Justin Warner Got Married Today

Photo - Twitter

Food Network Star season 8 winner Justin Warner got married today to his fiance Brooke Sweeten.  Fellow Food Network Star contestant Martie Duncan was there and helped with the planning of the wedding.  Also Food Network Sweet Genius Ron Ben-Israel made the couple's wedding cake.

The photo to the right of Justin and his bride was posted on Twitter and the other photos are from Justin and Brooke's Instagram.  I am not sure if there is any significance of the June 29th date, but a wedding on a Monday isn't too common.  This is the second Food Network Star wedding in the past two weeks with Damaris Phillips getting married.

Congrats to Justin and Brooke!

Photo - Instagram

Photo - Instagram

Food Network Star Episode 4 Elimination Plus Star Salvation

Photo - Food Network

On tonight's episode of Food Network Star the remaining finalists were split into teams of three and had to create and present food to a crowd of hungry families at a 4th of July cookout.  Bobby Deen was there to help Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay judge the contestants.

Jay, Michelle, and Rosa were one team, Emilia Rue, and Dom another, and Alex, Eddie, and Arnold were the final team.  The teams were thrown a curveball when they had to work with another team's groceries to prepare their meal.

The winning team was Alex, Eddie, and Arnold and all of them were safe from elimination.  The judges decided that the bottom three individuals were Dom, Rosa, and Michelle.  After the deliberation, the judges decided that Rosa Graziano would not continue on in the competition.


In Star Salvation, Christina Fitzgerald, Matthew Grunwald, Sita Lewis, Rosa and all competed for a chance to rejoin the competition.  I will post the outcome of this once Food Network posts the video.

Update - Sita Lewis was the contestant eliminated on Star Salvation and she will not be the next Food Network Star.

Video is after the break if you want to watch:

Giada De Laurentiis To Appear on NBC's Hollywood Game Night

NBC's Hollywood Game Night is returning for a third season on Tuesday, July 7th at 10pm ET, and the season premiere episode will feature Giada De Laurentiis.  She will be competing with celebrities Jesse Tyler Ferguson and John Legend.  Also competing on the first episode are Jane Krakowski, Zachary Quinto and Chrissy Teigen (John Legend's wife).

Here is a short video of Giada, Jesse and John talking about their appearance on the show.

You may remember Giada playing catchphrase on Jimmy Fallon and being pretty terrible and overly competitive.  Also, you see there is a drink in her hand above, so hopefully this appearance doesn't turn out like the Thanksgiving Live 2013 appearance on Food Network.


Also look for Giada's new show on the Food Network called Giada in Italy.  It is a daytime show where Giada travels around Italy and explores her family history.  This is a 13-episode daytime series that will begin on July 19th at 11am ET/PT.

Food Network Star Episode 3 Elimination

Photo - Food Network

On tonight's episode of Food Network Star the remaining contestants were tasked with keeping up with the latest in food trends.  They first had to create and photograph their own versions of tiny foods, and then create a five-course meal where each course corresponds to a buzzword.  Geoffrey Zakarian and Sunny Anderson were on hand to help Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay judge.

Dom Tesoriero won the first challenge which allowed him to pick the teams for the second challenge and he went with boys vs. girls.  After the buzzword meals, the judges decided that neither team would be declared the winning team, which pretty much made the team challenge worthless. 

The judges decide that the Arnold, Dom, and Michelle performed the best.  Sita Lewis, Rosa Graziano,  and Eddie Jackson were in the bottom three.  After deliberation, the judges decided that Sita Lewis would be the one sent home and there was no Matthew Grunwald moment to save her again.

Damaris Phillips Got Married Over The Weekend

Photo - Facebook

Food Network Star Damaris Phillips married her fiance Darrick Wood on June 13th, 2015 at Willow Park in Louisville, Kentucky.  Here is the website Damaris and Darrick set up for the wedding with their wedding details and links to their registry if you are interested in seeing what someone from the Food Network registers for.  Willow Park and the wedding was described on the website as a "cute little park down the road from our house. There will be some very picnic-like elements— blankets on the grass, sunshine, a playground and dinner at picnic tables."

Damaris isn't too active on social media, so she hasn't mentioned the wedding or posted any pictures online.  Nikki Dinki who was on the same season of Food Network Star was at the wedding and posted a few pictures of Damaris which are in this post.

