Bravo announced the official kick-off for "Top Chef: The Tour 2," which makes its first of 21-city stops in New York on Friday, March 27 at the Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza. Bravo's passionate fans and affiliate partners nationwide will once again have the opportunity to interact with the No. 1 food show on cable, the Emmy and James Beard award-winning "Top Chef," in a more grandiose and interactive way than ever before. The tour will feature a brand new state-of-the-art customized traveling 18-wheeler semi-truck, with an expansive space to accommodate more fans for each on-site demonstration.Continue Reading...
[photo: Bravo]
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Bravo announced the official kick-off for "Top Chef: The Tour 2," which makes its first of 21-city stops in New York on Friday, March 27 at the Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza. Bravo's passionate fans and affiliate partners nationwide will once again have the opportunity to interact with the No. 1 food show on cable, the Emmy and James Beard award-winning "Top Chef," in a more grandiose and interactive way than ever before. The tour will feature a brand new state-of-the-art customized traveling 18-wheeler semi-truck, with an expansive space to accommodate more fans for each on-site demonstration.
ReplyDeleteThe "Top Chef" truck will be making an extra special stop at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby weekend. The truck will be in the infield of Churchill Downs on Friday, May 1 for a Bravo special featuring the food, fashion and celebrity experience associated with Kentucky Oaks and will be featured on NBC's red carpet show for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 2.
"Bravo viewers are engaged and passionate about our shows," said Frances Berwick, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Bravo Media. "On the first Top Chef tour, we had fans lining up for hours to meet the chef'testants and see them at work. It's a hands-on experience that allows our viewers to be one step closer to the show they love."
As part of the tour's launch event in New York City, three finalists will experience what it's like to be a "Top Chef" when they compete in the first-ever Quaker Oats Viewer Quickfire Challenge and prepare an original dish featuring Quaker Oats. Dishes will be judged by "Top Chef" season 5 winner Hosea Rosenberg and season 4 chef'testant Nikki Cascone, with the grand prize winner receiving the chance to attend a future "Top Chef" taping. Finalists for the Quaker Oats Viewer Quickfire Challenge were chosen as part of a nationwide challenge where at-home chefs and fans of the show submitted original recipes showcasing Quaker Oats as an exciting and versatile ingredient to www.BravoTV.com.
Watch what happens when "Top Chef: The Tour 2" pulls up to a farmer's market, mall or food festival in the following cities:
New York, N.Y. March 27-28
Hollywood, Fla. April 5
Delray Beach, Fla. April 6
Jacksonville, Fla. April 9
New Orleans, La. April 14
Houston, Texas April 17
Dallas, Texas April 19
Little Rock, Ark. April 21
Nashville, Tenn. April 24
Hopkinsville, Ky. April 27
Louisville, Ky. May 1-2
Atlanta, Ga. May 4
Raleigh, N.C. May 6
Washington, D.C. May 9
Westchester, N.Y. May 13
Boston, Mass. May 15
Pittsburgh, Pa. May 20
Columbus, Ohio May 23-24
St. Louis, Mo. May 27
Chicago, Ill. May 30-31
Des Moines, Iowa June 6
Los Angeles, Calif. June 12, 13
"We're very excited for the chef'testants to unpack their knives and set out on this nationwide promotional consumer and affiliate promotion, which proved hugely successful the first time around," said Brian Hunt, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales Strategy, TV Networks Distribution, NBC Universal. "We are committed to bringing our distribution partners and foodie fans alike an even bigger and better interactive experience with the hit series they love."
In each city, two select "Top Chef" chef'testants will host four live interactive shows, including three for fans in attendance and one private show for affiliate partners over one or two days. Cooking demonstrations, gourmet tips, show secrets, and food tastings will be highlighted on the "Top Chef" truck, the impressive self-sufficient moving vehicle equipped with power and water. The truck will expand outwards with its kitchen, stage, demonstration area and 60 seats, all under an enclosed canopy. Additional guests will be able to view demonstrations from outside of the seating area or from a 50" plasma television in the activity area.
Partnership opportunities for affiliate partners at each city stop include one reserved cooking demonstration, meet and greet with chef'testants, "Top Chef" trivia wheel sponsorships, logo placements, a sampling of affiliate products, advertising services and sponsor table, and promotional spots on plasma televisions airing throughout the day. Additionally, affiliates will provide 150 on-air spots, which include 75 "Top Chef: The Tour 2" promotional spots, as well as 75 spots for designated Bravo programming.
Fans and affiliates will have the opportunity to experience new activities such as the "Top Chef" trivia wheel sponsored by a local affiliate and/or local advertiser, giving guests the chance to win prizes by answering "Top Chef" trivia questions. Attendees will be able to use the interactive web kiosks, with access to a "Top Chef" computer game and Bravoshop.com, and receive answers to cooking questions, autographs and photos from chef'testants. Also, they will have the opportunity to purchase Bravo and "Top Chef" merchandise, including exclusive tour items. Finally, they can make oat-based smoothies using the "Top Chef" blender bikes powered by human energy and sponsored by Quaker, national sponsor of "Top Chef: The Tour 2." The Tour is produced by mobile touring specialist LeadDog Marketing Group.