Alex Guarnaschelli to Host New Season of 'Supermarket Stakeout'

Bridgehampton celebrity chef and former Dan’s Taste of Two Forks host Alex Guarnaschelli returns to host the second season of Food Network’s hit culinary contest series Supermarket Stakeout starting Tuesday, March 17 at 10 p.m.

Filmed on-location at supermarkets around the country, each episode of Supermarket Stakeout features four talented chefs who must ambush shoppers as they exit the store and blindly bid on their grocery bags without knowing what’s inside. Over three themed rounds with a budget of only $500 and pop-up kitchen setups, the chefs can then only cook with the items they are able to negotiate out of grocery store customer’s carts, often with the help of some enthusiastic persuasion and a bit of cash. A rotating panel of judges—including Scott Conant, Giada De Laurentiis, Amagansett homeowner and restaurateur Bobby Flay (another former Dan’s Taste of Two Forks host) and Molly Yeh this season—decides which competitor made the most successful menu and will award them with enough cash for a year’s worth of groceries.

In round one, competing chefs purchase ingredients by ambushing customers outside the store and negotiating for their grocery bags without knowing the contents. In round two, chefs can only purchase groceries from a single shopper, but may look through the bags before negotiating the price. In the final round, remaining participants may purchase five ingredients total, but can approach as many shoppers as it takes to get what they need. After each themed cooking round, the least successful chef is eliminated, leaving two to compete head-to-head for their cash prize in the final round.

“Supermarket Stakeout quickly become a must-watch for our viewers in its first season and we are so excited to deliver another season this soon,” Food Network President Courtney White says in a statement. “You never really know what you are going to get in each episode—personality, luck and cooking all play a part, so each week’s battle is filled with edge-of-your-seat, unexpected results.”

Guarnaschelli, of course, presides over the action as host, delivering her special brand of culinary knowledge and wry wit throughout. The chef signed an exclusive multi-year, multi-platform deal with the Food Network last April and is now a recurring co-host on Saturday morning’s The Kitchen, a judge on Chopped (along with East Hampton’s Martha Stewart) and host of her digital series Fix Me a Plate where she looks behind the curtain at her favorite restaurants. She also regularly appears as a guest on other Food Network shows, including Beat Bobby Flay with the show’s eponymous fellow Hamptonite.

Supermarket Stakeout Season 2 airs on Food Network every Tuesday at 10 p.m., starting March 17.