Halloween Baking Championship Season 10

Halloween Baking Championship season 10 airs on Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network and this season has ten bakers (vs. 12 last year) competing for a $25,000 prize. This season has the same hosts and judges as previous seasons with John Henson being the host and Stephanie Boswell, Carla Hall and Zac Young being the judges.

The ten bakers competing for the Halloween Baking Championship prize are listed below along with their occupation:

• Hollie Rivera (Winnipeg, MB) - Assistant Pastry Chef
• Aaron Davis (Surprise, AZ) - Pastry Lead
• Manny Martinez (San Antonio, TX) - Bakery Owner
• Carly Robertson (Lehi, UT) - Bakery Owner
• Joel Gonzalez (Scottsdale, AZ) - Executive Pastry Chef
• Lillian Chng (San Diego, CA) - Home Bakery Owner
• Megan Aucone (Sayreville, NJ) - Pastry Chef and Lead Cake Artist
• Samantha Santiago Torres (Chicago, IL) - Executive Pastry Chef
• JL Hinojosa (Austin, TX) - Pastry Chef De Partie
• Thierry Aujard (Norristown, PA) - Executive Pastry Chef

The finale of Halloween Baking Championship season 10 should air on Monday, October 28th and I will do another post for the finale.  Feel free to discuss this season in the comments.

The Great Food Truck Race Season 17 Winner

Sunday Night at at 8pm ET on Food Network is the season finale of The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Gulf where the winning team will take home $50,000.  The two remaining teams competing for the prize are Bao Bei (Kevin Hsieh, Cody Hoover, Zakary Keres) from Washington DC and Wally's Waffles (Wally Strzepka, Maggie Strzepka, Joe Caiafa) from Chicago, IL. 

The final episode is in Fort Meyers, Florida and the description states:

"Two food truck finalists join Tyler Florence for the final leg in Fort Meyers, Florida, where they feed their fans on a day of intense selling and challenges. Then at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami, the teams' ultimate fate will be determined, and the winner will claim $50,000 and the title of Great Food Truck Race champion."

I will update this post with The Great Food Truck Race: Games on the Gulf season 17 winner after the episode airs.  Feel free to discuss this season and the finale in the comments.  

Continue reading to see who won season 17 of The Great Food Truck Race......

The Great Food Truck Race - Season 17

The Great Food Truck Race season 17 airs Sunday nights at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network starting June 30, 2024.  This season of The Great Food Truck Race is named "Games on the Gulf" and has a Gulf of Mexico theme with stops in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Last season had a David vs. Goliath theme where food truck pros competed against rookie teams.  This season will have all rookie teams who have never operated a food truck. There will be nine food truck teams competing for the $50,000 prize and the season will be eight episodes long with some of the episodes being two hours in length. 

The nine teams competing on season 17 are: 

• Argentina's Empanadas (Wichita, Kansas) - Carolina Freeman, Paola Mentis, Chad Freeman
• Bao Bei (Washington DC)  - Kevin Hsieh, Cody Hoover, Zakary Keres
• Cooks with Passion (Atlanta, Georgia) - Andrew Bernadine, Terry Jones, Jasmine Smith
• Down to Get Tacos (Gilbert, Arizona) - Karina Wollangk, Kiana Wollangk, Oz Gudino
• Fishnet (Baltimore, Maryland) - Ferhat Yalcin, Uswa McDowell, Keyia Yalcin
• Kalye (New York, New York) - Rob Mallari-D'Auria, Barry Jacinto, Mark Besanna
• Plates on Deck (Davenport, Florida) - Ken James, Ziomara Taveras, Samuel Jenkins
• SOLA Po'Boys (Los Angeles, California) - Serrano Barnes, Barenese Butler, Randy Butler
• Wally's Waffles (Chicago, Illinois) - Wally Strzepka, Maggie Strzepka, Joe Caiafa

Something new for this season is that the teams are divided into "Stars and Stripes" squads with the top sellers each week awarded gold, silver and bronze medals that come with a cash bonus. The season finale for season 17 of The Great Food Truck Race is on Sunday, August 4th and I will do another post for the finale.

To see who won season 17 of The Great Food Truck Race, visit this post. 

Ciao House Winner - Season 2

Sunday night at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network is the season 2 finale of Ciao House where the winning chef will win a chance to train with master chefs across Italy. The two remaining chefs competing are Ivan Barros and Austin Cobb, however they are allowing eliminated chefs a chance to compete again, just like they did last season.  So someone who has already been eliminated may have a chance to win Ciao House season 2.  The season finale will be two hours long.

