These Are the All-Star Chefs Betting It All in ‘Wildcard Kitchen’ Season 2

Host Eric Adjepong is back for another round of after-hours culinary poker. In Season 2 of Wildcard Kitchen, longtime Food Network judges, hosts and all-star chefs compete in a "poker" style cooking competition complete with high-risk, high-reward buy-ins, difficult challenges and friendly smack-talking. Each game consists of three rounds. Each round features a dish card, an ingredient card and a wildcard. Competing chefs come with $5,000 and must be ready to bet it all. The chef who impresses the judge after three blind taste tests takes home the final pot. Read on to meet the Food Network stars competing in Season 2.

Food Network legends and longtime friends Rocco DiSpirito, Alex Guarnaschelli and Andrew Zimmern are ready for Season 2. Having lost it all during Season 1 of Wildcard Kitchen, Rocco is ready to best both Alex and Andrew with his restaurant expertise and honed cooking techniques. With plenty of experience judging competitions on Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games and Beat Bobby Flay, and taking fellow chefs down on Alex vs. America, Alex Guarnaschelli is no stranger to the timed competition. Andrew brings a global perspective to the competition that pushes the boundaries of what can be cooked in a twenty minute time period.

Two 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing judges, Michael Symon and Esther Choi, go head-to-head with Season 1 winner, Marcel Vigneron. Michael — an Iron Chef who has won more than 24 competitions and opened over 20 restaurants — and Esther — who started in the Food Network kitchens and has gone on to open her own restaurants and beat chefs like Bobby Flay — are ready to take on the talents of Marcel firsthand. For Marcel, it's all about payback for the many challenges Michael and Esther put him through on 24 in 24.

With a high-risk, high-reward game, you need high-rolling players, which is why host Eric decided to deal in three of the most elite chefs in the food world. Stephanie Izard, Jonathon Sawyer and Karen Akunowicz have all won the title of Best Chef at the James Beard Awards (the Oscars of cooking). Stephanie is not only a Top Chef and Iron Chef, but a repeat player who won her first game on Wildcard Kitchen. Jonathan earned his James Beard in 2017 and has opened more than 18 restaurants, including one in the same city as Stephanie. Karen was awarded her James Beard in 2018 and has competed on Top Chef and Tournament of Champions.

These three are all restaurateurs in Las Vegas. Jet Tila and brothers Michael Voltaggio and Bryan Voltaggio are not only competing for the final pot, but for the title of the best chef in Sin City. As a former judge and competitor, Jet is no stranger to the Wildcard Kitchen. He has more than 20 restaurants, including the high-end, pan-asian restaurant chain Dragon Tiger Noodle Co. located in Las Vegas. Michael was named best new chef by Food and Wine, is a Top Chef winner and was one of Bobby's Triple Threat titans. Bryan is a two-time James Beard Award nominee and recently completed a culinary residency with his brother Michael at Mandalay Bay on the Vegas strip.

When it comes to cooking battles, Tiffany Derry, Brian Malarkey and Mei Lin are three of Food Network's most experienced chefs. Tiffany competed on Top Chef, Chopped, BBQ Brawl and Cutthroat Kitchen; is one of Bobby's Triple Threat titans; and has co-hosted Worst Cooks in America. Brian has judged many Food Network shows, including Chopped All Stars, Cutthroat Kitchen, Tournament of Champions and Guy's Grocery Games. Mei is a Top Chef champion, Tournament of Champions winner and has competed on Guy's Grocery Games and Bobby's Triple Threat. To say they are prepared for whatever the Wildcard Kitchen has to throw at them is an understatement!

Staple judges on Chopped, Geoffrey Zakarian, Amanda Freitag and Tiffani Faison bring a unique perspective to the Wildcard Kitchen. They've judged hundreds of battles and are now getting the chance to prove their own skills in three rounds of challenges against their fellow judges. Geoffrey is a chef, restaurateur, seasoned author and winner of Season 4 of The Next Iron Chef. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Amanda has battled Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America and has competed for the title of The Next Iron Chef. The newest Chopped judge of the group, Tiffani is a four-time James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef, runner-up on the first season of Top Chef and winner on Wildcard Kitchen Season 1.

Southern belle Damaris Phillips, former NFL player turned chef Eddie Jackson and cozy food blogger Molly Yeh all have a talent for crafting comfort food. Damaris and Eddie have a long history and are ready to battle against each other. Both are winners of Food Network Star, co-hosts of Kids BBQ Championship and repeat Wildcard Kitchen players. Molly's new to the culinary game of poker, but is prepared to turn her farm-to-table recipes into winning dishes.

Chefs Kelsey Barnard Clark, Carlos Anthony and Crista Luedtke may all know each other from the Tournament of Champions kitchen, but they're not willing to let their friendship cloud their drive to take home the largest pot of cash. Kelsey is also a Top Chef winner and James Beard award semifinalist. In addition to TOC, Carlos has also competed on 24 in 24, Chopped Next Gen and Cutthroat Kitchen. Crista is the only two-time winner of and judge on Guy's Grocery Games.