FOOD NETWORK WILL ANNOINT A NEW IRON CHEF

New Season of "The Next Iron Chef" Premieres Sunday, October 4th at 9pm ET/PT

NEW YORK � July 30, 2009 � Kitchen Stadium once again opens its doors to find a new culinary warrior in the sizzling primetime series The Next Iron Chef, it was announced today by Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production, Food Network. Hosted by Alton Brown (Good Eats, Iron Chef America), the reality competition premieres on Sunday, October 4th at 9pm ET/PT and will challenge ten top chefs from around the country in a series of demanding situations, testing their culinary skills and mental toughness.

"It's thrilling to see what these ten top chefs can create when pushed to their limits in this series," said Bob Tuschman, Senior Vice President, Programming and Production for Food Network. "These world class chefs display extraordinary culinary skills and creativity as they battle it out for the supreme title of Iron Chef."

The ten contestants include: Nate Appleman (Chef/Butcher, New York, NY), Dominique Crenn (Chef de Cuisine, Luce at InterContinental San Francisco, San Francisco, CA), Brad Farmerie (Executive Chef, Double Crown, Madam Geneva, PUBLIC and The Monday Room, New York, NY), Amanda Freitag (Executive Chef, The Harrison, New York, NY), Jose Garces (Executive Chef & Owner, Amada, Tinto, Distrito, Chifa, Philadelphia, PA), Eric Greenspan (Executive Chef & Owner, The Foundry on Melrose, Los Angeles, CA), Jehangir Mehta (Executive Chef & Owner, Graffiti, New York, NY), Seamus Mullen (Executive Chef & Partner, Boqueria Flatiron and Boqueria Soho, New York, NY), Holly Smith (Chef & Owner, Cafe Juanita and Poco Carretto Gelato, Kirkland, WA) and Roberto Trevi�o (Executive Chef & Owner, Budatai, San Juan, PR).

This season, the series - with the help of sponsor American Airlines - will take the contestants from Los Angeles to Japan to New York to compete in the food fight of their professional lives. They will be challenged to create dishes that represent a variety of world cultures and cuisines. Whether working with exotic ingredients like jelly fish, creating their own version of international "fast food" or experiencing umami with sponsor Kikkoman, the chefs must demonstrate their speed, artistry, innovation and leadership in each dish. With the help of the judges � Donatella Arpaia (restaurateur and owner of acclaimed New York City restaurants davidburke&donatella and Anthos), Jeffrey Steingarten (Food Critic, Vogue, New York, NY) and Anya Fernald (Sustainable Food Consultant, San Francisco, CA) � the contestants will be narrowed down until two remain to battle it out in Kitchen Stadium and earn the right to be called Iron Chef. The winner will join the ranks of Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon and be launched into instant fame as a member of the Chairman�s team on Iron Chef America.

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FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network and Web site that strives to be way more than cooking. The network is committed to exploring new and different ways to approach food - through pop culture, competition, adventure, and travel - while also expanding its repertoire of technique-based information. Food Network is distributed to more than 98 million U.S. households and averages more than 9 million unique Web site users monthly. Food Network programming is available internationally in more than 150 countries. Food Network is headquartered in New York, and maintains offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville, Tenn. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com) and Fine Living Network (www.fineliving.com), is the manager and general partner.