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.
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Season 2 of WILDCARD KITCHEN debuted on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT on Food Network. In each episode, host Eric Adjepong welcomes three chefs who know each other well to the test kitchen after-hours for three hands of his underground poker game. With scores to settle and lots of smack talk, each chef brings $5,000 to the game where the luck of the draw determines dishes and cooking time -- while Eric throws his own unexpected challenges into the mix. In the season premiere, "Vegas Rivalry," Vegas big spenders Jet Tila and siblings Michael and Bryan Voltaggio up the ante by bringing double the cash to the table, while serving up delectable dishes and lots of trash talk to determine who will be crowned king of the high-stakes kitchen. Chefs also playing against each other include food legends Alex Guarnaschelli, Rocco DiSpirito and Andrew Zimmern; culinary titans Michael Symon, Esther Choi and Marcel Vigneron; James Beard-award winners Karen Akunowicz, Stephanie Izard and Jonathan Sawyer; Chopped judges Tiffani Faison, Amanda Freitag and Geoffrey Zakarian; competition sharks Tiffany Derry, Mei Lin and Brian Malarkey; comfort food connoisseurs Eddie Jackson, Damaris Phillips and Molly Yeh; frenemies Carlos Anthony, Kelsey Bernard Clark and Crista Luedtke; restaurant queens Antonia Lofaso, Ayesha Nurdjaja and Claudette Zepeda and a top-secret trio of returning Wildcard winners.