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One of these blond bombshells could be The Food Network’s next big star.
Manhattan chefs Nikki Dinki and Danushka Lysek are among 12 finalists competing for a dream TV gig this summer.
The ninth season of “Food Network Star,” premiering Sunday at 9 p.m., puts the cheftestants through a series of sizzling new challenges that test their kitchen and on-camera skills. All-star chefs Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown are on the judging panel, and the winner scores their own Food Network show.
“This is my audition. This is my dream,” says Dinki, 30, from Murray Hill, who began posting cooking videos online four years ago. She also co-hosts as the food expert on “The Artsy Fartsy Show,” a radio program on WBAI 99.5 FM.
“I’m the ultimate Food Network fan,” she says. “Giada was the one who taught me how cook. If I don’t win, I’m not sure what’s next, because this was the ultimate goal. This is what I have really been building toward.”
While Dinki has racked up lots of experience with her radio and Web series, her local competition has also put in plenty of face time on camera.
Lysek, 38, from the upper West Side, worked as a model in Tokyo before going to Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and becoming a private chef specializing in farm-to-table meals. She has competed on Food Network contests like “Chopped” in 2012, and she won the “24 Hour Restaurant Battle” in 2010.
She has also appeared on “The Bachelor” and “Fear Factor: Models Edition,” but don’t let her good looks fool you. “I’m not just a pretty face,” she says. “I’m also a rock star chef.”
The new season of “Food Network Star” stirs things up by throwing in focus groups consisting of dedicated viewers who also have a say in how the chefs do. So the cheftestants have to charm them, as well as the judging panel.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...#ixzz2c686hVLl
Manhattan chefs Nikki Dinki and Danushka Lysek are among 12 finalists competing for a dream TV gig this summer.
The ninth season of “Food Network Star,” premiering Sunday at 9 p.m., puts the cheftestants through a series of sizzling new challenges that test their kitchen and on-camera skills. All-star chefs Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown are on the judging panel, and the winner scores their own Food Network show.
“This is my audition. This is my dream,” says Dinki, 30, from Murray Hill, who began posting cooking videos online four years ago. She also co-hosts as the food expert on “The Artsy Fartsy Show,” a radio program on WBAI 99.5 FM.
“I’m the ultimate Food Network fan,” she says. “Giada was the one who taught me how cook. If I don’t win, I’m not sure what’s next, because this was the ultimate goal. This is what I have really been building toward.”
While Dinki has racked up lots of experience with her radio and Web series, her local competition has also put in plenty of face time on camera.
Lysek, 38, from the upper West Side, worked as a model in Tokyo before going to Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and becoming a private chef specializing in farm-to-table meals. She has competed on Food Network contests like “Chopped” in 2012, and she won the “24 Hour Restaurant Battle” in 2010.
She has also appeared on “The Bachelor” and “Fear Factor: Models Edition,” but don’t let her good looks fool you. “I’m not just a pretty face,” she says. “I’m also a rock star chef.”
The new season of “Food Network Star” stirs things up by throwing in focus groups consisting of dedicated viewers who also have a say in how the chefs do. So the cheftestants have to charm them, as well as the judging panel.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...#ixzz2c686hVLl
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