FYI Orders Cooking Competition Series, Adds Two Pilots

FYI is getting into the culinary competition space. 

The A+E Networks-owned cable network has ordered the six-episode series Midnight Feast, hosted by chef/restaurateur/TV personality Spike Mendelsohn and set in New York's Chelsea Market. Each episode pits three chefs against each other using any ingredients found in the market to create dishes that are later judged. At the end of the episode, a winner is crowned and awarded a cash prize, while the losers pay their own tabs.

Midnight Feast is produced by Nerd TV. Jago Lee, John Farrar and Bob Kirsh are executive producers.

Additionally, two one-hour pilots have been ordered by the network: Say It to My Face and Reverse Course. They join previously announced pilots Jennifer's Way, Red Hot Design,You're the One and Marry Me … Today.

Say It to My Face gives chefs and restaurant owners a chance to defend themselves in front of their toughest online critics. Mentors Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, owners of The Meatball Shop, will then help them make over their restaurants -- from the menu to the decor and staffing. Pie Town Productions produces, with Tara Sandler, Jennifer Davidson and Blake Levinas executive producers.

The second pilot, Reverse Course, centers on Sam Talbot as he takes the farm-to-table concept to the extreme and tells the story of food in reverse. Starting with the final meal and working backward, viewers will see the meal being served, then the preparation and cooking, then the local sourcing, then Sam's inspiration. Stick Figure Studios is behind the project, with Steven Cantor, Jon Housmanand Bill Pruitt as executive producers.

FYI was rebranded from Bio last year and will relaunch July 7 as an "inspiration engine" for a core audience of upscale women in their early 40s with programming devoted to fashion, food, style and design. FYI's slate already includes series The Epic Meal Show, The Feed, World Food Championships, BORN to Style, Renovation Row and Tiny House Nation.