Chef auditions for show

Pushes appeal of home-grown ingredients

For most, it would be a chance at stardom.

For Devon Morgante, auditioning for a reality competition show on the Food Network was a chance to tell TV executives what he would like to see on the channel devoted to cooking.

Morgante, who owns Vita Cucina on Front Street with his wife Michelle, made a “midnight run” to San Francisco last Friday to audition for “The Next Food Network Star,” in which 12 people compete for their own cooking show on the Food Network.

He said he had been thinking for a while about writing a letter to the Food Network and explaining what he sees as a need for a show about cooking home-grown food and the culture behind different cuisines.

 “I didn’t want to drive out for that show per se,” Morgante said. “I wanted to talk to them about the need for there to be more diversified programming.”

The Food Network has become “a little too Park Avenue,” he said about cooking complicated food that most could not make or afford.

 “It’s not approachable for everyday people,” he said. “Americans need to look at how they get their nutrition and the Food Network is a great medium to do that.”

Morgante showed up at the hotel W in downtown San Francisco at 9 a.m. last Sunday with his application and head shots. He was No. 50 out of about 200 people, he said. 

The interview was about seven to 10 minutes. He said he talked about Vita Cucina and about how he and his wife are graduates of the Culinary Institute of America and traveled to Antarctica cooking for the National Science Foundation.

He told them about the importance of slowing down and appreciating food; knowing where it comes from and the culture behind food.

Interviewers asked Morgante what he would bring to the Food Network that wasn't already there. He said his show idea was to go to farmers markets, talk to farmers and cook with them.

“To cook with real people and how to make food dollars last,” he explained.

Morgante’s idea for a show would demonstrate to viewers at home not only where food comes from but how to put fruits and vegetables from the garden onto the plate. But more so, he wants to show people how to get the most out of their food and the energy that goes into cooking.

“It would be more about everyday people in their everyday lives,” Morgante explained, “illustrating how to eat properly ... just showcasing a lifestyle of healthy eating. People learn by example.”

After his interview, his application was put on top of a stack of other applications and he was told he would be called in 24 hours, but he hasn’t received a call.

Perhaps most Americans are not ready to change their eating habits or be told how they should eat.

“Some of the ideas, people are not ready for that right now,” Morgante said. “Food is a comfort zone for people. Shaking that up gets personal.”

However, change doesn’t have to be drastic, he said, it could just be little things each day or week that move people toward eating more of a variety of whole foods.

Another idea would be to have a news show dedicated to the state of the  food industry — that’s a problem that not many are looking at right now, Morgante said.

However, that might be “going against the grain” of the Food Network’s corporate sponsors, he added.

A lot of people at the San Francisco casting call that Morgante talked to mentioned ideas about how to use local foods. If it’s not going to be Morgante on the show, it might be someone else with a similar philosophy: “someone who loves food and promotes good food,” he said.

Morgante doesn’t want to be “up on a soapbox” talking about how people should eat, but he does want Vita Cucina to be a place where anyone can have an open discussion about food.

The kitchen store also frequently offers evening cooking classes and Morgante has been preparing food for the Farmers Market at the Fairgrounds on Saturdays.

“Anything to help out the local community,” he said. “Everyone has to eat.”