Food fanatics, get your Tivos ready! This fall Kitchen Stadium will once again open up its doors to find a new culinary warrior in the ever popular primetime Food Network series "The Next Iron Chef." Announced Thursday, the new season will premiere on Sunday, October 4 at 9pm ET/PT, and will challenge ten top chefs from around the country in a series of demanding situations, putting their culinary skills and mental toughness to the test.

The ten contestants for the upcoming season include:

• Nate Appleman (Chef/Butcher, New York, NY)
• Dominique Crenn (Chef de Cuisine, Luce at InterContinental San Francisco, San Francisco, CA)
• Brad Farmerie (Executive Chef, Double Crown, Madam Geneva, PUBLIC and The Monday Room, New York, NY)
• Amanda Freitag (Executive Chef, The Harrison, New York, NY)
• Jose Garces (Executive Chef & Owner, Amada, Tinto, Distrito, Chifa, Philadelphia, PA)
• Eric Greenspan (Executive Chef & Owner, The Foundry on Melrose, Los Angeles, CA)
• Jehangir Mehta (Executive Chef & Owner, Graffiti, New York, NY)
• Seamus Mullen (Executive Chef & Partner, Boqueria Flatiron and Boqueria Soho, New York, NY)
• Holly Smith (Chef & Owner, Cafe Juanita and Poco Carretto Gelato, Kirkland, WA)
• Roberto Treviño (Executive Chef & Owner, Budatai, San Juan, PR)

This season will take the contestants from Los Angeles to Japan to New York to complete in the food fight which will challenge them to create dishes representing a variety of world cultures and cuisines. They must be able to demonstrate their speed, artistry, innovation and leadership in each dish.

Judges for this season will include Donatela Arpaia (restaurateur and owner of acclaimed New York City restaurants davidburke&donatella and Anthos), Jeffrey Steingarten (Food Critic, Vogue, New York, NY) and Anya Fernald (Sustainable Food Consultant, San Francisco, CA).

Each week the contestants will be narrowed down to an increasingly smaller field until just two are left to battle it out in Kitchen Stadium where only one will emerge the victor and lay claim to the title of Iron Chef. The winner will join the ranks of Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Michael Symon, Masaharu, Morimoto, and Cat Cora, and will reach instant fame as a member of the Chairman's team on Iron Chef America.