Restaurant Impossible - Don Luis Restaurant Update

Tonight on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Billings, Montana to makeover Don Luis Restaurant.  Don Luis Restaurant is a Mexican restaurant owned by Carmen Salazar that is in trouble.  She is widowed and Robert needs to convince her to move past her grief and embrace the future to save the business and preserve her husband's legacy.  The restaurant is buried in debt and is supposedly two months away from closing.

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

New Restaurant: Impossible Episodes To Air on Discovery+

This week, new episodes of Restaurant: Impossible will begin with a new episode on Food Network Thursday night at 9pm ET. It appears that only the first episode of this new season will air on Food Network and Discovery has decided to release the other new episodes on their premium platform Discovery+.

In the advertisements for the episode this week on social media, Food Network states, " Catch a special two-hour premiere of #RestaurantImpossible tomorrow starting at 9|8c, then stream new episodes every week only on discovery+."  The episode title for this episode on the Food Network site also says, "discovery+ 1st Look: Changing with the Times"

So it appears that Discovery's push for people to sign up for the premium streaming service Discovery+ ($4.99/mo. with ads, $6.99/mo. ad-free) includes releasing new episodes of popular shows such as Restaurant: Impossible exclusively on the platform.  

A lot of the time, channels release new shows on their premium platforms (which Discovery+ has also done), but usually shows that have been on air for years don't release new episodes exclusively on a premium platform.  Fans of the show have expressed their disappointment on moving Restaurant: Impossible to Discovery+ to Robert Irvine on Twitter, but he said he doesn't have any say on what the network decides.

What are your thoughts on Restaurant: Impossible only being available on Discovery+ after this week?  We will see if they end up showing them eventually on Food Network, but there are currently no other new episodes on the schedule.

Kids Baking Championship Season 9

Food Network's Kids Baking Championship season 9 airs on Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT. Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman are once again the mentors and the winning baker will receive a $25,000 prize and a feature in Food Network Magazine.  One new element this year is that the bakers' parents are there reacting to the competition.  The twelve kid bakers (ages 10-13) competing on this season are:

• Haylin Adams (Glasgow, KY; age 11)
• Jonah Anderson (Harrisburg, PA ; age 12)
• Keaton Ashton (Sugar City, ID; age 13)
• Cydney Cain (Prospect Park, PA; age 10)
• Andrew Clark (Madison, MS; age 10)
• Trey Gordon (Davenport, IA; age 12)
• Bella Luu (San Jose, CA; age 12)
• D’Von Mills (Lithonia, GA; age 12)
• Namiah Phillips (Long Beach, CA; age 12)
• Miabella Ramirez (Katy, TX; age 11)
• McKenzly Sandefer (Conway, AR: age 11)
• Nemo Tsai (Ann Arbor, MI; age 10)

This season is ten episodes long with the winner being revealed on Monday, February 15th during a double episode. I will do another post about the show before the season finale. Feel free to discuss this season in the comments section as several people have requested somewhere to comment on this season.

UPDATE - To see who won Kids Baking Championship Season 9, visit this post. 

Food Network's Kerry Vincent Dead at 75

Kerry Vincent, who was a judge on Food Network Challenge and had her own series Save My Bakery on Food Network has passed away at the age of 75.  The Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show, which was a non-profit that Kerry Vincent co-founded, made the announcement on Facebook and said that Kerry was battling an illness.  The statement made on Saturday evening said:

"It is with great sadness that I have to report the passing of Kerry Vincent earlier this evening. Being a very private person when it came to all things not cake, she did not want to put her illness out there to the public. Unfortunately her fight has come to an end but she will no longer have any pain.  She will be sorely missed by all who she has touched through the Sugar Arts as will as personally. There will be no services per her request. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers."

Kerry is survived by her husband Doug Vincent. 

Worst Cooks in America Season 21

Photo - Food Network

Food Network's Worst Cooks in America season 21 airs on Sunday nights at 9pm ET starting January 3rd, 2020. This season brings a new mentor competing against Anne Burrell which will be Carla Hall.  Carla was a mentor on a Halloween Worst Cooks in America special episode, but this is her first time being a mentor for a whole season. Worst Cooks in America continues to be one of Food Network's top rated shows, so we will continue to see the ridiculous contestants appearing on the show and multiple seasons throughout the year. This year the fourteen contestants that will compete on the show are:

• Watik Aleem (Aurora, Colorado)
• Cameron Bartlett (Norma, Oklahoma)
• Tiffany Billingsly (Greenwood, Idaho)
• Joy Blessing (Jacksonville, Florida)
• McKayla Carter (Blackshear, Georgia)
• Ayesha Dwyer (Wadsworth, Illinois)
• Chandali Gullick (Wichita, Kansas)
• Jonathan Hanna (New York, New York)
• JJ Hurt (Atlanta, Georgia)
• Stephanie James (Chicago, Illinois)
• Joey Kinsley (Rocky River, Ohio)
• Amber Leverette (Banner Elk, North Carolina)
• Laura Moore (Los Angeles, California)
• Mo Nooreldin (Kirkland, Washington)

The winner of Worst Cooks in America season 21 will receive $25,000 and I will do another post about the show before the season finale. This season is 9-episodes long with the finale being on Sunday, February 28th. Feel free to discuss this season in the comments section as people like to discuss the season as it progresses.