The fourth season of Next Food Network Star will kick off on June 1. The new batch of smiling contestants are on deck and Iron Chef Bobby Flay will join the show as a weekly celebrity judge.
Do you plan to watch this season? Or after Top Chef Chicago and Hell's Kitchen will you have had your reality show fill? Last year's series of Next Food Network Star was Food Network’s highest-rated, most-watched series ever. The full list of contestants is after the jump ...
Any early favorites? There's a wide range of ages in this year's line up and we always like to see home cooks competing side-by-side with the pros (and a stand-up comic!).
We're planning to interview contestants from the show. Let us know if you've questions for the contestants or suggestions for the show.
Here's the full list of Season Four contestants, listed in the order they appear in the photo, left to right:
Nipa Bhatt, 35 (Victoria, MN) Marketing manager
Shane Lyons, 20 (Colorado Springs, CO) Private chef
Adam Gertler, 30 (Philadelphia, PA) Former restaurateur, server and actor
Lisa Garza, 32 (Dallas, TX) Owner, Suze Restaurant and kitchenwear fashion designer
Aaron McCargo Jr., 36 (Camden, NJ) Executive Catering Chef, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Jennifer Cochrane, 32 (Woonsocket, RI) Executive Chef, Geppetto’s and Briggs Corner restaurants
Kevin Roberts, 39 (San Diego, CA) Radio contributor, restaurant owner & cookbook author
Kelsey Nixon, 23 (North Ogden, UT) Freelance food writer, culinary class instructor'
Jeffrey Vaden, 43 (White Plains, NY) Caterer and former restaurateur
Cory Kahaney, 45 (New York, NY) Stand-up comic and playwright
(Image: Food Network)
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Interesting.
What if there were a show called, "The Next Design Network Star" and the contestants had little to no professional design training and experience?
This seems to me like the Food Network plan to get away from the professional food attitude and to simply provide entertainment.
How many diners, drive-ins and dives are left? How many pounds of ground beef can Rachel Ray cook? Will the DoubleDare guy ever retire? How many cakes that look like engine blocks and baseball fields can someone make?
I think the contestants need to question whether or not they would feel comfortable shilling bad food for chain restaurants and learn about the craft of cooking.
view art's profile
I suspect they'll be doing thorough background checks on all of the contestants after the debacle last year.
view Aldyth's profile
Hey, Cory Kahaney was on Last Comic Standing a few seasons ago too. That's an interesting reality tv crossover...
view Laura (murray hill)'s profile
Ugh, I stopped watching Food Network a long time ago, about the time it started losing its integrity. They really ought to consider changing the name to Entertainment-involving-food-but-not-really-making-it-because-we're-too-busy-raising-celebrity-chefs Network.
view spaceagemouse's profile
OMG, LISA GARZA IS HOT!!!! IF SHE CAN'T COOK SHE CAN MODEL!!!
view bigtalk's profile