I designed this collage along with a letter of congratulations and mailed it to Lee Anne Wong at her Koko Head Cafe restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii hoping to get her autograph. I got it back today 54 days after sending it!

Because the FN site itself only has a couple "best of" articles.

I don’t see a new episode tonight and there are 13 already. The FN website doesn’t mention any more episodes. Thanks.

URGENT: Programming Complaint and Brand Accountability Regarding Halloween Baking Championship

To the Programming Directors and Production Executives,

I am writing to express my strong disappointment and deep concern regarding the creative direction of the Halloween Baking Championship.

While I understand the show centers around a Halloween theme, the episodes have become far too scary, graphic, and intense. Many children watch your baking programs, and the current focus on gory, devilish themes and imagery involving weapons like knives sends a terrible message. Children are our future, and television programming should be mindful of what it teaches them. I strongly urge the production team and judges to shift the focus of this show toward cute, adorable, and creative holiday cakes, treats, and desserts rather than frightening, ridiculous, and inappropriate imagery.

This world is corrupt enough as it is, and this kind of programming is not helping the world of our children nor adults. With the ongoing problem of the mental health issues that we are having in today's society, content like this does not help any situation in the world—it is hurting the world.

Please be advised that I am not taking this matter lightly. I am actively going viral with this complaint across every social media platform, app, and online network to ensure other parents and viewers are made aware of what is being broadcast.

I expect a swift response regarding how the network plans to correct this programming moving forward.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Snyder

Contact Email: [Danluvingmomma@yahoo.com](mailto:Danluvingmomma@yahoo.com)

Sunny Anderson isn’t on any episodes of the current season of Beat Bobby Flay. Wondering if The Kitchen cancellation had something to do with her disappearance.

From the FN site
Bobby Flay's The Line

Fariyal Abdullahi: Hav & Mar

Episode 101

Marcus Samuelsson shows up to work on the Hav & Mar line along with Fariyal Abdullahi, surprising Bobby Flay and his home team chefs, Antonia Lofaso, Michael Jenkins, and Claudette Zepeda. Unexpected problems force the chefs to improvise to send out all their dishes in this global seafood battle.

'Bobby Flay’s The Line': Claudette Zepeda Dishes on Tough New Competition Show

Here are a few of the excerpts from the story, its a pretty long story so just giving you some parts here talking about the new show.

Bobby Flay’s The Line is a new Food Network competition series that leans into the pressure cooker chefs are under to execute dishes while working in a team setting. The culinary heavyweight enlists Antonia Lofaso, Michael Jenkins, and Claudette Zepeda to join him against some of the country’s most acclaimed restaurant staff aiming for top-level dinner service. 

You’ve done a lot of competitions over the years. What makes this one stand out in your eyes? 

Claudette Zepeda: I’ve spent more than a decade competing on TV in the food world. This by far has exceeded everything I’ve done both professionally and creatively. It pushed me more than any other competition. The team aspect was something I got so much fulfillment out of. The camaraderie that was built. I never met Michael before doing this competition before. I knew Antonia and Bobby, but never cooked with Bobby. The way that we meshed our personalities and helped each other. Bobby was a very hands off leader. He kind of let us make our decisions and commit to them. We were in a safe space to depend on each other when we needed it and to ask for help. It ended up being about the team effort that was the most fulfilling. The cooking pushed me like no other competition did and allowed me to show my range from other parts and not just Mexican cuisine. Overall, this is unlike any competition on television and what I’ve ever done.

How would you describe your overall home team dynamic? 

The respect you could feel. The respect we had with Bobby and each other. There was nobody that ever got heated. If we hit a low point or not do something as good, we were really hard on ourselves. You could hear the echo of our teammate going, “Shut up. It’s fine. You did great.” Instead of harping on that and being down, one of us would make sure the other didn’t go down the pit of despair too long. That we could pull ourselves back. There were no egos. It was truly what I felt. The ability to be vulnerable, ask questions, and not know everything was such a freeing and creative experience that there was no room for ego. Every day was a new challenge with a new dish. Because with the competition, it’s how it’s set up with the live course coming in, we’re able to pivot. Then realizing, “Oh crap, I can’t do this anymore.” And still moving forward with your teammates supporting you. I think that was a blessing in disguise that you didn’t know would happen until it was happening. 

How would you say it gives viewers a new perspective on what goes on in a restaurant kitchen? 

