FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Dana
Young, 415/378-7998
Brenda
Lowry, Bravo, 818/840-3955
BRAVO’s new hit reality series, “TOP CHEF” Features
EPisode with THe
Junior League of Oakland-East BaY,
Inc.
Tune in At
10 p.m. (PT) WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28th to Get the
DISH
LAFAYETTE, CA
– March 22, 2006 – The Junior League of Oakland-East
Bay, Inc. (JLOEB) today announced it will appear on an upcoming episode of
Bravo’s new hit reality show, “Top Chef.” The hour-long show is scheduled to air
March 28, and will challenge competing chefs’ culinary skills in front of an
audience of Junior League members.
“The art of cooking and sharing recipes has long been a
part of the Junior League heritage and ‘Top Chef’ allows the Junior League,
several of the finest restaurants, and some of the world’s most celebrated
culinary masters to showcase the Bay Area’s expertise and innovation in
cuisine,” said Leslie Bates, President 2005-2006, JLOEB. “We were thrilled to participate;
however, as we are not at liberty to disclose the secret ingredients of our
involvement in ‘Top Chef,’ we encourage viewers with an appetite for the inner
workings of the culinary world to tune in to discover the creative tasks
competitors had to complete for League members.”
Shot on location in San
Francisco and the Bay Area, “Top Chef” is executive produced by Dan Cutforth and
Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves, who also produced “Project Runway” and “Project
Greenlight” for Bravo. The
innovative show features 12 rising chefs who head to San Francisco for their
shot at culinary stardom and the chance to earn the prestigious title of “Top
Chef.” The ten-episode, one-hour series airs Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. on
Bravo.
Culinary Arts – A Junior League Tradition
The art of cooking and sharing
recipes has long been a part of Junior League heritage. Since the 1950s, Junior
Leagues across the country have published collections of their favorite regional
recipes to raise funds for local community development. Not only have these
award-winning, family-style cookbooks defined what we now call “comfort food,”
they have also raised tens of millions of dollars in charitable contributions to
fund programs ranging from shelters for runaway youth, homeless families, and
battered spouses to literacy programs for disadvantaged youth to organ donation
to historical preservation to the promotion of voluntarism
itself.
It is no surprise that Bravo
selected the San Francisco Bay Area as the focal point of “Top Chef.” Northern
California has been called “a hotbed of original and passionate culinary
enterprise” by Gourmet magazine, and San Francisco is recognized
throughout the world as a culinary mecca. Adding to the culinary landscape is
the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, Inc.’s California Fresh Harvest: A
Seasonal Journey through Northern California. Published in June 2001, California Fresh Harvest ($26.95 +
tax) is an award-winning
cookbook, arranged by seasons, which features 185 recipes, each
highlighting ingredients produced in Northern California. With a forward by
internationally known chef, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, and family winemaker,
Gina Gallo of Gallo of Sonoma, the book offers readers a true reflection of the
breadth and depth of the local cuisine, which is incredibly rich and diverse. To
order, call (925) 284-3740 or visit http://www.cafresh.com/.
Junior Leagues’ Kids in the Kitchen
Ever since the Junior League of
Minneapolis raised more than $3,000 with its very first cookbook in 1943-44,
Junior League members have been heading to the kitchen to raise money for
important community initiatives.
And, this tradition continues on in the East Bay Area of Northern
California where the JLOEB is working together with experts in the culinary,
nutrition and medical fields to share information with children and parents, and
the community at large, about the basics of healthy cooking, snacking and
nutrition.
Together with the Association
of Junior Leagues International Inc. and more than 225 sister Leagues in four
countries, the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, Inc. is participating in an
exciting new initiative for April’s National Volunteer Week called Junior Leagues’ Kids in the Kitchen. The League-wide
initiative, supported by the ADA, USDA and Bon
Appetit magazine, is designed to create an impact in our
communities around issues of growing importance – childhood obesity and poor
nutrition. To learn more about the
national campaign, visit http://kidsinthekitchen.ajli.org/.
To learn more about JLOEB’s initiative featuring well-known chefs including
Victor Scargle, Executive Chef of Julia’s Kitchen at COPIA (Napa, CA),
and Rob Lam Executive Chef/Owner Butterfly Restaurant (San Francisco,
CA), visit us at http://www.jloeb.org/ or www.jloeb.org/kidsinthekitchen.htm.
Top Chef
Hosted by Katie Lee Joel, “Top
Chef” offers a fascinating window into the competitive, pressure-filled
environment of world-class cookery and the restaurant business. Tom Colicchio,
one of the culinary world’s most celebrated figures and co-owner of New York
City’s Gramercy Tavern and Craft Restaurants, serves as mentor to the competing
chefs. Food expert Gail Simmons from Food
& Wine magazine serves as a regular judge for the series, and each week
some of the food world’s most prominent talents will guest judge. The winning
chef will receive $100,000 in seed money to help encourage their culinary
career, be featured in Food &
Wine magazine, appear at the Food
& Wine Classic in Aspen in June 2006, and most importantly, earn the
prestigious title of “Top Chef.”
For more information and to check local
listings in your area, visit: http://nbcumv.com/bravo/program_detail.nbc/topchef.html.
About Bravo
Bravo is the
cable network that plugs people into arts, entertainment, and pop culture with
original programming, acclaimed off-network dramas, comedy and music specials,
movies and by showing a whole different side of celebrities. Currently available
in more than 80 million homes, Bravo is known for breaking exciting new
personalities, shaking up the way we look at style, media, fame and Hollywood,
pulling back the curtain on the creative process, and making influential and
inventive original programming. Its critically acclaimed and award-winning
original programming includes “Inside the Actors Studio,” “Project Runway,”
“Celebrity Poker Showdown,” and “Blow Out” as well as the 2004 Emmy winner for
Outstanding Reality Program, “Queer Eye.” The network’s latest hits include
“Being Bobby Brown” and “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the
D-List.
Junior League of
Oakland-East Bay, Inc.
Women Building Better
Communities
– The Junior League of Oakland-East Bay,
Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing
the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action
and leadership of trained volunteers.
The JLOEB offers women the opportunity to implement change in the
community in three major ways: projects, grants and outreach. The common thread in the JLOEB community
work is the League’s dedicated mission focusing on Children at Risk.
Its purpose is
exclusively educational and charitable. To learn more, support League projects or become a
member, please visit our website at www.jloeb.org.
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