Search on for AFC's next celebrity chef
MANILA, Philippines - Calling all food lovers and aspiring chefs! For the first time in Asia, the Asian Food Channel (AFC) is conducting a region-wide search for Asia’s next celebrity chef through AFC’s first-ever reality television series called E&O Search for AFC’s Next Celebrity Chef.
Joining AFC in this search for Asia’s best new chef talent is luxury lifestyle group Eastern & Oriental Berhad (E&O), with interests in property development, property investment, hospitality, and lifestyle. Together, both organizations will leverage their resources to put contestants through a gamut of culinary challenges that will test even the most seasoned chef or passionate foodie.
With contestants from across Asia and auditions to be held in five countries — Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore — the program promises to capture the best of Asia’s diverse talent. All aspiring chefs, individuals with culinary training, or those simply with the passion for and knowledge of cooking are invited to sign up for auditions and take up the challenge of being crowned AFC’s Next Celebrity Chef.
The winning chef will also be signed to an exclusive one-year contract as an AFC Celebrity Chef with AFC. In addition, the winner will be awarded the opportunity of a year-long employment contract with the E&O Group, taking on the mantle of creative director and head of R&D for the E&O Gourmet Group.
Auditions will run from August 3 to 16 in the five respective countries.
Contestants who are short listed from the auditions will be undertake a series of intense cooking tests and trials, to identify who has the right ingredients to hold the title of E&O and AFC’s Next Celebrity Chef.
The exciting eight-part series will unveil the top 12 finalists in its premier episode. Each week, one or more participants will be eliminated from the running, based on the decisions made by the panel of judges.
AFC and E&O have appointed AFC celebrity chef and star of TV series Tablescapes, chef Bruce Lim, and Michael Saxon as the judges on this show. Saxon, director of Group Hospitality & Lifestyle of E&O Group, is not only a well-known hotelier, but also author of his famous professional memoir Chef’s Tales.
A host of international and distinguished celebrity chefs will also be invited to make surprise guest appearances in selected episode(s) throughout the series as guest celebrity chef judges.
Maria Brown, co-founder and managing director of the Asian Food Channel, expressed her excitement over this AFC original production, “We are so proud and honored to be able to create our own show to discover a celebrity chef in Asia. It has been something we have been planning for a long time and as Asia’s premier food channel, we are delighted to be able to develop talent from across the region. Asia can now begin to have its own homegrown celebrity chefs that the region can be proud of. As this is AFC’s first-ever fully produced and filmed reality television contest, we want the different backgrounds and personalities of the contestants and judges to add to the mix of culture and character dimensions to the series, which — as our loyal viewers will know — is what AFC has always been about!”
The entire series will be shot on location at E&O’s numerous hospitality and lifestyle properties such as the Eastern & Oriental Hotel and Lone Pine Hotel in Penang, the Martinique seafront villa and Straits Quay Retail Marina at E&O’s masterplanned township of Seri Tanjung Pinang, Penang, the St. Mary Residences in Kuala Lumpur as well as at some of the popular Delicious restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
“AFC has always supported local Asian talent, through our many other original productions featuring legendary chefs such as chef Wan and chef Martin Yan. We feel this series is the perfect opportunity now to give our viewers not only high quality Asian content, but also for them to have the very real chance of a lifetime to be a chef on our channel,” adds Brown.
E&O Group’s deputy managing director Eric Chan observes, “E&O is all about luxury lifestyle experiences, and we are excited to bring this to life in a new and different way. This is Asia’s first homegrown reality show centered on talented chefs and great food, and we are proud to be working with AFC to make it happen.”
This production follows the great success of True Passion – Martin Yan, which premiered last July 13, featuring chef Martin Yan cooking his signature Asian dishes which he pairs in eight episodes with his favorite wines. This show was shot on location at the vineyards in Australia and at the AFC’s studio in Singapore.
This program comes after several other AFC original productions such as Best Wan! with chef Wan, and several other documentary programs covering assorted topics — from the use of palm oil in cooking to the well chronicled visits made to Asia by notable chefs such as chef Daniel Boulud, chef Anna Olson, and chef Robert Rainford.
The E&O Search for AFC’s Next Celebrity Chef series will be complemented with online updates and information, as AFC launches a microsite dedicated to the production of the series. Visit http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/nextafcchef for more information. The site will provide up-to-date information about contestants and carry weekly updates of the latest happenings as contestants go through challenging rounds (with some of them failing!) until we are left with the last chef standing!
