Great Food Truck Race Finale - Winner Gets $50,000 And A Food Truck

With the Great Food Truck Race season 3 finale tonight, lets take a look at the eliminations that have happened so far and get to a preview of the finale.

The order of eliminations so far has been:

Episode 1 - Under the Crust
Episode 2 - Barbie Babes
Episode 3 - Pizza Mike's
Episode 4 - Coast of Atlanta
Episode 5 - Mama Grizzly's Grub
Episode 6 - Pop-A-Waffle

Preview of tonight's finale:

Chris Cosentino Wins Top Chef Masters

Earlier this week, Chris Cosentino won Bravo's Top Chef Masters, and won $141,000 for a charity of his choice, which was the Michael J. Fox Foundation.  You may recognize Chris from Food Network shows such as Iron Chef America, Chef vs. City, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate.  So congratulations to Chris!  I would say this is a bigger accomplishment for him than winning the train-wreck of a show, Time Machine Chefs earlier this year.  If you are looking for a good recap of the Top Chef Masters finale, this is a pretty good one.

Restaurant Impossible - Maple Tree Cafe Update

Tonight's Restaurant: Impossible has Robert Irvine going to the Maple Tree Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada to try to help a 26 year-old owner, Ashley, who is new to the restaurant industry.  She has hired many of her family members, who are also inexperienced, to help run the restaurant.  As I do every week, I searched around the internet to read stories and reviews about the Maple Tree Cafe to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant: Impossible):

Raunchy Paula Deen Blooper Reel Released

A Paula Deen Blooper Reel was released by the NY Post earlier today, which is filled with curse words, dirty talk, and Paula pretending to perform a sex act on an eclair.  Paula actually made the tape, which she wanted to use as an introduction to her live cooking events.  The event promoters did not want to use the tape, and a legal battle ensued with Deen finally settling out of court.

Highlights from the NY Post Article below:

Food Network News For The Week - 9/21/2012

Here are some updates for the week in Food Network news:

• Today is Anne Burrell's birthday, and she turns 43, so Happy Birthday to her!
 
• Last night, Tyler Florence cooked dinner for Barack Obama and some guests for a $20,000 per plate fundraiser dinner in Florida.  Dishes included: squash and quail egg ravioli, chicken fried quail, crispy pork belly, corn pudding and coconut shortbread.  The Braiser has the story along with pictures of the meal taken from Twitter.
 

Restaurant Impossible - Michele's Restaurant Update

Tonight's Restaurant: Impossible has Robert Irvine going to Michele's in Corry, Pennsylvania to try to help new owners Michele and Andy, who purchased the restaurant at an auction despite no restaurant experience.  As I do every week, I searched around the internet to read stories and reviews about Michele's, to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited.

Extreme Chef Season 2 Finale Tonight - Winner To Get $50,000

The Extreme Chef season 2 finale is tonight, with the 3 remaining chefs competing to win the $50,000 prize.  "After working with elephants and a native hill tribe, the finalists race up hundreds of stairs to create the perfect bite in front of a Buddhist temple."  The season began just last month, but with only 7 chefs to start the show, it has already reached its finale.  The eliminations so far were: Lance Knowling during episode 1, Susanne Dillingham during episode 2, Scott Brandolini during episode 3, and Isadora Sarto during episode 4.

That brings us to the final 3:

Restaurant Impossible - Paliani's Restaurant & Pizzeria Update

Tonight's Restaurant: Impossible has Robert Irvine going to Paliani's Restaurant & Pizzeria in Burton, Michigan to try to help a single mother, Marina, revive her struggling restaurant.  Paliani's has been in open since 1965, and was recently bought by Marina in 2007.  When visiting, Robert Irvine was quoted as saying it was the "worst Italian food I've ever had in my life." I again searched around the internet to read stories and reviews about Paliani's, so you do not have to and here is what I found (note - all reviews are post Restaurant: Impossible):

3 Days to Open with Bobby Flay Not Returning After Six Episodes

3 Days To Open With Bobby Flay will not come back for another season after finishing its first season of six episodes.

In an interview with Jerseybites, Bobby is quoted as saying, “It proved to be so difficult. When I open a restaurant, I have six key people who work on different facets of the restaurant.  In ‘Three Days To Open’ I’m basically doing everything to get these people, who have never done this before, to open…and ultimately it was so physically and emotionally exhausting that I decided I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Guy Fieri's NY Restaurant Opens This Weekend, Has An Obnoxious Menu

Guy Fieri's Times Square restaurant Guy Fieri's American Kitchen and Bar is scheduled to open this weekend in New York City.  The dress code is sleeves optional, and sunglasses inside required.  Grubstreet has a copy of the restaurant menu on their site, and it is full of way too many adjectives and Guy Fieri slang.  Lets take a look at some of the dishes and descriptions:

Restaurant Impossible - Frankie's Update

Tonight's Restaurant: Impossible has Robert Irvine going to Frankie's in Three Rivers, Michigan, which is also referred to as Frankie's By the Tracks.  Frankie's has been around for over 25 years and it looks like it is under new ownership that hasn't been keeping it up to the previous standards, which is why Restaurant Impossible had to be called in.  I again searched around the internet to read stories and reviews about Frankie's, so you do not have to and here is what I found:

Home Made In America With Sunny Anderson to Premiere October 6

Sunny Anderson will have a new show airing on Food Network that is called Home Made in America With Sunny Anderson and will premiere Saturday, October 6th at 9:30am.  The show description says "Sunny travels across the country to discover the inspirational stories of the people behind the recipes while learning a few tips and tricks of her own."  It is a six-episode series and Sunny will travel to North Carolina, Oklahoma, New York, Texas, Louisiana, and Massachusetts.

The Press release from Food Network with the full description of the show:

Food Network September Highlights

The Food Network has released their programming highlights for September, and nothing too exciting for this month.  $24 in 24 with Jeff Mauro premieres on the 24th, and Extreme Chef and The Great Food Truck Race have their finales this month and give out their $50,000 prize.  Also Chopped, Cupcake Wars, Iron Chef America, Restaurant: Impossible, and Restaurant Stakeout have new episodes at night and there will be countless reruns of Diners,

Drive-Ins and Dives.  Press release below: