Food Network Stars in the News. Plus Upcoming Appearances

Just a few updates regarding Next Food Network Star contestants recently in the news and making upcoming appearances:

Michele Ragussis has taken an executive chef position at The Pearl Restaurant in Rockland, Maine for the summer (Link).  I am guessing there is no way the Food Network to allow her to state it would be longer than the summer with Food Network Star still airing, but with the finale scheduled for July 22nd, I would assume Michele is not one of the finalists if she is taking this job.  I could be wrong though.

Food Networks Robert Irvine is headlining the first ever Florida Hospital Gourmet Soiree at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando on June 3rd from 5:30pm-8:30pm.  Tickets for the event are $250 per person.  In addition to Robert Irvine being at the event, Food Network Star contestants Josh Lyons and Emily Ellyn from season 8 will also be among the 40 chefs in attendance.  For more info about the event, visit here.

Food Network Star - Season 8 - Episode 3 Recap

This week on Food Network Star, we were treated to a Chopped theme, where each team was given a basket of ingredients and had to create a dessert with these ingredients.

Team Alton was the first team up, and Alton seemed pretty cranky and was giving his team tough love.  At one point, he told Martie Duncan to "shut up and cook."  Apparently Alton has never seen any of his shows where all he does is talk, and barely cook.

• Martie Duncan talked about her age over and over again and her S'more didn't impress any of the Chopped judges.
• Justin Warner was trying to get chocolate out of Hershey kisses without peeling the wrapper off and then burnt some chocolate in the microwave as well.  The show tried to make it seem like his dish was going to be a disaster, but in the end, everyone liked his dessert a lot.
• Emily Ellyn and Judson Allen didn't get much focus on this episode and didn't stand out as being good or bad.

Giada De Laurentiis Dyes Hair and is New Clairol Natural Instincts Spokesperson

This morning, Giada teased her twitter followers with a tweet of "big news coming today.. can't wait to tell you!!" and added this accompanying picture:

She later followed it up later with "The news I've been dye-ing to tell you? ... I'm the new @ClairolColor #NaturalInstincts spokesperson!  So excited!"

Chef Anne Burrell Has New Show on Food Network - Will Premiere June 28th

Chef Anne Burrell tweeted earlier today that she just finished wrapping her new show on the Food Network.  The show will be called Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell and will premiere June 28th on Food Network.  Details on what the show is about have not been released, but they should be announced this coming week.  I will update this post with the details of the show as they become available.

The Next Food Network Star Season 8 - Episode 2 Recap

This week, we were treated to a 'special 90 minute episode' of The Next Food Network Star, meaning 'there are still 14 people left and there is no way we can edit this into 60 minutes.'  This week, the contestants needed to give food bus tours of New York neighborhoods known for their food culture.  Team Bobby was assigned Harlem, and the food theme to go on was Soul Food.  Team Alton was assigned the Lower East Side and a Jewish food theme.  Team Giada seemed to get preferential treatment with the assignment of Little Italy and an Italian food theme.  They should have assigned Team Bobby a BBQ/chipotle pepper theme and Team Alton a food science theme to make it even.

Team Bobby Highlights:

Ted Allen Outs Anne Burrell? Plus other Food Network News

During a recent taping of SiriusXM's Derek and Romaine show, Chopped's Ted Allen may have outed Anne Burrell as a lesbian by revealing she is in a relationship with a woman.

Host Romaine Patterson said "I have the biggest crush on [Anne]—whether she is a lesbian or not, she’s my girl!”  To which Allen replied, "“I’m not going to put a label on Anne, but she is dating a woman right now."   Allen, then reportedly explained that the woman in question works at Chicago eatery Avec, and was quoted as saying. "She was really cool. You’ve got some competition."

Food Network News Updates

Just a few updates from things happening in the news relating to the Food Network.

Guy Fieri is going to drive the host car at the Indianapolis 500 on May 27th. (Washington Post)

Michelle Obama is going to appear on an episode of Restaurant: Impossible that will air on June 13th. (Washington Post)

A good article about the new show on Food Network, Invention Hunters, discussing the first episodes produce saving packet. (SF Weekly)

Mario Batali is currently on Day 5 of trying to feed his family for a week on a food stamp budget. (Fox News)

Paula Deen is joining the AC Food and Wine festival, joining other Food Network personalities such as Robert Irvine, Anne Burrell, and Tyler Florence (Philly.com)

Next Food Network Star - Episode 1 Recap

Last night, Season 8 of The Next Food Network Star premiered with a 2 hour episode.  As stated before, the format of this years season is a bit different, as there are three teams of 5 contestants each, with Bobby Flay, Alton Brown, and Giada De Laurentiis each mentoring their own team that they hand selected.

