By Lori Acken
Follow @ChannelGuideLLA
I’m going to make a prediction right now: The winner of Next Iron Chef‘s fourth season will be a star. Guaranteed. Hundred percent.
How do I know? Because he or she already is one.
When the new season debuts with a 90-minute premiere on Oct. 30, Food Network fans will be served a veritable buffet of familiar faces from the network, plus a few side dishes from Cooking Channel and Bravo’s food contest megahit Top Chef.
Currently sharpening their knives — and their wit — to join Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto, Cat Cora, Jose Garces, Michael Symon and Marc Forgione in defending Kitchen Stadium against a fresh slew of world-class competitors:
Anne Burrell – Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Worst Cooks in America (Food Network), Chopped All Stars,
former right-hand woman to Iron Chef Batali
Michael Chiarello – Bottega Restaurant (Napa Valley), Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello (Cooking Channel)
Elizabeth Faulkner – Citizen Cake, Orson (San Francisco), Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)
Alex Guarnaschelli – Butter, The Darby (New York), Alex’s Day Off, Chopped (Food Network), Chopped All Stars (sweet news for those of us who were crushed to not see her among her fellow judges competing in All Stars)
Chuck Hughes – Garde Manger (Montreal), Chuck’s Day Off (Cooking Channel), Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network) and the November premiere Chuck’s Week Off.
Robert Irvine – Robert Irvine’s eat! (Hilton Head Island), Dinner: Impossible, Restaurant: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America (Food Network)
Beau MacMillan – Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain (Phoenix), Challenge, Iron Chef America – challenger (Food Network)
Spike Mendelsohn – Good Stuff Eatery (Washington D.C.), Kelsey & Spike Cook (Food2.com), Top Chef, Top Chef Masters
Marcus Samuelsson – Red Rooster Harlem (New York), 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped (Food Network), Chopped All Stars, Top Chef, Top Chef Masters
Geoffrey Zakarian – The National, The Lambs Club (New York), 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped (Food Network), Chopped All Stars
Good Eats mastermind Alton Brown will host once again and the original ‘Next Iron Chef’ Michael Symon, food writer Simon Majumdar and Brit Iron Chef Judy Joo will judge.
Check out the November issue of Channel Guide Magazine for exclusive scoop from Alton Brown, Robert Irvine, Anne Burrell and Chuck Hughes about the Super Chef season of Next Iron Chef — and where you’ll be seeing them next.
And tell us — who will you be rooting for when Next Iron Chef premieres Oct. 30 at 9pm ET on Food Network?