Plot Synopsis

In each one-hour episode of WILDCARD KITCHEN, host Eric Adjepong takes over the test kitchen after hours with an exclusive invitation for three chefs to bring $5,000 to play across three hands of his underground culinary poker game. The competitors, who all know each other well, have scores to settle and personal stakes to lose as they battle to create dishes based on the cards they are dealt and bet using their own instincts and cold hard cash. The luck of the draw determines the dishes and cooking time, while wildcards deal unpredictable challenges into the mix that test the chefs like never before. From surf-and-turf with peanut butter to live crab with kimchi, anything can happen in Wildcard Kitchen as mystery guest judges use blind taste tests to determine who walks away the high roller with bragging rights and cash from their fellow chefs. Chefs competing against each other include CHOPPED judges Maneet Chauhan, Brian Malarkey and Marc Murphy; Italian cuisine masters Gabriele Bertaccini, Rocco Dispirito and Antonia Lofaso; and best friends Stephanie Izard, Joe Sasto and Justin Sutherland. Guest judges include Anne Burrell, Esther Choi and Scott Conant.

In the series opener, "Guys' Night Out," it's guys' night at the Food Network kitchens as Eric Adjepong invites three of his favorite guys, Jet Tila, Eddie Jackson and Viet Pham, to his after-hours card game. These epic chefs arrive with $5,000 of their own money for a night of card playing, three rounds of fast-paced cooking and some major trash talking. It's not over until one of these chefs leaves with a stack of their boys' cash.