Four top sugar artists meet in Beaver Creek to create an amazing four-foot tall sugar showpiece. The theme? The great outdoors. The twist? This is an elimination competition. There are three rounds and competitors must demonstrate specific skills such as sugar pulling and sugar blowing. The challenger who doesn't impress the judges after each round will be eliminated. At the end of the day, only two of our sugar artists will be left standing. And only one of those will go home with $10,000 in their pocket.
Competitors:
Kaushik Chowdhury
Head Pastry Chef
JW Marriot Desert Ridge Resort
Phoenix, Ariz.
Doug Basegio
Pastry Instructor
California Culinary Academy
San Francisco, Calif.
www.baychef.com
Louise Chien
Pastry Chef
Montage Resort & Spa
Laguna Beach, Calif.
Chad Pagano
Pastry Instructor
Institute of Culinary Education
New York, N.Y.
Judges:
Judges:
Robert Bleifer
Executive Chef Food Network
New York, N.Y.
Patrice Calliot
World Pastry Champion/Pastry Consultant
Las Vegas, Nev.
Donald Wressell
Pastry Expert
Los Angeles, Calif.
Ten chefs, all strangers, pair up in five teams of two. For the first part of the competition, they work separately. Then, in the final two hours, the teams get to work together. Their challenge: to come up with a cake that's worthy of $10,000. Only there's a twist...and it's a big one. The competitors won't find out until minutes before the competition WHO their partners are and WHAT the theme is. This is a competition that tests creativity and cooperation, all under a ticking clock.
COMPETITORS:
Green Team
Julie Durkee, Torino Baking Inc., Berkeley, CA
Rebecca Sutterby, Sugar Creations, Savonburg, KS
Pink Team
Marjorie Chua, Let Them Eat Cake, Costa Mesa, CA
Lisa Raffael, Delicious Desserts, Falmouth, Cape Cod, MA
Grey Team
Carol A. Murdock, Classic Cakes LLC, West Hartford, CT
Richard Ruskell, Montage Resort & Spa, Laguna Beach, CA
Blue Team
Tina Haldeman, Cloister Hotel, Sea Island Resort, Sea Island, GA
Buddy Valestro, Carlo's Bakery, Hoboken, NJ
Black Team
Alexandra J. Frankel, Brownstone Cake Company, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
Steven Watts, Sweet Sensations, Rockport, ME
JUDGES:
Rob Bleifer, Executive Chef for the Food Network Kitchens, New York, NY
Nicholas Lodge, www.nicholaslodge.com, Atlanta, GA
Mike McCarey, Mike's Amazing Cakes, Redmond, WA
This challenge takes six amazing bartenders out of the bar and puts them on the beach. South Beach, that is. This show highlights the best of bartending--the best recipes, the fastest pours and the most incredible routines. Watch as our bartenders flip, twirl, pour and spin their way to $10,000.
COMPETITORS:
Christian Delpech, Carnival Court at Harrah's Las Vegas Casino Hotel,
Las Vegas, Nev.
Rodrigo Delpech, Rosen Plaza Hotel,
Orlando, Fla.
Levi Donaldson, Voodoo Lounge at Harrah’s North Kansas City,
Kansas City, Mo.
Robyn Closson, Carnival Court at Harrah’s Las Vegas Casino Hotel,
Las Vegas, Nev.
Toby Ellis, Tangerine Lounge & Nightclub,
Las Vegas, Nev.
Thomas Alley, Voodoo Lounge at Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino,
Las Vegas, Nev.
Judges:
Ken Hall, Five-time Bartending Champion, Las Vegas, Nev.
Mike McLean, Flairco, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Jim Allison, President of the Flair Bartenders' Association, Boise, Idaho
George Duran, Host of Food Network’s Ham on the Street
Five of America's hottest young chefs face off in one of America's hottest locales, South Beach, Miami during the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. Our chefs have to prepare an appetizer and an entree, both reflecting the culinary heritage of Miami. They have only 40 minutes for the appetizer and an hour for the entree. A panel of all-star judges decides who goes home with $10,000.
COMPETITORS:
Jill Davie, Josie Restaurant,
Santa Monica, Calif.
Michael Psilakis, Onera,
New York, N.Y.
Paul Liebrandt, Gilt Restaurant,
New York, N.Y.
Michael Blum, Michael’s Kitchen,
Hollywood, Fla.
Marc Murphy, Landmarc,
New York, N.Y.
JUDGES:
Govind Armstrong, Executive Chef at Table 8, Los Angeles, Calif.
Rob Bleifer, Executive Chef for the Food Network Kitchens, New York, N.Y.
Thomas Connell, Executive Chef at Ritz-Carlton South Beach, Miami, Fla.
Cat Cora, Author, Iron Chef, Fairfield, Calif.
Five home cooks compete with cookies for the grand prize of $10,000. Chocolate chip, spice, fruit and the unique signature cookie push our cooks to their creative limits as they challenge themselves and the clock in a quest to win the big money.
COMPETITORS:
Theresa Cannavo, Winsted, Conn.
Mari Artinian, Glen Head, N.Y.
Saptosa Foster, Atlanta, Ga.
Dionna Hurt, Longwood, Fla.
David Sutherland, Minot, N.D.
Judges:
Katherine Alford, Director, Food Network Test Kitchens, New York, N.Y.
Mark Bittman, Author; How to Cook Everything, New York, N.Y.
Nicholas Lodge, www.nicholaslodge.com, Atlanta, Ga.
Mike McCarey, Mike’s Amazing Cakes, Redmond, Wash.
