Youtube Is Making Us HUNGRY
In the next week Youtube will launch it’s new Channel of exclusive food shows entitled HUNGRY. Here’s the official Youtube™ description:
Combining the audience and bandwidth of leading foodie site Urbanspoon with proven leaders in food programming with partners Notional and CAA, the Food channel is the perfect blend of loud characters and unique personalities with real, helpful and most importantly, highly entertaining tid bits on everything food!
Most of the stars are relative unknowns like sugar diva Laura Vitale host of Summer Desserts and Drink Inc. hosts Steve Livigni and Daniel Nelson. But there are also some heavy hitters in the group including the king of all things offal Chris Cosentino (Next Iron Chef, Chef vs. City) and channel consultant Duff Goldman (Ace of Cakes, Sugar High). The whole shebang is run by Bruce Seidel formerly of the Food Network. Seidel was the brains behind the successful launch of the Cooking Channel.
According to Seidel, “In the evolution of the food arena, and as original content on digital platforms continues to flourish, HUNGRY marks a new vision and attitude about all things food. Whether you love to eat, cook or drink, our dynamic original series have something for everyone.”
Goldman, who both stars in one of the new series and serves as a talent and programming consultant for the channel, commented, “I am stoked for HUNGRY and this exciting new partnership with Electus. The future of food programming is moving online, and viewers are increasingly turning to the Internet for their entertainment and education.”
Seidel added, “Our mission is to create highly entertaining shows and galvanize the niches that are driving the Internet food conversation forward via the incredible power and social influence of YouTube™.”
Officially launching on Monday, July 2nd, Electus will announce The Hungry Channel’s full talent and programming slate in the coming weeks. Viewers can subscribe to The Hungry Channel for trailers and show updates at: www.youtube.com/hungry. Until then here’s a sample of what’s in store:
Goodbyes From 2011
In 2011 we foodies said goodbye to a number of food shows. Here’s a list:
Good Eats – after 11 years creator/host Alton Brown called it a series so that he could have more time with his family and to develop new projects.
Big Daddy’s House – after being declared the winner of Food Network Star 4, Aaron McCargo Jr. logged 61 episodes before moving on to the next stage of his career.
Crave – possibly the smartest show Food Network has done in years only received a single season but my guess is it will become the Firefly of TV food shows. Troy, promise me I get to be in the big screen version!
Ace of Cakes – the show that introduced the world to cake decorating. Duff Goldman and his hilarious staff of artisans, hipsters and other quirky personalities made cake into a trend. I don’t blame Duff for all of the crappy cake shows on the air today because his was actually good.
Aarti Party – yet another Food Network Star show got the axe. Currently only three of the seven winning shows are still in production. Next to Guy’s Big Bite, Aarti Party was clearly the best FNS show ever. EVER. Like Good Eats it will live on with the Cooking Channel. As for Aarti, she has a new series in the works that is a collaboration FNS 5 winner Melissa D’Arabian.
Review: Sugar High
I have said it more than once. I’m tired of dessert oriented shows. I know that a lot of people dig them but for a savory guy they just don’t cut the mustard. As humorous and charming as Adam Gertler is I really can’t get into Kid in a Candy Store. I love Cooking Channel’s Unique Eats but it’s spin-off Unique Sweets bores me. The same for Top Chef and Top Chef: Just Desserts. And don’t get me started on Cupcake Wars (worst show on TV).
The one dessert show that I did like was Ace of Cakes which wrapped production last winter. Let’s face it, Ace was the best and everything that’s come out since is trying to capture the magic at Charmed City Cakes. But I didn’t dig Ace because of the mind-boggling cake sculptures, although they were cool, I liked it because of the staff at the bakery. They were very interesting and funny people, devoid of onscreen drama. Especially the adorable Katherine Hill. Purrrrr.
When a friend at the Network hipped me that Duff had a new show coming out I approached it with mixed feelings. I, like most Food Network viewers, like Duff a lot. He is one of the most recognizable stars in the food TV universe and one of the most likeable as well. But at the same time it was sure to be just another dessert show. Duff is great but it was his interaction with his staff that made Ace so much fun.
Imagine my surprise when I watched the premiere. Duff makes an extremely good food/travel host. It was still Duff, but there is a polish and professionalism to his voice-over narrative that makes him exceedingly approachable. It isn’t silly nor over the top. All of the voice-over work is so good it makes me wonder why he hasn’t made a career out of documentaries and commercials. The voice was Duff, but then again it was someone new.
Then came the interaction with each featured vendor. There was the old Duff. The joking, the crazy laugh, the quirky sense of humor; it was all there. So now we have the best of both worlds. The new, mature host Duff and the old, playful, cake blower-upper Duff. What a terrific blend.
But what about the content? It’s still just dessert right, glorified bowls of sugar? Not for me it wasn’t. The producers have done a great job of lining up vendors with personalities that compliment the host’s. It made me care about desserts. In fact, I’m adding Venice Beach’s Schulzies Bread Pudding to my “must do” list on my next trip to LA.
108 bread puddings? Are you kidding me? To me bread pudding is the perfect dessert food. It can taste like whatever your favorite desserts is. It’s easy as all get out to make, makes use of left-over ingredients (gotta watch that food cost) and it has tradition. It has all of the things people look for in a great dessert – complexity of flavor, contrasting textures and luxury that can only come from sugar and saturated fat. If you ever see me on a reality cooking competition you can bet my dessert course will be breading pudding. Or Key lime pie.
Okay, back on topic. I cannot believe how enjoyable I found the show. Would I like it better if it were Ribeye High? Probably, I never get tired of seeing a perfectly cooked medium-rare piece of meat, That being said, I’ll be tuning back in to Sugar High and for me that’s high praise, especially for a dessert show.
Sugar High airs Fridays at at 10:30pm/9:30c on the Food Network.
Duff Returns to Food Network on a Sugar High
The only pastry-oriented show I have ever really liked was Ace of Cakes. Sadly it went off the air a few months ago. Well Duff is back. On August 8th Food Network premieres his new food/travel vehicle Sugar High. I wonder if this is to replace Adam Gertler’s Kind in a Candy Store or if there is enough of a demand for dessert-programming to warrant another show. I’d kill a drifter if it took the place of Cupcake Wars or Tough Cookies. Food for thought. Here’s the 411 from the Food Network:
Duff Goldman, best known as the pastry mastermind behind the popular Food Network show, Ace of Cakes, is exploring a sugary curiosity. His new show, Sugar High, takes him on a cross-country trek to capture the sweet secrets and tasty techniques that keep the cookies from crumbling in the top bakeries around the nation. Premiering August 8, this six-episode summer feature will showcase the best sweet spots. From diners and curbside snow-cone machines to food carts and boutique bakeries, Duff will prove that decadent desserts are anything but ordinary.
Follow Duff as he stops for chilled bread pudding on the Venice boardwalk in California, pull up a seat at a roadhouse in Dallas for s’mores and have a slice of apple strudel in Chicago that is reminiscent of something you’d get in Europe. He also returns to down-home style with traditional rice pudding at a dessert boutique in Philadelphia.
Tune in: Monday, August 8 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern/ 9:30 p.m. Central