Congratulations to Damaris and Darrick!  

Photo - Twitter

Food Network Star Episode 2 Elimination

Photo - Food Network

On tonight's episode of Food Network Star the 11 remaining contestants have to create an inspiring dish using only leftover ingredients  that would be found in an average family's refrigerator.  Former Food Network Star winner Melissa D'Arabian was on hand to help judge this challenge.  In a later challenge the contestants had to create a savory recipe inspired by the world of desserts and Alex Guarnaschelli helped judge.



When the judges deliberated, it was decided that Arnold Myint and Eddie Jackson did the best in the challenges and were considered safe.  Sita Lewis, Emilia Cirker, and Matthew Grunwald were the bottom three and one of them would be eliminated.  After deliberation it was determined that villain Matthew Grunwald would be the contestant eliminated.  Giada De Laurentiis seemed to have changed her mind and switched to eliminate Matthew after seeing his facial expressions.  This should make a lot of people happy.

Worst Cooks In America: Celebrity Edition Cast Revealed

Photo - Food Network

When Food Network announced their new series for 2015, one of the shows announced was Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition with the mentors being Anne Burrell and Rachael Ray.  It seems like they are doing this show rather than Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off this year.

The filming of Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition has begun and the 'celebrities' competing on the show have been revealed.  The caliber of celebrities is the same as usual and the seven competing for the $50,000 charity prize include:

• Dean Cain - Superman
• Ellen Cleghorne - Saturday Night Live
• Jenni "JWOWW" Farley - MTV's Jersey Shore
• Chris Soules - The Bachelorette, The Bachelor, Dancing With The Stars - He seems to be in the tabloids over appearing in this show due to being on so many reality shows in a short amount of time.
• Jaleel White - Steve Urkel from Family Matters
• Kendra Wilkinson - Playboy, various reality shows - The Girls Next Door, Kendra, Kendra on Top
• Barry Williams - Greg Brady from The Brady Bunch

Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition will premiere in September 2015, and the season will probably be five or six episodes long.

Whabah Steakhouse From Restaurant Impossible Has Closed

Whabah Steakhouse in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was featured on the latest season of Restaurant Impossible (Season 11) has closed.

A reader of this site reached out to me with a recent photo of the restaurant which has a spray painted sign that says "Closed for Remodel" (pictured right).

Also, the restaurant Facebook page has not been updated since March 2015, and if you call the telephone number of the restaurant, it is disconnected.  So while it is supposedly closed for a remodel, all other signs point to a long-term closure.

You may remember the restaurant was listed for sale when the episode aired (from the original update), and the restaurant is apparently still for sale.

The Restaurant Impossible makeover happened in January of 2015 and the episode aired in March of 2015, so it didn't take too long for this one to close.  The status of Whabah Steakhouse has been updated to 'Closed' on the Restaurant Impossible Update Page and this is the first restaurant from season 11 to close.  If they actually are remodeling just months after Restaurant Impossible and the restaurant re-opens, I will re-update the status.

Urban Roots From Restaurant Impossible Has Closed

Photo - Food Network

Urban Roots in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which was featured on season eight of Restaurant Impossible has closed.  On June 6, 2015 the restaurant posted the following message on their Facebook page:

"Tonight we celebrate 5 years of Urban Roots and when we sign off tonight it will be the end of our run in historic Deep Deuce. This has been an amazing journey, when we opened our doors in 2010 we hoped to honor and preserve the roots of our ancestors in a sacred place. We feel we were instrumental in initiating new opportunities for culturally significant ventures and hope for those to see continued success. We strived to provide a space for culture, comfort, and creativity by using food as a medium. We've watched relationships and marriages form, the birth of babies and artistic freedom for many. We appreciate you OKC. You showed up and out for us and we are eternally grateful. EEDO & love......."

There was a GoFundMe fundraiser started on May 19th where the restaurant was hoping to raise $15,000 by June 6th.  They also had a music festival at the restaurant to try to help raise money, but I guess their goals fell short.

An article at NewsOK.com about the closure stated that the building the restaurant was located in had recently been sold and friends of owner Chaya said the restaurant was facing a steep rent increase.

This is the sixth restaurant from season eight of Restaurant Impossible to close and the Restaurant Impossible Update Page has been updated with this information.

