''Take Home Chef'' is a half-hour
reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...
cooking show
A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Ty ...
starring
Curtis Stone. It originally aired on
TLC.
Format
In each episode, Stone introduces himself to a stranger in a
grocery store
A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, ...
, typically a woman in her 20s or 30s, and asks if she is cooking a meal for someone that night. When the person responds affirmatively, Stone offers his services to help cook
dinner
Dinner usually refers to what is in many Western cultures the largest and most formal meal of the day, which is eaten in the evening. Historically, the largest meal used to be eaten around midday, and called dinner. Especially among the elit ...
. They drive to the participant's house, cook the meal, and then surprise the participant's partner or guest upon his or her arrival.
Recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe.
Hist ...
s that are used in each episode are posted on the show's official website.
Notable guests
Voice actress
Tara Strong
Tara Lyn Strong (née Charendoff; born February 12, 1973) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her voice work in animation, websites, and video games. Strong's voice roles include animated series such as ''The New Batman Adventures ...
appeared on the show in October 2006 with her husband and their two sons. Comedian
Randy Sklar was surprised with
Beef Wellington by his wife and Stone on an episode that aired May 15, 2007.
Canadian-Australian actress
Kimberley Joseph
Kimberley Joseph (born August 30, 1973) is a Canadian Australian actress who is based in the United States. Joseph was born in Canada, brought up on the Gold Coast in Australia and educated in Switzerland. After returning to Australia, she began ...
appeared in the episode "Kimberly" (sic) that first aired June 15, 2007. Seemingly chosen at random in a grocery store, she and Curtis then recognized each other from TV shows the other had been on back home. The pair surprised three of her friends with a Spanish-themed menu, featuring
tapas and a
manchego cheese dessert.
See also
*
Surprise Chef, a similar Australian series
References
External links
Official site*
{{Former TLC Programming
2000s American cooking television series
2006 American television series debuts
2008 American television series endings
Food reality television series
TLC (TV network) original programming