‘Ciao House’: Alex Guarnaschelli’s 3 Reasons to Watch Tuscan Cooking Competition

Big Brother meets “mangia!” in this new competition set under the Tuscan sun. Hosted and judged by Food Network royalty Alex Guarnaschelli and chef Gabriele Bertaccini, the eight-episode showdown Ciao House sends 10 American chefs to Italy’s culinary paradise to co-habitate, collaborate and, apparently, stir the pot.

“Everybody comes out on the other end better for [this experience],” Guarnaschelli says. “But not without drama.”

Drama is ripe for the picking in the competition’s format, which requires each chef to pick their own teams and choose someone to send home each week. Their challenges include lessons from “real-life nonnas showcasing how they make pasta from scratch to a lesson with the head butcher of a three centuries-old family butcher business,” Food Network’s logline explains. And “each challenge is accompanied by a local experience steeped in tradition.”

Here, Guarnaschelli gives us the scoop on Food Network’s latest culinary battle ahead of Ciao House‘s series premiere on Sunday, April 16.

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1. The roomies bring the heat

Among those vying for the grand prize — an immersive training course with master chefs across Italy — are a mom of two Guarnaschelli knows from past competitions, a young woman she describes as “a medical miracle,” and a New York chef who quit his job after being denied time off to film the show. “These people are not playing around.”

2. The hosts balance each other out

“If we’re Mom and Dad, he’s the chill one,” Guarnaschelli says of Bertaccini. Except when it comes to his homeland’s fare. “His feathers get ruffled when people mess with Tuscan classics.”

3. The ingredients are really fresh

In the opener, the chefs prep a dish that defines what Italian food means to them. And thanks to the villa’s lush grounds, they’re “walking out the back door and picking sage off a bush,” she continues with a laugh: “You have this ridiculous countryside, Gabe giving you the Tuscan stare-down, me giving you the competition stare-down and a bunch of tomatoes. What could possibly go wrong?”

Ciao House, Series Premiere, Sunday, April 16, 9/8c, Food Network