Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories

`All-Star Academy`: Pictured, from left, are Alex Guarnaschelli, Curtis Stone, Michael Symon, Bobby Flay and Ted Allen.
"All-Star Academy": Pictured, from left, are Alex Guarnaschelli, Curtis Stone, Michael Symon, Bobby Flay and Ted Allen.

School's out for 10 skilled cooks battling for grand prize in Food Network series 'All-Star Academy'

by jmaloni

Submitted

Mon, Jan 26th 2015 11:45 am

Hosted by Ted Allen with Bobby Flay, Alex Guarnaschelli, Curtis Stone and Michael Symon mentoring home cooks for $50,000 grand prize

Series premieres Sunday, March 1

Ten talented and successful home cooks from around the country compete in intense culinary challenges as they are mentored by some of Food Network's most popular chefs, while competing for a $50,000 grand prize in "All-Star Academy," premiering Sunday, March 1 (9 p.m.). 

Hosted by Ted Allen, each competitor, with the guidance of a mentor, must compete over eight episodes in challenges that would propose difficulties for even professional chefs, while elevating culinary skills to make it to the finish line. With the support of superstar chefs Bobby Flay, Alex Guarnaschelli, Curtis Stone and Michael Symon, each home cook not only has to impress a world-class chef mentor but the special guest judges as well, who help determine who will make the cut in the dreaded elimination round. One-by-one, the challengers are eliminated, leaving one final contender standing with a $50,000 grand prize.

Special guest judges include Donatella Arpaia, Elizabeth Falkner, Amanda Freitag, Robert Irvine, John Li, Simon Majumdar and Geoffrey Zakarian.  

"Having world-class chefs like Bobby, Curtis, Alex and Michael as mentors is what will take these 10 cooks from great to extraordinary," said Bob Tuschman, Food Network general manager and senior vice president of programming. "It's the dream of a lifetime for a home cook."

In the premiere, the 10 home cooks embark on the greatest culinary adventure of their lives. But first, they will need to compete for a spot on a mentor's team. Four of the top celebrity chefs will each select two cooks to guide through the competition. But only one mentor and competitor will emerge victorious in the end. Special guest judge Majumdar helps decide who will have a chance to move on to fight another day.

Culinary action throughout the season includes Irvine challenging each cook to create a dish using only canned meats, with the mentors then conducting a blind taste test to determine which competitor goes home; and a first-ever mentor showdown between Flay and Symon.

Visit FoodNetwork.com/AllStarAcademy for exclusive interviews with the mentors, videos, photos and much more.

Hometown News

View All News