Food Network Star Episode 1 Elimination

Photo - Food Network

Tonight on the season 13 premiere of Food Network Star, we were introduced to the 12 contestants competing and the winner of Comeback Kitchen was revealed.  The two remaining contestants from Comeback Kitchen were Matthew Grunwald and Jamika Pessoa, and Matthew was revealed as the winner who would get to compete on Food Network Star.  Matthew competed on season 11 of Food Network Star and was on Comeback Kitchen the past two years, so this is three years in a row for him being on the show.  If you think you recognize some of the contestants this year, here is a post about what other shows they have appeared on.

For the first challenge of the season, the finalists had thirty seconds to introduce themselves to judges Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis.  After that, they had thirty minutes to make a dish that would showcase their POV.  The contestants then had a minute to present their dishes to Giada, Bobby and special guest judges Monti Carlo and Robert Irvine.

The top three contestants from the challenge in this episode were Caodan Tran, Amy Pottinger, and Jason Smith. The bottom three were Nancy Manlove, Blake Baldwin and Toya Boudy. The judges decided that Blake would be the one going home due to his lackluster dish and his performance in front of the judges.  Blake will go on to compete in Star Salvation with hopes of rejoining the competition.

What do you think of the contestants this year and how do you feel about Matthew Grunwald being back?