'The Next Food Network Star': Let's Paarti!

Sister, that was close.

Overcoming self-doubts that continued to nag her until the very end, Los Angeles food blogger Aarti Sequeira was crowned the Season 6 winner of "The Next Food Network Star." More remarkable, she beat out Herb Mesa and Tom Pizzica, competitors who stumbled badly at the start but ultimately delivered cooking concepts that were hits with test groups.

Mesa finally nailed down a clever POV. -- "Cooking con Sabor" -- that underscored his Latin roots and allowed him to slim down his culture's fattening dishes in flavorful fashion. Although he found himself on the chopping block several times this season, he ultimately made peace with a sometimes unhappy childhood as an obese kid. Tom, meanwhile, was almost booted early on for a lazy demeanor that had the judges wondering whether he even wanted to be part of the competition. He turned that into the "Big Chef," bringing big, bold flavors into the kitchen.

Frankly, the judges could have picked any of the three.

But Herb and Tom just couldn't outshine Aarti's sparkle. From the beginning, she had a relaxed, humorous style, and it certainly doesn't hurt that she still manages to be sexy in a way that won't turn off viewers. (Brianna, take note.)

 

 

 

She stood out from Day One for good reason. Her blog, her food videos and her background as a journalist made her a natural in front of the Food Network camera. Her biggest problems came from within: she was rattled by self doubt. She kept wondering whether she was good enough, smart enough, talented enough, blah blah blah. It got so bad that the judges wondered whether she would be too needy if chosen. That was Aarti's wake-up  call.

Still, at the end, while the three finalists were watching their demos, Aarti seemed a bit anxious and fretful, while Tom and Herb were plenty happy to high-five and preen about how well they did. (And deservedly so.)

So Aarti, let's put those nerves to rest once and for all: You're a star. Own it!

What do you think about the judge's choice? Will you watch Aarti? Her new show starts in just one week.

And memo to Food Network: Can't you find a way to also make room for Tom and Herb, someplace? C'mon, you've got two channels!

--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo credit: Food Network

Comments

[JLG]

Hell yeah ill watch her shes a cutie pie!

[alioops]

I have watched the whole season and chose Aarti from the beginning as her catch, infusing Indian spice into everyday food, really appealed to me. I love Indian food, love the spices and flavors but am not a good cook and just can't tackle full on Indian dishes. This way I could get the flavor and enjoy watching her as I learn how to cook with Indian PIZZAZZZ. Congratulations, Aarti. I for one will definitely be watching your show.

[ssd]

Please. Don't like her, won't watch her. You guys at food network keep picking the same person year after year. Generic, cutesy, blah blah blah.

Herb's POV was the most unique and interesting. I always struggle with making great tasting good-for-me food and I would have watched his show religiously had he been picked. He's relevant, talented, and personable. Shame on you all for not choosing to add some diversity to your network.

[erica stephens]

Nor will I,watch that is.Another fat girl in the kitchen is unappetizing,not to mention spices I do not have readiy available in my kitchen.This was obviously another P.C. pick,they were short of dark skin chefs so Aarty won.Herb would have been my choice,as I would have loved to learn how to make fat free taste good.So far they have,The barefoot Contessa,FAT!,Mrs.Neely,FAT! Paula Dean,FAT!The girl on Real cooking,FAT!And Rachael Ray could stand to lose some weight!

[ds]

i definitely will watch aarti's show. she seems really nice. plus, the food network needed an indian-based show. i think aarti will play it conservative by mixing indian dishes with american plates, but i hope she does a few full-fledged indian shows where she makes a kick ass meat (or vegetable) curry that uses like 20-30 ingredients. i think her show will be a winner. better than melissa d'arabian's lamo-show. also, agreed with giving tom and herb shows. they both did a great job. brad and briana could also have been put in the mix for shows too.

[Jake]

I will definitely watch. She's great at bringing new spices to ordinary meals, and I can't wait to try her recipe.

She was by far the best-- Herb was a tongue-tied but well-meaning guy who cooked food which looked unappetizing.

Tom looked like a lazy fat fratboy who rolled out of bed and made dishes I wouldn't be able to make.

