OPEN UP THE COOLER AND GET READY FOR SUMMER FUN IN NEW SERIES "ULTIMATE SUMMER COOK-OFF"

Four-Part Tournament Premieres Sunday, August 5th at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network

Hosted by Eddie Jackson, Six Talented Chefs Compete in Summer Culinary Challenges

NEW YORK - June 27, 2018 - Six talented chefs enter the summer house to square off in the new primetime culinary series, Ultimate Summer Cook-Off, premiering Sunday, August 5th at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network. Whether it's a chef with a restaurant right on the beach, a seafood master, or a chef from Hawaii, each competitor has their own connection to the summer season and their culinary reputations at stake. Host Eddie Jackson challenges the chefs over four episodes, as each competitor must take on two rounds of summer culinary heats that test their skill and creativity. The chef who wins the first challenge in each episode will receive a key advantage during round two, gaining access to a special cooler with high-end ingredients that no other competitor can use, before presenting their creations to a panel of expert judges. Southern and Hungry's Damaris Phillips and Let's Eat's Jamika Pessoa are joined by a roster of special guest judges each week, including Comfort Food Tour's Mark Anderson and Ryan Fey, BBQ blogger Susie Bulloch, Comfort Nation's Lazarus Lynch, Genius Kitchen's Courtney Rada and pitmaster Cameron Treu, to determine which chef exemplifies what summer is all about with their dishes and earns the $25,000 grand prize.

"Summer is synonymous with spending time with family and friends, while gathering around the grill to dig in to some finger-licking BBQ," said Courtney White, General Manager and Executive Vice President, Programming, Food Network and HGTV. "Eddie Jackson is the perfect host to challenge these six chefs in taking their culinary bona fides and placing them on the line, while creating summer dishes that are fun and exhilarating for a chance at walking away with $25,000."

In the premiere episode, host Eddie Jackson presents the chefs with the first challenge: they will have 30 minutes to whip up their best backyard burger, with each chef randomly choosing a cooler with ingredients to use in their dish. Judges Damaris Phillips and Jamika Pessoa are joined by Mark Anderson and Ryan Fey to choose the best backyard burger, with the winner receiving a key advantage in the next round. In round two, the chefs make the quintessential American summer dish - hot dogs! The chefs have 60 minutes to create one fully loaded hot dog and one fully unexpected hot dog. In the end, one chef is sent home for the summer, while the rest continue in pursuit of the grand prize. Other challenges during the season include creating an entire summer dinner with a travel destination theme and having 30 minutes to prepare an outrageous six-foot-long lobster roll, all culminating with the last three chefs battling it out in the finale on Sunday, August 26th at 8pm ET/PT, to determine who wins Food Network's Ultimate Summer Cook-Off and $25,000!

Get to know the summer cook-off challengers and see photos and highlights of their dishes at FoodNetwork.com/SummerCookOff. To enjoy the ultimate summer culinary experience, share your favorite summer dishes using #SummerCookOff.

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, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine's rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment whose portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.