These kind of episodes serve no other purpose than to heighten the anticipation of announcing who the winner is.

So, how did Food Network Star Season 10 Episode 11 delay the inevitable?

The selection committee first asked each of the finalists how it felt to be there. Nicole recognized it was completely out of her hands when it came to who America was going to crown the winner. Lenny felt “better than a buttered biscuit.” So obviously, he felt pretty darn good. And Luca, having survived Star Salvation, was elated to have been given a second chance to continue on his amazing journey.

Then the rest of the hour was filled with highlight packages, fan questions, and bloopers – your garden-variety special features on most DVDs.

As far as fan questions go, Nicole was asked when it all clicked for her, to which she credited Giada for her advice to not be wound so tight. If not for Giada, Nicole might not have lasted nearly as long as she did, which sadly was only to the top three as she was eliminated from the final three first.

With Nicole’s goodbye package out of the way, the episode could then focus on the final two – Lenny and Luca.

One of Lenny’s young fans asked him what his most difficult challenge was. Lenny recalled the sea urchin, which was hard for him to handle. He probably should’ve mentioned all those on-camera challenges he had problems with, too.

As no surprise, Luca’s packages focused mainly on his looks, which he doesn’t really have much to do with, so he thanks his parents. #beautiful.

Then it gets somewhat interesting when they do a package I’d like to call “Smackdown,” where some of the more harsh confessionals and dramatic clips, in particular those by or about Catty Kenny, are shown.

But unlike the Housewives reunions, the selection committee didn’t pull an Andy Cohen and ask the contestants to respond to what others said. No hair pulling or leg throwing here.

With nothing else to be shown, the final two got one final trip down memory lane before Brooke Johnson, President of Food Network, announced the winner.

The anticipation was over….you wouldn’t have to wait a minute longer…it was time to announce the winner…and the next Food Network Star is…Lenny McNabb! Congrats, Lenny.  You’ll definitely bring some cowboy spice to Food Network (for however long your show is on the air).

So, what do you think? Was Lenny the right pick? Or were you hoping Luca or Nicole would take home the crown? Hit the comments with your thoughts! 

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To give the selection committee an idea of what their potential pilots might look like, each contestant remaining on Food Network Star Season 10 Episode 10 was tasked with filming a promo spot that showcased their unique culinary point of view.

Most likely hoping to capitalize on Food Network’s deep pockets, Nicole’s promo nodded at the idea of traveling the world to teach at-home viewers the beauty of adding a little coastal cuisine to the menu. The problem?

As Bob Tuschman (the General Manger for Food Network) pointed out, Nicole’s culinary background and expertise lies strictly in the coast of America.

Sarah’s promo focused on the idea of taking Americans on a food tour of Texas. Coming off far too rehearsed, Sarah appeared inauthentic and unnatural. Her “Lone Star Kitchen” was a great concept, but she wasn’t the right leader for it.

Luca received no negative feedback from the judges, who all thought his promo was charming and delightful.

Finally, Lenny spit out anything and everything he could about himself but failed to provide any clear direction or focus regarding his actual pilot. His stiff performance left the committee cold.

With all that in mind, the selection committee greenlit Nicole and Luca’s shows first, and in a tense final decision, chose Lenny’s pilot over Sarah’s. Based off his promo alone, Lenny didn’t really deserve the spot, but his overall performance over the past ten weeks, particularly when it came to live demos, was stronger than Sarah’s.

Luca. Nicole. Lenny. One of those three will become the next Food Network Star. The only question that remains is…who?

Nicole? Her show, titled “My Coastal Kitchen,” would focus on Nicole making dishes inspired by the American coast. Her Lousiana-centric pilot was full of energy and helpful tips. Her fake friends, who showed up at the end to eat her food, was an odd yet quintessential Food Network move, while the rest of her abbreviated pilot truly popped.

