That cooking show run out of the historic Holsum building, where gourmets from top Valley restaurants (Alizé, Fleur de Lys, Commander's Palace) prepare delectable meals in a snazzy, high-tech kitchen, their exploits taped in a modern television studio?
Certainly you've heard about paying only $45 for multi-course meals from the likes of Luciano Pellegrini (Valentino's), Peter Sherlock (Le Cordon Bleu), Stephen Marshall (Ritz Carlton Lake Las Vegas)—grub that typically costs as much as a BlackBerry?
And that, for the time being, you can download recipes from these top chefs for only $.50 apiece ... Ringing a bell yet?
Who am I kidding?
If not for Cheflive founder John Guinivere's e-mail, I'd have thought Cheflive was, well ... I don't know what I would've thought.
Which brings us to Cheflive's biggest fixable dilemma: Few people know it exists.
"The [daily cooking] shows have been going on since June 20," sales and marketing associate MyKal Muegge says as we walk past a wall featuring the smiling mug of celebrated participants like Fleur de Lys' Hubert Keller and into a studio coated in earth tones and adorned with two plasma TVs mounted above the kitchen—for viewing the chefs at work. "The response has been good. We've been doing a lot of promotional stuff and special events like the mayor's conference. We've also been gathering content for a television show to launch on IPTV [Internet Protocol Television]."
This is a nice, PC way of saying: We'll do what it takes to put fannies into seats until our name gets out there.
Guinivere says Cheflive has to make up ground for a failed public relations push, on which he spent a fortune. A recent taping of 24-year-old Josh Green, whiz-kid chef to the likes of Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band, drew all of four people, half of whom belonged to the media. The studio has 40-plus comfortable red chairs.
Which brings us to Cheflive's second fixable dilemma: It isn't Iron Chef America, Top Chef or Hell's Kitchen—ratings grabbers, all.
"Cheflive was founded to take advantage of the video on demand market with food as its focus," its website notes. There are a few problems with that noble concept.
The local culinary IQ hasn't necessarily kept up with Las Vegas' quick-fast maturation into a top-notch food destination. Viewers and the paying public may know about Emeril Lagasse, but not about, say, Jacques Van Staden (Alizé). If the chefs' names don't ring a bell, it might be who's cooking. And what's, ahem, cooking these days among food shows are Real World-type set-ups popularized by Iron Chef America, Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen: put chefs into competitive environments and watch the emotions (and balsamic vinegar) fly.
That was never Guinivere's plan. A 1986 graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, he managed restaurants, owned a bistro, traveled the world as a private chef, catered events for thousands and consulted for several restaurants and food companies before dreaming up Cheflive in 1996. Geeked at the chance of capitalizing on the dot-com boom, he learned to encode tape and edit and stream digital videos. In 1998, he bought the Cheflive domain name and aired his first cooking video on Cheflive.com in November of that year.
"When I was in culinary school, the job of chef was seen as laborious. The idea for Cheflive coincided with the rise of the chef as a celebrity," he says. "In 2000, I leased an RV and drove across the country promoting Cheflive. The dot-com bubble had bust and I needed a brick-and-mortar aspect to the company, so I got a studio and went full-bore into television."
Videos of the shows are available through the website, where you can also buy recipes or tickets to the shows. The website also allows users to search for recipes by name, dietary restrictions, ingredients, the chefs and categories (appetizers, entrees, pasta, etc.). In addition to sampling the cuisine, audience members can ask questions. When the show's over, they receive a personalized digital picture of and autographed photo and menu with the featured chef as well as a free download of the show and recipes.
"Cheflive is a joint venture with the chefs," Guinivere says. "We have agreements with the chefs where we make money and they make money based on the number of downloads. We have three to five chefs under contract. Ninety-five percent of chefs want to be on television. Each show is different because the chefs choose what they want to cook. Some come prepared. Others decide what they're going to cook that day."
On Green's menu: bib salad with fennel, sautéed artichokes, cherry tomatoes and dried cranberries for the first course, followed by seared ahi tuna and, finally, sautéed chicken breast with roasted red peppers, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms. The food was the bomb. Green's on-screen presence: not-so. He wasn't as smooth as his cooking. Could've been more conversational, more at ease. At times he grappled for adjectives or struggled to explain what he was doing. Nerves, probably. During one segment, his cell phone went off. On another occasion, he had to go to another room to retrieve utensils. A decent showing, overall—about what you'd expect from a rookie.
"This was fun," he said afterward.
In the coming weeks, Guinivere expects to start airing shows on IPTV. Plans for the coming months include shows dedicated to meeting special dietary needs like, say, for people with diabetes. Another show, among the two dozen or so planned, will be dedicated to teaching children how to prepare healthy meals and desserts.
Which brings us full circle to Downtown's slow-going gentrification. Improved demographics aside, Downtown is still years, decades maybe, away from being a domicile or recreational outpost of first choice. So it's probably smart business booking other events in the studio.
Mounting an effective PR campaign should be the next order of business: Promote the chefs under contract and try to lure cooks from staple restaurants like Joyful House, which have huge followings. This will give residents who'd prefer spending a BlackBerry on a known commodity and those inclined to frequent one of the Valley's many cooking schools to give Cheflive a chance. And coach the chefs on television etiquette (flair is as important as the food).
"Some top names have come to cook. Pellegrini was great," says Guinivere, whose reserved demeanor belies his enthusiasm about Cheflive's potential. "The public doesn't really know about this. But wait until they do."
Cheflive tapes Tuesday through Saturday at the Holsum Lofts, 299 W. Charleston. The show begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and at noon on Saturday. Tickets are $45.