Seven of America’s most-fearless chefs test their physical prowess, mental toughness and culinary skills on Extreme Chef, hosted by TV veteran and seasoned world traveler Marsh Mokhtari. The grueling and seemingly impossible culinary challenges are judged by a rotating panel of notable guest judges, including Simon Majumdar (Next Iron Chef judge and food journalist), Ben Sargent (host of Cooking Channel’s Hook, Line & Dinner), and Troy Johnson (host of Crave, food critic and journalist). Over the course of five episodes, from the scorching deserts of California to the exotic jungles of Thailand, the chefs test their physical prowess, mental toughness and culinary skills as they compete in grueling and seemingly impossible culinary challenges including pulling out needles from a cactus pad to create a tasty dish, and creating a meal in 60 minutes on a floating dock, while the chefs rescue their ingredients from a capsized fishing boat in the ocean. In the end, only one chef will be the most extreme while taking home a $50,000 grand prize.

In the Doomsday Survival episode, contestants are dropped into Salton City, California, an abandoned post-apocalyptic wasteland, where they’re left to scavenge for ingredients and tools. In the Coast Guard Cook-Off episode, chefs create dishes using military MREs (Meal, Ready to Eat) and a seafood protein that they pull up from traps in the water. In the Desert Survival episode, they cook like the Native American Indians with spiny cactus and build their own fires and constructing knives using nothing but an obsidian rock. In the “Off to Thailand” episode, chefs obtain ingredients from the Damneon Saduak Floating Market, negotiate with vendors, and begin cooking right on the boat. In the final episode “The $50,000 Bite”, the finalists begin the biggest culinary adventure of their lives by cooking a vegetarian dish while standing in the middle of the flowing river in Chiang Mai.

Keep your eyes on chef Viet Pham on Extreme Chefs Season 2. Born in Malaysia and raised near San Francisco, chef and restaurateur Viet Pham graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 2002. After a short stint in the catering business, he moved to Provo, Utah, to become the executive chef at Spark Restaurant Lounge. In July 2009, Viet and business partner Bowman Brown opened Forage Restaurant in Salt Lake City. Viet has been named one of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs and a James Beard Foundation semifinalist.

Viet Pham on Extreme Chefs Season 2

Bravo’s Top Chef Masters Season 4 is smokin’ in Las Vegas with 12 new award-winning chefs hungry to compete for the title and win $100,000 for their charity. In each episode, the winners of every Quickfire Challenge will be awarded $5,000 while the victors of the Elimination Challenges will receive $10,000 for their designated charities. Celebrity chef Curtis Stone is back as series host alongside returning judges James Oseland and Ruth Reichl with new judges, food and travel journalist Krista Simmons, and features editor of Gilt Taste, Francis Lam. In a dazzling season of high stakes, big egos and sizzling drama, top names in entertainment join the judges table including Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard, folk rock music duo Indigo Girls, famed Burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, popular American party band The B-52s, Olympic Gold Medalist Brian Boitano, Las Vegas performer Holly Madison, and Grub Street’s Alan Sytsma among others.

“Top Chef Masters” pits 12 world-renowned chefs against each other to see how well they fare in fierce culinary competition. Based at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, each week will whittle down the chefs until the finale where one winner is crowned “Top Chef Master” and receives the grand prize of $100,000 for the charity of their choice. The chefs are bringing more than their knives to the table; they’re bringing their egos and stirring up the drama… all for charity.

Asian American contestants to watch for include:

* Patricia Yeo – Om Restaurant & Lounge/ Moksa Pan Asian Izakaya; Competing for Heifer Project International

* Takashi Yagihashi – Owner: Takashi Restaurant and Slurping Turtle; Competing for the American Red Cross, benefitting the Japanese Tsunami Disaster Relief

Here’s more about each contestant:

Patricia Yeo

By melding elements of an international upbringing that took her from Malaysia to England to the United States with a precision that she honed as a trained scientist, Chef Patricia Yeo has created an innovative, elegant cuisine. Born in Oregon, she attended boarding school in England. She was on her way to completing a biochemistry degree at Princeton University when she enrolled in a cooking class at the New York Restaurant School to try something different. There she met Bobby Flay, and they worked together at the Miracle Grill, Mesa Grill, and Bolo. After working in restaurants on the east and west coasts, Yeo opened the eclectic Asian-inspired American restaurant, AZ, in New York City in 1999. In late 2007, Yeo moved to South East Asia to learn the food ways and culture of the region. While traveling in Asia she worked as a restaurant consultant for various hotels and boutique resorts. In 2009, Yeo moved from New York to Boston to open Ginger Park. Now in Cambridge at Om Restaurant & Lounge, Yeo brings innovative and inspirational cooking in theme with Om and its Asian-Fusion palate. And most recently, Chef Yeo became the chef of a brand new restaurant also in Cambridge, called Moksa which features Asian street food.

Takashi Yagihashi

Over his 25-year career, Takashi Yagihashi has been lauded by consumers and critics alike for his exquisite ways of melding contemporary French, Asian and American cuisine. A native of Mito, Japan, the self-taught Yagihashi was working in a local restaurant when the owner asked him to relocate to the States and work for him there; over the next several years, the young chef worked his way up the culinary ladder throughout Chicago. In 1993, he was named chef de cuisine and eventually partner at the four-star Ambria; in 1996, he was presented with an Executive Chef opportunity, and left Chicago to open Tribute in suburban Detroit. An instant classic, Tribute was on every “best of” list, including Gourmet’s list of America’s Top 50 Restaurants, Yagihashi was named one of America’s ten “Best New Chefs” by Food & Wine (2000), and the esteemed James Beard Foundation selected him as “Best Chef: Midwest” in 2003. Yagihashi next was Executive Chef at Okada at the Wynn hotel (Las Vegas) in 2005; under his lead, Bon Appetit named Okada “Best New Japanese Restaurant.” In late 2007, Yagihashi opened Takashi in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood; the restaurant was named “#1 Best New Restaurant” by Chicago Magazine and one of ten “Best New Restaurants of the Year” by Esquire. He then opened Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi, which was named one of the “Five Best Noodle Shops in America” by Bon Appetit; in 2009, he published his first cookbook, Takashi’s Noodles. In both 2010 and 2011, Takashi received a coveted Michelin star. In late 2011, Slurping Turtle opened to instantaneous success. Located downtown, Slurping Turtle offers Japanese comfort food, where delicate balance and respect for natural flavors continues to be a hallmark of his cooking style.

Top Chef Masters Season 4 promo