“We were surprised and delighted with the caliber of last year’s submissions and are anticipating an even tougher time in choosing our competitors this year” says Karen Gelbart, Vice President of Content for Food Network, FINE LIVING and HGTV. “We are also thrilled to announce that Dana McIntyre, last year’s Superstar Chef, will be appearing in a new series for the network next summer.”

Competitors are invited to submit a short VHS or mini DV videotape (between two and five minutes) filmed while cooking up their favourite dish. Whether it is your great-grandmother’s secret recipe or your own concoction, Food Network encourages imagination and spontaneity as unexpected calamities make for entertaining television. Tell us why you should be Food Network’s Superstar Chef and how your chosen recipe best expresses your distinctive cooking charm. Food Network’s team of experts are accepting and reviewing all submission tapes between November 4 and December 15, 2005.  This year’s Superstar Chef Challenge competition entry information and submission guidelines are available at www.foodtv.ca.

The six competitors who are chosen will be flown to Toronto to showcase their cooking savoir faire before a panel of Food Network chefs. They then have to battle it out through a series of o­n-camera challenges for the ultimate Superstar Chef prize - the opportunity to meet with Food Network’s programming team to develop a Food Network program.

The o­ne hour special documenting the Superstar Chef Challenge II airs in summer 2006. Dana McIntyre, winner of last year’s challenge, is a regular contributor to the new Food Network series Just o­ne Bite, due to broadcast o­n Food Network in June 2006.