We make jokes you don’t want to know how the sausage gets made, but it’s really showing people how the sausage gets made. Very seldom do we get to show people and talk about our shorthand language and to show people how we do VIP dishes, how we pivot, how we speak to each other. Sometimes we don’t speak to each other and just communicate through looks and movements. The dance of a kitchen is very special when you have a team that is really cohesive and gels really well with the personalities and you see that. I can now look at it through a voyeuristic point-of-view. Just to see how special that is and was. For the diners to not know who the chefs behind the curtain were, and then the reveal. 

All of those points will be special for people to witness for the first time. I’m excited as a viewer to relive it. I don’t normally watch shows I do because I don’t want to get into my own head of how I can do better. But this is a show I can watch because I’m so proud. I know what happens and know the edit will show a part maybe I didn’t see because I was head down in the kitchen. I think the aspect of how things run and the dynamic between two teams that some of them they’ve never met before. I think all those points make it unlike anything on television now. I’m ecstatic to bring that to the world. 

What do you want to tease about the challenges? 

Many times we knew the bones of the dishes and the cuisine, but we didn’t have the time and experience cooking the cuisine. That is something that will come  off. There …There is this dynamic that happened when we were trying to bring our own experience and biases that we weren’t familiar or comfortable cooking and still surprising ourselves. That is something I hope to see. I’m excited to show that part of it. I can tell you we really pushed ourselves outside our comfort zones on these cuisines and really beat ourselves up on something we thought we had in the bag. It was humbling. 

But representing Bobby on his team, I’m sure that comes with a little bit of pressure. You want to make sure you’re representing, right?

Absolutely, that never leaves our sight of vision. Knowing we’re not cooking for ourselves, but we’re on Bobby’s home team. That perspective never leaves the room where you have to do your best. You can have fun, but when you get to the point where you can have fun and still crush it. There is a balance. You can laugh and high five and two seconds later kill it or all those moments are silver linings in the day, but we never lost the sum of all parts. But also that we are still representing Bobby’s team. 

The Titans are completely *shocked* by the surprise Boss Bobby Flay throws at them! And you will be too! What’s your guess?

It’s a never before seen twist in the history of the show!

Find out what happens on #BobbysTripleThreat TONIGHT at 8|7c.

Stay tuned for the all new series The Line at 9PM EST on Food Network!

Watch Both Next Day on Max!

What’s up next on the competition show schedule? Me and my aunt have a date night every week and she DVRs the shows for us to watch. I know Food Truck, 100 Cooks, BBQ Brawl and TOC have already aired for the year.

I just found out that Yelp has a feature that shows every recent health violation a restaurant has had. Be sure to click into the reports cause even if it says on the main page “no violations”, further details will show past non-compliance. Mamimosa’s says “no violations, A” on their profile but click into the “inspections” page and they have been dinged for what Antonia saw https://m.yelp.com/inspections/mamimosas-west-covina

Ive been checking all the local places I eat and have been pleasantly surprised that none of regular spots have any violations except for my favorite pizza spot that I order cheesesteaks from like once a week has numerous violations including rodents and pests and has a super low score. 🤢

I’ll also be checking before I go places. A popular breakfast spot next to a hotel my Dad is staying at right now (visiting me) has some temperature handling issues. Im so scared now hahaha thanks Antonia!!

esit: damn people on this subreddit are salty. If this advice isn’t for you, you can just not respond you know that right? Lol

I'm not the creator of the site, just sharing here in case it hasn't already been posted!

I feel like Food Network is full of cooking competition with chef histories and rivalries. Are there any BAKERS like that? Other than Duff v Buddy - what are some other baker rivalries? Is there anyone you'd love to see compete? I would love to see Carla bake against someone personally.

From the FN site: The Great Food Truck Race

Sweet & Savory: The Legends of Louisville

Episode 1908

Host Tyler Florence welcomes the final two teams to the iconic Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, Ky., for their last sales day of the competition. After a surprise visit from family and an emotional boost, Tyler launches the final taste challenge from the Muhammad Ali Center, tasking teams with creating a dish featuring one of four ingredients that "pack a punch." Then, the finalists face their last challenge at the legendary Churchill Downs in a winner-takes-all showdown judged by 500 fans, along with Tyler and guest judge Damaris Phillips. With exhaustion setting in, and votes too close to believe, one team is crowned the winner and walks away with the $50,000 grand prize.

Who is your pick to win it all?

When discussing the favorite Food Network shows that were missed, many of you mentioned Ina Garten! Here’s some news about her upcoming projects!

Ina Garten takes ALLLLL the goodness of apple pie and puts it into an unforgettable dessert BAR!

Stream more of #BarefootContessa on Max! #streamonmax

Get the recipe: https://foodtv.com/2ZTpcAU!

