Justin's Seafood Does the Talking

We know two big things about Marietta’s would-be Food Network Star after the first episode of the season: Justin Balmes is at home in the kitchen, and he’s a deer in the headlights in front of the camera.

Week 2 gives us more of the same from the man from Harry’s Farmers Market.

We open Sunday night with a high-stakes pizza challenge: Each of the 14 contestants has one hour to create a pizza reflecting his or her culinary style, then present it with a personal story.

The winner will see the prize pizza in Food Network Magazine; the loser will be shown the door.

Justin leaps to the challenge, flying across a table to join a mad rush to the pantry for ingredients. Already, the show is turning Justin’s way. He’s getting camera time.

He shows personality and humor while staying calm amid the madness: “As soon as I start hearing loud voices with a little bit of fear in them, I know they’re in trouble.”

He makes a yellow tomato sauce; his toppings include anchovies and fennel. He confidently strides in front of the judges and is ready to tell us a great story.

Then the camera rolls, and Justin chokes. No story. No smile. Hardly any words at all.

“As soon as one thing goes off, I’m just like ‘fail,’ ” Justin later tells the judges, blaming his perfectionism.

The judges get that “nice knowing you, but you have to be able to talk on camera to be a TV star” look until they taste Justin’s pizza, which they love.

Will it save him when he joins Juba and Vic in the bottom three?

Well, yes, because Juba was just as bad on camera and served an undercooked pie. Juba is gone, eliminating one of the top challengers to Justin for tallest Food Network star.

Still, judge Susie Fogelman warns Justin: “You’re here because you continue to overthink your performance.”

The star challenge asks the final 13 to transform a difficult restaurant recipe into something sophisticated and accessible for the home cook.

Justin, Vic, Chris and Orchid are in a group making affordable versions of an abalone-and-caviar dish.

Justin is happy as a clam. He’s a fishmonger, after all, and he knows the texture of calamari is similar to abalone. He’s ready to rock it out.

He’s confident while cooking in front of a panel of Food Network stars in Scott Conant’s Scarpetta restaurant and impresses Conant with his food knowledge.

When Justin serves his pan-fried calamari steak with clams, the food is a hit. Justin, not so much.

After struggling to find words while facing the TV camera, Justin can’t shut up while facing eight TV chefs.

“Justin B. is a great chef, but he’s not much of a personality,” competitor Chris says.

Fortunately, it's clear Justin is safe after we see Orchid’s fried canned oysters, which look like hairballs.

His food blows away Orchid’s fried platter, Chris’ mediocre seafood stew and Vic’s overcooked scallops, and he wins his group.

“The squid was the best thing I ate yesterday, hands down,” host and judge Bobby Flay says about Justin’s calamari steak. But “you have to come out of your shell. If you can’t do that, you can’t have this job.”

Smile machine Katy joins Juba in getting the ax, and Justin and 11 others move on to Week 3 and a dessert challenge involving Ace of Cakes’ Duff Goldman and Restaurant: Impossible’s Robert Irvine at 9 p.m. next Sunday.