From Check, Please! to Bravo

  If you're a fan of reality chef shows, you may have noticed a familiar face contending for the title of America's Top Chef on this season of the Bravo reality show.  Several months ago, Check, Please! South Florida profiled the Dilido Beach Club at the Ritz Carlton, along with their chef de cuisine, Jeff McGinnis.  The 30-year-old homegrown Floridian is known for his tropical take on North African cuisine.  Catch him on Top Chef: New York each Wednesday at 10 p.m. on Bravo....or check him out on this recent edition of Check, Please! South Florida.   http://uvu.channel2.org/PublicSite/Video.aspx?id=2924&skin=1

Obama's 'Check, Please!' debut

Ever wonder what our President-Elect would recommend if he were a guest on Check, Please!?  Wonder no more.  WTTW Chicago will soon release a never-before-seen episode of Check, Please! featuring  --you guessed it -- Barack Obama, as a guest reviewer.   The show, taped in the series' infancy in 2001, was shelved due to the the conversational imbalance around the table.  Word is the then state senator was quite a talker.  Imagine that!  His pick?  The Dixie Kitchen & Bait Shop in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood.  A restaurant that is now thrilled by the Presidential pick.  The lost Obama episode is scheduled for broadcast on WTTW in Chicago on January 16th.  For a sneak peek, check out this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oyTD6JGie0