What do beautiful chefs and burrito bowls have in common? A new culinary competition starting March 6 on NBC. America's Next Great Restaurant will feature judges Bobby “I'd rather throwdown than admit your food is better than mine” Flay, reality-show cutie (untainted by Food Network) Aussie chef Curtis Stone, Miami chef and restaurateur Lorena Garcia, and successful Chipotle founder Steve Ells. This kinda sounds like American Idol, except Ells needs wavy extensions, stat.
The concept: Give one lucky entrepreneur the opportunity and financial backing to pursue the dream of opening his or her own fast-casual establishment the same way Ells did, but with elimination challenges and crying and all that “Must-See TV” stuff.
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If you “like” America's Next Great Restaurant on Facebook, Chipotle offers a Buy One, Get One Free coupon just for watching the video clip found on the Chipotle tab. Pretty good for a minute and-a-half of your time, no? Have it playing while streaming Netflix or something. . . .
A contributing writer for OC Weekly, Anne Marie freelances for multiple online and print publications, and guest judges for culinary competitions. A Bay Area transplant, she graduated with a degree in Hospitality Management from Cal Poly Pomona. Find her on Instagram as brekkiefan.