Eddie Jackson's BBQ Blitz Premieres Tonight On Food Network

Photo - Food Network

Here is just a reminder that Food Network Star winner Eddie Jackson's show BBQ Blitz will premiere tonight on Food Network at 10:30pm ET/PT.  As detailed before, the show is a traveling/competition show where "grillers, smokers, and fire-roasters will cook off for a chance to win $5,000 and the title of best barbecue chef."  This disappointed some fans of Food Network Star who wanted to see him cook rather than host as Food Network Star focuses more on cooking than hosting.


The judges on each of the episodes include a few celebrity chef judges and a former NFL player.  Looking at the first few episode descriptions, the former NFL players appearing as judges will be: Ken "The Hammer" Hamlin, Anthony Lucas, and Quinton Caver.  All of these players attended Eddie's alma mater Arkansas, so all the players on this season may have ties to Arkansas.  The show really plays on Eddie's football past with the name BBQ Blitz, cheering spectators, and former NFL players.

BBQ Blitz will also replay three hours after the premiere at 1:30am Saturday and again on Sunday at 3:30pm ET/PT if you happen to miss it or don't DVR it.  I will update this post with the ratings for BBQ Blitz once they are released.

UPDATE - The ratings for BBQ Blitz were - Total Viewership 865,000, Target Demo 18-49 - 0.3  (TV By The Numbers).  For reference, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives right before it at 10pm had 1,029,000 Total Viewers with the same amount in the target demo.  So there was a considerable drop off.

Burgers, Brew & Que was another show that premiered in the same timeslot on July 17th, and had Total Viewership of 1,310,000 and a 0.4 in the target demo. (Show Buzz Daily).  The Diners, Drive Ins and Dives right before it at 10pm had 1,275,000 total viewers, so there was a slight increase.

Judging by these numbers, I would say that the ratings for BBQ Blitz weren't that great.

The full press release about the show from September is below if you are interested:

Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage Begins November 4th - See The Competitors

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Food Network's Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage is coming back for a second tournament that will begin on Wednesday, November 4th at 9pm.  Sixteen chefs will compete for up to $75,000 for charity in this five-episode series.  In the first four episodes, the winners can win up to $25,000 and they will all face off in the finale for a chance to win up to $50,000 more.  The chefs competing in this season include:

Episode 1 - Richard Blais, Cat Cora, Melissa d'Arabian and Aarti Sequeira
Episode 2 - Josh Elkin, Eric Greenspan, Kelsey Nixon and Justin Warner
Episode 3 - Rocco DiSpirito, Duff Goldman, Claire Robinson and Fabio Viviani
Episode 4 - Bobby Deen, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcel Vigneron and Sherry Yard

Last Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage was won by Eric Greenspan, who is competing again this year.  Other repeat competitors from the last Superstar Sabotage are Aarti Sequeria, Marcel Vigneron, Fabio Viviani, Justin Warner, and Alex Guarnaschelli.  Eric, Aarti, Marcel and Fabio each won a round last year and took home money for their charity.

The full press release  about Cutthroat Kitchen: Superstar Sabotage with episode descriptions is below:

Great Food Truck Race Season 6 Winner Crowned Tonight

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The winner of season 6 of The Great Food Truck Race will be crowned tonight at 9pm on the Food Network and will take home $50,000.  The final 2 trucks are Waffle Love and Pho Nomenal Dumplings, and this was previously revealed in the spoiler post from last month.

The final episode goes from St. Louis to Chicago, and is described as:

The  final  two  teams  arrive  in  St.  Louis,  and  Tyler  challenges  them  to  create  three  dishes  with  three  different  proteins  in  thirty minutes to  be  judged  by the city’s most renowned chefs.  The  winner  gets  a $500 head  start,  and  the  teams  head  to  Chicago  for their final mission.  On the way there, Tyler throws them a curveball with a quick detour to Lincoln’s birthplace Springfield, for a five-dollar bill challenge.  In Chicago, they have to hit three different neighborhoods with three different ethnic dishes, and the team that sells 50 dishes in each location wins the whole competition.  The teams race through the streets to sell, and the game turns from money to speed.  At the final point in Millennium Park, Tyler crowns the $50,000 champion of The Great Food Truck Race

This post will be updated with the winner of the The Great Food Truck Race season 6 after the episode airs.  It seems like Waffle Love already has six food trucks and a store according to their website, so a lot of people are probably rooting for Pho Nomenal Dumplings.

UPDATE - Pho Nomenal Dumplings ended up winning season 6 of The Great Food Truck Race and won the $50,000 prize.

