February 2003
In this month's media watch we put the spot light on a new cooking program currently be aired on PBS - Chefs A' Field.

The series explores the origins of our food in a documentary-style cooking experience, unlike any other to date.

Praised by master chef Julia Child for its "wonderful and refreshing focus," this new tour-de-force cooking series takes viewers on a glorious culinary journey, exploring the vital relationship between top chefs and their food sources and tracing the origins of great meals from the fields, forests, farms and waters of America.



The 13 half-hour programs began airing on public television stations nationwide on January 4, 2003. Every episode of Chefs A' Field showcases regional cuisine and is filled with picturesque scenes shot at the peak of seasonal harvest. Whether it is a visibility campaign to bolster the under-appreciated rutabaga outside Washington, D.C. or a sea voyage in search of Bluefin tuna off the coast of Cape Cod, Chefs A' Field travels the nation in search of great food and responsible growing practices.

Each episode starts with a well-known restaurant, travels to the field and returns to the kitchen, where the ingredients are magically transformed into some of the most delectable dishes on the menus of America's finest restaurants. As the chefs interact with local farmers and fishermen, viewers see how environmental practices make a difference in how foods taste and hold their nutritional value.

"I want to be able to take anything in my field and at the end of the day put it on my table," says farmer Jeff Boden, who supplies fresh produce for Chef Cory Schreiber's renowned Wildwood restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Through the pairing of a farmer and a chef, viewers witness the relationship the two develop and see how that affects the food we eat.

The chefs select the dishes they will prepare in front of the camera. All recipes include fresh, locally grown ingredients. From New York to San Francisco and from Seattle to Atlanta, Chefs A' Field zips coast to coast in pursuit of favorite restaurants, great chefs and high-quality food.

Chefs A' Field features top chefs including Patrick O'Connell (The Inn at Little Washington), Nora Pouillon (Nora-Washington D.C.), Traci Des Jardins (Jardiniere-San Francisco), Frank Stitt (Highlands-Birmingham, AL),Cory Schreiber (Wildwood-Portland, OR), Tom Douglas (Palace Kitchen-Seattle), Odessa Piper (L'Etoile-Madison, WI), Peter Hoffman (Savoy-New York), Anne Quatrano (Bacchanalia/Float Away Café-Atlanta), Stan Frankenthaler (Salamander-Boston), Johnathan Sundstrom (Earth & Ocean-Seattle) and Rick Moonen (Restaurant RM-New York).

More information, including a list of cities highlighted in Chefs A' Field, is available on the series Web site, at www.chefsafield.com. To check for show times visit www.Tvguide.com