Behind the Scenes of a Food Network Video

A few weeks ago, I received an email asking if I’d want to film some “behind the scenes” footage for the California Table Grape Commission (yep, fresh grapes from California), who is working with three chefs from around the country (Boston, San Francisco, and Austin) to film them preparing a signature grape recipe to be used on the Food Network— both TV and online.

Say wwwhat?! Food Network?!! My ears eyes brain immediately perked up! What a neat opportunity!

 

(The above photo was taken on my way to the video shoot this morning. I was psyched about it… and, of course, the Marylou’s Almond Joy iced coffee that I was about to enjoy!)

In Boston, the California Table Grape Commission is filming Jody Adams at Rialto, so they asked a blogger (aka yours truly) to make a behind the scenes video of the taping that “brings to life each chef’s creative, fresh recipes and, of course, an amazing use of grapes.” I spent all day today filming Jody at Rialto.

Once my video is finished (a friend is helping me edit it), it’ll be posted on a YouTube channel, along with the other two market’s blogger videos. On July 6th, the three videos will debut and each blogger will promote theirs to try to generate the most votes. The participant who generates the most votes will receive a trip to New York City! The program sounded like a great opportunity and a lot of fun, so I signed on almost immediately. Plus, I love NYC!

Bright and early this morning, I arrived at Rialto with my Flipcam (and Marylou’s iced coffee) in hand. I was ready to film.

I arrived just in time to see Jody’s hair and make-up getting done.

Once Jody was ready, we headed into the kitchen for the “How To” segment of the video.

 

The kitchen was already prepped for Jody to make her signature grape dish: Polenta and Sausage with Grapes and Green Tomatoes. Jody said her recipe is inspired by Tuscany, where sausages and grapes are served at harvest time. She also said that she wanted to balance the sweetness of the grapes with the tang of the green tomatoes. The result is a rich, warm, and hearty dish. It smelled amazing cooking in the kitchen!

Lights.

Camera.

Action!

Jody got right to work! She explained and demonstrated each step of the cooking process, which made her dish actually seem sort of easy to make– even I could do it!

The kitchen was crowded with video equipment and people trying to do their jobs, so I found a little corner to film from and tried to stay out of the way.

Around noon, we took a break from filming for lunch. The film crew kindly bought me a sandwich from Henrietta’s Table.

I ordered the famous BLT, which totally knocked my socks off. It might actually be the best BLT I’ve ever eaten. It was packed with bacon and the bread tasted divine.

After lunch, it was back to work. Up next was the interview portion of the video, where Jody responded to a bunch of questions in front of the camera.

It was crazy how much time and energy went into getting the perfect shot for her interview. There was so much attention to detail with regard to lighting, angles, and color. It was definitely worth it in the end because the shot looked beautiful! 

What a day! I’ve never been part of the behinds the scenes action of a professional video shoot before, so I’m glad that I had the opportunity today. It was definitely an experience that I will never forget.

I’ll be sure to let you guys know when my video is online. I hope you watch it, like it, and vote for it!

Tagged as: California Table Grape Commission, Food Network, Jody Adams, Rialto

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