Actor Tituss Burgess will lend his iconic judgment to the Food Network this fall as host of the new competition series “Last Bite Hotel.”
In the show, eight chefs are invited to a remote hotel for a game of ingenuity and creativity, according to Food Network’s description of the series. Hotel manager Burgess tasks each chef with meeting the culinary demands of the hotel’s VIP guests, and they are only allowed to bring 13 ingredients for the entire stay. Cooking skills are not enough to make it to the finish line, as ingenuity and calculated risks are required to survive and be able to cook another day.
As the game progresses, each challenge completed means that precious ingredients become scarce and the risk of contestants being banished to the dreaded Room 13 increases. As contestants are eliminated, they leave their remaining ingredients to select remaining challengers, making strategy and alliances a crucial part of surviving the competition.
“Last Bite Hotel” will premiere on September 24 at 9 p.m. on Food Network and will be available to stream on Max, the sister channel of cable channel Warner Bros. Discovery.
Contestants in the six-episode season include Brittanny Anderson (Richmond, VA), Gabriella Baldwin (Detroit, MI), Graham Campbell (Edinburg, TX), Tobias Dorzon (Baltimore, MD), Byron Gomez (Denver, CO), Kevin Lee (Oklahoma, OK), Nini Nguyen (New Orleans, LA) and Aarthi Sampath (New York, NY).
VIP guest judges checking into the hotel to assist Burgess with his critique include Esther Choi, Cat Cora, Jose Garces, Alex Guarnaschelli, Judy Joo, Poppy O’Toole, Marcus Samuelsson, Michael Symon and Andrew Zimmern.
Burgess is best known for his roles in “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Central Park,” “Schmigadoon!”, “Set It Up,” “Dolemite Is My Name” and the Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect.” He will next voice a character in the upcoming animated film “Spellbound.”
“‘Last Bite Hotel’ takes the ingenuity of culinary creativity to a whole new level. The prized ingredients are carefully selected before the chefs even set foot in the kitchen,” said Betsy Ayala, head of food content at Warner Bros. Discovery. “The twists and turns of the competition are made even more exciting by the macabre playfulness of the incredibly talented Tituss Burgess as the hotel manager.”
“Last Bite Hotel” is produced by Butternut Media, the production company founded by former Food Network president Courtney White.
