I finally got a little more quality time with the Cooking Channel so I am attempting to review several of the shows I have not seen.  This time around Chuck’s Day Off.

My first experience with the cooking of Chuck Hughes was when he defeated Bobby Flay in Battle: Canadian Lobster on Iron Chef America.  In my pregame for that episode I wrote:

Chuck Hughes is a veteran of the Montreal food scene.  He’s been working in “The City of Saints” since he left culinary school culminating in Garde Manger – an Old Town Montreal restaurant he opened with two friends in 2006.

Then came Chuck’s Day Off one of those outsourced Food Canada shows that make up a large part of the Cooking Channel’s initial line-up.    Here’s what they have to say about their star, “Chuck was on the fast track to a career in advertising, but somewhere along the way, fell in love with the restaurant business. He enrolled in culinary school, started working in the city’s hottest kitchens and hasn’t looked back since.”

Chuck’s Day Off has a raw energy to it not unlike the old Naked Chef series that introduced the world to Jaime Oliver.  His recipes are rustic yet elegant in presentation.  The food Chuck cooks is the kind of stuff a chef loves to eat in his off hours, a little different from the average person’s menu but still familiar enough not to scare off mortals.  It’s foodie food.  Hughes’ passion is evident in every scene.  I really dig that the show is shot while his restaurant is closed.

As far as the cinematography goes the colors and lighting both seem a bit muted though not dull.  On the contrary the dankness of the shoot plays well with Hughes’ style.  This is definitely a show I can get into.  It’s apparent why it is one of the Cooking Channel’s most popular offerings.