The episode description for the finale states:

"The two remaining chefs are stunned when some unwelcome guests arrive at the villa. Judges Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabe Bertaccini choose the winner of Ciao House, who will receive an immersive culinary education with renowned master chefs across Italy."

I will update this post with the winner of Ciao House Season 2 after the episode airs. 

Continue reading to see who got back into the competition and who won Ciao House season 2....

Ciao House - Season 2

Photo - Warner Bros. Discovery

Food Network's Ciao House airs on Sunday nights at 8pm ET on Food Network and returns for it's second season on May 19th, 2024.  The prize for winning is once again "an immersive culinary education across Italy, training with renowned Italian master chefs."  Alex Guarnaschelli co-hosts the show with Gabriele Bertaccini and and the series will be ten episodes long (a lot of back-to-back episodes) with the finale on Sunday, June 23rd.  While the first season had 10 chefs competing, this season there will be 12 chefs competing and they are listed below.

• Ivan Barros (Los Angeles, California)
• Zev Bennett (Miami, Florida)Maria Bregatta (Burlington, Vermont)
• Austin Cobb (Playa Grande, Costa Rica)
• Devan Cunningham (Phoenix, Arizona)
• Tiana Gee (Los Angeles, California)
• Hanna Haar (Montauk, New York)
• Drew Keane (Chicago, Illinois)
• Shannon Odom (Haico, Texas)
• Jan Parker (Tacoma, Washington)
• Phuoc Vo (Tampa, Florida)
• Stikxz Williams (Queens, New York)

They will compete against each other as individuals and in teams to prove their mastery of Italian cooking techniques and dishes.  Each week, new teams are picked and someone from the losing team will be eliminated.  In the finale, the final two chefs will prepare a three-course fine dining experience. 

Feel free to discuss season 2 of Ciao House in the comments and I will do another post for the finale.

UPDATE - To see who won Ciao House Season 2, visit this post.

 

24 in 24 Season 1 Winner

Tonight at 8pm ET on Food Network is the season 1 finale of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing where the winning chef will take home $50,000 and a trip to Hawaii.  The four chefs remaining are Marcel Vigneron, Chris Oh, Mika Leon and Carlos Anthony. The finale will be 1 hour long despite previous episodes being 2 hours and the chefs must cook the best dish of their lives.

If you haven't been following, below are the chefs that were eliminated in each episode:

• Episode 1 -  Marc Quinones, Viet Pham, Matt Jordan,Airis Johnson, Michael Toscano, Chad Rosenthal,  Aarthi Sampath, Danielle Lee, Emilie Rose Bishop, Declan Horgan, Charlie Ray, and Elizabeth Falkner. 
• Episode 2 - Vijay Sadhu, Josephine Clemens, and Gabriella Baldwin 
• Episode 3 - Camille La Caer, Christopher Ingram, and Kess Eshun 
• Episode 4 - Martel Stone and Chris Dodson

The final 24 in 24 episode description states, 

"The four remaining chefs have survived 20 challenges and beat out 20 other chefs to arrive at this moment. In the final hours, hosts Michael Symon and Esther Choi revisit an old challenge where the chefs must cook the best dishes of their lives. Whoever can stave off the final daggers of exhaustion and impress a superstar panel of judges will walk away with a $50,000 prize and an unforgettable trip to Hawaii."

I will update this post with the winner of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing after the episode airs.  Also, it was announced earlier this week that 24 in 24 was renewed for a 2nd season, so this is a show that will be returning to Food Network.

Continue reading to see who won season 1 of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing......

Spring Baking Championship Winner - Season 10

Monday night at 8pm ET on Food Network is the season 10 finale of Spring Baking Championship where the winner will take home a $25,000 prize.  The four remaining bakers competing for the prize are Robert Gonzalez, Steven Tran, Alex Bonnefoi, and Nickey Boyd.  Nickey and Alex were in the bottom two at the end of the last episode, but they decided not to eliminate anybody. 

Tonight's episode description states:

"The remaining bakers get ready to walk down the aisle for the biggest spring celebration of all -- the finale! Host Jesse Palmer puts two bakers head-to-head in a wedding-inspired challenge based on "something borrowed" recipes from the other competitors. Then, the finalists take on "something old" recipes provided by judges Duff Goldman, Kardea Brown and Nancy Fuller."

I will update this post with the season 10 winner of Spring Baking Championship after the episode airs.

UPDATE - The final episode will air next week.  A lot of the time there is a double episode for the finale, but this year that wasn't the case.  Alex Bonnefoi was the contestant eliminated at the end of the episode on April 29th.

