Here is a link to the whole story.

‘Smoke and sugar’: Pitmaster and pastry chef power couple bring San Antonio flavors to Food Network | TPR

Its long, so I'm going to give you some excerpts here. The link has some good photos so as always I encourage you to go to the original source.

Texas barbecue has never been short on swagger or people willing to argue about who does it best. But San Antonio just picked up some serious new bragging rights.

Esaul and Grecia Ramos, the husband-and-wife team behind the acclaimed 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, just smoked, grilled, and baked their way to the championship of Food Network’s inaugural “Pitmasters” competition.

They didn’t play it safe, either. Their five-course finale ran from oysters and chorizo to duck carnitas and smoked shrimp capped off with a dessert somehow perfectly pulled off in a smoker.

Eight weeks of competition, $30,000 for the win and a new title, too: “Whisperers of the Smoke.”

They joined the Standard for a chat about their big win.

This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:

Texas Standard: Take us back to the moment they called your names. What was going through your heads? Esaul, do you want to begin?

Esaul Ramos: If you watch the show, it’s a face of disbelief. Not that I didn’t think we had what it takes to win it, but just going up against such a skilled other team, like John [Jackson] and Connie [DeSousa] brought it. They had a set of skills that I’m not well-versed in.

But at the end of the day, it was disbelief and just excitement and confirmation that we should have been there and what we were doing was exactly what needed to be done.

Grecia, why did you want to do this in the first place?

Grecia Ramos: So when Esaul first presented the show to me, he was, you know, giving me the rundown of what they had told him and it just sounded really awesome. Like it seemed different. It wasn’t your typical Food Network show, and I was very excited

So the first thing that I asked him was like, “who are you taking?” And he’s like, “you.” I’m like, oh, well, “then hell yeah, we’re doing it.” Like, I would love to do this. And especially if I get to do it with you, like, heck yeah, let’s do it.

I was really excited. It seemed like camping on steroids and I love pressure, I work well under pressure.

This was a national competition, but it has to be said that final menu sure did feel a whole lot San Antonio. Tell us about that menu. How important was it that the food represented where you’re from?

Grecia Ramos: The fact that we made what we made for the finale, we really wanted it to be us, right?

We had carried ourselves through the entire season, already showcasing San Antonio flavors, showcasing where we came from and how we grew up and the flavors that we grew with. And each and every one of those courses really showed our story — from our first date to ending with the cafecito de olla and the conchas, something that we all grew up with here in San Antonio.

Grandma, grandpa, your tías would hang around and do the little merienda at the end of the day and they would all talk and kind of go throughout the week, right? And that really was something that I really wanted to highlight.

Grecia, you make this sound so family. Esaul, did you feel like it was a family affair? What was your sense of it going in?

Esaul Ramos: Definitely. I mean, our whole life is almost, I feel, a family affair. And it’s like she said, from the oysters that we made — that was kind of our first date — to the carnitas that were made on that show…

Like we grew up eating carnitas. It’s one of my father’s favorite things to make right? So we grew up eating that and instead of using pork, which I didn’t want to use, I was like what else is there? And there happened to be duck. So I was you know what? Let’s make some duck carnitas.

But yeah, just showcasing that, from the agua chiles… It’s one of mine and my wife’s favorite dishes to eat. And then, like she said, closing it off with the conchas and the cafe de olla is just something we grew up with.

Grecia, talk about those conchas just a bit. Making a concha in a smoker, had you done that before?

Grecia Ramos: Never. I had never baked any type of bread in a smoker, let alone a dessert.

So this was a very… I mean, this was challenging enough already. But just really trying to make something where I don’t have my oven, I don’t have controlled steam, I can’t just walk away from it and be like, “oh, that’s fine. I’ll come back in 20 minutes.” It’s like, oh crap, like I better not mess this up.