Guy Fieri Courtside At NBA Finals

Guy Fieri sat courtside last night during Game 1 of the NBA finals and images/video of him have been circulating the Internet.


Here is a Vine of Guy looking pretty impressed while watching Steph Curry warm up.



Here is a picture of Guy that also has Jesse Jackson in it:

Photo - Twitter

Then there is Twitter user @Fierify, who apparently photoshops pictures to make people look like Guy Fieri on demand (how did I not know about this account before?).  He 'Fierified' Steph Curry, Lebron James, Golden State Coach Steve Kerr, and Cavs coach Dave Blatt which are below (click images for larger versions):

Fierify: NBA Finals edition pic.twitter.com/e8HTENVKHl

— Fierify (@Fierify) June 5, 2015

It also seems that @Fierify is pretty busy fulfilling requests to Fierify people today, so feel free to reach out to him.

Food Network Star Season 11 Contestants - Where Have You Seen Them Before?

Photo - Food Network

With the eleventh season of Food Network Star scheduled to begin on Sunday, you may recognize some of the contestants from earlier TV appearances.  Below is a list of all of the contestants from this season and whether they have appeared on other TV shows.  If I have missed any, let me know in the comments.  I have also compiled some of their social media links if you are interested in following them or learning more about them.  Hopefully this year's contestants were properly vetted.

• Emilia Cirker - Facebook 1, Facebook 2, Twitter, LinkedIn 
• Jay Ducote - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Blog  - Appeared on Cutthroat Kitchen, Fox's Masterchef, HBO's Treme, Eat St. on Cooking Channel, and Last Call Food Brawl on Destination America
• Christina Fitzgerald - Facebook 1, Facebook 2, Twitter, Youtube
• Rosa Graziano - Facebook 1, Facebook 2,  Twitter - Featured on the Hallmark Channel, Cooking Channel's Eat St., and various cooking shows with her brother Rico.
• Matthew Grunwald - Facebook, Twitter, Youtube - Appeared on Cutthroat Kitchen and Cutthroat Kitchen Evilicious tournament.
• Eddie Jackson - Facebook, Twitter, Appeared on Fox's Masterchef, Played in the NFL
• Michelle Karam - Facebook, Twitter,  Blog, - Appeared on Bravo's Rocco's Dinner Party
• Sita Lewis - Facebook, Twitter, Website,
• Alex McCoy - Twitter, LinkedIn, - Appeared on NBC's The Chopping Block in 2009. That show was canceled quickly.
• Arnold Myint - Facebook, Twitter, Youtube  - Appeared on Bravo's Top Chef. Is a drag queen known as Suzy Wong.
• Rue Rusike - Facebook 1, Facebook 2,  Twitter
• Dominick Tesoriero - Facebook, Twitter- Competed on Food Network's Rewrapped and won.

 
Also, here are the pictures and quick bios for each of the contestants from the Food Network site.  If you want to watch the first episode before it airs Sunday on the Food Network, it is available to watch already.

Nikki Dinki and Bobby Deen Premiere Junk Food Flip Tonight On Cooking Channel

Photo - Nikki Dinki Cooking

Here is a little Food Network Star news as  season 9 contestant Nikki Dinki now has a show on the Cooking Channel called Junk Food Flip.  The show had a pilot on the Cooking Channel back in August of 2014 and now it has been picked up for a season which starts tonight at 9pm ET.  Despite not being in the pilot, Bobby Deen will go along with Nikki Dinki where they seek out the country's guilty pleasure foods and try to recreate them in a healthier way.

Nikki and Bobby go to restaurants that have a signature dish that is also high in calories.  They both try to recreate a healthier version of the dish and taste testers determine whether Bobby's or Nikki's dish is better.  The winner of that challenge then puts their dish up against the restaurant's dish.  Locals then determine if the original dish or Bobby/Nikki's dish is better tasting.  If the locals choose Bobby or Nikki's version, the restaurant has to put the item on their menu, while if they choose the original version, the restaurant gets bragging rights and $1,000 cash.

It sounds pretty much like a healthy version of Throwdown with Bobby Flay.  With Damaris Phillips still producing new episodes of Southern at Heart (currently in season 4) and Nikki now getting a show, it's safe to say that season 9 of Food Network Star has been the most successful at finding talent in the past three seasons.

(Nikki Dinki Cooking)