Five elite cake designers face a demanding client, only they don't know who this person is. Going into the competition, the only thing they do know is that they'll be making some sort of birthday cake. Minutes before the clock starts, they'll meet the mystery client and he/she will lay out his/her birthday cake demands. Then our decorators have only six hours to come up with a cake sure to please this mystery client. The cake that wins will be served at a birthday event the next day, and the winning chef goes home with a check for $10,000.
COMPETITORS:
Richard Ruskell, Montage Resort & Spa, Laguna Beach, Calif.
Norman Davis, The Sweet Life, Annandale, Va.
Sandy Hargrave, Classic Cakes of Aspen, Inc., Aspen, Colo.
Beryl Ann Byrd, Just Fabulous Pastries, San Diego, Calif.
Alain Roby, Hyatt Regency Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
Judges:
Mark Bittman, Author; How to Cook Everything, New York, N.Y.
Nicholas Lodge, www.nicholaslodge.com, Atlanta, Ga.
Mike McCarey, Mike’s Amazing Cakes, Redmond, Wash.
Forget spending all day in the kitchen. In just five hours, four top chefs make their version of this classic meal. For a shot at $10,000, they put their own creative spin on classic ingredients like sweet potatoes, cranberries and butternut squash. When time's up, each chef must present his or her signature turkey plus five side dishes to a panel of tough judges.
Competitors:
Joey Campanaro
The Little Owl
New York, N.Y.
Kevin Crawley
Coriander Bistro
Sharon, Mass.
www.corianderbistro.com
Alex Guarnaschelli
Butter Restaurant
New York, N.Y.
Jennifer Jasinski
Rioja
Denver, Colo.
www.riojadenver.com
Judges:
Jill Davie
Josie Restaurant
Santa Monica, Calif.
www.josierestaurant.com
Mark Miller
Restaurateur, Author, Teacher
Coyote Café
Santa Fe, N.M.
www.coyotecafe.com
John Besh
Executive Chef/Owner
Restaurant August & Besh Steakhouse
New Orleans, La.
www.rest-august.com
Chocolate bridges over sugar moats, ice cream cone towers rising from cake-filled castles--and that's just a taste of what you'll see when four confectionary architects joust for the Challenge crown and $10,000! But sugar and chocolate aren't stable like steel and stone, so as walls crumble and sugar shatters, the clock becomes the enemy as the competitors race to bring their fairy-tale fortresses to life.
COMPETITORS:
Susan O’Boyle-Jacobson
Fridley, Minn.
David Goldberg
Art Institute of New York City
New York, N.Y.
Robert Sobkowski
Sensational Chocolates
Coral Springs, Fla.
Jenifer Witte
Wynn Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nev.
Judges:
Kerry Vincent
See skylines as you've never seen them before. Three pastry artists and one ice carver take on breakfast cereal and get architectural. Each chef must bring to life a city skyline, and it needs to be made out of stuff usually found in a bowl. New York, Las Vegas, SoHo and Baltimore get the cereal treatment, and one chef goes home $10,000 richer.
COMPETITORS:
Duff Goldman, Charm City Cakes (chef/owner), Baltimore, Md.
Yvan Lemoine, iFood Studios (chef/owner), Astoria, N.Y.
Siripong ("Momo") Voravuta, Harrah's Entertainment (ice carver), Las Vegas, Nev.
Elizabeth Falkner, Citizen Cake (owner), San Francisco, Calif.
Judges:
Nicholas Lodge
Colette Peters
Donald Wressell
Four world champion pizza acrobats battle it out at Mall of America, attempting to toss, roll and spin their way into the Guinness Book of World Records. A fourth competition tests their pizza-making skills, as they each have 10 minutes to put together a gourmet pizza using none of America's top 10 ingredients. $10,000 goes to the pizziola with the most points at the end of the day.
COMPETITORS:
Tony Gemignani
Pyzano's Pizzeria
Castro Valley, Calif.
Michael Shepherd
Michael Angelo's Pizza
Kenton, Ohio
Joe Carlucci
Famous Joe's
Danbury, Conn.
Siler Chapman
Pizza Works
Fort Mill, S.C.
Sugar showpieces go bigger than they ever have before. At Mall of America in Minneapolis, three top pastry chefs compete for a Guinness World Record for the Tallest Sugar Showpiece. Made entirely out of sugar, the chefs' pieces are modeled after well-known skyscrapers, and whoever tops out with the tallest piece will make Guinness history.
COMPETITORS:
Regis Courivaud
Le Monde (Owner/Chef) & Deluxe
New York, N.Y.
Alain Roby
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Geneva, Ill.
Isaac Tamada
Peppermill Hotel Casino
Reno, Nev.
Judges:
Donald Wressell
Dan Cubric
Michael Schneider
Chocolatier Magazine
New York, N.Y.
America’s top Teppanyaki chefs have come to Hawaii to slice and dice their way through two rounds of competition. The speed round is a blur of steel, fire and steam as the competitors cook a surf and turf dinner in the time it usually takes to order a meal. In the signature round anything goes as the competitors attempt to entertain a tough panel of judges using everything from magic to juggling, all while creating a mind-blowing meal. Be careful. This show is dangerous!
COMPETITORS:
Kevin Matsuda
Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort’s Musashi Restaurant
Mililani, Hawaii
Kalae Tanaka
Teppanyaki Chef – Sheraton Maui
Wailuku, Hawaii
Nick Narimatsu
Teppanyaki Chef at Tanaka of Tokyo
Honolulu, Hawaii
Lam Ha
Executive Teppanyaki Chef – Ichiban Restaurant
Minneapolis, Minn.
Cavin Ross
Head Chef/Bartender – Fire & Ice
South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Judges:
Tony Nemoto
Benihana Regional Chef
Peter Tanhnavong
Owner/Chef – Pacific Wave Restaurant
St. Petersburg, Fla.