“The Next Food Network Star” new season features two Atlantans; ‘Worst Cooks in America’ Atlanta casting call May 1

Brianna Jenkins, 30 (Atlanta, Ga.), originally studied food journalism at Georgia Perimeter College but fell in love with cooking after moving to Atlanta. She graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Cuisine Française in Paris and now serves as the executive chef and owner of her own catering company. In her spare time, Brianna teaches cooking classes and travels the world looking for culinary inspiration.

Herb Mesa, 41 (Atlanta, Ga.), is a restaurant-trained chef who worked his way up from dishwasher to director of catering and assistant general manager of luxury hotels. He has worked as a personal chef since 2003 and adds creative twists on recipes from friends and family. Herb, who works as a personal fitness trainer in his spare time, also attempts to nutritiously enhance any recipe he encounters.

This season, the finalists travel to Los Angeles where they are put through the ringer to prove their culinary talent and impress the industry's biggest stars. Challenges include a crash-course in red-carpet glamour while catering a star-studded MGD 64 after-party with Grammy-winner Colbie Caillat, serving up savory dishes inspired by classic carnival sweets at the Santa Monica Pier, creating and operating lunch trucks on Venice Beach, and using Kellogg's ® breakfast cereals to cook dinner with breakfast. The contestants must also impress special guest stars Eva Longoria Parker and Todd English by illustrating an "emotion" through a dish at their restaurant, Beso.