And I couldn't find any repeats listed on Food Network. 
This will be on the Food Network, starting on Fridays, August 7, at 10pm.It looks like a mini TAR-style challenge for each show around the selected city where the Food Network team (Chris Cosentino and Aaron Sanchez, both formerly from the Next Iron Chef) will compete against two local foodie personalities in food based challenges around the city.
I have high hopes for this.
LAST EDITED ON 08-07-09 AT 10:23 PM (EST)The opponents for this week: Kelsey Nixon, from Next Food Network Star, Season 4, and Claire Robinson from 5 Ingredient Fix
Each team has been assigned a taxi, and have backpacks that have items that can be beneficial at the 5 stops on the course.....
Stop 1: Dylan's Candy Bar to match a candy to a flavor that's under a box...... the labels are removed from the bulk bins.....
Cinnamon, Pina Colada, and Cotton Candy.....
Aaron and Chris got done first, and took an early lead!
LAST EDITED ON 08-07-09 AT 10:22 PM (EST)Stop 2: Russ & Daughters, they first have to de-bone an entire whitefish, and then slice a salmon so thin that they're able to read a clue on the other side of a piece of plastic.....
Chris/Aaron were able to de-bone their whitefishes first, and Kelsey de-boned her fish bass ackwards! Instead of pulling the meat off of the bones, the was pulling the meat off of the skin!
LAST EDITED ON 08-07-09 AT 10:34 PM (EST)Stop 3: Brick Lane Curry, to eat their signature dish of Phaal, which is extra super-duper spicy. They have to use the coupons that they got for a Mango Lassi to be able to survive!
Aaron/Chris arrive first, and they get their first spoonfuls in before the drink arrives, and their mouths are on FIRE!!!!!
Kelsey/Claire arrive shortly behind, and they're also feeling the PAIN!
Chris finishes the dish by taking the Chili that was the garnish and drank the Lassi down to prevent it from blasting him!
Stop 4: The Pickle Guys, and all 4 of them are feeling the burn from the Phaal..... especially the girls!They have to fill a special pickle order, but because their taste buds are obliterated from the Phaal, they can't taste the subtle differences too well, and the stuff in the pickles will make their taste buds worse...... 10 pickles per pickle order.....
1/2 sour pickles
new pickles
hot new pickles
sauerkrautAs the girls just got in, the guys are on their way out!
Stop 5: The Dessert Truck, where the teams must make unique desserts from about 25 different items. Each must use a minimum of 3 ingredients in their dish, and then make and sell 5 servings.The guys arrived first and were in the process of making their desserts when the girls arrived.
Chris/Aaron got done selling their 10 desserts first, and raced to the finish line, which they crossed first to win!!!!!!!
Oh I'm bummed I missed this. Sounds like fun. Where are they going next week?And I couldn't find any repeats listed on Food Network.
Next week: Las Vegas!The NYC episode will repeat: August 15th @ 4pm EDT
Thanks Vince! Both shows are on my DVR now.(Psyche premiered this week too at the same time and usually I don't like anything that's on on Friday nights! And The Soup makes it three shows on at the same time. Tries to clone myself....
I just watched it - that was fun! But how cruel was the Indian phaal challenge (I couldn't have done that) and then follow it with the vinegary pickles!I get into NYC about 6 times a year - I'll have to check out those places (well definitely Dylan's candy and the Dessert Truck!)
Dylan's Candy Bar is gonna get a second rub this week..... it's the setting for Dinner: Impossible......
This week they're gonna get their own cars.......Their opponents: Stephen Hopcraft and Santanna Hobgrass from SeaBlue inside the MGM Grand Hotel.......
Stop 1: Mandalay Place, -5 Ice Lounge, the first permanent ice lounge in the US. Mittens and a hammer are in the bag for this stop..... Each team has to carve two channels down a block of ice and then mix up signature drinks of the bar to go down the channel to cups at the bottom of the block.......Aaron, wearing a mitten holding the glass and trying to pour a drink at the same time, dropped the measuring glass! The local chefs have taken the lead!
