Nosh Pit

A Preview of Check, Please! NW

Recognize the three restaurants showcased in the first episode?

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Mar 07, 2012 at 01:00PM 0 Comments

Thursday marks the debut of Check, Please! Northwest, the public television restaurant review show founded in Chicago and colonized in a handful of other dining-obsessed regions around the country. Host Amy Pennington just posted the first official preview, which is basically an invitation for you to watch closely to see if you can recognize the three restaurants discussed in the first episode (and to enjoy the hilarious faces Pennington makes in the course of a conversation).

I’ll refrain from spoilers; hit up the trailer below and see for yourself.

Check, Please! Northwest premieres tomorrow, March 8, at 7pm on KCTS 9. You can still apply to be a guest on upcoming episodes right over here.

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Tags: Seattle on TV, Check, Please, Amy Pennington, KCTS

Check, Please! NW Hires a Host

Amy Pennington hits your small screen March 8.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 24, 2012 at 09:00AM 6 Comments

Check, Please! Northwest’s new host Amy Pennington is already practicing the fine art of wine-fueled conversation. Photo courtesy of KCTS.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends of both public television and dining: KCTS has selected the person who will be guiding your conversations about Seattle’s restaurants on Check, Please! Northwest. And that person is…local gardener/author/cook Amy Pennington.

Food-focused Seattleites know her from her books Urban Pantry and Apartment Gardening, and her energetic Twitter persona (or maybe that recent piece in the Wall Street Journal?).

Pennington says the encouragement of a few friends helped nudge her into auditioning, a process that included shooting a mock episode with fake guests, a teleprompter and everything. While her only previous on-camera experience had been the occasional guest spot on shows like New Day Northwest, she says the new gig is “basically what I do every day of my life, which is sit around with my friends and talk about what restaurants we’ve been to.”

Shooting begins next week for the 13-episode first season, of which the Space Needle is the sole underwriter, and the first episode airs March 8 at 7pm on KCTS 9. You can still apply to be on the show right over here.

“When you work for yourself, you’re always looking for the next big project,” says Pennington. “And I grew up with PBS and I thought it would be such an honor to work with them.” An added bonus: The shooting ends right around the time gardening season revs up.

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Tags: Seattle on TV, Check, Please, Amy Pennington, KCTS

Check, Please! Cometh: Seattle Gets Its Own Restaurant Review Show

The popular PBS show will debut on KCTS March 8.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Nov 18, 2011 at 10:05AM 3 Comments

When I lived in Chicago, PBS show Check, Please! was a beloved institution amongst the city’s dining enthusiasts (including a charismatic state senator named Barack Obama). Later when I moved to San Francisco, the show’s Bay Area incarnation was a helpful educational tool in navigating a new city’s restaurants. Now the Chicago-based creators of Check, Please! have confirmed the show is expanding to Seattle. The first episode of Check, Please! Northwest will air on Thursday, March 8 at 7pm on KCTS 9.

The gist of the show is this: An episode features three guests, a varied trio of public television viewers, sitting down over a glass of wine to discuss their favorite restaurants. Each member of the group must dine at everyone else’s favorite establishment before the taping so guests can compare experiences. The format lends itself to some fish out of water hilarity, be it a rotund cop at a vegan restaurant, or a staid matron forced to endure thumpy club music at a sleek sushi lounge. However it also produces some diverse restaurant commentary, decorous debate, and a spotlight for unsung local establishments that get obscured by buzzier places. Check, Please! is a hyperlocal reality show that dates back to the days when that term referred to actual reality. And unlike Top Chef, nobody gets sent home.

The show (also in South Florida, Kansas City and Phoenix) is an absurdly good fit for Seattle, given our dual love of public programming and talking about food. If Check, Please! Northwest captures one tenth of the restaurant discourse that lives on Twitter, it will be compelling indeed.

David Manilow, the show’s creator, has long been eyeing our city. “I love Seattle,” he says. “The city’s beautiful and interesting, the restaurant scene is vibrant and creative, and the people are smart and discerning. I think that will be reflected on Check, Please!”

Manilow says the local production team is still in the early planning stages, but one of the first things to ponder will be signing on a host, usually a telegenic member of the local food community. Judging by other cities’ hosts, an affinity for wine doesn’t hurt either. Let the prognosticating begin.

According to KCTS 9 producer Nicole Metcalf, anyone interested in 30 minutes of local television fame can write to checkplease@kcts9.org or visit the application page at www.kcts9.org/checkplease. Each guest gets a meal stipend (supplied by Check, Please! sponsors) but appearing on the show isn’t exactly a meal ticket. Participants usually end up shelling out some cash of their own.

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Tags: Seattle on TV, Check, Please,