'MasterChef': Ten L.A.-area hopeful are sharpening their knives....

Be careful what you wish for.

Ten Los Angeles-area amateur cooks are stepping up to go toe to toe with Chef Gordon Ramsay: They've been announced as one of 50 hopefuls on "MasterChef," which premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday and is based on the international hit of the same name. In this U.S. version, Ramsay, along with restaurateur and wine maker Joe Bastianich and chef Graham Elliot, the youngest ever four-star chef in America, say they're out to find that diamond in the rough -- an amateur cook, without any formal training, who can be groomed into a Master Chef.

Ramsay has dubbed it "Chef Idol."

The winner will also walk away with $250,000 and their own cookbook. Among the local hopefuls: Sheena Zadeh, a marketing executive of Anaheim; Faruq Jenkins, a bartender from Glendale; Stevie Cannone, a longshoreman from Long Beach; Sharone Hakman, a financial adviser from Los Angeles; Mike Kim, a server from Redondo Beach; Christopher Spradley, currently unemployed, of Santa Clarita; Lee Knaz, a bartender, from Venice; Whitney Webster, a marketing rep, also from Venice; Adeliz Garcia, a legal assistant, of Whittier and Ryan Wesley, a dockworker, from Woodland Hills.

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo credit: Fox.

Comments

[Marie Mineo]

Loved the show!

Would appreciate the chance to be on the next season of this wonderful production. I am a fantastic home cook. I know that I could win this competition.

I would cherish the chance to cook for Chef Ramsay.

Best Regards,
Marie Antoinette Mineo
Scottsdale Arizona