Looking Forward to Alex Guarnaschelli's New Show - Oct. 18

I'm bummed I didn't run into Alex Guarnaschelli at all this past weekend in New York, but I'm slightly consoled by the fact that her new show Alex's Day Off premieres this Sunday, Oct. 18 at 9:30am ET.

Watching Alex on TV won't be as great as eating at her restaurant and meeting her like I did last year on my birthday, but it's a close second!


The first episode's description includes this line: [i]n an act of ridiculousness, Alex melts a wheel of cheese on a bed of crispy hash browns -- so we know that's gotta be good.

Looking forward to it, Alex!

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Obviously, Alex is posing in the pic above with Aida Mollenkamp and Aaron McCargo Jr. I actually ran into Aida right when I got to New York and went to The Standard hotel where the festival's homebase was. We had chatted once by phone last year, but it was nice to say hi in person. And, let me say, she looks even more model-y in person. Almost didn't recognize her!

I saw Aaron later in the day working on his computer by himself, so I didn't speak with him. Later, on Saturday night, I saw him at the Duff Goldman-hosted "Sweet" event and saw an Aaron fan trip right over a giant lamp on the floor in an attempt to get a hug from Big Daddy himself. Aaron was nice and didn't laugh in the poor girl's face, but it was pretty funny.

Is it the weekend yet?

Noah Starr GONE on Ask Aida

The new season premiere of Ask Aida was on this morning and host Aida Mollenkamp's "tech guru" Noah Starr was noticeably absent. I think Noah got the technological boot. See yah, Noah!


Ask Aida has never been one of my favorite shows on Food Network. Noah did have his comedic moments here and there, but I don't think his presence will be missed all that much. Sorry to say.

As she acknowledged in our interview last year, Aida already knows what questions will be asked of her in advance and everything is planned out on her show. Thus, having a "tech guru" there to read her emails and "call" viewers just didn't seem to make sense.

Will you miss Noah?

Aida's Sidekick Noah Starr Featured

I feel like the overall vibe on Ask Aida needs to be cranked up about 60%, which is strange for me to say because I generally don't like zany, over-the-top Food Network shows. And even though Aida's sidekick Noah Starr does say some pretty wacky things, I'm not entirely blown away by his performance... if you can call it that.

Still, his alma mater Boston University, produly features Starr in a recent article highlighting his accomplishments.



When Starr learned the Food Network was looking for a sidekick for its new cooking show, he did a screen test and landed the job. “It was the culmination of two things,” he says. “I really like comedy and performing, and I really like food and cooking.”

Ask Aida, which premiered in August 2008, is the Food Network’s latest attempt to appeal to a new generation of viewers. “The show is for a younger crowd,” Starr says. “The idea is that it’s just two people hanging out in the kitchen — one who’s a gorgeous woman who can cook, and one who just happens to be a geeky guy who knows how to use computers.”

Uh huh.

"Put THIS on your biscuit" -- Paula Deen

Poor Aida. You gotta watch out when it comes to butter!

Ask Aida to Get a Better Editor

Was this uploaded by mistake? Aida Mollenkamp stutters, starts over a few times, and generally seems unsettled in this new video on Food Network's YouTube page:



"And, yes, Michelle there is. So margarine is actually a, you know, a ehhh vegetable product. So, yes, Michelle there is..."

What's This?!? Full episodes on Foodnetwork.com

Has anyone else seen this? FoodNetwork.com now has a video player that includes, among other things, full episodes of Cooking for Real, Iron Chef America, Ask Aida, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Ace of Cakes.


You still have to watch them in Food Network's inferior-to-hulu video player... but it's hard to compete with NBC Universal, News Corp, and $100 million in private investments. So, three cheers are still in order for Food Network and Scripps for taking the plunge and putting their content on YouTube and, now, their Website.

And just in case you're wondering, I don't really like watching full episodes online. They are good if they're sneak peeks before the episode airs on TV, though. Love how they did that with 30 Rock recently.

Soooo Food Network Interactive: how 'bout you put up that Thanksgiving Special with Ina Garten! ;-)

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Would you watch full episodes online?

