Best Baker in America Season 3 Discussion

Season 3 of Best Baker in America premiered last week and airs on Food Network Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT.  This season is once again hosted by Scott Conant with permanent judges Jason Smith and Marcela Valladolid on each episode.  The special guest judges who will appear on episodes this year include: Florian Bellanger, Elizabeth Chambers, Valerie Gordon, Shinmin Li, Nancy Silverton, Sherry Yard and Zac Young.

The nine bakers who will be competing for the $25,000 prize are: Yolanda Diaz, Joshua Livsey, Julie Franceschini, Eric Keppler, Edet Okon, Michael Russ II, Marian Mulero, Jeffrey De Leon, and Casey Renee.  The baker eliminated on the first episode was Casey Renee, so there are eight bakers remaining.

Best Baker in America is seven-episodes long and the finale will air on Monday, June 24th with a July 4th theme.  I know people requested to have a post about Best Baker in America season 3, so here it is.  As always, I will do another post for the finale and the winner of Best Baker in America season 3.

Has Food Network Star Been Canceled?

Like clockwork every year, Food Network has a press release in April detailing the newest season of Food Network Star that will start in June.  In more recent years, they actually had Comeback Kitchen start in May, where a previous contestant would get to compete on the newest season of Food Network Star.  April has passed, and we are into May without any indication there will be a 15th season Food Network Star.

There is also other evidence that Food Network Star is not coming back such as The Great Food Truck Race starting June 9th on Food Network at 9pm ET/PT.  This is the time slot that Food Network Star usually had, so it seems The Great Food Truck Race has replaced Food Network Star on the schedule this year.  The Great Food Truck Race has usually premiered in late July/early August in the past.  The press release about the June programming on the channel also doesn't contain any mentions Food Network Star.

JS Casting, which is the casting company that has cast seasons 3-14 of Food Network Star, still has the season 14 application on the website, and there are no signs of a season 15 application.  So, it isn't clear if they ever cast season 15 of the show.

Giada De Laurentiis and Bobby Flay usually post things on social media when they are filming Food Network Star, which is usually in March, but there were no Food Network Star postings on their social media this year in that time frame.

Who knows if all this information means Food Network Star has been canceled, but it definitely isn't airing at its normal time.  It also seems that the show hasn't been cast or filmed.  Food Network Star always had great ratings for Food Network, so you would expect them to keep making the show.  As the show got into the later seasons, it seemed like the show was still being produced for the ratings and not to find an actual "star" with there not being a guaranteed prize/show for the winner.

I will update this post with more information regarding Food Network Star being canceled or not if it can be confirmed either way.  Even if it is canceled, there is a chance for it to come back later like Food Network did with Restaurant: Impossible.  Restaurant: Impossible was canceled in 2016, but brought back to Food Network this year.

Restaurant Impossible - Copper Steer Steakhouse Update

Photo - Twitter

Tonight on the season finale (there will be another season) of Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in Safford, Arizona to makeover Copper Steer Steakhouse. Copper Steer Steakhouse is owned by Parrish and Maureen Blasius who were the ones that built the restaurant.  The restaurant has "turned into a nightmare as they started losing money with no clue how to turn things around."  Robert Irvine and Tom Bury said this is the largest renovation and demolition they have ever done on the show.

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

Spring Baking Championship Winner Crowned Tonight

Tonight at 9pm ET/PT is the season 5 finale of Spring Baking Championship where the winner will take home a $25,000 prize.  The three remaining bakers competing for the prize are Cory Barrett,  Karina Rivera, and Saber Rejbi.

The episode description for tonight states: "The pressure mounts in the Spring Baking Championship finale as the three remaining bakers celebrate Mother's Day. For cocktail hour, the competitors must make Mom two different baked items inspired by mai tais, mojitos or mimosas. Then they use flavors inspired by Mom's favorite coffee drinks to create cakes featuring their Mother's Day gifts, like an edible box filled with Mom's favorite candy. One baker wins the title of Spring Baking Champion and takes home the $25,000 prize."

I will update this post once the episode airs to reveal the winner of Spring Baking Championship season 5.  In the season 5 discussion post, it seems that people in the comments think Cory is going to win, but we will see.

Continue reading to see the winner....

Restaurant Impossible - Incredible Cafe Update

Photo - Facebook

Tonight on Restaurant: Impossible, Robert Irvine and his crew are in San Diego, California to makeover Incredible Cafe.  Incredible Cafe is a family-owned breakfast and lunch cafe that has been open for about 20 years.  While Robert is there, he finds a filthy kitchen and owner Liz Song is supposedly in crippling debt.  He will need to reignite her passion in 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 Incredible Cafe 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):