Stop 2: Gilcrease Orchards, just outside of the town......Grab 6 bushels of apples, and then crush them using an old-school apple press to make apple juice...... Chris/Aaron have probably left one of their mallets at the last stop....... which are needed for this one to break the apples down before they go into the press......
The local chefs lead out of this stop as well!
Stop 3: Bellagio's super-sized buffet.They have to find clues under plates of a mini-buffet. 100 items to eat, 10lbs of food total, approximately. 8 clues to find. Each plate has items of a couple of bites, they must eat every item on their buffet before they can go......
The locals had a lead, but Chris/Aaron caught up and thought they were done. However, they apparently missed a plate or two...... they missed the pickled ginger...
LAST EDITED ON 08-14-09 AT 10:46 PM (EST)Stop 4: Signature Towers next to the MGM Grand.....
They assembled the pieces to form a food order that they have to fulfill for a special room....... Correction, two different orders for two different rooms! They have to make the carts a special way, and then deliver their orders hot and on time......
Both teams got to the room of their first order almost at the same time, and then got tied up on the way down, because Chris/Aaron forgot their service elevator key, and I don't think the other team have found theirs yet......
Both teams have now got to run down the stairwell back to the kitchen.....
Second order is at Shibuya at the MGM Grand..... they need the key card from their backpacks...... to be delivered to the Skylofts. Both teams' orders were for members of Ka from Cirque de Soleil!
Stop 5: BLT Burgers at the MirageThey have to taste and identify all the ingredients for 3 different burgers...... the taster will be blindfolded!
The final burger threw both sides off because it was a pork and shrimp burgher with a spicy may and a few other difficult ingredients......
The local chefs get it right after a while, and take a lead to the mad dash to the finish!!!!!!!!
The locals have won the challenge!!!!!!! Only by about a minute or so, though.......
I'm loving this show. Las Vegas was another fun episode, although I think I would've hurled after eating all that food on the buffet!Funny story from DH. He goes to Las Vegas twice a year for a trade show. On the plane to Las Vegas once he was sitting next to a waiter from Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant. The waiter said you would not believe how many people come into the restaurant and ask "where's the buffet?"
LAST EDITED ON 08-21-09 AT 11:03 PM (EST)The opposition: Peter and Robert DePesa, brothers and restaraunteurs. They own/run Focaccia's
They will each have their own charter boat to start with, as well as their backpacks with handy items.......
Stop 1: Spectacle Island, in the Boston Harbor Bay...... Home of Summer Shack outdoor restaurant.They will create a beach clambake, and then find 20 clams for the pile to cook for the customers.....
They had to first dig a hole, then put 10 stones in the hole. After that, they put down a layer of seaweed, then the clams after they find them, along with lobster, potatoes, and corn on the cob, then another layer of seaweed, and finally a tarp that's been soaking and then bury it.
Aaron and Chris used the strainer (for the second half) to transport all of their stones and take a good lead....... which they get to finish the stop first!
LAST EDITED ON 08-21-09 AT 10:22 PM (EST)After they get back to the mainland, they get to jump into their cars.
Stop 2: Langham Hotel, home of the largest chocolate buffet in the country......
They must eat their way through their individual chocolate buffets...... each plate that they touch must have it's item eaten. There are 3 keys for each team. However, only one of those three keys will unlock their team's lockbox, which contains their next clue.
Aaron/Chris were in there first, but they can't find any when the brothers arrive. The brothers strategy once they got there was to eat as many things as they can, as fast as they can to try to catch up! The brothers find their first key, but it didn't work. Aaron find their first key and it worked! The brothers second key didn't work either..... They finally find the working key at the end.....
LAST EDITED ON 08-21-09 AT 11:10 PM (EST)Stop 3: Formaggio's Kitchen which happens to have a Cheese Cave, where they will definitely be heading.....
