Dan Levy to produce, host new cooking show
Let’s just hope he has learned how to “fold in the cheese.”
Actor, producer and director Dan Levy is about to add to his ever-expanding resume: food show host.
On Monday, HBO Max announced that it had ordered “The Big Brunch,” a new unscripted cooking competition series from Levy and Boardwalk Pictures, the multimedia production company behind the Netflix hits “Chef’s Table,” “Street Food” and “Cheer.”
Levy, who has won numerous awards as an actor and writer in the massively popular comedy “Schitt’s Creek,” created the culinary competition show, which is expected to premiere next year. He’s also the show’s host and will serve as executive producer.
The series will be centered around one of the most versatile and underestimated dining experiences — the brunch — while celebrating “the most inspiring undiscovered culinary voices from every corner of the country,” according to a news release.
Contestants will have an opportunity to share their stories and their business dreams, while also getting a chance to compete for a “life-altering prize,” according to HBO Max — though a specific amount is yet to be announced.
Chefs will do that by coming up with “innovative and personal ways to redefine what it means to dine between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.”
“Everybody has a friend, a family member, or a coworker that is extraordinary at what they do, they just need a leg up so that their talents can be appreciated on a larger scale,” Levy said in a statement.
“Thanks to an almost obsessive love of food, I’ve been lucky enough to come across many of those people in the culinary world — friends working out of cafes or food trucks, revolutionizing the menus at local diners — those special humans who create communities around their cooking, hoping to take their skills to the next level. I created this show for them, the local culinary heroes of America who deserve a spotlight,” he added. “That, and who doesn’t want to watch maple syrup being poured slowly over a golden stack of perfectly cooked, creme brulee inspired French toast?”
The show will be more than “mouth-watering culinary delicacies,” according to Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max head of original content. “It’s about heart, a love of cooking and spotlighting talent whose unique skills elevate the beloved brunch menu,” she added.
Levy — whose portrayal of the fashion-addict, eccentric, and laugh-outloud pansexual David Rose in the now-concluded “Schitt’s Creek” turned him into a global superstar — will forever live in memes and widely-shared GIFs.
One of them, from the second episode of the show’s second season, features David and his glamorous, former superwealthy mom Moira (Catherine O’Hara) coming to terms with the harsh reality that they really don’t know how to cook — or read a recipe. All of that while trying to figure out how exactly one can “fold in the cheese.”
Applications for potential “The Big Brunch” contestants are now open.