The episode began with each contestant coming out for their respective teams, which gave the other mentors a look at their competition.  Of course, none of the mentors were impressed with the other team members and preferred their teams over the others.

Team Alton consists of: Cristie Schoen (blonde southern girl who cooks healthy), Emily Ellyn (energetic blonde hipster with glasses), Judson Allen(self-taught chef, who just lost 100 pounds), Justin Warner(young self-taught chef from Brooklyn), and Martie Duncan(older contestant who didn't get much air time).

The Next Food Network Star Premieres Tonight



This is just a reminder to everyone that Season 8 of The Next Food Network Star Premieres tonight.  This season will be a bit different from seasons in the past.  Instead of judges deciding who the winner of this season will be, viewers will vote online for the season winner before the finale.  Also, Giada De Laurentiis, Bobby Flay, and Alton Brown will each be mentoring 5 finalists each throughout the competition.  Hopefully the eliminations aren't predictable where they will each end up with the same amount of finalists at the end for the final vote.  Food Network Gossip will likely be doing recaps of many of this season's episodes, so be sure to check those out.

Here is more info about this season from an earlier press release from Food Network:

Robert Irvine Getting Married Today

Image Source - Gail's Twitter

Robert Irvine is getting married to his fiance Gail Kim today in California.  Gail is a professional wrestler currently with TNA(Total Nonstop Action) and formerly with WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).  The couple actually met on the set of Robert's show Dinner Impossible. 

Here is the website they set up for their wedding http://www.robertandgail.wedsite.com/ that includes their registries from Macy's and Bed Bath & Beyond.  If you want to take a look at what kind of kitchen accessories and items a chef registers for, here are their registries - Macy's and Bed Bath & Beyond. 

Giada Receives 5 Daytime Emmy Nominations, Food Network Receives 12 Total

Giada De Laurentiis and her show 'Everyday Italian' was nominated for 5 Daytime Emmy nominations today.  The categories she was nominated in were Outstanding Culinary Program, Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host, Outstanding Directing In A Lifestyle/Culinary Program, Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing, and Outstanding Achievement in Single Camera Photography.


Giada is a very busy person these days, appearing on this months Health Magazine, where she reveals health tips and beauty tips, such as using olive oil on her face (Full Article).  She will also be appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight (Source), along with Howard Stern and Brooklyn Decker.

'Chopped' and Ted Allen win James Beard Awards

Last night, the James Beard Foundation announced its Broadcast Media awards for 2012 and among the winners were the show 'Chopped' and 'Chopped' host Ted Allen.  'Chopped' won in the category of Television Show, In Studio or Fixed Location, beating out 'Essential Pepin' and 'Simply Ming' (both PBS shows).  Ted Allen won for Media Personality/Host (Television or Video Webcast) beating both Sara Moulton (PBS) and Ina Garten.

To see the full list of James Beard Award Winners for 2012, visit the James Beard Website.

Guy Fieri Gets Lamborghini Back

If you hadn't heard, Guy Fieri had his Lamborghini stolen a little over a year ago from a San Francisco luxury car dealership.  It sounded like a scene from a movie,  where a thief rappelled into the dealership, got into his Lamborghini and sped away.  I'm sure Guy had chalked this up as a loss already and had no plans of ever seeing it again.  However, last week, San Francisco police were investigating a recent shooting with a 17 year-old suspect.  Police obtained a search warrant to search a storage unit that had ties to the 17 year-old suspect of the shooting.  In this storage unit, they uncovered Guy's $200,000 Lamborghini and charged the teen with  multiple things including possession of stolen property.

Guy released a statement regarding the recovery stating, "I would like to thank the Marin County Sheriff's Office and the Mill Valley Police Department for their hard work and effort in the recovery of my car. I'm glad we can put this behind us, and feel better knowing that justice is being served."

So, what do you think about this?  Glad he got it back?  Think he already collected insurance money for this?

Food Network Gossip

As a big Food Network fan, I am starting this blog to follow all things dealing with the Food Network.  It will follow the latest gossip of all of the Food Network celebrities both in and out of the kitchen.  Feel free to comment on my posts or email me any suggestions you may have by clicking on the Contact email address.