So cheers to Aarti, and here's hoping 5th place Brad also gets his shot somewhere!

[Jolie]

Congratulations, Aarti. I will watch your show and wish you good fortune with it.

Aarti was more consistent in all areas than some of the other contestants and would make a great employee and coworker within the Food Network system, I believe.

I was hoping that they would announce two winners so that Herb would get his own show, too. I think he would be a great success and hope that, as another poster mentioned earlier, they will find a way to bring him on board, as they did with Adam Gertler from Season 4 of the NFNS.

Tom--I loved your two tunas story, based on your jealousy theme, and the dishes served to Eva Langoria. I think you could make a success of storytelling and cooking, with a show adapted to that concept and cookbooks to accompanying it. You were perfect that night.

Brad, I hope to hear more about you in the future, after you've traveled some more on your food quest.

[Amy]

FN already has shows with Herb and Tom's POV. Ellie does healthy cooking, they have a few latin shows, and they've got Bobby Flay, Big Daddy, et. al. who do big flavor. They don't have anyone who does Indian cuisine. I'm very interested in her show, because I like those flavors, but I just don't know where to start with Indian food. Great choice, FN!

[Jen]

The judges pegged Aarti from day 1. No one else stood a chance. Did you notice that she was the ONLY one to have a negative comment from the focus group yet she still won?

I think her show would be interesting every once in a while but who wants to infuse indian spices in everything we make? I was much more interested in getting Tom's mushroom stuffed chicken. Tom should have won, he's interesting, engaging and bold!

[Sue]

i love Aarti, but not sure i would make any of her indian inspired dishes... just don't like indian seasoning. more likely that I would have watched Herb or especially Tom.

[Alana]

Aarti is great. I think Tom should've won. I don't know why Food Network bothered staging this as a competition because Aarti was clearly chosen by the network exec judges to win before the competition ever happened. The network has been looking for someone with an Indian food POV for a while. A couple years ago they had an Indian cook in the competition who was AWFUL but she kept getting a pass because the female judge clearly wanted her to win even though she didn't have the whole package needed for the job. If they needed an Indian food POV fine, Aarti will do a great job. Just don't waste the other contestants and the viewers time with a fake competition.

[Food Network Fan]

Aarti totally deserved to win and I will definitely be watching her show. While they were all likable, Herb and Tom stumbled several times along the way and even as late as the Iron Chef episode, where Herb forgot to clean his clams and Tom made some disgusting bacon dish. Aarti's cooking was always on point and she has a wonderful demeanor. I wish her all the best.

[don]

Aarti is good but if you watch the whole season, she only cooks Indian type food, nothing else. How many Midwesterners are going to cook Indian food?

[Susan Diotte]

Judges, you picked the wrong one this time. Aarti is so extremely irritating that I honestly don't believe I will be able to watch her show. I got so very tired of hearing over and over and over about her Indian infusion and she simply looks ridiculous and is too large of a woman to be playing the cutsie little thing.

[Jesse]

The last episode made me realize, I wasted my time. I mean come on, it was so so staged. Tom and Herb had better ideas for their show and are more interesting to watch. Wow Aarti can make Indian food,how long will that last. I hope tom and Herb get their own shows. Who doesn't want to eat healthy food that tastes good.How many people out there are afraid of the kitchen and can relate to Big Chef. I will never watch "The next food network star"again, since you have two of them you just put aside. Shame on you Food network.

[Louise]

I will no longer watch this show... this gal didn't deserve to be the next star! As a matter of fact, she has ruined your series and I won't watch again!

[Pete Maneiro]

Aarti was definitely not a favorite in any way in my click of friends... From what I saw, her cooking seemed good but she was definitely not STAR material! She lacked enthusiasm and came off as a total BORE! Her food does not appeal to the masses like HERB or Tom's would have... I totally will not be watching her show!

[Pete Maneiro]

A couple more things 1: I totally agree with Jesse, Louise & Susan Diotte, I won't be watching NFNS show ever again. 2: Herb and Tom definitely had better ideas & are more interesting to watch... 3: Wanna Be Cutesie Fat Indian chick is not appealing and neither is Indian food in general, BLAH!!!