Chuck's Day Off Premieres on the Cooking Channel

The Cooking Channel Invites the Popular Canadian Cooking Show to Its Lineup

Angie Mohr CA CMA
The brand new Cooking Channel, replacing Fine Living Network, made its debut on May 31st at 7 am EDT. The Cooking Channel's first show is Chuck's Day Off, starring celebrity chef, Chuck Hughes.

Chuck's Day Off was introduced on Food Network Canada in 2008. Chuck Hughes is the owner and chef at Garde-Manger, a popular Montreal restaurant. Chuck's Day Off centers around simple, easy foods of the sort that Hughes makes for his friends, family and staff on his day off from the restaurant.

Hughes is an unusual choice for a Cooking Channel show. The young, tattooed chef speaks informally, plays rock music while he cooks, and treats food irreverently and rustically. The first two back-to-back episodes of Chuck's Day Off on the Cooking Channel include making Sweet Potato Soup, Summer Berry Pudding, and Smoked Salmon. Upcoming episodes will include preparing a menu for his family and putting together a celebration for his partners to mark the second anniversary of the restaurant.

According to a 2008 interview in the Montreal Gazette, Hughes despises cooking shows that are all about the art, rather than the substance, of the food. Hughes cooks with down-to-earth fresh ingredients without any of the snobbery usually associated with head chefs.

Garde-Manger opened in 2006 with Hughes and two partners. The restaurant does around 95 plates a night (that number has likely increased substantially since the success of Chuck's Day Off on Food Network Canada). Chuck's Day Off is filmed at the restaurant on Mondays, the only day that the restaurant is closed to the public. Hughes must still be there, however, to accept food deliveries and deal with other restaurant issues. He always ends up cooking for staff, suppliers and various friends and family.

Hughes also writes a column for the Montreal Gazette on topics from cooking to hosting a dinner party to queuing up the right music with which to serve dinner.

Chuck's Day Off will air two new-to-Cooking Channel episodes a week at various times throughout the channel's schedule. The episodes are not being shown in order. The first two episodes shown are actually episodes 4 and 5 in Season 1. Chuck's Day Off can still be seen in Canada on Food Network Canada.

Chuck's Day Off Season 1 Episodes

The Bro Show
My Toughest Critics
The Disaster Show
Staff Meal (aired 5/31)
Fish Wars (aired 5/31)
The Upstairs Neighbor
Grazing, Gabby Girls
The Hottest Day Ever

Sources:

Montreal Gazette interview

The Cooking Channel- Chuck's Day Off

Published by Angie Mohr CA CMA - Featured Contributor in Finance and Lifestyle

Angie Mohr is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Management Accountant who has worked with thousands of business clients from home-based entrepreneurs to rock bands to celebrity chefs. She is also the auth...   View profile

13 Comments

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  • Pearl Grace 6/7/2010

    Sounds like these are gonna be great! I've gotta check this channel out. Nice writing.

  • J.C. JORDAN 6/7/2010

    I don't have this channel but good article.

  • Michele Starkey 6/5/2010

    The Cooking Channel is always fun to watch - especially since I have a severe cooking-deficit! cheers :)

  • Kathrine Lloyd 6/4/2010

    I didn't catch this, but I did add the Cooking Channel into my rotation now.

  • Lois Lunsford 6/4/2010

    I missed it, I was out of town.

  • J.C. JORDAN 6/1/2010

    Sorry never heard of him.

  • Kathrine Lloyd 5/31/2010

    I want to see the Disaster Show. This guy looks familiar, I guess I've seen him on another cooking show somewhere along the way.

  • Malina Debrie 5/31/2010

    Sounds great. I love watching food network with Paula Deans episodes. How did you do the font change thing with your title?

  • Lyn Lomasi 5/31/2010

    Sounds awesome! I don't watch TV much (OK, not at all, except basketball and whatever the kids are watching...lol). But you're making this new cooking channel sound tempting.

  • Mike Powers 5/31/2010

    My wife is a little annoyed at the demise of FLN... but likes the Cooking Channel so far. Nice article!

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