Over the years, he has worked with Tyler Perry, Paula Deen, Steve Harvey, Lady Antebellum, Star Jones and Reuben Studdard, to name a few. Jernard Wells, known as "The Chef of Love," serves this recipe for barbecue shrimp and andouille sausage in grits flavored with Gouda cheese. That's followed by a seven-day celebrity cruise with Tom Joyner in which Wells provides cooking demonstrations for passengers. In addition to taping the TV series, he has the occasional one-off television appearance and is heading to Los Angeles this week for the NAACP Image Awards. I'm juggling two networks and two shows, and I still look for time for nurturing my family. He's not involved in any Atlanta-area restaurants but does still own a catering company, the Chef Jernard Experience, which caters mainly to high-profile clients. My next goal is a sitcom or movie, put something new on there."īefore relocating to Atlanta, he lived in Chattanooga from about 2007 to 2017 and was one of three founders of Chattanooga Wing Co. I have shows on Food Network, the Cooking Channel and on Cleo. "Most of the time when people are signed to a network, you can only do stuff on that network. He's lucky, he says, that he has the freedom to cross-brand. He was runner-up on Season 12 of "Food Network Star," two-time winner on "Cutthroat Kitchen," judge on "Chopped Junior" and contestant on "Food Network Star: Comeback Kitchen." He's a co-host, with such luminaries as Martha Stewart and Alton Brown, for "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the Cooking Channel. Wells, known as "The Chef of Love," is no stranger to long-form, prime-time programming. You get everything you need out of it and, boom, it's done." "It's shot in the same format as if you were watching a cooking video on your cellphone or tablet. "It's created with that in mind," Wells says of the show. With viewing habits often shaped by quick hits on a handheld screen, millennials are more likely to watch a short video on social media than a long-form program on TV. Especially for millennials, the younger of the two groups, much of life is experienced via digital device. We go straight through with no commercial interruptions whatsoever."Īccording to TV One, which owns the network, Cleo TV is envisioned as a lifestyle network targeting women of color in the Generation X and millennial age ranges, a demographic combined, roughly, of those born between 19. "We're describing what we're cooking, the grade of meat, the vegetables and particular herbs we use. Viewers can find the recipes at "When the show comes on, we introduce who we are, then go immediately into the dish we're going to be cooking for the day," Wells says. The chefs offer broad strokes, not exact measurements, and all their prep work is done before the camera rolls, so they can quickly walk through each step of the preparation without losing momentum. Each dish looks amazing, but even more amazing is that the whole process, start to finish, takes place in a whirlwind 10 minutes or so. The two take turns at the stove, explaining to viewers and each other how each dish comes together. In the next episode, "Sunday Supper," she prepares a lentil loaf with gravy (an alternative to meatloaf), while he serves up fried chicken brined in sweet tea and paired with collard and turnip greens. Thomas answers with a loaded vegan breakfast burrito, with turmeric-seasoned tofu subbing for scrambled eggs. Wells prepares pan-seared filet mignon topped with bourbon-butter shrimp. Offering multiple viewpoints creates "an atmosphere that resembles most households today that have many dietary choices under one roof," she explains. Thomas says she was just as eager to try this "first of its kind" programming. "We envisioned a New Age cooking show designed for millennials, a new way to bring original inspired dishes to the world," he says. He says he was excited about the prospect of having a co-host to bounce ideas off of. After serving as personal chef to record executive Russell Simmons, also a vegan, she ultimately adapted her own diet to veganism in late 2016.ĭespite their dietary differences, Wells says his and Thomas' personalities meshed when they first talked in a conference call with TV execs. She is a fairly recent convert to veganism, a diet that excludes not just meat, fish and poultry but all animal products, even dairy and eggs. Despite what you think you know about vegan food, her website advises nonpractitioners, it doesn't have to deprive you of the joy of eating. His co-host, Porsche Thomas, also specializes in soul food - "soulful food," she calls hers - and it's strictly vegan. Saturdays (encores at 10:30 p.m.) on Cleo TV on Comcast/Xfinity (channel 162).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |