Did you practice your kitchen French on a stage in France and now you can’t find any use for it?
Perhaps you watched the Olympics and wondered about cooking opportunities in the West.
Maybe you should go north, north to Quebec that is.
Groupe Serdy, owner of the travel channel Evasion, is to launch the first food channel in French-speaking Canada today. The new channel is called Zeste TV. It aims to be be the next big thing in food TV according to enthusiastic Roselyne Brouillet, Head of Acquisitions for Zeste and Evasion. . The new channel aims at feeding the local Foodie crowd with international and homegrown fair. Of the 26 shows premiering today, four are Groupe Serdy productions.
Zeste will be 24/7, with content from the US, UK, French, and other markets. Roselyne told Super Chef that she has been working on the project since 2008:
We have to seduce our viewers during the first three months when Zeste will be free, after that it’s for pay. It is designed for the general public. It is entertaining, fun, and cool. Even if you don’t want to cook, you will discover something fun. Competition shows, cooking, culinary travel with Anthony Bourdain. You can disconnect from your routine.
Some of the names will be familiar to American audiences, such as Australian Curtis Stone, Brits, Heston Blumenthal, Nigella Lawson, and Marco Pierre White. Otherw will be new, such as Julie Andrieu, Steven Raichlen, Vincent Chatigny, Gontran Cherrier, Éric Léautey, Carinne Teyssandier.
The press release quotes Catherine Dupont, General Manager, Media Division, Groupe Serdy:
We’re also excited to have Antoine Sicotte, a self-taught cook and musician, hosting a show for the first time. It’s in his image: impassioned, original and friendly.
Maybe that’s enough to pack your bags, knives and scouting tape and head north.