Food Network Announces New 'Next Iron Chef' Hopefuls

From Eater.com: The contestants of season three of The Next Iron Chef were revealed on Food Network's website today, and as we suspected, the teaser trailer the Food Network had recently been airing was intentional misdirection. The contestants are some heavy hitters:




Andrew Kirshner (Wilshire, Los Angeles, CA)
Bryan Caswell (Reef, Stella Sola, Little Bigs, Houston, TX)
Celina Tio (Julian, Kansas City, MO)
Duskie Estes (Zazu Restaurant + Farm, Santa Rosa, CA, Bovolo, Healdsburg, CA)
Maneet Chauhan (Vermillion, NYC)
Marc Forgione (Marc Forgione, NYC)
Marco Canora (Hearth, Terroir Wine Bar, NYC)
Mario Pagan (Chayote, Lemongrass, San Juan, Puerto Rico)
Mary Dumont (Harvest, Hampton Falls, NH)
Ming Tsai (Blue Ginger, Wellesley, MA)



Marc Forgione, you may remember, caused a little controversy back in May when he kicked a New York Times writer out of his restaurant for stepping into his kitchen and telling him to stop yelling. Alton Brown is back as host; The judges for this season are UK food writer and blogger Simon Majumdar, Iron Chef season one winner Michael Symon, and restaurateur Donatella Arpaia. The Next Iron Chef premieres Sunday, Oct. 3at 9p/8c. Here's the press release:


BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN TO JOIN ‘IRON CHEF’ RANKS
Alton Brown Hosts Season Three of ‘The Next Iron Chef’
Premieres Sunday, October 3rd at 9pm ET/PT

NEW YORK – August 25, 2010 – This October, The Next Iron Chef returns
with its fieriest season-to-date. Ten of the country’s most
accomplished chefs bet on their skills and put their reputations on the
line for the chance to join the industry’s most elite culinary society:
the Iron Chefs. Hosted by Alton Brown and filmed in Los Angeles, Las
Vegas and New York City, season three premieres Sunday, October 3rd at
9pm ET/PT and challenges the chefs’ culinary skills and mental toughness
as they enter a clash of culinary titans.

“The third season of The Next Iron Chef certainly has no shortage of
tough competitors,” said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice
President, Programming & Production. “These chefs are some of the
fiercest and most decorated yet, which promises the most exciting
culinary rivalries to date.”

The ten contestants include: Marco Canora (Chef & Owner of
Hearth, Terrior, and Terroir TriBeca, in New York), Bryan Caswell (Chef
& Owner, Reef, Stella Sola, and Little Bigs, in Houston, Texas),
Maneet Chauhan (Chef at Vermillion, in Chicago and New York), Mary
Dumont (Executive Chef at Harvest, in Cambridge, Mass.), Duskie Estes
(Chef & Owner of Zazu Restaurant + Farm, Bovolo, and Black Pig Meat
Co., in Sonoma County, Calif.), Marc Forgione (Chef & Owner of Marc
Forgione, in New York), Andrew Kirschner (Executive Chef of Wilshire, in
Santa Monica, Calif.), Mario Pagán (Chef & Owner of Chayote and
Lemongrass, in Puerto Rico), Celina Tio (Chef & Owner of Julian, in
Kansas City, Mo.), and Ming Tsai (Chef & Owner of Blue Ginger, in
Wellesley, Mass.).

This season, the contestants battle their way from Los Angeles to Las
Vegas to New York, for the right to compete in the finale in legendary
Kitchen Stadium. Along the way, they will be challenged to showcase
important Iron Chef attributes through their food: ingenuity,
innovation, resourcefulness, transformation, respect, inspiration,
seduction, and honor. Host Alton Brown puts the culinary warriors
through eight grueling tests that pay homage to American cuisine.
Challenges include: cooking on a desert island, catching their secret
ingredients in the wild, dreaming up a 5-Star luxury menu and turning
ordinary fair food into an Iron Chef worthy meal. Esteemed judges
Donatella Arpaia (restaurateur and food expert), Simon Majumdar (food
writer and broadcaster), and Iron Chef Michael Symon (chef and
restaurateur) critique the challenges and narrow down the competition.
The final two battle for supremacy in Kitchen Stadium in the season
finale on Sunday, November 21st, at 9pm ET/PT. The winner joins the
ranks of Symon, Bobby Flay, Masahaharu Morimoto, Mario Batali, Cat Cora
and Jose Garces and launches into instant fame as a member of the
Chairman’s team on Iron Chef America.

The winner begins their reign as Iron Chef with a heated Iron Chef
America battle on Sunday, November 28th at 9pm ET/PT. The Next Iron Chef
is produced by Triage Entertainment in conjunction with Food Network
and is based partially on the format Iron Chef owned by Fuji Television
Network, Inc.