Luca? His show, “Luca’s Feast,” would bring Luca’s personal culinary touch and Torino, Italy background to different restaurants rich in tradition. In his pilot, Luca made a bagna cauda at Bocca di Bacco. He sold his dish with great tips and salivating description, but the overall premise of his show was a tad confusing. 

Or Lenny? In his show, “Cowboy Up,” Lenny would go to different restaurants and bring his distinctive “gourmet cowboy” cuisine to them and the events they host.  In his mini-pilot, Lenny made his famous coffee crusted bone-in filet for Steve Olsen, of West Bank Café, who needed some great cowboy food for his upcoming cowboy soiree. Lenny looked uncomfortable on camera at times, trying way too hard to get his “cowboy” persona across to the audience.

There you have it. With voting now open, it’s up to you to help decide who will become the Next Food Network Star. 

Who do you think should take home the prize?

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First up: the mini-challenge. Giada, Alton, and Bobby (he's back!) tasked the remaining contestants on Food Network Star Season 10 Episode 9 to pick out a summer food staple from one of the Chelsea Market street vendors and then prepare a live field story on it. 

Nicole and Luca appeared comfortable on camera, using their winning personalities to get across some great info on their summer staples. Sarah hit the middle of the road with her wackadoodle performance, while Lenny, and Loreal failed to impress. 

Lenny must have thought he was on the Real Gourmet Cowboys of Colorado, because like most other reality housewives, he didn't play to the camera at all, pretending like it didn't even exist. Sorry, Lenny, but when the mentors are on the other end of the live feed, you have to direct your attention to the camera and more importantly, the viewers! Especially when you're supposedly delivering important information to at home cooks. Better luck next time. 

Loreal, as the self-proclaimed "butcher babe," should've hit a home run at Dickson's Farmstand Meats, but she wasn't able to deliver any authoritative answers when it came to Bobby's meat related questions. Not a good sign.

While Lenny and Loreal's performances in the mini challenge were extremely lacking, there was still time to remedy the situation in the Star Challenge. But only time and the Rachael Ray Show would tell. 

In the Star Challenge, each contestant delivered a three and a half minute problem solving segment live on the Rachael Ray Show. Each dish was supposed to resolve a specifically assigned family's dinnertime dilemma. These assigned families were courtesy of Nicole, who decided whose hands the fates of these family's problems would rest in, after winning the mini challenge. 

Lenny was given the Burns Family, a large family of six, who were looking for cheap meals. While I don't necessarily think Lenny's choice of country roasted chicken thighs with toasted rice, carrots, onions, and celery sounded all that cheap, he was able to engage the large family throughout his performance, presenting the meal in a very family friendly way, giving many extra tips beyond just the problem the family wanted solved. Someone definitely redeemed himself with this demo. 

Sarah, meanwhile, continued to mildly disappoint the judges with her segment. Making taco soup, Sarah was able to give her family the frozen-leftover-ready meal they were looking for, but she didn't do it with any pizzazz. Yawn. 

Luca's family's mother wanted a vegetable heavy dish that her picky kids would eat. Luca was smart in creating a cauliflower based risotto with bolognese sauce, but he wasn't a smart presenter, ultimately unable to get the kids to eat it. 

Loreal was tasked by her family to make a quick, cheap, and easy meal on the go. So what does she decide to do? Make a complicated, multi-step meal, duh. So wrong on so many levels. It's safe to say Loreal wasn't able to fix this family's culinary problems or the many problems she enacted upon herself this week. 

And finally, Nicole chose the family that was looking for healthy, yet delicious food options. Substituting the family's normal meat and potatoes diet for fish, Nicole, using her coastal cuisine viewpoint, almost successfully problem solved…if only she hadn't added the spicy sriracha. Too hot for the kids to handle, one of them actually spit out her food on live TV. Yikes. #embarrassing

After it was all said and done, the stars of the Star Challenge were Luca and Lenny, which should come as no real surprise. Nicole was quickly removed from the bottom three, thank heavens. Sarah and Loreal were left in the bottom two and Loreal was sent home, her Food Network Star dreams shattered. 

