Fil-Am woman restaurateur among Food Network finalists, leads online poll

Fil-Am woman restaurateur among Food Network finalists, leads online poll

By JULIEN MERCED C. MATABUENA

Orchid Paulmeier

MAINLA, Philippines -- The show hasn’t even started yet, but Filipino-American “The Next Food Network Star” finalist Orchid Paulmeier is already ahead of the pack as she leads the reality show’s online Fan Vote poll.

“Orchid is leading our Fan Vote, but it's a tight race,” the Fan Vote portion of the show’s homepage read as of the afternoon of June 2, Manila time.

Orchid and 14 other contestants from all over the US will go head to head beginning Sunday, June 5 (US time) on the seventh season of “The Next Food Network Star,” where the winner will be awarded with his or her very own show on the Food Network.

According to an article published in islandpacket.com on June 1 titled “Orchid: The next Food Network single-name celebrity?,” taping for this season was done from January until March this year. The same story also mentioned that Orchid, a hotel and restaurant management graduate of the University of Illinois, had previously tried out for the show twice but failed to make it through the initial auditions.

As read on Orchid’s bio on “The Next Food Network Star” homepage, the 38-year-old mother of three and Chicago-native is “a first-generation American” who “started her culinary career as an ice cream scooper in high school.” Currently based in Bluffton, South Carolina, Orchid owns a restaurant called One Hot Mama’s, located at Hilton Head Island in the same state.

Orchid is said to have already established a good reputation in her town for her “wings and ribs,” and that she “prides herself on her Southern barbecue.”