Photo - Food Network

 

Food Network Related News and Links

Photo - Twitter

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

• Bobby Flay is releasing another cookbook on Tuesday called Brunch at Bobby's: 140 Recipes for the Best Part of the Weekend.  He is also doing a few live appearances in the month of October in a few US cities.
• Alton Brown is releasing another cookbook next year called Everyday Cook according to his Twitter. 
• This past week, Robert Irvine received Congressional Medal of Honor's 2015 Patriot Award (Link).  Yesterday was also Robert's 50th birthday.
• Sandra Lee recently revealed that she was cancer free, and she was also blessed by the Pope while he was visiting the United States (pictured).  
• Alex Guarnaschelli plans to open a "beachy and fun" restaurant in South Beach, Miami. (Link)
• Patricia Heaton will have a show on the Food Network that will premiere next month called Patricia Heaton Parties (Link).  This continues the trend of the Cooking Channel and Food Network giving celebrities cooking shows.
• There will be a Cake Wars: Christmas competition that will air on Food Network in November and the winner will take home $50,000. (Link)
• Veronica Seguin was the winner of Food Network's Chopped Teen Tournament and won $25,000. (Link)
• Dean Cain was the first celebrity eliminated from Worst Cooks In America Celebrity Edition. (Link)

Sandra Lee Is Now Cancer Free

Food Network's Sandra Lee who revealed that she had breast cancer in May of this year went on Good Morning America this morning to reveal that she is now cancer free. 

She underwent a double mastectomy to treat the cancer and despite some complications along the way, doctors have determined she is cancer free.  Sandra has been documenting her fight on her website and Facebook page, and in the interview she reveals she went from a DD cup to an A cup after the mastectomy.

She attended the Emmy awards this past Sunday in a pink dress (pictured right) and said, "Women are not just about their boobs which is a statement I was making when I wore that dress."

Sandra also encouraged women to take advantage of early detection technologies and the treatments available.

Video of the full interview is after the break:

New Restaurant Impossible Season Begins October 22nd With Ambush Theme

Photo - Multivu

There have been a lot of people wondering when/if Restaurant Impossible would be coming back for another season, so I figured I would do a post with an update.   Part of the reason there were a lot of people asking was because Food Network hasn't been playing any Restaurant Impossible reruns.  The new season will begin on October 22^nd at 9pm, and the season will have an ambush theme, where they supposedly makeover unsuspecting restaurants.  Note that this is a Thursday night vs. the usual Wednesday night that Restaurant Impossible usually airs.  I think this season will be six episodes vs. the usual 13-episode season, but I will try to confirm that.

It should be interesting to see how they play off the ambush on the show, but you would think to begin filming, people would have had to sign waivers.  As always, be sure to visit this site for updates on each of the restaurants appearing on Restaurant Impossible.

Coinciding with the Restaurant Impossible return is Chopped:Impossible, which will air at 8pm right before Restaurant Impossible.  Twelve returning Chopped champions return and Robert Irvine is a judge for the first three episodes.  The three winners then compete in the finale, with someone winning $15,000.  After the winner is determined, they get to go up against Robert Irvine in a wild-card round where they can win an additional $25,000.

Justin Warner's Restaurant Do Or Dine Closes

Photo - Food Network

This week, Food Network Star winner Justin Warner's Brooklyn, NY restaurant Do or Dine abruptly closed.  The restaurant posted the following message on their website and social media accounts:

"Do or Dine will be closed for the foreseeable future. We are very sorry to disappoint those who were planning to dine."

When asked why they were closing on Facebook, the restaurant responded:

"Dreams > $. That's the long story short. Sorry again folks. We'll say more when we can. Right now it's just a bit tenuous. Thank you all for your patience and your love of what we do."

You may remember last year, Do or Dine was trying to raise $15,000 through Kickstarter for an outdoor enclosure for the restaurant.  They succeeded in raising the money, but if you look at the comments on their Kickstarter page, it appears that a lot of people never received things promised such as T-shirts. 

Justin hasn't commented on the reason for closing yet, but the "Dreams > $" quote seems like he could be trying to further his TV career.  He does have a cookbook coming out on October 13th, 2015, and we will have to see if he appears on the Food Network any more than he has.  He was just recently on Guy's Grocery Games where he won $16,000 for charity.  Perhaps he should have played for his restaurant's benefit.

Giada De Laurentiis Book Tour For 'Happy Cooking'

Giada De Laurentiis has a new cookbook Happy Cooking  which is scheduled to release on November 3rd, 2015.  According to the book description, it has 200 recipes and helpful advice on potlucks, open houses, and what to pack for lunch.  It also features "New Year's cleanse, homemade Christmas gifts, and ideas for every holiday, special occasion, and casual weekend in between."

