Save Card Available In Next Iron Chef: Redemption?

Photo - Food Network

The past episode of Next Iron Chef: Redemption had Spike Mendelsohn and Marcel Vigneron going against each other in the elimination round where the chefs decided to plate their dishes together on the same plate.  This made the judges and some of the competitors angry as they thought it was disrespectful.  Some fans of the show on the other hand were quite split on whether it was disrespectful, or done in good spirits, while others thought the judges were taking things a bit too seriously for a reality competition.

Now we may know the reason why Spike and Marcel decided to plate together after a recent interview that Spike did.  At the beginning of the show, they were told there could be a 'Save Card' used by the judges or Alton Brown to save both competitors if their dishes were too close to call.  Here is the quote from Spike in the Braiser Interview:

Restaurant Impossible - Rohrer's Tavern Updade

Tonight on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine is going to Rohrer's Tavern in North Bend, OH to try to turn around the restaurant that has been there for over 60 years.  The current owner Lisa has said that the regulars keep coming back, but the restaurant is having trouble attracting new customers and is close to shutting down.  As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Rohrer's to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews and comments are post Restaurant: Impossible):

Rachael Vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off Season 2 - Teams Revealed

While it was announced back in October who was going to be on the second season of Rachael Vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off, it has now been revealed who will be on each team:

Team Rachael

• Gilbert Gottfried (actor, comedian)
• Kathy Najimy (actress, Sister Act)
• Hines Ward (Former NFL player, Super Bowl champion and MVP)
• Carnie Wilson (Singer, Wilson Phillips)

Food Network December 2012 Programming Highlights

The Food Network has put out a press release detailing the programming in December on the channel and some of the highlights include:

• The final four episodes of the The Next Iron Chef Redemption, with the finale and winner being crowned on December 26th.  The last 3 episodes are in Las Vegas and Iron Chefs Morimoto, Flay and Symon are guest judges in the finale.
• New Episodes of Chopped, Restaurant Impossible, and Restaurant Stakeout.
• Holiday Themed shows for pretty much every show on the channel.
• Ina Garten and her husband Jeffrey take a day trip to Brooklyn.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Courtesy of someecards.com

Restaurant Impossible - Poco's On The Boulevard Update

Tonight is the season 5 premiere of Restaurant: Impossible, and has Robert Irvine going to the Poco's On The Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri to save a restaurant that was taken over by the original owner's daughters.  The 2 daughters, Claudia and Dana, have been struggling with food quality and profits ever since the death of their mother Poco who was chef/owner.  As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Poco's to get an idea of how the restaurant is doing since Robert Irvine visited, and here is what I found (note - all reviews and comments are post Restaurant: Impossible):

Watch The Guy Fieri Weekend Update SNL Sketch

Bobby Moynihan, who has done his Guy Fieri impression in the past on Saturday Night Live, was back this week to do the impression once again.  Although the scene didn't air on Saturday's broadcast, it has been released online for everyones viewing pleasure.  The fake Guy Fieri reads the Pete Wells New York Times review after getting his reading glasses from the back of his head, where his sunglasses usually are.  Video after the jump:

Guy Fieri Responds To NY Times Review And Others Also Weigh In

Guy Fieri was on the Today show this morning after taking a red-eye flight, so he could respond to the New York Times review that had the internet abuzz yesterday.  He cited the review as being 'ridiculous' and 'overboard' which is kind of ironic as Guy has made his living being ridiculous and overboard.  The video is after the jump, but here are some of the quotes from Guy regarding the review:

• "I just thought it was ridiculous. I mean, I read reviews. You know, there's good and bad in the restaurant business, but that to me went so overboard it really seemed like there was another agenda."
• "The tone, the sarcasm, the question style. I mean, I think we all know what's going on here.  He came in with a different agenda.  Four times to a restaurant that's been open two months, that's tough times.  Especially this size of a restaurant."

Guy Fieri's NY Restaurant Gets Horrible Rating in The New York Times Review

When Guy Fieri's restaurant opened back in September, I wrote about its obnoxious menu, and ever since then, new bad reviews and bad press seem to be coming in daily about Guy's American Kitchen and Bar.  It currently has 2.5 stars on Yelp, Anthony Bourdain has ripped his restaurant multiple times, and the NY Post gave it a terrible review back in October.

The latest review from Pete Wells in The New York Times really lays into Guy and his Times Square restaurant.  Pete seems to have taken some pointers from Ina Garten, and wrote the whole review using countless rhetorical questions.  Some of them include:

• "Did panic grip your soul as you stared into the whirling hypno wheel of the menu, where adjectives and nouns spin in a crazy vortex?"
• "Hey, did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste? The watermelon margarita? Any idea why it tastes like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde?"

Jill Kelley From Petraeus Scandal Was On Food Network in 2003

Jill Kelly - Photo -AP / Chris O'Meara

Unless you are living under a rock, I am sure you have heard about the Petraeus scandal.  In case you haven't, Gawker has a pretty good flowchart to give you the cliff notes version of what is going on.  Jill Kelley is one of the women involved in the scandal, and an interesting fact about Jill is that she had previously been on the Food Network with her twin sister Natalie Khawam on a show called Food Fight.  Her sister Natalie is somewhat involved in the scandal as well.  Their episode was filmed in 2003 in Tampa and first aired on 10/11/2003.  The idea of the show is that 2 teams each got a secret ingredient and $20 and had to make a dish, in which judges would pick a winner.  Here is the episode description of the episode Jill Kelley and Natalie Khawam were on:

Current Food Network Contests And Sweepstakes Information

There are currently some Food Network contests and sweepstakes that are taking place and the details, links to enter, and prizes are described below:

Cook with Sunny Sweepstakes - Link to Contest
How to Enter - Fill out a simple form with your name and address. One entry allowed per day.
End Date - November 19th, 2012
Prize -  The one (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive a trip to New York City for Grand Prize winner and a guest which includes: (i) round trip coach class air transportation for Grand Prize Winner and guest between the major U.S. commercial airport in the lower 48 United States or D.C. nearest Grand Prize Winner’s residence and New York City; (ii) first class hotel accommodations (as determined by Sponsor) for three days and two nights (one double occupancy room, room rate and tax only); (iii) Grand Prize Winner and guest will get to cook and eat with Sunny Anderson in the Food Network kitchens; (iv) $500 cash for Grand Prize Winner; (v) round-trip airport transfers in New York City; and (vi) all taxes related to accommodations and airfare. Approximate retail value of the Grand Prize: $3,240.00.

The Next Iron Chef Redemption Starts Tomorrow - Web Series Winner Revealed

The Next Iron Chef: Redemption is starting tomorrow at 9pm, and as stated before, the cast for this season is:

• Nate Appleman, Jehangir Mehta, and Eric Greenspan from The Next Iron Chef Season 2
• Chef Amanda Freitag from The Next Iron Chef Season 2 and a Chopped Judge
• Elizabeth Falkner, Alex Guarnaschelli, Spike Mendelsohn from  Season 4 of The Next Iron Chef - Superchefs
• Marcel Vigneron from Season 2 of Top Chef and
  
• Chef Tim Love from Top Chef Masters

Also, the 10th competitor on the show was decided by an online web series competition between chefs Duskie Estes, Robert Trevino(who have previously competed on The Next Iron Chef),  Lee Anne Wong and Madison Cowan.