Meet The Next Iron Chef Judges and Get a Sneak Peek of the First Episode

By: Sarah De Heer
next iron chef judges

NIC5_EPISODE1_RESOURCEFULNESS

Judges Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian, Simon Majumdar and Donatella Arpaia at the Chairman's Challenge "Resourcefulness" as seen on Food Network's Next Iron Chef, Redemption, Season 5.

Photo by: Eddy Chen/Creel Films ©2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Eddy Chen/Creel Films, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

A roster of acclaimed chefs will return for a second chance to become a member of the Iron Chef culinary society this fall, with the premiere of The Next Iron Chef: Redemption on Sunday, November 4 at 9 pm ET/PT. Earlier last month, FN Dish revealed the seven returning chefs and two newcomers:

  • Nate Appleman, Amanda Freitag, Eric Greenspan and Jehangir Mehta from The Next Iron Chef Season Two
  • Elizabeth Falkner, Alex Guarnaschelli and Spike Mendelsohn from the cast of The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs
  • First-time Next Iron Chef competitors Tim Love and Marcel Vigneron

The tenth slot will go to the winner of a Web-exclusive competition taking place on FoodNetwork.com starting October 12. The four chefs taking part in the Web battle are: Duskie Estes and Robert Treviño, who have previously competed on The Next Iron Chef, and newcomers Lee Anne Wong and Madison Cowan.

The Next Iron Chef: Redemption kicks off on "Redemption Beach," where the chefs' resourcefulness is tested in a grueling Chairman's Challenge with a devious twist: Each must cook with the ingredient that sent them packing last time. Given another chance with this ingredient and only bare essentials, hot coals and one hour on the clock, some rise to the occasion while others go down in flames. The two least-successful chefs go to the Secret Ingredient Showdown, a sudden-death cook-off that leads to the first elimination.

next iron chef judges

Cast of Next Iron Chef as seen on Food Network's, Next Iron Chef Season 5

Photo by: Kevin Lynch ©2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Kevin Lynch, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Upcoming episodes continue to push the limits, including a canned food to Kitchen Stadium-worthy cuisine challenge, a Las Vegas buffet battle with an appearance by legendary magician David Copperfield and a "last supper" showdown.

Returning judges Donatella Arpaia and Simon Majumdar are joined by last season's winner and newest Iron Chef, Geoffrey Zakarian, on the judging panel, along with appearances from Iron Chefs Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon.

The newly crowned Iron Chef's first battle in Kitchen Stadium will premiere on Sunday, December 30 at 9pm ET/PT.

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