From Top Chef to Iron Chef to Hell’s Kitchen, the TV schedule is packed with culinary competition shows. But when it comes to Americans’ insatiable appetite for all things foodie, there’s always room for more.
Electus, the multimedia company founded by former NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman in 2009, is teaming up with Bonnier Corp.'s Saveur magazine to add a new Web series about cooking to its existing food-centric fare, which include Food Network’s Chopped and Rocco’s Dinner Party on Bravo. The new series, Dueling Dishes, will air on Electus’ branded YouTube channel, Hungry, starting Dec. 1.
All six episodes of Dueling Dishes will show chefs from big-name restaurants (Gramercy Tavern, Aquavit) competing one-on-one to create the best version of a classic dish, from fried chicken to ice box pie. The show’s creator, Hungry CEO Bruce Seidel, will produce, while Saveur editor in chief James Oseland and Bonnier chief brand development officer Sean Holzman will act as executive producers. Judges include Saveur editors Gabriella Gershenson and Todd Coleman.
This isn’t the magazine's first involvement with a culinary competition: Oseland is also a judge on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters. Nor is this Hungry’s first partnership with a magazine: The channel already has a series based on New York magazine’s annual Eat Cheap issue.