Even though Loreal did a terrible job this week, I still think she should've stayed over Sarah. She stood out, sometimes for the wrong reasons, but unlike Sarah, at least she stood out. Those are just my two cents, though. What do you guys think? Hit the comments with your thoughts! 

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That pretty much sums up what happened this week on Food Network Star Season 10 Episode 8. 

The episode started out with such promise for all the contenders. They were each given the opportunity to enjoy different 360 degree dining experiences, topped off by one-of-a-kind dishes, from various acclaimed Vegas restaurants. 

Sarah enjoyed the 32 oz. Tomahawk Steak at Old Homestead Steakhouse. Luca watched as the chef hand pulled his noodles at Beijing Noodle No. 9. Loreal had to spend nothing to try the $777 Burger, made up of kobe beef, lobster tail and foie gras, at Le Burger Brasserie.

Lenny delighted in the Chef's Table at Restaurant Guy Savoy. Emma gushed over the showmanship at Nobu. And finally, Nicole experienced the glamorous, and I'm assuming extra delicious, $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae from Serendipity 3, which still holds the Guinness Book of World Records for most expensive sundae thanks to ingredients like passion fruit infused caviar.

I want to try that!

As the culitestants basked in the joy of their dining experiences, Alton and Giada (Bobby's still absentee this week) tasked them with their challenge this week: to give the Selection committee their own one-of-a-kind dining experience.

In two teams of three, they would plan out a four course meal at Restaurant Guy Savoy and serve to impress the Selection committee, comprised of added guests, Bob Tuschmann, Susie Fogelson, and Penn Gilette. 

Giving the low chefs on the totem pole the chance to redeem themselves from last week, Giada and Alton assigned Emma and Sarah as team captains. Emma, winning the chance to pick first, chose Lenny and Loreal, while Sarah chose Nicole and by default, Luca. At this point, the stronger team definitely appeared to be Emma's. 

But that definitely didn't remain the case. 

With her "around the world" theme, Sarah allowed each of her team members, including herself, to flourish. Each of them was able to use the fine, and rather odd, one-of-a-kind ingredients they were given to create POV-ladened dishes.

For the first course, Nicole astutely treated her frog legs as chicken wings, glazed them in a tamarind sauce, and accompanied them with a cucumber and mango slaw.  She may have heavy handedly tied her dish to Thailand, but the light crunch from her fried frog legs impressed the judges. 

Luca, representing Italy, seared his Muscovy duck over a parmesan risotto with duck and red wine reduction, a staple of his grandmother, for the second course. His dish wasn't a favorite of Alton's, but Penn gobbled it up and asked for seconds. 

Sarah, finally getting her Texas POV right, served up a TexVegas sized third course of tender wagyu ribeye, accompanied by what the judges touted as a "delicious, crispy, and sweet" roasted cream corn with lobster topping. 

And for dessert, Nicole brought the judges something interactive – a fine dining s'more – where the Selection committee had to toast their own marshmallows to eat with the toasted marshmallow ice cream and graham cracker dust. 

So yeah, Sarah may have played it rather safe, albeit smart, with her generic theme. But Emma, going for a high concept worthy of the gods, shot for the stars, and her team fell hard and fast.  

First up, Lenny brought the Selection Committee his sea urchin with cauliflower mousseline. So far, so good. Then, he had to connect his dish to a story. That's where it all fell apart. Using some odd character voice reminiscent of a bad narrator, Lenny connected his dish to the seas of Poseidon. He was going for Greek play, but I guess he forgot most of those plays were actually tragedies, disappointing the judges with both his food and his delivery. 

For the second course, Loreal brought low energy to match her boring dish of herb steamed langoustine. She got the committee's attention when she mentioned the chicken "skinaigrette" she used on her French herb salad, but failed to mention much else about it. And taking off exactly where Lenny left off, Loreal was unable to continue the preposterous mythology Lenny originated. 