Chris/Aaron are arguing on how they're going to the next stop, but the brothers are using their local knowledge to get there first!
First they have to carry an 80 pound wheel of parmesan cheese from the cheese cave upstairs to the main area, where they will have to grate, shred, and shave 2 pounds each for a total of 6 pounds to deal with..... They have to break open the wheel to do all that, though.......Afterward, they have to eat an entire wheel of A Casinca cheese, a very pungent/flavorful goat's milk cheese.....
The brothers are having a hard time breaking open the cheese wheel, and when Chris/Aaron arrive, the brothers give them a little bit of a hard time about their driving misadventures...... However, Chris/Aaron use the tools properly to catch up and split the wheel a little bit faster.
Both teams almost complete at the same time, but then it's time to eat the el stinko cheese!
Chris/Aaron get done first, and head out!
Stop 4: The Omni Parker House, the birthplace of the Boston Cream Pie, which is really a cake.......They have to make a 10-layer high Boston Cream Pie, and once completed, carry it across the room to a cake pedestal where it must stand on it's own without toppling.
The brothers again use their local traffic knowledge to get to the stop first. They're worried, however. Neither have pastry skills, and figure that Aaron/Chris probably have some between the two of them.......The brothers were hurrying up, and creating an ugly Boston Cream Pie, while Aaron/Chris were making sure that theirs looked pretty good, and done quickly....
The brothers leave the stop first!
LAST EDITED ON 08-21-09 AT 11:00 PM (EST)Stop 5: Durgin Park, inside Fanueil Hall, which sells authentic Boston Baked Beans that take over 24 hours to make.........
After Aaron/Chris leave the previous stop, they catch up to the brothers and decide to follow them to the stop. The brothers then pull a sneaky trick: they stop at a green light and only move forward when the light turns yellow! Aaron/Chris get stuck at the red light!
First they have to sift through a bag of white beans to find 10 black beans. After they find the black beans, they trade them for 10 pots of Boston Baked Beans. They then take the pots outside, and either chow down them all by themselves, or use the spoons from their backpacks to recruit people to help them. Once their 10 pots are finished, they have to race to the finish line!The brothers find their beans first! Aaron/Chris weren't too far behind. The brothers seem to recruit a lot of guys to help them out, but Aaron/Chris seems to end up with a number of ladies.... The brothers finish their pots first! However, Chris/Aaron are right on their heels!
Chris/Aaron are the first team to completely cross the finish line and win!
Great finish with three of them crossing at the same time! This was another fun episode, but I liked the Las Vegas tasks better (two searching tasks in Boston?!).The brothers (who I could really imagine being obnoxious Red Sox fans at Fenway Park!
) had a real driving advantage. Most of the places where the challenges took place were in the old part of Boston whose streets started out as cow paths.
Durgin Park really is an institution (although now its become a tourist spot). My grandfather ate lunch almost every day of his working life there - when it was just a local working mans restaurant, way before that area was rejuvenated.
Where are they going next? My DVR cut off the end.
I just found the entire list, so I'm going to put all the cities up, in the order that they'll air, so we can have launching points for each episode!
(Airdate: August 28)The opponents: Anna Wankel and Melissa Perello
LAST EDITED ON 08-28-09 AT 10:45 PM (EST)This is Chris's hometown.
Both Anna and Melissa are originally from the Charles Nob Hill restaurant, and Chris also worked within the same company of restaurants.
Anna's also a firefighter.
Stop 1: 1 Ferry Building, a gourmet food court/food store.They grab a picnic basket, and are instructed that they have to get specific types of three items for a picnic. They then present the items to a judge. If wrong, they have to go back in and try again.
Vanilla Caviar, Cowgirl Creamery Cheese, and Blood Orange Olive Oil.
Chris/Aaron left first, but their Olive Oil was incorrect.