So, I think that the steak course that you had in that final, you called it your “ribeye redemption,” if I’m not mistaken, because you had undercooked one earlier in the competition. I’m wondering what eight weeks of being pushed outside of your comfort zone taught you, given all of your experience — ten years running a barbecue restaurant… Did you pick up new ideas in the course of working under that kind of pressure for the show?

Esaul Ramos: Definitely right. It’s hard not to come back with new ideas, with the fact that you were able to push yourself to a level that that you didn’t think you could be able to right?

I mean, at the restaurant, it’s very easy to just put it on cruise control because it’s almost the same thing. It’s almost repetitive every day, right? But here, it’s like you have to really pull out. What other tricks do you have in the hat?

Coming back, if I could dig a hole in the ground at 2M, I would do that already, right? And I’m going to try and figure out a way that the city doesn’t give me any slack over it. And if we can make it happen, I’m definitely going to start making that happen, right?

Spoken like a true entrepreneur, I must say.

Well, now step back for a moment. You built businesses together. You raised family together. You’ve now survived a TV cooking competition together. Let’s play a little game.

Grecia, what did you learn about your partner or about yourself or maybe yourselves as a team? What new did you learn about Esaul, for example?

Grecia Ramos: Um, with Esaul, I think I’ve always known his capabilities when it comes to cooking, to being a pitmaster. You know, I’ve seen him from opening up to him to where we are now. And I’ve been in awe of how his brain works and how he just looks at something, he looks at the problem, and he knows how to solve it.

And this really, I feel like, highlighted that as we were going through challenges — as things were coming our way. It was just so neat to see him still be able to keep his composure and just look at me and not just keep us in composure, but treat me with, I don’t want to say delicacy, but he just was so encouraging with me. And I feel like that’s something that really brought us together.

We’ve always been a very solid team, but this just really highlighted that we are great together and I loved it.

Esaul, what did you learn about Grecia?

Esaul Ramos: I learned that she’s able to learn to believe in herself more, right? Like, she was real hesitant going into this, right?

And for me, the moment I knew that she wanted to do this show, I knew in the back of my head, okay, I’m taking my wife, and this is me judging right off the bat that no one else is gonna take a pastry chef. No one else is smart enough to take a pastry chef with them to this type of show.

Yeah, the smoke and the sugar. Man, that’s great!

Esaul Ramos: Exactly right. And for me, I was like no, we can make this happen. I just need the creativity that I know that she possesses, because she’s a fantastic pastry chef. But for her, it’s like I wanted her to be able to know that. She can do this in any type of setting, no matter what.

So that was beautiful, being able to just have my wife like come out and actually start believing more in her skillset than her just thinking baking is just in a controlled environment.

Any plans for that $30K? Maybe take each other out for dinner or something? I don’t know.

Esaul Ramos: I don’t know if you’ve ever been to our restaurant, but I got a parking lot I got to fix!

'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. 

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.

The buzz is that Giada, a former major player on Food Network, will be on Dancing with the Stars. We should know for sure soon. She won't be the first FN name to be on DWTS

Giada De Laurentiis Is Rumored To Be On The Upcoming Season Of DWTS

From the story:

We’ve seen all kinds of celebs grace the Dancing With The Stars stage, from Olympic athletes to Real Housewives. But the rumored list of contestants for the show’s upcoming season includes a familiar face for Food Network fans. Social media speculation predicts that Giada De Laurentiis will appear on the 35th season of DWTS.

On TikTok, fans responded to the rumor with serious excitement. “I’m SAT if it’s Giada,” one user wrote. Another added, “I feel like I could see her with Val!!!!”

If the DWTS rumors are true, De Laurentiis will face stiff competition. Glee’s Harry Shum Jr. and Step Up lead Jenna Dewan—stars with well-documented dancing skills—are both suspected to be contestants.

Giada wouldn’t be the first Food Network star to compete on the show, either. Other notable chefs who’ve graced the DWTS stage include Paula Deen, Rocco DiSpirito, and Iron Chef America’s Mark Dacascos.

Would you be tempted to watch if she's on?