'Iron Chef America' Is Finally Returning This Spring

From the overly enthusiastic chairman to the mystery ingredients that are living creatures to the sheer panic of watching chefs scramble to the finish, we love our Iron Chef America. Needless to say, living without a new episode for two and half years has been nearly as difficult as getting that perfect risotto done within the time constraints of an episode.

But, folks, we have fantastic news. The wait is over. The Iron Chef America reboot we've all been waiting for finally returns to Food Network next month in the form of Iron Chef Gauntlet, Eater reports.

Fan favorite Alton Brown will officially return to host and be joined by Iron Chef veterans Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and Michael Symon. The format, however, will be a bit different. Described by Eater as a combination of Top Chef and Iron Chef America, Gauntlet will feature seven competitors competing for the prize, with each episode consisting of a Chairman's Challenge and a Secret Ingredient challenge. Once the winner among these seven is determined, he or she will move on to the three-ringed gauntlet and battle Morimoto, Simon and Flay themselves, Food Network says.

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The battles will be judged by even more friendly faces, including Jose Garces, Geoffrey Zakarian and Alex Guarnaschelli.

The new season's round-one competitors have already been announced and include Stephanie Izard of Chicago's Girl & the Goat and Jonathon Sawyer of Cleveland's Greenhouse Tavern.

The show premieres on Sunday, April 16, at 9 p.m. EST, on Food Network. Consider your calendar booked.