Momma Pearl's Cajun Kitchen - Restaurant Impossible Update

This week on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Colorado Springs, Colorado to makeover Momma Pearl's Cajun Kitchen. Momma Pearl's Cajun Kitchen is owned by Robert Brunet, who is also the chef.  He is on the verge of losing his business and his wife if he cannot shed his arrogant alter ego.  His over-the-top attitude has impacted his relationships with his family and staff and also makes Robert Irvine have second thoughts about helping him.  Robert needs to fix Robert's attitude in hopes of saving his restaurant and marriage.

As I normally do with Restaurant: Impossible episodes, I searched around the Internet to read stories, comments and reviews about Momma Pearl's Cajun Kitchen 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):

Kids Baking Championship Season 10

Photo - Food Network

Food Network's Kids Baking Championship season 10 airs on Monday nights at 8pm 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.  The twelve kid bakers competing are ages 8-11 (last year was 10-13) and are the youngest to ever compete on Kids Baking Championship.  They are listed below with their age and where they are from:

• Nadya Alborz (Knoxville, TN; age 10)
• Joseph Bostick (San Diego, CA; age 10)
• Lucia Calonge (Cincinnati, OH; age 10)
• Santiago Corso (Huntington Beach, CA; age 11)
• Caroline Gross (York, PA; age 10)
• Summer Haque (Yorba Linda, CA; age 10)
• Ellora Martinez (Yorba Linda, CA; age 9)
• Sarah Patel (Knoxville, TN; age 10)
• Riya Shah (Fort Meyers, FL; age 11)
• Finley Sheers (McLean, VA; age 10)
• Benjamin Steinhauser (Hillsborough, NJ; age 8)
• Ava-Leigh Wright (Atlanta, GA; age 10).

Season 10 of Kids Baking Championship will be ten episodes long with the winner being revealed on a double episode on Monday, February 21st.  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 season 10 of Kids Baking Championship, visit this post. 

Holiday Baking Championship Winner Season 8

Photo - Food Network

Tonight at 8pm ET on Food Network is the two-hour season eight finale of Holiday Baking Championship where the winning baker will take home $25,000.  The four remaining contestants competing for the prize are Jose Marchan, Sabrina Coombs, Adam Monette, and Jody O'Sullivan.  One of the contestants will be eliminated during the first hour of the episode and the final three will compete during the second hour for the $25,000.

The episode description for tonight states, "Host Jesse Palmer kicks things off with a swanky Christmas open house for judges Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall and asks the bakers to create dessert charcuterie boards. Then, the bottom two bakers face off in a sudden elimination challenge of dueling holiday pinata desserts. In the final main heat, the competitors take on holiday party theme cakes and incorporate lights into their designs. The most successful cake maker becomes the Holiday Baking Champion and walks away with $25,000!"

I will update this post with the winner of Holiday Baking Championship season 8 after the episode airs and feel free to discuss this season in the comments.

Continue reading to see who won season 8 of Holiday Baking Championship....

Holiday Wars Season 3 Winner

Tonight at 9:30pm ET/PT is the season 3 finale of Holiday Wars where one team will take home the $25,000 prize. The final two teams remaining and competing for the prize are Bakers in Toyland (Vanessa Greeley, Justin McCarty and Jillian Hopke) and Dough Angels (Asia Coffee, Ramon Camacho and Jen Barney).

The episode description for the final episode states, "It's almost Christmas, and Santa's getting ready to deliver gifts all around the world, but he can't do it without a brand-new sleigh! With $25,000 at stake, the last two teams of cake and sugar artists must showcase the wildest, most-powerful modernization imaginable for Santa's new ride. At the end of the fast-paced bake-off judged by Maneet Chauhan, Shinmin Li and Aarti Sequeira, one team will be crowned Holiday Wars Champion and win the grand prize!"

I will update this post with the season three Holiday Wars winner after the episode airs and feel free to discuss this season/final episode in the comments.

Continue reading to see who won Holiday Wars season 3........

Buddy vs. Duff Holiday Winner

Sunday night at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network is the season finale of Buddy vs. Duff: Holiday.  This was a four episode season and Duff Goldman is currently leading Buddy Valastro by a score of 105 to 104.  They are competing for charity with Buddy Valastro competing for Toys for Tots and Duff Goldman competing for Off Their Plate.

The episode description for the finale states, "For their final battle, Buddy Valastro and Duff Goldman create their own magical winter wonderlands. The teams construct artic creatures and their habitats in displays of massive proportions, and the King of Holiday Cakes is crowned."

Buddy vs. Duff: Holiday has judges on site with each competing team - Gesine Prado and Elizabeth Falkner are with Buddy's team, and Stephanie Boswell and Valerie Gordon are with Duff's team.  With the score so close and the teams competing for charity, we will see if it ends up in a tie and both charities get some money.  

Buddy Valastro has won two seasons of Buddy vs. Duff and Duff Goldman has won one.  I will update this post with the winner of Buddy vs. Duff: Holiday after the episode airs.

Continue reading to see who won Buddy vs. Duff: Holiday.......

Throwdown Returns to Food Network

Photo - Instagram

Throwdown with Bobby Flay has been one of the longer running shows on Food Network with the show starting in 2006 and airing for nine seasons.  Throwdown will return to Food Network tonight at 9:30pm ET, but this time it will be Throwdown with Michael Symon.  The premise of the show is the same with Michael Symon and his longtime culinary director Katie Pickens challenging chefs around the country by cooking their signature dish to be judged in a blind taste test. 

I don't think the change to Michael Symon had anything to do with Bobby Flay's contract negotiations with Food Network because Bobby Flay's production company is producing the show. 

Bobby Flay also posted the following message on Instagram to promote the upcoming episode, "You OGs may remember Throwdown… a competition show on @foodnetwork that premiered in 2006 and put spotlight on some of the country’s best culinary talent. WELL I HAVE OFFICIALLY PASSED THE THROWDOWN BATON. Tomorrow, Tuesday, #ThrowdownWithMichael premieres on @foodnetwork at 9:30pm… featuring my friends @chefsymon, his right hand @pickens_katie… and some unsuspecting chefs he’s about to surprise on their own turf. Don’t miss it."

Bobby and Michael are good friends, but Bobby has said that he is rooting for the chefs he is competing against to win.  Michael also said he was driven to do the show to help promote other chefs and to get their name/restaurant some publicity.  

Will you be watching Throwdown with Michael Symon?