Chef at New York City's Butter and The Darby restaurants, Alex Guarnaschelli is a judge on Food Network's Chopped and was among the final four rivals on The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs. After an eight-week road to redemption and Kitchen Stadium showdown against Chef Amanda Freitag, Chef Guarnaschelli earned the title of The Next Iron Chef.

All of the rivals were given journals to use during their time in the competition, and Chef Guarnaschelli filled hers with serious reflections on judges' critiques of her food, notes on challenges, plus detailed to-do lists and inspiration quotes, like this one from Mickey Mantle. "It's amazing how little we know about a game we've been playing our whole lives."

At Redemption Beach in Malibu, Calif., Chef Guarnaschelli took a few moments out of the competition to detail her plans for her ingredient, lobster, and reflect on others' preparations. "Greenspan has grasshoppers again! Awful," she said of Chef Greenspan's redemption ingredient. "Appleman's clam/bacon dish looks delicious beyond belief."

It turns out that it was Chef Guarnaschelli whose redemption offering was "delicious beyond belief," as her lobster bathed in a butter-lime sauce was deemed the best dish of the day. "I can't believe I won. I'm really excited about the vote of confidence that I feel I just got," she reflected after the premiere challenge.