The final five competitors hack a classic salad bar, harvesting ingredients to create a dish while telling the entire tale in an Instagram Story. One alumnus is sent home based on the results. Then, for the final challenge, the remaining four competitors battle it out for the coveted spot as the 13th finalist on the new season of Food Network Star by creating their own dinner party and a video invitation to attract potential dinner guests. Co-hosts Valerie Bertinelli and Tyler Florence attend each dinner party and determine the ultimate winner.
The chefs open the appetizer basket and find exciting ingredients from Mexico, including pigs' feet and tres leches cake. Then the chefs are presented with a second basket of surprises from South of the Border, including goat chops. And one chef sees the chance of a carefree round literally go up in flames when a pan gets much too hot. Nothing is yucky about yucca and coconuts. But when one of the finalists runs into all sorts of trouble getting through the round, will the judges like the end results?