Beatriz and Her “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” Team to Serve as Celebrity Judges on Bravo’s “Top Chef Duels”

Stephanie Beatriz is about to get served

The Argentinean actress and her Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-stars are slated to appear on Top Chef Duels, another Top Chefseries from Bravo. 

Stephanie Beatriz

Top Chef Duels pits 18 of the best and most talked-about personalities frompast seasons of Top Chef and Top Chef Masters for a “battle royale” in the kitchen.

The 10-episode Top Chef Duels, hosted by celebrity chef Curtis Stone, will premiere on Wednesday, August 6, at 10:00 pm ET, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Stone will serve on the judges’ table withGail Simmons, with chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Hugh Acheson rounding out the panel on a rotating basis.

Beatriz and her Brooklyn Nine-Nine team (Andy Samberg, Melissa Fumero, Chelsea Peretti and co-creator Dan Goor) will serve as celebrity guests for one episode.

Other celebrity guests this season include Shailene Woodley, Pink, Scott Ian Rosenfeld, Gary Holt, Rob Zombie and the Grey’s Anatomy gang (James Pickens Jr., Sarah Drew, Camilla Luddington, Jerrika Hinton and Kevin McKidd).

As the title suggests, Top Chef Duels will have two chefs facing off in three rounds of head-to-head battles, with the competitors picking “mini duels,” targeting the other’s perceived weaknesses. The third challenge then decides who moves on to compete in the season finale, which will crown the sole winner of the $100,000 grand prize and a Food and Winefeature.

Bravo is also borrowing from its Top Chef online companion series Last Chance Kitchen, which pits eliminated contestants against each other for a chance to compete in the finale, with the Top Chef Duel equivalent: The Knockout, hosted by Puck.The same essential rules apply, though there is one twist. Unlike Last Chance Kitchen, a chef only needs one battle win to quality for a place in The Knockout online finals, though the more wins a chef has, the better their chances are in earning the sole return spot on the show.

Chef Garcia Helping Taco Bell Upgrade Its Menu

If you’re planning to make a run for the border in the coming months, you may soon find some unexpected items on the Taco Bell menu…

The fast-food chain is getting an upscale makeover this summer, with a little help from celebrity chef Lorena Garcia, who was born and raised in Venezuela.

Chef Lorena Garcia

In early July, Taco Bell plans to rollout an updated menu with new additions created by Garcia for its nearly 5,600 U.S. restaurants.

The new items will feature ingredients like black beans, cilantro rice, citrus- and herb-marinated chicken and cilantro dressing.

Taco Bell

The introduction of the items that Taco Bell executive Brian Niccol calls “gourmet Mexican,” is the company’s way of venturing onto the turf of casual-dining chains like Chipotle and Qdoba, two chains known for higher-quality ingredients.

It’s a departure from Taco Bell standards like tacos, burritos and chalupas that the fast-food company’s core young-adult customers have grown to love, although those mainstays will remain on the menu.

Menu items like the Cantina Burrito Bowl and the Cantina Burrito, according to Niccol, are aimed at customers looking for more than a quick bite on the go.

Taco Bell's Cantina Menu

Niccol credits Garcia, who will appear on Bravo‘s Top Chef Masters this summer, as the force behind the Cantina Bell menu that the chain hopes to eventually expand.

“She brought a lot of new thinking, a lot of fresh approaches to our ingredients that change the flavor profile of the brand,” Niccol said.

The additions, which will go nationwide on July 5, will cost more than Taco Bell’s customers have paid in the past, but the new items will also be bigger than the chain’s regular burritos. The Cantina Burrito Bowl and Cantina Burrito, offered with chicken or steak, will sell for nearly $5 a piece. A vegetarian option will be offered, also for nearly $5.

Side dishes include chips and pico de gallo or corn salsa, chips and guacamole, or black beans and rice. Each will sell for $1.49.

Garcia, a featured guest on NBC‘s Today and The Biggest Loser, started working with Taco Bell in the fall of 2010.

“They were looking to … expand their food to offer new flavors with great taste,” she said. “I saw this as an opportunity to help create diversity to the Taco Bell experience.”