Check, Please!

Last updated

Check, Please! is a multi-Emmy Award winning restaurant review program that began on Chicago's PBS member station WTTW in 2001.

Contents

The format of the show is simple: three people sit down with a host to discuss three local eating establishments, one favorite chosen by each guest. Before the program is taped, each person chooses a favorite restaurant, and everyone in the group is required to visit each person's selection. Afterwards, everyone describes their eating experiences. Although many participants select trendy, upscale restaurants, just about any eating establishment is fair game including hot dog stands and "neighborhood joints". More than 35,000 people have applied to be guests on Check, Please! in Chicago alone.

The show's initial popularity in Chicago inspired spin-offs in several other markets. A San Francisco Bay Area version of the show, Check, Please! Bay Area, began its first season in 2005, airing on KQED. A Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach version for WPBS and WPBT, Check, Please! South Florida, debuted in January 2008. Check, Please! Kansas City then began airing on KCPT in 2009, and Check, Please! Arizona on Phoenix's KAET made its debut in 2010. A Seattle version, Check, Please! Northwest, began airing on KCTS in 2012. A Philadelphia version, Check, Please! Philly, debuted in January 2020 on WHYY-TV. [1]

Hosts

The first two seasons of the show in Chicago were hosted by Amanda Puck, who is Wolfgang Puck's former sister-in-law. In October 2003, Amanda Puck was replaced with Alpana Singh, who has worked as a sommelier at Chicago's Everest restaurant and as the Director of Wine and Spirits for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. In 2013, Singh stepped down and was replaced by Catherine De Orio, a food writer and former lawyer. [2] In 2018, Singh returned as the show and replaced De Orio as the host. [3] The Chicago version ended in 2021. [4]

The San Francisco version is hosted by wine consultant and author Leslie Sbrocco. The Miami version is hosted by chef Michelle Bernstein. The Kansas City version is hosted by wine consultant and author Doug Frost. The Phoenix version was hosted by chef Robert McGrath, who was then replaced by chef Mark Tarbell in 2017. The Seattle version is hosted by urban gardener Amy Pennington. The Philadelphia version is hosted by food and travel writer Kae Lani Palmisano who received a 2020 Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Talent - Program Host/Moderator for hosting Check, Please! Philly in the show's first year. [5] [6]

Producers

The concept was created by David Manilow and developed by Manilow and Joel Cohen. The executive producers are Manilow and V.J. McAleer. Manilow also oversees all operations of the show and the brand.

According to Manilow, the inspiration for creating the show came from a weekly dining club that he started and included Cohen and film director Joe Angio. The three would rotate selecting restaurants to visit, and each would try to outdo each other in selecting wild or exotic places. [7]

Lost episode

On January 16, 2009, a previously unaired August 2001 episode (Dixie Kitchen), [8] [9] which featured the then Illinois state senator Barack Obama, premiered on WTTW, days before his presidential inauguration. [10]

Related Research Articles

WTTW is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT. The two stations share studios in the Renée Crown Public Media Center, located at 5400 North Saint Louis Avenue in the city's North Park neighborhood; its transmitter facility is atop the Willis Tower on South Wacker Drive in the Chicago Loop. WTTW also owns and operates The Chicago Production Center, a video production and editing facility that is operated alongside the two stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Manilow</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1943)

Barry Manilow is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans six decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", "Can't Smile Without You", "Weekend in New England", and "Copacabana ".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Puck</span> Austrian-American chef and restaurateur

Wolfgang Johannes Puck is an Austrian chef and restaurateur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Flay</span> American celebrity chef (born 1964)

Robert William Flay is an American celebrity chef, food writer, restaurateur, and television personality. Flay is the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises, including Bobby's Burger Palace, Bobby's Burgers, and Amalfi. He has worked with Food Network since 1995, which won him four Daytime Emmy Awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

WPBT is a PBS member television station in Miami, Florida, United States. It serves as the flagship station of South Florida PBS, which also owns Boynton Beach–licensed fellow PBS member WXEL-TV and Miami-licensed low-power station WURH-LD. The three stations share transmitter facilities on Northwest 199th Street in Andover; WPBT's studios are located on Northeast 20th Avenue in North Miami. In addition to serving the Miami–Fort Lauderdale market, the station has significant viewership in much of the West Palm Beach market, and is the only Miami area television station to serve the entire South Florida metropolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liacouras Center</span> Multi-purpose indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Liacouras Center is a 10,206-seat multi-purpose venue which opened in 1997 and was originally named "The Apollo of Temple". The arena was renamed in 2000 for Temple University President, Peter J. Liacouras. It is part of a $107 million, four-building complex along North Broad Street on the Temple University campus in North Philadelphia. The Liacouras Center is the largest indoor, public assembly venue in Philadelphia north of City Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superdawg</span> Restaurant in Illinois, United States

