Chef Spike Mendelsohn may have competed on Bravo's culinary reality show Top Chef -- twice -- but he still didn't expect to be recruited for Food Network's Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs, which premieres Sunday at 9/8c.
"I got the phone call out of nowhere. I was actually quite surprised," Mendelsohn tells TVGuide.com. "I didn't expect them to cast me as part of this crew, alongside the other ones. I was definitely honored to have the opportunity. There are a lot of chefs involved that I look up to and I follow their careers. To be standing next to them, was kind of like, 'OK, you made it.'"
read moreThe chefs must cook exotic Ethiopian cuisine for the quickfire, and for the elimination are tasked with creating a dish based on one of the foreign embassies in D.C. Chefs, ambassadors and dignitaries representing each country join in the judging. Guest judging will be Marcus Samuelsson, owner of NYC's Aquavit restaurant, and Jose Andres, Spanish chef and host of public television's 'Made In Spain.' watch
The chefs must cook exotic Ethiopian cuisine for the quickfire, and for the elimination are tasked with creating a dish based on one of the foreign embassies in D.C. Chefs, ambassadors and dignitaries representing each country join in the judging. Guest judging will be Marcus Samuelsson, owner of NYC?s Aquavit restaurant, and Jose Andres, Spanish chef and host of public television?s "Made In Spain." watch