"celebrity apprentice" news and stories

With his new gig as host of "Top Chef Masters," chef (and KitchenDaily expert) Curtis Stone comes ever closer to becoming the ringmaster of America's reality-show circus. Last spring, he made it to the tenth week of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice," and this fall he's been a regular presence on "The Biggest Loser." His new project, "America's Next Great Restaurant," pairs him up with Bobby Flay and a panel of restaurant experts to find an idea worthy of a three-city restaurant chain. We caught up with Curtis this weekend as he was prepping dinner with Wolfgang Puck for the 8th Annual G'DAY USA Celebrity Gala, in Los Angeles.

Slashfood: It's been a busy year for you, what with the 'Apprentice' and working on 'The Biggest Loser.'
Curtis Stone: 'The Apprentice' was bizarre. I was sitting there before the first day and Cyndi [Lauper] was sort of singing to herself and I was thinking, 'What am I doing here with all of these freaks?' But you know what? I made a lot of good friends from it. They all turned out to be really cool. When I first met Bret [Michaels] I thought, 'How are we going to get along? You're a weirdo.' But he's a nice bloke! He's a strange cat, you know, but a cool dude. Sharon Osborne and I ended up becoming really good friends. Cyndi is a sweet woman -- crazy, out there, talks to herself, but kind and generous.

While many people were tuned into last night's 'Lost' finale, we were with some of our editors were watching 'The Celebrity Apprentice' finale (awaiting Bret Michael's first appearance since his brain hemorrhage). To catch you up quickly, the two finalists, Bret Michaels and Holly Robinson Peete, had to formulate a new flavor of Snapple Iced Tea and come up with a 30-second commercial spot and brochure. While we won't reveal the winner here, Slashfood tried out the two new flavors, which are available in stores now.

We went desk to desk, asking co-workers what they thought -- it was more divided than we thought. Holly's Compassionberry Tea (passion fruit and strawberry combined with green and black tea) was "refreshing and had a delicate flavor." "It's what I would expect in an iced tea, it's crisp and clean," said Alicia Roda, an editor on Moviefone. While some people believed Bret's Trop-a-Rocka (pear, cinnamon and mango combined with green and black tea) was too sweet and had a "cough syrup taste," others found it to be a "perfect mixer for a refreshing summer cocktail" and tasted similar to "peach cobbler" with a "cinnamon-spicy aftertaste." Overall, our office preferred Compassionberry, but we want to hear what you think.

Slashfood is giving away free samples of both flavors to five lucky readers to do conduct your own taste test.

Find out how to enter after the jump.

Photos: Mailboat; Paul Beaty, AP.

In retrospect, it all sounds like something out of one of those strange dreams where everyone you watched on TV during the day converge into one subliminal place -- and Bret Michaels was there, and so was Rod Blagojevich! And Sinbad was taking Al Roker's drink order while Joan Rivers recommended the $100 burger. Oh Auntie Em, there's no place like home!

In reality, it was just another day in the life of a "Celebrity Apprentice."

When Slashfood received word through the grapevine that our very own "Star Chef" Curtis Stone was serving up gourmet cheeseburgers for charity at Burger Heaven on Monday, we had to go and root for the home team.

If you're a fan of Curtis Stone and happen to be in New York, it's your lucky day.

The chef is currently filming a reality TV show with a bunch of other celebs and will be at Burger Heaven at 9 E. 53rd St. from 10:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. serving gourmet hamburgers for the charity Feeding America. It's not cheap -- $100 a burger -- but it's not every day that you can buy a burger from Curtis Stone.