Sunny and Aida's Commercial

Part of that $3 million at work!

How can you not watch their shows after seeing this adorable mini Sunny?

"Where My Girls At?" - Food Net's $3 Mil. Campaign to Market Sunny & Aida

(And speaking of 702, where's my 702 at these days? I'm old. That song came out TEN years ago.)

Food Network's Susie Fogelson, vice president of marketing and brand strategy, is hoping a $3 million marketing campaign promoting Sunny Anderson and Aida Mollenkamp will bring in more female viewers to the net's daytime "In the Kitchen" block.

They're "going for the female jugular"! (Her words)


A big part of the campaign will be spots with Sunny and Aida, who'll be promoting their shows Cooking for Real and Ask Aida, on the female-skewing nets Oxygen and VH1.

"We like the vibe at these networks, because that’s where our girls are,” Fogelson told Mediaweek. "We share a younger, more contemporary audience, but at the same time we’re not talking to 20-year-olds.”

Other parts of the plan include print (People, Us Weekly, Jet), radio, online and out-of-home, inclduing placement on Jet Blue’s seat-back TV service to call-outs for Ask Aida on specially branded grocery carts, according to Mediaweek.



And that's not all.

A giant focus group consisting of 25,000 women will watch the two shows with the goal being that they provide feedback and tell their friends about the shows.

"The risk is that they may not like the shows, but we feel strongly that they’re going to love these women, and will want to tell everyone they know about them,” says Susie.

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Well, I give Food Network credit for really trying to reach out to this audience in a new way. Daytime did get a big stagnant for a while, so I'm sure $3 million spent on different marketing techniques will get them noticed... in some way.

Daytime is already looking better, though. Since it began tweaking the daytime block in May, Food Network saw its total day ratings rise by 9 percent, averaging 580,000 viewers, in the second quarter. Who knows what kind of gains this big campaign will bring in.

Ladies: its up to you! [Mediaweek]

Food Network Addict Interview: Aida Mollenkamp

Aida Mollenkamp is the host of the new Food Network show Ask Aida. For the past several months, viewers have been able to upload videos to the Ask Aida site with their culinary questions. Viewers can also email and text their questions, and Aida will answer some of them on the show.

Aida obtained a Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu Paris and also serves as CHOW.com's food editor. I recently spoke with Aida by telephone.


How did you get involved with Food Network and this show?
I’d been working at CHOW for over three years doing all kinds of content, from writing recipes, to stories, and video tips. Food Network saw the videos and were interested in talking to me. They’d been kicking around the idea of Ask Aida for over a year and when we met we realized this interactive show fit with my personality.

You’re a trained chef and have done a lot cooking videos online for CHOW. Was this your first TV experience? How was the transition?
It was my first TV experience. I definitely was daunted by the whole thing, but I’ve been a ballerina and performer, so I was up for the whole thing. We teamed up with a fabulous producer, Irene Wong, who worked with Giada [De Laurentiis] in the past. She really worked with me, putting me through “hosting boot camp” if you will.

I watched a preview clip online and in it you got an email question, a text message and a phone call. Were these actual viewer questions?
We took the viewers' questions into account when creating the theme of each episode. Some questions didn’t require an entire cooking demo, like “what’s the difference between salted and unsalted butter,” so sometimes I'll just answer them while I'm cooking.

Your show isn't really "live." Think you'd ever have a show featuring live questions, ones you hadn't heard beforehand?
I'd definitely need to ease into something like that. Doing a show is such a big process—everything from creating your recipes to learning your lines and long, long hours. Everything you saw on Next food Network Star was what I went through, I just wasn’t filmed. I think Sara Moulton did a fabulous job on Cooking Live. To do something similar would be an honor, but huge, huge shoes to fill.

I don’t know if you watched the finale of The Next Food Network Star, but there's some buzz online about how Adam's show pilot incorporated the element of answering questions via the Internet. Would you mind setting the record straight about the similarity to your show?
People don’t always realize how long it takes to make a show; there are so many different elements that need to come together. We’ve been talking about [Ask Aida] since the end of Fall/early Winter last year. Ask Aida was well, well underway when Star was being filmed.

