seem aware of much beyond her own dishes.

Then onto the party. Michael is on the bar and Jeffrey was serving. Then Jamika went out to serve and that left just Debby and Melissa to make everyone’s food. The judges weren’t impressed with Jeffrey’s food. They thought Jamika’s jerk was to mild but liked her shrimp. Melissa ended up with 5 dishes, Jamika was doing a couple peoples and Debby was only doing her own food. The judges liked the flavors in Melissa but didn’t think they came together well. The judges thought the drink wasn’t spicy as promised. The food was coming out slowly so Bobby goes in the back to see what is going on. Then Michael goes into the kitchen to help. Then Michael comes out with food and totally drops everything on the judges and runs. Then Michael told the judges he doesn’t like the camera. They didn’t care for his food. Then Debby came out. The judges liked her food the best.

The judges didn’t like the fact that the food didn’t come out. Jeffrey got hit on his crab tostada. While Michael was the big host he wasn’t the favorite personality. The judges couldn’t taste the marinade on his salmon. Jamika let the judges she how flustered she was. They thought her jerk was bland. They liked Melissa’s vegetable dish. They loved Debby’s food. Debby said that she was doing what ever she could to get the food out. Debby said that she was being selfless. Melissa said she did 5 dishes on her own. Then the judges did the math and realized Debby only did her own 2 dishes.

Then the judges sent everyone back. Then Jeffrey and Debby started fighting in the back. No one is going to let Debby play the martyr. So did Debbie’s good food balance her team failing? Jamika and Melissa were the first saved. Then it boiled down to Michael and Debby. They called Debby on not owning up to her mistakes. But as was predictable, Michael was cut. But Michael was surprised and was sure we are surprised. Well, surprise Michael but I am not surprise.

So who will make it another week? I think Jamika may be the next to go unless Debby shows another lack of judgement.