Want your own restaurant chain?

can hear the sounds of regret now spreading across the land.

How could NBC have cast its newest reality show with one of the greatest prizes ever and YOU didn’t know about it?

Paint me puzzled, too, because I heard nothing about “America’s Next Great Restaurant” until the first two episodes landed on my desk to preview prior to its premiere on Sunday, March 6, at 8 p.m. on Channels 10 and 7.

But 21 people did get the news and won the chance to compete and pitch their ideas for the restaurant of their dreams. In nine weeks one of them will open their own restaurant chain in three cities, New York City, Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

Can you imagine such a prize?

Funding the restaurant concepts are four investors who also serve as the judges for the show. There’s not a shy, retiring one in the mix and each one knows the subject. Bobby Flay is the lead judge with both upscale and casual restaurants to his credit. But for this concept, Steve Ells has all the weight. He is the founder of Chipotle, the chain he started with $85,000 in 1993 and which has since grown to a $1.5 billion business. Curtis Stone is the British chef with TV experience (NBC’s “The Biggest Loser”), and Lorena Garcia, an executive chef and restaurateur with businesses in Miami.

The next great restaurant will be in the fast casual category occupied by Chipotle, Flay’s Burger Bar and cafes such as Panera. Diners order at a counter and service is quick.

Ells explained the concept saying “It has to be food I want to eat regularly” and it has to be affordable.

The first episode is one of the fastest you’ll ever see with the 21 contenders being cut down to 10. They barely have time to share their concepts and cook a dish for the investor chefs. They are either on their way — or on the way home. Some of the people you think could cook, can’t and vice versa. Was it a fair first test? It seems so.

So what are the concepts?

There’s the Sports Wrap, a healthy sandwich shop that comes with personal fitness tips from a former professional basketball player.

Meltworks offers eight signature grilled cheese sandwiches with imported cheeses and good breads.

Saucy Balls is the unfortunately named comfort food concept with meatballs and pasta from a proud Italian-American grandson.

Limbo will offer two kinds of food depending on your mood. Opt for a thousand calorie pork sandwich or 400 calorie bison burger.

Hicks serves small plates celebrating the food of the American red neck.

Does one of those ideas sound like the “America’s Next Great Restaurant?”

Or will an Indian or Vietnamese version of Chipotle be the victor?

Can anyone get behind the idea of whatever food you want made in a pot pie?

The contestants offer a range of credentials. Some already own restaurants, which makes it hard to root for them. Others are bartenders (there are two in fact), a lawyer, financial advisor and marketing professional. There’s even a woman with a pet waste disposal business.

What I loved best about the first two episodes was the originality of ideas. It’s hard to find a reality show with a fresh point of view but this one has it.

It can only get more interesting as the competition challenges the contestants both in business and foodwise.