Annna/Melissa got it right, and have taken the lead!
LAST EDITED ON 08-28-09 AT 10:24 PM (EST)Stop 2: Y. Ben House in Chinatown
They have to deliver three different Dim Sum orders, but all the orders are in Chinese, and they have to use the character key to translate the orders.
Anna/Melissa got lost, and by the time that they arrived, Chris/Aaron are already on the 2nd order.
The third order's got a lot of weird items on it, and it turns out that the teams are going to have to eat it to continue!
Chicken Feet, Pork Blood, and Jellyfish
Chris/Aaron finish first and take the lead!
Stop 3: Boudin's Bakery at Fisherman's Wharf, the biggest producer of Sourdough bread in San Francisco.
They have to cut, weigh and roll 3 different types of bread. 24 8oz. Dinner Rolls, 18 11oz. Bread Bowls, and 16 19oz. Bread Loaves.......
Aaron/Chris barely get out of there first!
LAST EDITED ON 08-28-09 AT 11:07 PM (EST)Stop 4: Old Mandarin, a Mandarin-Islamic restaurant.
They have to eat a plate La Si Ni, one of the most spiciest dishes in the country, which is made of 5 different chilies, and it takes most diners an hour to only get halfway or so.......
The backpacks had bottles of milk to put out the fire.
Aaron, who bragged in the car about his eating ability, is having quite a few bouts of suffering!
Aaron/Chris finish first!
LAST EDITED ON 08-28-09 AT 11:01 PM (EST)Stop 5: California Culinary Academy.
The first half of the stop has them reassembling the 12 primal cuts of meat to reform the cow, basically. Each have half of a cow's worth of meat...... Both teams are having extreme difficulty.
Chris/Aaron finally figure it out and move on to the second half.
They then move to the pastry department, and decorate a cake to match an example cake.
The girls figure that they have an advantage, given their experience in pastry.
Once the cakes are finished, they have to carry it to the finish line!
Chris/Aaron finish their cake first, but the girls are right behind them!
Chris and Aaron win!
Now that was a Survivor-like gross food challenge!
(Airdate: September 4)The opponents: Gregg and Joey Morelli
The Morelli's are from Joey's Brickhouse. Italian/Jewish brothers.They're starting in Millenium Park this week.
Stop 1: Peoria Packing, one of the biggest sausage packing companies in Chicago.They have to first cut, grind, and season 25lbs of pork. Then they have use it to create 18 6-inch sausages.
Chris is using his experience in his meat curing business to dust the brothers in the sausage making portion..........
Chris/Aaron are out of there first!
LAST EDITED ON 09-07-09 AT 07:37 PM (EST)Stop 2: I Cream, where they make ice cream using syringes and liquid nitrogen!
They have to create a custom ice cream flavor and sell 4 cups per team member...... They have to follow the instructions very carefully, or it'll ruin the batch.......
Chris/Aaron have made ice cream first, but when Chris went to taste his batch, he double dipped! He has to remake his batch! Meanwhile, the brothers have arrived and have started to make their ice creams!It's a comedy of errors for Chris/Aaron: First Chris double dips, then Aaron forgets to put the thickener in before the liquid nitrogen and finally, he's misplaced his hat!
Both teams complete at about the same time, but Chris/Aaron have the lead.
LAST EDITED ON 09-09-09 AT 02:48 PM (EST)Stop 3: Moto. They're heading for Planet Cantu, the mad scientist of the culinary world. They have a Cuban sandwich that's shaped like a Cuban cigar, and many other foods that look nothing like they're supposed to taste like.......
Chris/Aaron have lost their dossier, though! Turns out that it fell off of the front seat and under it......
They have to taste pieces of paper, and use both the taste and the visual clue on the papers to label them...... 25 labels, though......
They're tasting the papers, but not looking at the visual clue.... Chris/Aaron finally figured it out.........
The brothers call for a check, and only have 1 of the 5 flavors correct.