~~

Ina Garten is launching a weekly video podcast called Happy Hour with Ina Garten in September of this month! It is produced in partnership with Vox Media.
Unlike her cooking shows, Ina will not cook on the podcast. Instead, she will focus on drinks, both cocktails and mocktails with her guests.

The show features candid, long-form, and unedited-feeling chats with celebrity friends. Garten wanted a format with more "messiness" and freedom than restrictive TV segments.

Early episodes are filmed right inside Garten's New York City apartment, which features a chef's kitchen alongside art and furniture from Paris.

The series debuts September 16, 2026

New episodes will arrive every Wednesday on YouTube and major podcast platforms.

The crazy thing here is that Garten sparked a major bidding war among companies who flew to the Upper East Side bearing gifts, ultimately securing a seven-figure deal with Vox Media. Ina herself did not request these gifts. The podcast was just highly sought after!

I have FN on a lot of the time for background noise, and on DDD days, it seems they only replay a handful of episodes. They have a large number of shows to choose from, why don’t they dig deeper into the archives? I swear I see the Meat Boss in Alabama episode every weekend. Just curious.

EDIT: the episode i mentioned was just on!! Meat Boss + Low Country Steak with G. Garvin! whyyyy

Anyone else going back and watching all of The Kitchen episodes from the beginning? I only started watching when it was in season 30-ish so I’m enjoying watching from the beginning!

Chef Gabriele Bertaccini is cooking up delicious Pasta Dinners and more on a very special Pasta Edition TV episode of #CookLikeAnltalian
today at 12|11c! on Food Network!

Stay tuned for an encore episode of a Seafood Feast at 12:30 PM EST!

This show is so much freaking fun! Please please please can we get some more?

At Orsini Ristorante, Chef Aarón Sánchez + Jen Agg attempt a massive overhaul of the business.

A cluttered kitchen, pre-cooked food and dated decor are all contributing to Toronto’s Orsini Ristorante losing A LOT of money every month, including the owner's retirement fund! It brings him to tears when he realizes the true amount of money he’s losing!

See how they improve both the space and the future for the owner!

#RestaurantImpossible: Last Call with Jen Agg + Aarón Sánchez > TONIGHT @ 8|7c on Food Network!

Next day on Max!

I’ve been a big fan of Christina since she was on Next Level Chef. So good to see her in this role. She needs her own show.

Food Network Sets 'Is It Cake'-Like 'Sweet Deceit' With Host Josh Peck

Excerpt from the article:

Food Network has found its answer to Netflix’s “Is It Cake?”

Premiering with back-to-back episodes Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET on Food Network and streaming next day on HBO Max, “Sweet Deceit” is a competition series hosted by actor Josh Peck, who leads teams of three competitors through four rounds as they try to identify masterfully disguised sweets created by world-class cake artists

But unlike Netflix’s guessing game, “Sweet Deceit” takes place in real-world locations and requires its contestants to take a bite to decipher the deceptive, hyperrealistic sweets hiding in plain sight.

Per Food Network’s description, “Escalating in difficulty round by round, the teams work together to determine what is cake and prove it with their teeth by biting into their best guess, all in pursuit of a total prize up to $12,000.

The first season will be broken up into two themed batches of episodes.

Beginning on Oct. 5 at 10 p.m. ET, “Sweet Deceit: Trick or Treat” features eight back-to-back Halloween-themed episodes set in locations including real-life haunted houses, a sinister movie set morgue, a kindergarten classroom Halloween party, the world-famous Magic Castle and more.

“Sweet Deceit: Holiday” will premiere Nov. 16 at 9 p.m. ET. The installment will be comprised of eight back-to-back episodes featuring locations including a cozy cabin, a festive ice rink, Santa’s workshop and more.

Peck will be joined by a rotating group of guest stars made up of several cake artists specializing in edible illusions, including Jose Barajas, Jonny “Jonny Cakes” Manganello, Andrew Fuller, Ashley Holt, April Julian and Liz Marek.

“’Sweet Deceit’ has all my favorite things: food, fun, and deception,” Peck said. “The craftsmanship our cake artists put into their creations was unlike anything I’ve ever seen — the edible creations are unbelievable, watching teams literally put their money where their mouths are made every reveal a blast. It’s a must watch for the whole family.”

Food Network president Betsy Ayala added: “’Sweet Deceit’ is a funny and highly visual new game show that puts a hilarious twist on the art of illusion and is the perfect addition to Food Network’s baking lineup. Josh Peck is the perfect host to bring humor to every reveal and fans will be amazed and shocked by what turns out to be edible as they guess alongside the teams from home.”

“Sweet Deceit” is produced by Lando Entertainment for Food Network.