Food Network's January 2016 Programming Highlights

Hope everybody is enjoying the holidays!  Here are some of the highlights of the Food Network programming scheduled to air on the channel in January:

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• A Guy's Grocery Games tournament featuring 16 chefs from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives starting on Sunday, January 3rd.
• A new season(the 8th) of Worst Cooks in America starting on Sunday, January 3rd where it will be Anne Burrell vs. Tyler Florence again.
• A Kids Baking Championship starting on Monday, January 4th.
• A new season of Cake Wars starting on Monday, January 11th.
• A new season of Michael Symon's Burgers, Brew & ‘Que premiering Friday, January 15th at 10:30pm.
• New primetime episodes of American Diner Revival, Beat Bobby Flay, Chopped, Chopped Junior, Cutthroat Kitchen, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guilty Pleasures, Mystery Diners and Top 5 Restaurants
• Giada has a new daytime series called Giada Entertains, which begins on Sunday, January 3rd.
• New daytime episodes of Trisha's Southern Kitche, Brunch @ Bobby’s, Guy’s Big Bite, The Kitchen, The Pioneer Woman, Southern at Heart and Valerie’s Home Cooking

Press release with episode descriptions and air dates is below:

Restaurant Impossible - La Casa Bianca Update

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Tonight on  Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey to makeover La Casa Bianca.  In this ambush episode, the owner Paul's daughter reached out to Restaurant Impossible for help.  Paul's daughter Megan said the restaurant was struggling and her father was losing his passion for the business.  Robert needs to inspire Paul to regain his passion with hopes of turning the restaurant around.

As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about La Casa Bianca 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):

Food Network Related News and Links

Here is some recent news involving Food Network shows and chefs/personalities from the Food Network:

• Alton Brown stars in a video reviewing Amazon's dumbest kitchen gadgets which almost has a million views in a day.  The video is below, and if you are interested in reading other reviews for the gadgets on Amazon, here they are: Strawberry Slicer, Brownie Pan, Meat Shredding Claws, Veggetti, Breakfast Sandwich Maker, and Rollie.

• It seems like Food Network Star season 11 contestant Arnold Myint may be getting a show called Hint of Myint or they are testing out a pilot.  There are a lot of recent Twitter posts and Instagram posts about it on his social media.
• Amanda Freitag is supposedly over $119,000 behind on her rent at her diner Empire Diner in NYC.  The money is due by December 14th or they will likely be evicted (Link).  So she is tasked with saving diners in American Diner Revival, but may lose her own.  Kind of similar to Restaurant Impossible and Robert Irvine as he closed a few restaurants after the show was on.
• Michael Symon's show Burgers, Brew & Que was renewed for a second season that will premiere on January 15th.  The show will remain in the Friday at 10:30pm timeslot. (Link)
• Michael Symon is also opening a restaurant inside of Atlantic City's Borgata Casino in the fall of 2016. (Link)

Restaurant Impossible - Holiday Impossible City Kids Wilderness Project

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Tonight's Restaurant Impossible takes a break from the ambush theme and goes to visit Jackson Hole, Wyoming to visit the City Kids Wilderness Project camp for a special Holiday Impossible episode.  The camp welcomes at risk teens from inner-city Washington, D.C, and Robert Irvine and his team are redoing three of their spaces by updating their equipment and facilities.  Former Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard is also on hand to help out Robert, Tom, and Cheryl in the transformation.

As this is not a normal Restaurant Impossible episode, there will be no reviews, etc., but if you are interested in learning more about the City Kids Wilderness Project or are interested in making donations, here is their website with all of the relevant information.

Restaurant Impossible - Cape Horn Family Restaurant Update

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Tonight on  Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Red Lion, Pennsylvania to makeover Cape Horn Family Restaurant.  In this ambush episode, the owner Joni's husband reached out to Restaurant Impossible for help.  Joni is having trouble paying the bills and has lost control of her staff.  Robert Irvine installs hidden cameras for this episode and determines it is actually Joni who needs help with things such as her self-confidence.

As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Cape Horn Family Restaurant 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):

Cutthroat Kitchen Superstar Sabotage Winner Crowned Tonight

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Here is a reminder that tonight at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network is the finale of Cutthroat Kitchen Superstar Sabotage, where the winner will take home additional money for their charity of choice.  The four chefs who won their episode and are back for the finale are: Richard Blais (Episode 1 winner), Justin Warner (Episode 2 winner), Fabio Viviani (Episode 3 winner), and Sherry Yard (Episode 4 winner).

Here are the challenges they will face from the episode description:

"Four star chefs return for the Superstar Sabotage finale, and first, one chef has to cook fish sticks in a weather chamber. Then, two chefs have to star in a giant monster movie as they make ramen. Finally, one chef has to cook a dessert with both hands behind their back"

This will be the second time Fabio has competed in a Superstar Sabotage finale, while Justin Warner competed in the last Superstar Sabotage, but did not advance.  Sherry and Richard are first time competitors in the Superstar Sabotage.

I will update this post with the winner once the episode airs.  Update with winner after the break: