Keller mom Melissa d’Arabian makes good first impression on Next Food Network Star

by Teresa Gubbins

Melissa d'Arabian, a stay-at-home mom, puts a batch of apple tarts in the Food Network's oven.

Season 5 of The Next Food Network Star premiered on Sunday and lucky for us, this go-round includes another (semi)-local gal, this year's Lisa Garza: one Melissa d'Arabian of Keller.

Lucky for Melissa, she made a good impression personality-wise, and so did her dish: apple tarts. In fact, she finished in the top three, although she didn't win the round.

If you recall the previous info released about her, d'Arabian, 40, is a mother of four daughters -- one of whom is named Oceane and another of whom is named Valentine. So there's that. She and her family moved to Keller in June 2006, so she's a recent transplant. Her favorite books include The Writer's Journey, Nurturing Good Children Now, and the Bible.

d'Arabian got a lot of screen time. The challenge was to create a meal for 75 VIPs attending Food Network's celebration of its 16th anniversary, with a guest list that included many of the network's personalities, including Giada DiLaurentiis and Alton Brown.

Each contestant made a course, then introduced themselves. d'Arabian shot out lots of energy -- so much so that the dreaded Food Network team of Bobby-and-Susie recommended she tone it down in future shows. Jeez, it's never enough for those two. Most of the time, they complain that contestants don't have ENOUGH energy. But d'Arabian, she had TOO MUCH. Just a little less sugar will make their coffee taste just right!

The winner was a surprise: laid-back West coaster Jeffrey Saad, who seemed to impress the judges with his food-writerly description of his zucchini dish. The contestant sent home was "Jen", who, like d'Arabian, is a stay-at-home mom with blond hair and a perky personality, but whose green beans with tomato and walnut weren't considered sufficiently special.

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Anonymous

Chris Kidd, says:

Flay is a witless jackass, plain and simple. Ive ate at Mesa LV, it isnt anything to write home about, as the meal was around $100 bucks and the portions were smaller that what you get in a typical happy meal. Most of that can be blamed on him not showing up to his "licensed" restaurants to ensure quality of product anymore. I had a better meal at the Del Taco across from the NYNY Hotel-Casino and it only cost me around 6 bucks...

On NFNS, Melissa has the talent, drive and is easy on the eyes, she has a serious shot for a program. I say keep the energy at 11 and put those two morons (flay/susie) in their place...