The episode description for the finale states, 

"Host Jesse Palmer prepares the top three bakers of the season for their big day! He challenges them to create ornate wedding cakes inspired by stained glass windows, and judges Duff Goldman, Kardea Brown and Nancy Fuller decide which over-the-top baker is worthy of $25,000 and the title of Spring Baking Champion."

Continue reading to see who won season 10 of Spring Baking Championship.....

24 in 24: Last Chef Standing - Season 1 Discussion and Eliminations

Food Network's newest show premieres Sunday night and is called 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing. This is a competition show where 24 chefs will take on 24 food challenges for 24 consecutive hours until there is only one chef remaining.  The prize for winning the competition is $50,000 and a trip of a lifetime.  Michael Symon and Esther Choi will be hosting the competition while the judges will be Eric Adjepong, Maneet Chauhan, Scott Conant, Stephanie Izard, Jet Tila, Bryan Voltaggio, Michael Voltaggio, and Brooke Williamson.  The season will be eight episodes long with the finale airing on Sunday, May 12th.

There are a lot of familiar faces competing on the show from shows such as Food Network Star, Hell's Kitchen, Top Chef, Tournament of Champions, etc.  The chefs competing are: Carlos Anthony, Gabriella Baldwin, Emilie Rose Bishop, Josephine Clemens, Chris Dodson, Kess Eshun, Elizabeth Falkner, Declan Horgan, Christopher Ingram, Airis Johnson, Matt Jordan, Camille La Caer, Danielle Lee, Mika Leon, Chris Oh, Viet Pham, Marc Quinones, Nadine Charlie Ray, Chad Rosenthal, Vijay Sadhu, Aarthi Sampath, Martel Stone, Michael Toscano, and Marcel Vigneron.

I will track the eliminations for each episode below after they air, so spoiler alert if you do not want to know the eliminations.  I will also do a post for the finale and you can discuss this season of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing in the comments.

*Side note - Food Network already had a show called $24 in 24 where Jeff Mauro had a budget of $24 to eat for a day in different cities.

Continue reading to see the eliminations from 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing.....

Tournament of Champions (TOC V) Season 5 Winner

Sunday night at 8pm ET on Food Network is the two-hour season 5 finale of Tournament of Champions. There are four chefs remaining who are competing for bragging rights and a $150,000 prize. The final four chefs are Jet Tila, Britt Rescigno, Maneet Chauhan, and Antonia Lofaso.  Maneet Chauhan won season 2 of Tournament of Champions and Jet Tila was in the final four of the last three seasons. Britt was also in the final four last season and Antonia Lofaso was in the final four in the first season.

For the semi-finals of season 5, Jet Tila will face Antonia Lofaso and the winner will represent the West in the final matchup.  Maneet Chauhan and Britt Rescigno will face off with the winner representing the East in the final matchup.  The two winners of those match-ups will face off in the finale to determine the winner of Tournament of Champions season five.

Here is a previous post about all of the matchups and outcomes for season 5 of Tournament of Champions, but below is how the final four got to this point:

• Jet Tila beat Brian Malarkey 84-82, Carlos Anthony 79-79 (won tie breaker), and Mei Lin 82-79.
• Maneet Chauhan beat Nini Nguyen 83-76, Eric Adjepong 86-83, and Tobias Dorzon 86-84.
• Britt Rescigno beat Jonathon Sawyer 78-74, Marc Murphy 84-80, and Amanda Freitag 83-80.
• Antonia Lofaso beat Casey Thompson 92-83, Michael Voltaggio 84-82, and Kevin Lee 85-81.

I will update this post with the winner of the final three match-ups after the episode airs and you can discuss this season of Tournament of Champions in the comments.

UPDATE - Continue reading if you want to know who won the final matchups and season 5 of Tournament of Champions.

Spring Baking Championship Season 10

Spring Baking Championship season 10 airs on Food Network on Monday nights and this season is once again hosted by Jesse Palmer. The judges on the show are also the same as last year - Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman, and Kardea Brown.  This season will be 11 episodes long with a two-part finale and there are twelve bakers competing this year.

The twelve bakers competing for the $25,000 prize and a feature in Food Network Magazine are:

• Sandro Arotinco
• Michael Bass
• Nickey Boyd
• Alexandre Bonnefoi
• Katelyn Boutilier
• Sabrina Courtemanche
• Rochelle DeSouza
• Robert Gonzalez
• Zoe Ma
• Anna Simeonides
• Steven Tran
• Ericka Wells

Feel free to discuss Spring Baking Championship season 10 in the comments and I will do another post for the final episode.  The final episode where the winner will be crowned is set to air on May 6, 2024 and the bakers will be creating a wedding cake as the final challenge.

UPDATE - To see who won Spring Baking Championship season 10, visit this post.