HOME COOKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY COMPETE FOR GRAND PRIZE AND TITLE AS "AMERICA'S BEST COOK"

Series Premieres Sunday, April 13th at 9pm ET/PT

Hosted by Ted Allen with Cat Cora, Alex Guarnaschelli, Tyler Florence and Michael Symon to Mentor and Coach 16 Home Cooks for Coveted Crown

NEW YORK - March 5, 2014 - Home cooks from across the country compete, with the guidance and determination from Food Network chefs, for a $50,000 cash prize in the new culinary competition series America's Best Cook, premiering Sunday, April 13th at 9pm ET/PT. Hosted by Ted Allen, the cooks are divided into teams which are mentored by Cat Cora, Tyler Florence, Alex Guarnaschelli and Michael Symon, each representing the South, West, East and North respectively. The series kicks off with a timed culinary challenge where 16 cooks divided into groups of four compete for coveted positions on the mentor's teams. Following the challenge, each mentor tastes the dishes of four hopeful cooks and chooses the two for their team that they believe will lead them to victory. Emotions run high as each mentor puts their reputation on the line for one of their cooks to be named America's Best Cook.

In each episode, the hand-picked cooks compete in a Group Challenge to prove they have what it takes to compete another day and to make their Food Network chef mentors proud. With direction and counsel from their mentors the cooks must raise the bar in every facet of their cooking. From elevating every day, tired dishes to restaurant quality cuisine to transforming savory ingredients into amazingly sweet desserts, these cooks must give it their all to impress the rotating guest judge and avoid the elimination round. The bottom four cooks dig deep for redemption as they face-off in the intense Pressure Cooker round where their final dishes are judged again by the guest judge who then determines who is safe for another week and who goes home. The finale puts the four remaining home cooks through three grueling, single elimination rounds until one cook along with their chef mentor is left standing as America's Best Cook. Special guests include Anne Burrell, Bobby Flay,Ron Ben-Israel,Marcel Vigneron and Geoffrey Zakarian.

Viewers wanting more can visit FoodNetwork.com/BestCook for behind-the-scenes photos, interviews and more insider coverage.

America's Best Cook is produced by Relativity Lifestyle Television, a division of Relativity Television.

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