In conjunction with her book release, Giada will be doing a book tour with 13 stops across the United States.  The tour will stop in the following cities:



Date                               City                            Venue

November 3, 2015     Hartford, CT             The Bushnell
November 4, 2015     Stamford, CT            The Palace Theatre
November 6, 2015     Philadelphia, PA       Merriam Theater
November 7, 2015     Washington, DC       GW Lisner Auditorium
November 9, 2015     Boston, MA              North Shore Music Theatre
November 10, 2015    Coral Springs, FL    Coral Springs CFA
November 11, 2015    Atlanta, GA              Egyptian Ballroom
November 12, 2015    Chicago, IL               Pfeiffer Hall
November 13, 2015    Dallas, TX                Majestic Theatre
November 14, 2015    Houston, TX             Cullen Performance Hall
November 15, 2015    Mesa, AZ                  Mesa Arts Center
November 16, 2015    San Jose, CA            California Theatre
November 17, 2015    San Diego, CA         Balboa Theatre


Event information about the tour is below, and there are also opportunities to order VIP tickets for a meet and greet:

Giada De Laurentiis is the Emmy Award-winning star of Food Network's Everyday Italian, Giada at Home, and Giada in Italy; a judge on Food Network Star; a contributing correspondent for NBC's Today show; editor-in-chief of a weekly digital magazine, Giada and author of seven New York Times bestselling books. Plus Giada recently celebrated the 1-year anniversary of her acclaimed Las Vegas restaurant. Her newest cookbook Happy Cooking, is one of the most highly anticipated cookbooks of the year! Joined by a moderator, Giada will share her inspiration for her Happy Cooking. An audience QandA will immediately follow each interview. Don't miss your chance to see Giada live on stage during her upcoming book tour! Williams-Sonoma is the proud bookseller of Happy Cooking for the tour. They are now offering ticket-holders the opportunity to preorder an autograph copy of Giada's new book to be picked up at the event for purchase online at Williams-Sonoma.com. 

So, if you are interested in seeing Giada in person, she may be coming to a city near you in November.

(Giada On Tour)

Camp Cutthroat Winner Crowned Tonight

Photo - Jessica's Twitter

Tonight at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network is the Camp Cutthroat finale where the winner can win up to $75,000.  Knowing how people usually bid on Cutthroat Kitchen, the total will probably be much lower.

The winners of the first four episodes that will compete for the grand prize are:

• Monterey Salka (Episode 1)
• Candice Wilson (Episode 2)
• Jessica Entzel (Episode 3) 
• Demarco Ellis (Episode 4) 

Also, here is the episode description for tonight's episode where Antonia Lofaso will be the judge:

The winners of each heat compete for up to $75,000 and Camp Cutthroat end-of-summer bragging rights. Alton sends two chefs to rock the boat and make a trout dinner, then the opponents play “capture the cheese.” For the final challenge, it's a dessert battle with a tight squeeze and the winner takes it all.

I will update this post with the winner after the episode airs and let you know how much the winner ended up taking home.

UPDATE - Demarco Ellis was the first eliminated, followed by Monterey Salka.  After the final challenge, Jessica Entzel was crowned the winner of the first Camp Cutthroat and took home $18,500 in addition to her winnings from her first win ($27,200 total).

Food Network Related News and Links

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

• Robert Irvine (as part of Pervine Foods LLC) is being sued by Nestle for trademark infringement.  Nestle claims the Robert Irvine Protein bar called Fit Crunch is using nearly identical trademarks and packaging and could be confused with Nestle's Crunch bars (both pictured right). (Link).  
• UPDATE - Robert Irvine reached out on Twitter and said they were asked to change some things on the packaging which they agreed to.  Also they were on their third revision and everything was 'all good.'
• Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond has partnered with Walmart to launch a collection of "modern country housewares" that includes tableware, glassware, cookware, bakeware and more. (Link)
• Jeff Mauro, who launched a BBQ sauce called Pork & Mindy's, will now open his first restaurant in Chicago called Pork & Mindy's. (Link)
• Food Network Star finalists Dom Tesoriero and Jay Ducote recently met with Susie Fogelson in New York according to their social media accounts.  They posted the following picture, and Jay said he still doesn't know "what's next."

• Paula Deen's former cook Dora Charles is releasing a cookbook next week.  She was integral in Paula Deen's career and worked in Paula's restaurants.  She supposedly was underpaid and The New York Times did a story about her and the cookbook, which is a good read.  It seems like she isn't allowed to say much about Paula Deen due to an out of court settlement. (Link)
• Food Network Star winner Eddie Jackson is currently filming his show BBQ Blitz and will film in Kansas City, MO on 9/3 if you are interested in attending. (Link)
• Masaharu Morimoto is opening a restaurant in Downtown Disney World called Morimoto Asia and it will open on September 30th. (Link)