Chris/Aaron got 4 of 5, then looked again at the shrimp cocktail's picture and completed the stop!
LAST EDITED ON 09-09-09 AT 03:35 PM (EST)Stop 4: Superdawg Drive In, the oldest carhop diner in Chicago.
Teams will have to deliver 3 orders of food to waiting cars in the parking lot. One team member will man a special table with all of the possible ingredients, while the other will don roller skates and safety gear and skate the food order to the cars...... and to make matters worse, it's about to rain!
Aaron is skating, but he hasn't done it in a long while, and is struggling......
The brother's skater is getting around better, and he's also yelling out the order to his brother on the way back, which also speeds things up......
The brothers barely finish the stop first!
Stop 5: Lou Malnati's, the birthplace of the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.
The teams must first recreate two of Lou Malnati's signature pizzas (including cooking of it....) under the watchful eye of Marc Malnati, the current owner. Then they will have to deliver the two pizzas to the provided address.......They will have to make a "Lou Pizza", which is a vegeterian pizza and a Sausage Pizza.
The brothers put way too much sausage on their sausage pizza..... it gets corrected quickly enough.....
All of the pizzas are finished and ready to go into the oven at about the same time, and they fight for oven space. All eventually find a spot.The provided address is the John Hancock building, 94th floor..... Table 4 and Table 6.........
And they find two empty tables..... "Your delivery's complete, now choose one to eat!" They've gotta eat one of those deep dish pizzas between the two of them! Both teams choose the sausage pizzas, which is ironic considering that they started the challenge making sausages.........
Chris/Aaron finish their pizza first, and they're off to the finish line! The brothers get inspired by that and finally finish their pizza!Chris and Aaron win!
A black hole appeared on my DVR and didn't tape it Friday night (but 9/11's episode is in the cue, go figure) so I have to wait until Saturday to see Chicago's episode...I'll try to not peak at the winner while I'm waiting!
(Airdate September 11)The opponents: Amy Powell, owner of Big Ed's Gourmet Hot Dogs, and Nino Linsmayer, owner of Food Lab Cafe Catering.
(This was really supposed to be the pilot episode..... and it shows..... there is a "You might find these useful" note on the backpacks, and for at least the first stop, there was no at-the-stop signpost to tell them what they're doing.......)The starting line is Man's Chinese Theatre this week.
Stop 1: Semler Wines winery in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Each team must stomp enough grape juice to fill 8 wine glasses......
The foodies think they know a shortcut, but it turns out that they end up getting there about a minute after Aaron/Chris!
Aaron/Chris finish the stop first!
Chris/Aaron get out of there first by about a minute or two.....Stop 2: Compartes Chocolatier, in Brentwood.
Each team must taste and identify the two flavors in eight different truffles....... and there are 20 different flavor combinations to choose from...... Also, this one they can ask whether it's right or wrong one at a time.......
Chris/Aaron get lost on their way there...... and there's the stop thing telling the teams what to do.....
The locals have correctly identified all 8 flavors just before Chris/Aaron have even arrived! They're outta there! Complete dusting!
(Quick montage of Chris/Aaron going through the second stop at a much quicker pace to try to catch up....)Stop 3: Chili My Soul in Encino. It's home to the Inferno, a chili so spicy, the chef has to don protective gloves!
They each have to eat 4 bowls of chili, each bowl getting spicier and spicier......
The locals are drinking water to try to douse the fire, while Chris/Aaron start drinking milk..... which is a better idea....
When the locals get to the Inferno, the last and spiciest bowl, they finally realize that's what the milk was for........
The locals finish the stop first!!!!! But they're feeling the pain!
(Montage of Chris/Aaron struggling on the Inferno, especially Aaron.....)Stop 4: Bangkok Market
Both teams have been given a shopping list, and the ingredient names were in Thai...... They're going to have to make something that includes the "king of fruits", Durian, the stinkiest fruits in the world!
