Programming

Top Chef Just Desserts is back and better than ever: just ask the show's returning host, Gail Simmons. Simmons talked shop about the Bravo show's second season, not confirming an air date but hinting that "the second season will air before the end of the year."

Will season two have the same frenzied, diva- and drama-filled cast of characters that the first season had? "The chefs, the pastry chefs on this next season are really, really special — really talented. I mean, what they accomplish just blows my mind," said Gail. As for what will change on-set: "I think the way they're going to make it different is just that everything is going to be bigger, higher, sweeter, more colorful, more visual, and the challenges are going to be even more unbelievable."

Sounds like a lot more of, well, everything! Are you excited to tune in to Top Chef Just Desserts 2 when it returns?

At his live cooking demo in Aspen, Ming Tsai revealed that he's mixing things up for the ninth season of Simply Ming on PBS. This time around, the show's going to be called Simply Ming: On the Fly.

"I'll be combining my love of Iron Chef and just regular cooking shows," he told the audience, recounting a visit from guest chef Jacques Pepin two weeks prior. "We had two mystery ingredients to work with; he played my sous chef, and I played his. Jacques said, 'Chef, I'm your commis,' which, if you don't work in a restaurant and don't speak French, might make you think: Jacques Pepin, a communist?"

As with Iron Chef, all the dishes on the PBS show will be made off the cuff. (Not one to be bitter about his loss, Tsai acknowledged, "I made a rookie mistake — too much stuff on a plate is no good.") "The best part of the show is that since it's done on the fly, I don't have to write 120 recipes like I normally do, and neither do the guest chefs." This season, that'll include the likes of Andrew Zimmern and Jonathan Waxman.

After a glut of redundant reality TV shows, I'm looking forward to a new cooking show with a change of pace. Do you feel the same way?

Source

We've got more details on one of Food Network's brand-new primetime television shows, Best in Smoke: turns out the reality TV series, which premieres May 8 at 10 p.m., will be hosted by none other than The Next Iron Chef's "linebacker ballerina" Bryan Caswell.

The Texas restaurateur, who's no amateur when it comes to barbecue himself, will follow America's best pitmasters as they compete head to head in venues across Manhattan for a $50,000 grand prize and the title of "best in smoke." He'll be joined by judges celebrity chef Tim Love, cookbook author Amy Mills Tunnicliffe, and James Beard Foundation executive Mitchell Davis.

Contestants include "Famous Dave" Anderson, founder of Famous Dave's America; Chris Hart, winner of the 2009 Jack Daniel's Invitational; Sara Horowitz, runner-up at the Versus National BBQ Championship series; Matt Lang, former head chef at New York's Fette Sau; Chris Lilly, vice president at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q Restaurant; and Brad Orrison, founder of The Shed BBQ.

I'm a huge fan of both barbecue and Bryan, so I can already smell the hickory smoke coming out of my TV screen. Will you tune in to watch?

Source

Food Network doesn't just have a new wine coming out — it's also got a roster of brand-new shows for both daytime and primetime.

The surprising programming offers a broad range of variety, from the cooking-centric (on the ranch with Pioneer Woman and blogger Ree Drummond) to the reality-heavy (a squabbling, multigenerational family of cookie bakers).

To see the full list, keep reading.

Cake aficionados collectively mourned the loss of Charm City Cakes on the small screen when it was announced that Duff Goldman's Ace of Cakes would end its 10-season run on the Food Network. If you're still looking to get your fill of cake shows, the network has a new series premiering April 2 at 12:30 p.m.

According to a release, Have Cake, Will Travel is a "new comedy docu-reality series that follows Ashley Vicos, the reigning queen of the cake decorating world, as she leads her motley crew of assistants around the country creating jaw-dropping, three-dimensional cakes for every type of event imaginable."

Sounds oddly just like Ace of Cakes, only on the road. It'll be interesting to see what Food Network's plan for Duff is, considering exec Bob Tushman has already confirmed that the network is developing new show concepts for him.

Source

British chef Jamie Oliver is best known in the US as a crusader for healthier school lunch, but starting this month, American viewers will get a glimpse of Jamie in a different capacity: as a well-heeled world traveler.

Jamie's latest TV program, Jamie's Food Escapes, debuts Wednesday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST on the Cooking Channel. According to the network, in the six-episode series, the chef will be "heading off the tourist track and exploring the authentic ingredients and extraordinary characters" of various regions.

First up is Venice, where he meets the city's Risotto King, visits aristocrats in a traditional palazzo, and fishes for prawns with Venetian fishermen. Jamie's Food Escapes will also feature destinations such as Athens, the French Pyrenees, Andalucía, Stockholm, and Marrakesh. I'll be sure to tune in, even though my house is sans Cooking Channel.

Considering he's your favorite male chef, do you think you'll watch as well?