Food Network's special season of Chopped All-Stars debuted last weekend, and Slashfood hit up host Ted Allen and judge Alex Guarnaschelli to get their insight on the limited five-episode run.
In between some homemade pizza baking, Alex, Ted, and a surprise guest talk about the star-studded lineup, the high-pressure stakes, and the serious beer drinking that goes on behind the scenes.
Find out more — and discover which chef makes a fun cameo! — when you watch the whole segment on Slashfood.
Last night saw the debut of two much-hyped-about food television shows: Bobby Flay's America's Next Great Restaurant on NBC and Chopped All-Stars on Food Network. I watched both and found them to be overall entertaining. At a time when the fast-food industry has been under scrutiny, it's interesting that mega chefs Flay and Curtis Stone are investing in a chain eatery.
Over on Chopped, it was fun to see the Next Food Network Star contestants again. I forgot how much I liked Lisa Garza, and despite the fact that she didn't complete the challenge, I was rooting for her to get past the first round. Did you watch either of the new shows? Share your thoughts below!
Photo courtesy of NBC
When I met Scott Conant of Food Network's Chopped and 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, the first question out of my mouth had to be about the onions. The chef and restaurateur's notorious criticism of raw, red onions is so well-documented that even Facebook runs rampant with pages like, "Shut up, Scott Conant, we don't care if you have an aversion to raw onions!" But Conant wants to set the record straight: he's not raising any stink over red onions.
"I don't hate red onions . . . I have a lot of them on my menu," he explained. "There are big things that get edited out of these [TV] shows. When I explain my thought process on red onions, all too often, what happens is, is that it's not interesting — what's interesting is the reaction."
You heard it from Scott Conant himself: he doesn't dislike onions. A few ways chef Scott likes to prepare onions, when you read more.
The 10th annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival wasn't just an opportunity to catch Rachael Ray cooking in person and chow down on exotic ingredients. It was also a great time to get to know our favorite chefs firsthand.
I was floored by restaurateur and Food Network chef Scott Conant. Not only is the Chopped judge and host of 24 Hour Restaurant Battle a wisecracking barrel of laughs, but he's also incredibly humble.
When I declared his polenta to be "the best polenta I've ever had," he quipped, "Then you need to eat out more." At the Scarpetta Miami bar, he made sure we were settled in with mojitos, then joined us for a chat. For the whole conversation, keep reading.
Chopped, the Food Network's culinary competition, is following in the footsteps of Top Chef and debuting a special five-episode season featuring "All-Stars." Sixteen of the network's food personalities will battle to win $50,000 for their favorite charity. Big names such as Duff Goldman and Anne Burrell are participating along with the likes of Next Food Network Star contestants Debbie Lee and Lisa Garza and regular Chopped judges Aaron Sanchez and Jacques Torres.
I've never been much of a fan of Chopped — the secret ingredients always seem totally bizarre — but I'm curious to see how the celebrity chefs will handle the tough challenges. Do you watch Chopped? Are you interested in checking out Chopped All-Stars?
It appears Bravo has decided not to put all of its eggs in the Top Chef franchise basket. Author, New York chef, and onetime dancer Rocco DiSpirito is soon to have his own show, too. Today, the cable network officially introduced the program, Rocco's Dinner Party, on its blog, The Dish.
Each episode will feature four different contestants, from restaurateurs to home cooks, facing off in a three-round cooking elimination. In the first round, contestants will cook their favorite dishes for Rocco; in the second, they'll create an appetizer and concept for the week's assigned dinner party theme; in the last, the two remaining contestants will fashion a complete menu and decor to win.
To me, the concept sounds remarkably similar to Food Network's Chopped — only with parties. Still, I could see how Rocco's star power could make it successful. Will this be the next big cooking hit for Bravo?
If the prospect of Summer ending makes you sad, remember one of the perks of Fall: new TV lineups. Not only is Bravo's Top Chef making its return on Wednesday, but Food Network's also debuting a handful of new shows this season.
When The Next Food Network Star came to a close, nearly a third of you were surprised by the outcome, and believed runner-up Jeffrey Saad should've taken top prize instead. In a less-than-unpredictable announcement, VP of Programming Bob Tuschman revealed that the Food Network has produced a mini-series of web episodes based on Jeffrey's original pilot, The Spice Smuggler.
One month from today, the network will debut Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin, the network's equivalent of the Travel Channel's hit Bizarre Foods. On the first two episodes, former Animal Planet adventure host Jeff Corwin will eat rancid butter in Morocco and dive for spiny urchin in Greece. Chopped, the food channel's answer to Top Chef, also returns with a four-week championship event that features previous Chopped champions returning to compete once more for the chance to claim the ultimate title and bank another $10,000. And on Iron Chef America, chef Michael Symon battles it out in Kitchen Stadium with a handful of culinary students.
Does the network's Fall lineup sound enticing to you? What do you think of Jeffrey's return to TV? Are you hoping that he, too, will have a future at the Food Network?
Tonight is the series premiere of Chopped, Food Network's new culinary competition series hosted by Ted Allen. The show, which airs on 10 p.m./9 p.m. (CST), bears a striking resemblance to Bravo's hit series, Top Chef. Will you tune in?
If you watch Food Network on a regular basis, you must know — by the bombardment of promotional commercials — about its new culinary competition, Chopped.
The show, which is described as a series that "challenges four up-and-coming chefs to turn a selection of everyday ingredients into an extraordinary three-course meal. After each course, a contestant gets 'chopped' until the last man or woman left standing claims victory," is hosted by former Top Chef judge, Ted Allen. Although Chopped does not air until Tuesday, Jan. 13 (at 10 p.m.), many feel the show is a complete ripoff of Top Chef.
After watching the promo video, Eat Me Daily declared that "Food Network is totally trying to mimic Top Chef's more professional veneer, especially in the light of the more amateurish low-budget feel of the Next Food Network Star."
Spurred by the Internet's backlash against Chopped, Ted Allen has taken to his blog to defend the series. To find out what he had to say, read more