I saw you recently shot a national commercial with Sunny Anderson to promote both of your shows. How was that experience?
It was so much fun. I had heard such wonderful things about Sunny before I met her, so I had big expectations [laughs]. It was kinda "host love at first sight." The two of us just totally clicked. We were basically just playing around onset all day, and from what I’m told they were able to capture that. We’ll see very shortly how the campaign turns out. It was a lot of fun.


Noah Starr is your “tech guru” on the show who goes through the various questions and picks ones to ask you. How did he come onboard and how is it working with him?
It was kind of like a speed dating service. They set me up with a group of potential sidekicks and I spent about 5-10 minutes with each one. It got narrowed down very quickly. Noah and I had very similar senses of humor and personalities. It’s helpful to have him sorting through questions so I can cook, plus he'll just ask me questions off the top of his head, which I think adds a nice dimension to the show.

Did you shoot in New York at Food Network?
I couldn’t do them at Food Network because Iron Chef was being filmed [laughs]. It would have been nice, though. They have such beautiful facilities and kitchens.

You currently live in San Francisco. How has the commuting back and forth to New York been?
I’m a huge traveler, so I don’t usually mind the hours it takes to travel. Well, it really didn’t bother me until a few weeks ago when I was on the JFK tarmac for about 5 ½ hours, and I was like “this is not the most convenient thing.” CHOW has been great about it. It’s been a really nice interplay between the two [jobs], because they complement each other yet are so different.

Are there Food Network shows or hosts that you watch and/or admire?
I didn’t really have a TV until about a year ago, but I’ve always loved dorking out with Alton Brown since I’m a food geek myself. I love all his shows.

You’ve shot 13 episodes of Ask Aida. What’s the next step?
Pretty much just wait and see how it’s received, and in this age of interactivity we’ll find out pretty quickly. The experience was great. Everybody from the camera crew to the producers to the food stylists were all so talented. I’m really hoping that I can continue to work with them because it was a lot of fun.


Ask Aida premieres tomorrow, Sat., Aug. 2, at 12:30pm ET on Food Network.

Images courtesy Food Network

Case in Point

The first few Ask Aida submission videos are up and, as I suspected, the "cooking challenges" aren't exactly what I'd call creative and/or entertaining. They seem a little bit more... self-promoting than truly inquisitive-ing. Sorry, just my opinion.


In the few videos I watched, the people either mentioned their URL (or flashed it across the screen in huge letters like these guys in the pic above) or let it be known that they were on YouTUBE, answering the question "Why Should We Pick You?" with: "Because I'll keep posting questions until you pick me?"

Ahhh, dedication!

New Show, Same Theme

Food Network's got something new coming up called Ask Aida. It's billed as an "interactive cooking show" in which viewers can upload "creative and interesting" videos highlighting their culinary challenges to foodnetwork.com/aida and cooking expert Aida Mollenkamp will answer them on the show.

Why do I feel like singing Whitney Houston's "Same Script, Different Cast" right now?


"From recipe and ingredient issues to advice on kitchen machinery and tools, Aida can even offer guidance for impromptu parties, feeding a crowd, make-ahead dishes, and time-saving tips. Food Network is looking for viewers with burning culinary questions to be featured on the series, which is set to premiere on Saturday, August 2nd."

Firstily of all, let's forget the fact that the idea of answering viewers' "cooking challenges" is a standard feature on a number of other shows, both past and present. I'll give the network some credit for adding this "interactive" element, despite being about 5 years late on that front. YouTube is rad, man!

My problem with a show like this is that the entire concept rests too much in the hands of regular people.

No offense to the "regular people" of the world (myself being one of them), but there is nothing worse than watching a regular person who, despite being incredibly boring, thinks he is interesting. Typically it'd just be the casting people who'd have to sit through the onslaught of boredom, but by adding this "interactive" element you're certain to get a bunch of people uploading videos who just want to be seen on Food Network's website, many without any real "culinary challenge."

I don't know. Maybe I'm just being a sourpuss. Aida was trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and served as CHOW.com's food editor, so she probably has the know-how. That's enough to at least tune in once.