Somehow, some way, using the freeway, Chris/Aaron have made there first!
Teams are going to have to use the ingredients to make a drink and they'll have to drink a cup's worth.....
Chris/Aaron get assistance from the person at the register translating the ingredient list, while the locals are asking everyone but her!
Aaron chop! PU! And it tastes nasty by itself.... and the Thai shoppers are laughing at both team's misfortunes with the smell.....
Once they get everything mixed in, the Durian's taste fades away, fortunately...... Unfortunately for the locals, they didn't puree their mixture enough.....
Chris/Aaron manage to finish a minute or two ahead of the locals!
Chris/Aaron have a V8 moment when they realize that the nose plugs that were in the backpacks were for the Durian.....Stop 5: Mariasol at Santa Monica Pier
Teams must make, and then sell, 10 Mariasol tacos....
The locals are panicing, due to their speculation that cooking's involved....... and they would be at a definitive disadvantage if they're right (and they are fortunate that it appears to just be cutting up the ingredients.....)
Aaron/Chris complete making their tacos first, and they're using their celebrity status to their advantage..... and they've finished selling their tacos first, but the locals happened to have sold their last taco a lot closer to the finish line, and the locals have won!!!!!!!!!
I missed the part that L.A. was supposed to be the pilot for the show. You can tell because there were some odd comments by Aaron about Chris and their teamwork that didn't make sense after seeing them race together for several weeks.Has anyone ever seen either of their shows? I like Chris, but Aaron bugs me with his cockiness. I often end up cheering for the locals because of him.
On the Food Network site L.A. was labeled as Episode #1, which sounds like a pilot to me.....Chris Cosentino doesn't have a show, unless you count the appearances on The Best Thing I Ever Ate......
Aaron Sanchez doesn't really have a show either, but he's been doing a lot of judging for Chopped.........
I like the fact that just about every time Aaron's been cocky, they end up faceplanting immediately afterwards.......
Big Ed's Gourmet Hot Dogs? Why didn't anyone tell me?
(Airdate: September 18)The opponents: Alfred Singleton and Stephanie Bernard of Dickie Brennens Steak House
I had the best steak of my life at Dickie Brennen's Steakhouse in New Orleans. We'll see how well their chef skills translate to racing.
(If I still have the tape, I really should do the play by play for last season's N'Awlins episode.........)From what I saw from the commercial: this season their opponents will all be Food Network personalities, and they will face off with them in their hometowns. Considering that I saw Robert Irvine (Philadelphia, I think) and Duff Goldman (Baltimore) as some of those involved, it should be an interesting set of cities that they go through...........
4/18 @ 10pm Miami: Claire Robinson (looking for revenge from New York) and Sunny Anderson4/25 @ 9pm Atlanta: Team Dinner: Impossible of Robert Irvine and his favorite sous chef George Galati
5/2 @ 9pm Savannah: Jamie and Bobby Dean (Paula's sons)
5/9 @ 9pm Dallas: Let's call this team Team Next Food Network Star: Aaron McCargo, Jr. (Season 4 winner) and Adam Gertler (Season 4 runner-up)
5/16 @ 9pm Phoenix: WTF? How in the bloody heck did they convince this team to battle in this town? Team Charm City Cakes (Ace of Cakes): Duff Goldman and Geoffrey Manthorne (the business is based in Baltimore......)
5/30 @ 9pm Hollywood: Daisy Roman and David Rosenberger (this is the only non-Food Network related team)
Glad it's coming back. This is one of those shows that I record and watch when I want something entertaining, mindless and not serious, like when eating dinner or lunch.
I agree. I have a DVR in my kitchen so I can watch things like this when I'm cooking dinner and doing other odd jobs.Thanks for the heads up Vince!
Cooked up by Foonermints
I'm a little behind in watching but I have seen Miami. OMG Aron is such a drama king!
Cappy's Springtime
