*7/31/13 UPDATE:  The episode featuring Francesco Palmieri will air on Sunday September 15 at 10pm.*
One of Hot From The Kettle's favorite local chefs, Francesco Palmieri, chef and owner of acclaimed The Orange Squirrel, will be a contestant on the premiere episode of the Food Network’s new show, Cutthroat Kitchen, hosted by Alton Brown.  The debut episode will air on Sunday, August 11 at 10 pm ET,  immediately following Food Network Star Finale at 9pm ET/PT.

Anyone who's eaten at The Orange Squirrel is well-aware of Chef Palmieri's skills.   A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Palmieri formerly worked in New York City at top rated restaurants, Windows on the World with Chef Michael Lomonaco, TOWN with Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian and Pino Luongo’s Coco Pazzo.  He is about to enter his 5th year owning The Orange Squirrel Restaurant, a New York Times and New Jersey Monthly top rated restaurant.

What's the premise of  Cutthroat Kitchen?  Here's a little info: 

          "Cooking skills aren’t enough to win in Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen – in this new competition series, chefs must also be crafty, clever and willing to sabotage their opponents.  Led by Alton Brownas the kitchen’s cunning provocateur, this game features a briefcase filled with $100,000 in cash, four competitors, three rounds of cooking and auctions where chefs bid on items to help themselves or hinder their opponents.  The thirteen-episode series premieres on Sunday, August 11th at 10pm ET/PT, immediately following the Food Network Star finale, which airs at 9pm ET/PT."
 
          “Cutthroat Kitchen is a cooking competition like viewers have never seen before – culinary skills can get chefs into the kitchen, but they will have to play a game of wits to stay there,” said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Food Network. “Alton is the perfect ring leader to the mayhem – his expertise and devilishly delightful sense of humor set just the right tone for this unique new series.”
 
          "In each episode, four chefs are greeted by Alton with a briefcase filled with $100,000 in cold hard cash and each contestant receives $25,000 to spend wisely over the course of the game on auction items to help themselves or sabotage their competitors.  After each cooking challenge is given, chefs have sixty seconds to gather ingredients in the pantry and then regroup for an auction to bid on culinary curveballs such as the exclusive use of salt or not allowing their opponents to taste their dishes.  A chef will be eliminated after each of the three rounds, and the last competitor to survive wins the money they have left in their bank."

We wish Chef Palmieri the best of luck and great success!