Hoping Emma could somehow make sense of what they had already messed up so badly, Loreal and Lenny watched as Emma delivered the worst story of the night about how men came to eat pork after some piggies were burned in a barn. Her story was nonsense and so was her dish. Her Mangalitsa pork loin stuffed with dried fruit and fresh herbs with a cherry compote was pretty much just pork with jam. 

Loreal's "godly" ambrosia dessert couldn't save them either, especially after Loreal awkwardly threw rose petals at the judges like some weird nymph.

All that being said, it should come as no surprise that Team Sarah won the challenge this week, leaving Emma's team up for elimination. And who do you think went home?

Well, that's a no-brainer – the mastermind behind the whole "garden of the gods" theme – Emma. She had so much potential, but after this week's performance, there was no way the judges couldn't send her home.

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(*Sadly, Bobby is off in NYC to take care of much more important matters like opening a new restaurant. No big deal.)

If Bobby's absence wasn't enough to throw off the contestants, the "final six" quickly became the "final seven" when the winner of Star Salvation, Luca, re-entered the competition. Three cheers for this.

He shouldn't have been eliminated in Week Two anyway, as I pointed out in my previous Food Network Star review, Teaching Time.

With all the contestants now accounted for on Food Network Star Season 10 Episode 7, it's time for the mentor challenge. Giada takes the culitestants to Bacchanal Buffet, where she tasks the chefs to whet her appetite by describing three different dishes to her in 90 seconds. The only catch?

They can't move on to the next dish until they have successfully made her hungry enough for the one they are currently describing. 

Seems easy enough, right? I mean, after all, to be a Food Network Star, you have to be able to describe food in an appetizing way. And you'd think the contestants, who…and I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say this…most likely watch Food Network, would've already known how important this crucial skill was and have honed it.

WRONG. The only person who was able to get through all three dishes in the allotted time was Emma, who surprisingly enough, was the only one to connect the dishes to not only taste, but also emotion. Bravo, Emma! 

At this point, the rest of the group would have to step up their game if they planned on doing well in the elimination challenge, taking place at the Venus Pool in Caesar's Palace.

The culitestants had to prepare pool side treats for hungry party guests, who were only given three tokens to use on all seven of the chefs' potential dishes.

To sway guests to eat their dishes, each chef was given the chance to produce a salivating-worthy, one minute pitch on their food, all while partygoers were grading their pitches on the "dial of doom." To the right, yay! To the left, boo!

The pressure was on, but some of the chefs, and one in particular, was able to rise to the challenge. 

Lenny, smart guy that he is, decided to make the quintessential pool party treat – burgers. He already had the audience's attention before he even described what his burger was – a coffee crusted lamb burger with curry ketchup and goat cheese. Yum!

Then again, it didn't hurt that he also offered to belly flop into the pool if people used their tokens on his dish….which they definitely did, ultimately helping him win both the the cooking challenge and the pitch challenge, where he got the highest star rating.  

On the bottom this week were Sarah, Chris, and Emma. Personally, I don't know why Emma was even there. Yeah, she chose to make a customizable calamari and mango sautee station, which no party guest wanted to attend (who wants to do work at a party?), but she delivered in the mentor challenge and in the pitch challenge. Thankfully, she was the first off the chopping block. 

With Sarah and Chris left, and the battle for the tenderloin still an issue, it was anyone's guess who would be sent home.

Sarah was delusional to think she would've won had Chris not taken all of the beef tenderloin from her, which didn't give her the chance to create the "Texas" themed dish she originally wanted.

But Chris wasn't able to take advantage of the tenderloin he did nab up, disappointing both Giada and Alton by first, overcooking the meat, and then being unable to effectively describe his dish to the mass audience.  And therefore, was sent home this week.

Bye, Chris! I'm sorry there is no Star Salvation in your future like there was for Luca. But, good news! There is always the reunion special. 

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