Superdawg is a drive-in hot dog stand with carhop service. It is located in the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago, at the intersection of Milwaukee, Devon, and Nagle Avenues. Superdawg has the distinction of being one of the few original drive-in restaurants left in the United States. Its methods have been the same since it opened in 1948. A second, similar location on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, Illinois opened in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Bayless</span> American chef and restaurateur

Rick Bayless is an American chef and restaurateur who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is widely known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time. Among his various accolades are a Michelin star, the title of Top Chef Masters, and seven James Beard Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lidia Bastianich</span> American celebrity chef (born 1947)

Lidia Giuliana Matticchio Bastianich is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur. Specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine, Bastianich has been a regular contributor to public television cooking shows since 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Wilkos</span> American television personality

Steven John Wilkos is an American television personality and former law enforcement officer with the Chicago Police Department. He has been hosting The Steve Wilkos Show since 2007, and was director of security on Jerry Springer from 1994 to 2007. He had previously substituted for Springer as host on several occasions before being given his own talk show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Council on Global Affairs</span> Foreign affairs think tank in Chicago, Illinois, USA

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is an American international affairs think tank based in Chicago, Illinois, with a stated mission of "increasing knowledge and engagement in global affairs and empowering more people to help shape our global future."

WMCN-TV is a television station licensed to Princeton, New Jersey, United States, serving the Philadelphia area with programming from Shop LC. It is owned by WRNN-TV Associates alongside Willow Grove, Pennsylvania–licensed independent WTVE and Trenton, New Jersey–licensed Class A station WPHY-CD. WMCN-TV's studios are located on Dobbs Lane in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Through a channel sharing agreement with PBS member station WHYY-TV, WMCN-TV transmits using WHYY-TV's spectrum from an antenna in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.

Alpana Singh is an American Master Sommelier, restaurateur and local television personality in Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago Tonight is a television news program broadcast weeknights on WTTW in Chicago. It reports primarily on local politics, education, business, culture, science, and health, with a mix of in-studio panel discussions, one-on-one interviews, and short documentary-style packages. On its website, it publishes additional news stories and features by staff reporters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Hill (restaurant)</span> Restaurant

Family Meal at Blue Hill, formerly known as Blue Hill and also known as Blue Hill New York, is a restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Elliot</span> American chef, restaurateur and TV personality

Graham Elliot Bowles is an American chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality. He first gained recognition in the restaurant business as a three-time nominee for the James Beard Award. In 2004, he was named to Food & Wine's "Best New Chefs" list, and became the youngest chef in the United States to receive four stars from a major publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Wagner</span> American journalist (born 1977)

Alexandra Swe Wagner is an American television host. She is the host of Alex Wagner Tonight on MSNBC and the author of FutureFace: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging. She was a contributor for CBS News and is a contributing editor at The Atlantic. In 2022, she hosted the first season of Netflix's The Mole reboot. Previously, she was the anchor of the daytime program Now with Alex Wagner (2011–2015) on MSNBC and the co-host of The Circus on Showtime. From November 2016 until March 2018, she was a TV co-anchor on CBS This Morning Saturday. She has also been a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine since April 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Blackstone</span> American writer

Charles Blackstone is an American writer. His most recent novel is the semi-autobiographical Vintage Attraction (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanique</span> French-American cuisine restaurant in Evanston, Illinois

Oceanique is a fine dining gourmet French-American cuisine restaurant in Evanston, Illinois that serves seafood. Oceanique has consistently been ranked as the number one seafood restaurant in the Chicago metro area by the Zagat Guide. "Make It Better Magazine" deemed it the best fine dining restaurant in 2014 and awarded them with the "Best of the North Shore" prize. It opened in 1989 and has been in business for 25 years. Mark Grosz is the head chef as well as the owner of the establishment. It is located at 505 Main Street, two blocks from the Main St. 'L' Station. Oceanique has an adjoining outdoor patio that customers can use, weather permitting.

Articulate is an American weekly public television documentary series on the creative arts hosted by Irish-American journalist Jim Cotter.

References

  1. ↑ Ladd, Jenn. "Here's how to get on Philly's newest food TV show". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  2. ↑ 'Check Please!' names Catherine De Orio new host
  3. ↑ "Alpana Singh returning to 'Check, Please!'". Crain's Chicago Business. 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
  4. ↑ Selvam, Ashok (2021-08-25). "WTTW Cancels 'Check, Please!' After 19 Seasons". Eater Chicago. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  5. ↑ Steele, Allison. "In 'Check, Please!,' WHYY's latest TV show, locals review restaurants". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  6. ↑ "2020 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Recipients | NATAS Mid-Atlantic Chapter". natasmid-atlantic.org. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  7. ↑ Shouse, Heather (2005-01-31). "Dish network: WTTW's runaway hit Check, Please! shakes things up for season four". Time Out Chicago . Retrieved 2011-12-28.
  8. ↑ "Dixie Kitchen (Barack Obama Special)". WTTW.com. August 2001. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop: Celebrity". dixiekitchenchicago.com. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  10. ↑ "Barack Obama: Food critic extraordinaire?". Los Angeles Times . January 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.