'Chopped All-Stars' Is Back

NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Network's top-rated hit Chopped All-Stars returns for a second season filled with fan-favorite chefs, unexpected ingredients, and fierce competition for a $50,000 prize for charity on Sunday, April 8^th at 9pm ET/PT.  In each of the five themed episodes, hosted by Ted Allen, four specially selected chefs are challenged to create three masterful courses from ingredients in the mystery basket, ranging from beef tendon and crawfish, to black beans with queso fresco and chicken feet. Chopped All-Stars kicks off with Iron Chefs battling in the Chopped kitchen, followed by competitions between Food Network/Cooking Channel show hosts, Food Network Star finalists and Chopped judges. A rotating roster of top-notch judges will decide who gets "chopped" each week, leading up to a final showdown between the four episode winners on Sunday, May 6^th at 9pm ET/PT, where the $50,000 grand prize to the winner's charity of choice will be awarded.

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"Chopped All-Stars proved to be a huge success in its first season, and season two really takes the challenge to another level, even pitting Iron Chef against Iron Chef and putting Chopped judges to the test," said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President Programming, Food Network. "Food Network viewers can look forward to some incredible creativity and entertainment in the Chopped kitchen – all for a good cause."

Episodes include:

Part 1, "Iron Chefs Do Battle" Premieres Sunday, April 8th at 9pm ET/PT
Competitors: Iron Chefs Cat Cora, Marc Forgione, Jose Garces and Michael Symon
Judges: Scott Conant, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian

Part 2, "Prime Time vs. Day Time" Premieres Sunday, April 15th at 9pm ET/PT
Competitors: Show hosts Keegan Gerhard (Food Network Challenge), Jeffrey Saad (United Tastes of America, Cooking Channel), Aarti Sequeira (Aarti Party) and Marcela Valladolid (Mexican Made Easy)
Judges: Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian

Part 3, "Food Network Star Contestants" Premieres Sunday, April 22nd at 9pm ET/PT
Competitors: Food Network Star Season Seven Finalists Justin Balmes, Penny Davidi, Vic "Vegas" Moea and Chris Nirschel
Judges: Scott Conant, Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez

Part 4, "Judge Remix" Premieres Sunday, April 29th at 9pm ET/PT
Competitors: Chopped judges Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy, Marcus Samuelsson and Chris Santos
Judges: Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez, Geoffrey Zakarian

Part 5, "Grand Finale" Premieres Sunday, May 6th at 9pm ET/PT
Competitors: Prior episode winners
Judges: Anne Burrell, Amanda Freitag, Aaron Sanchez

Chopped premiered in January 2009 and consistently ranks as one of Food Network's highest-rated primetime series.  Hosted by Ted Allen, the fast-paced competition series challenges four chefs to turn mystery basket ingredients into an impressive three-course meal.  After each course, one contestant gets "chopped" until the last chef standing claims victory. 

Emmy Award winner Ted Allen is the host of Chopped and the author of the upcoming cookbook "In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks" debuting in May, 2012, and an earlier book, "The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes," both from Clarkson-Potter.  Allen also has been a contributing writer to Esquire magazine since 1996. Previously, he was the food and wine specialist on the groundbreaking Bravo series Queer Eye, a judge on Food Network's Iron Chef America and a judge on Bravo's Top Chef.

Chopped and Chopped All-Stars are produced by Notional Entertainment.

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers' best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring and empowering through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to more than 100 million U.S. households and averages more than 9.9 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine has tripled its rate base and delivers a circulation of 1.4 million. Headquartered in New York, Food Network has a growing international presence with programming in more than 150 countries, including 24 hour networks in Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates Cooking Channel (www.cookingchanneltv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), and Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), is the manager and general partner.

SOURCE Food Network