Master Chef Season 4 Premieres + Watch the Trailer for Mind of a Chef Season 2

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In food-on-television news, Masterchef Season 4 gets fired up tonight on Fox with a two-hour premiere -- and apparently there's breast milk involved. Judge Joe Bastianich is quoted as saying that one contestant used her own boob juice in a dish during auditions. Swell. Turn the page for the promo spot, with Bastianich burning money or something for some reason.

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Bluth's Original Frozen Banana Stand in Culver City Today + Free Frozen Bananas

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Tien Nguyen
Bluth's Culver City stand
If you've been eagerly awaiting the new season of Arrested Development, no doubt you've already made plans today to go to downtown Culver City sometime between noon and 7 p.m. today to check out the frozen banana stand.

For the uninitiated, that would be Bluth's Original Frozen Banana Stand, or one of Arrested Development's greatest props: In the show, the stand is a side business run by the Bluth family that's more or less considered the family's safety net (hence, "There's always money in the banana stand"). A lot happens to the banana stand during the course of the series -- it's torn down, rebuilt, set on fire, rebuilt and so on. And it has ties to a Korean immigrant. Right.

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ABC's New Comedy Mixology on Track to Ruin Bartending, Television + Life on Earth

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Courtesy ABC
Adan Canto and Vanessa Lengies in Mixology
As far as we can tell, no one is very excited about much of the programming the major networks are launching this coming fall. But in an already sad lineup, one show stands out as having the potential to be stunningly bad: Mixology, the new comedy from ABC.

The new series is apparently written by some of the writers of The Hangover, and follows a bunch of people in a New York bar over the course of one night. Yes, as in, the entire season takes place over one night in one bar. It's like 24, but instead of high stakes drama we learn scintillating facts, like how women who wear flats don't like sex -- or something.

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For Once, Someone Got An L.A. Food Show Right: Bourdain's Parts Unknown Koreatown Episode

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Screen Capture, Parts Unknown Koreatown episode
Nara Plaza in Koreatown
For the second installment of his new CNN show Parts Unknown, which aired last night, Anthony Bourdain explored L.A.'s Koreatown. The show was insightful, revealing and pretty much spot-on, giving an accurate depiction of both the fraught history of K-Town and its current status as one of our city's culinary and cultural gems. Which is a relief, seeing as no food TV show ever seems to get Los Angeles right, including past L.A.-themed episodes of Bourdain's Travel Channel show, No Reservations.

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Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Casting in Southern California

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theconlincompany.com
Gordon Ramsay's restaurant turn-around show Kitchen Nightmares is casting in Southern California, and they want your help finding restaurants that need Ramsay's help. Casting directors are looking both for restaurateurs who are seeking Ramsay's council and recommendations from members of the public who want to nominate a flailing eatery.

To qualify, restaurants must be at least a year old, seat at least 35 people, and not be a franchise or chain. The show is looking for restaurants all over SoCal.

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Anthony Bourdain Debuts Parts Unknown on CNN

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CNN.com
Anthony Bourdain's new CNN show Parts Unknown debuted last night on CNN. The show, which is very much like his Travel Channel show No Reservations, which ended in November of last year, took us last night to Myanmar, a country that only recently began allowing outsiders in, let alone western film crews.

The show very much followed the format of No Reservations -- no surprises, seeing as it's a formula that wasn't broken in the first place, and because Parts Unknown is produced by Zero Point Zero Production, the same company Bourdain worked with for No Reservations and The Layover.

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Cuties: Not-So-Cute Disclaimer in TV Ad

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E. Dwass
Disclaimers on TV commercials are common these days. From car ads warning us "do not attempt," to a toothpaste spot cautioning consumers to "use as directed," there's a lot of fine print accompanying the spiels. There's even one for mascara informing us that the lush lashes depicted onscreen are actually the result of false eyelash inserts, not the product being pushed.

But the ad disclaimer that worried us the most is for Cuties, the very popular seedless citrus fruit. No doubt you've seen the current campaign, which uses adorable kids to sell produce. The four spots promote the idea that Cuties are kid-friendly: "Kids love Cuties. Because Cuties are made for kids." But one of the ads in the series seems to represent a major mistake.

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Q & A With Southland's Mike Haro: Adobo Scouting, Where Cops Really Eat + Manuel's Special Burrito

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Doug Hyun
El Tepeyac in Boyle Heights
When it comes to knowing Los Angeles' food mainstays, those who are visiting for the first time could do themselves a big favor by studying episodes of TNT's Southland (which also happens to be the best cop show on television). There are a handful of main characters on this Peabody Award-winning ensemble series about the lives of LAPD beat cops and detectives: Ben, Sammy, Coop and the sleep-deprived new mom, Detective Lydia Adams (played by Regina King, whose poignant performance, veteran Los Angeles crime reporter Michael Krikorian has often said, is the best part of Southland).

And while it's the screeching car chases, breathless foot races and thudding perp tackles that give this hourlong drama its crackling energy, the air of unvarnished authenticity also has a lot to do with the ramshackle taco stands, dimly lit holes-in-the-wall and noisy barbecue joints where the show's cops pull over to grab a bite. Recently we caught up with Mike Haro, a Southland associate producer and location manager, and quizzed him about what it takes for a restaurant to be cast on the show, where the real-life Southland gang meet for dinner and whether TNT will grant this criminally underrated gem another season.

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Q & A With Fatburger CEO Andy Wiederhorn: Undercover Boss + Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

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Michael Yarish/CBS
Andy Wiederhorn in disguise
It's a common problem for leaders who want to know exactly what takes place in their companies: How do you determine reality from fiction spun for your benefit? In an upcoming episode of Undercover Boss, Fatburger CEO Andy Wiederhorn donned an elaborate disguise -- complete with a full wig, a set of eyebrows, a mustache, glasses, gold jewelry and a hat -- which took two to three hours to put on, and visited locations in Arizona, Nevada and L.A. in disguise. As for why he went to the trouble -- it was Wiederhorn's idea.

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Watch this Weekend: Bill Esparza on L.A. Street Eats

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Anne Fishbein
Bill Esparza in Los Angeles
Bill Esparza is going from Street Gourmet to host of the Street Eats: USA Los Angeles episode this Saturday, March 23, at 3 p.m. He announced the news earlier this morning on his blog. While it's not the first time Esparza has appeared on Travel Channel, it will still be a first of sorts for the musician turned food and travel guide: "Up until now I've been a good Robin, to a range of Batmen -- Zimmern is Batman, Dark Knight Edition -- but, now I can truly say--'I'm Batman.'"

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