Nominees have just been announced for the third annual
, and it looks like Gordon Ramsay Alton Brown, and Jamie Oliver might have to slug it out.
Kitchen Nightmares, Good Eats
and
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
are vying for victory in the Best TV Food Program category, as are
Top Chef, No Reservations
, and
The Science & Art of Cheese.
Also known as the Tasty Awards, the competition honors food, drink and fashion programs on TV and online in many different categories. Up for the Best New Series prize are GastroLab, The Fire House Chef, Ludo Bites America, Originals with Emeril, Extra Virgin, and Too Fat for 15. Up for the Best Online Beverage Program prize are Thirsty Girl TV, Wine Spectator, Andrea Wine, the Naked Wine Show, Drinks with Alie & Georgia, and Raising the Bar with Jamie Boudreau. Winners will be announced at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre on January 12. Celebrity presenters include Top Chef's Fabio Viviani, Cook Yourself Thin's Candice Kumai, Brian Boitano of What Would Brian Boitano Make? ... and many more.
Being nominated in the Best Online Food Program category "feels great," says "Chef John" Mitzewich, the video blogger and former California Culinary Academy instructor whose Food Wishes series is a YouTube phenomenon. Mitzewich's friendly instructional videos on how to make such comfort-food classics as sloppy joes, mac-and-cheese, and potato chips are immensely popular. His onion-rings video has scored nearly two million views; a grilled-cheese sandwich tutorial has scored over 600,000.
"When you look down the list of Tasty Award judges, it's literally a who's who of culinary movers and shakers, so to be recognized by that group is a special honor."
Other competitors in his category include Bitchin' Kitchen, Average Betty, The Fire House Chef, Without Borders, WTF (What's This Food), and Jolene Sugarbaker the Trailer Park Queen.
What's Mitzewich cooking while he waits to find out whether or not he won?
"Right now I'm doing a lot of classic cool-weather dishes. Lamb braised in pomegranate, to be served over roasted pumpkin. I'm also just about to start a beef-short-ribs-stewed-with-kimchee experiment. And of course I'm filming lots of holiday recipes."
Michael-Ann Rowe is an actor/reporter/producer whose program Off the Beaten Palate is one of five competing in the Best Online Food Travel Series category.
"The Taste Awards have given me the opportunity to be nominated and I am so thankful. What a list of great shows and talent," says Rowe, who travels the world to visit restaurants, markets, wineries, fisheries, and farms.
News of Rowe's nomination arrived shortly before a visit to New York City's Tocqueville Restaurant, on whose menu she encountered Truffled Creamy Parmesan Grits and Sunny Side Up Country Egg. As if its basic components weren't comforting enough, the repast also includes cured veal bacon.
"This dish is something I am going to dream about for days," says Rowe, who calls it "an inspiration for me to replicate over the holidays."
The dozens of other Taste Awards nominees include Cupcake Wars, Man v. Food, Eat Street, Cake Boss, En La Cocina Para Mi Amor, Al Sabor del Chef, Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, and Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
Food-based reality programming -- which the Taste Awards celebrate -- has transformed the way the American public eats, cooks and even talks about food, expanding our culinary vocabularies exponentially. Twenty years ago, your average Joe couldn't tell caponata from confit. But the rise of food-based reality shows has made us all into experts, creating a perfect business climate for places where part of the pleasure of eating and drinking derives from feeling exceptionally smart.
At Daniel Patterson's new Plum Bar -- which opens Friday, November 11 in Oakland, California -- mixologist Scott Beattie creates artisanal cocktails from components that span the world and stretch the brain: Hangar 1 citron vodka, Maraska maraschino liqueur, saffron-rosewater syrup, Tempus Fugit liqueur de violette, Germain-Robin craft-method brandy, freshly pickled fennel, kaffir-lime leaves, huckleberries, five-spice syrup, pineapple guavas, sandalwood powder, lapsang-souchong tea foam. Accompanying bar bites include braised lamb brioche dumplings, quinoa fritters, and chocolate pudding made with coconut, dates and olive oil. The bar's walls are entirely papered with pages torn from poetry books.
Anyone can wander in off the streets of Oakland and order the Bad Radish: a mixture of gin, lemon, pickling liquid, pickled black radishes and pickled watermelon radishes, soda and Italian parsley.
Could this place even have existed before food-and-drink reality TV?
Images courtesy of Kristan Lawson.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.