Mindy Kaling Stars in the Premiere of This New Food Network Show
Chef Marcus Sameulsson and Mindy Kaling in the kitchen at Red Rooster, as seen on Food Network’s “Star Plates,” premiering September 27. / Photo courtesy of Food Network
On the Mindy Project, the namesake creator and star isn’t exactly a domestic diva. But Mindy Kaling isn’t as useless in the kitchen as her non-autobiographical TV show might lead you to believe. She’s Julie and Julia-ing Chrissy Teigen’s newest cookbook, for one, and even though she says she hates baking and cooking healthy, her breakfasts look pretty darn delicious.
But how culinarily competent is Kaling, really? We’re about to find out. The Cambridge native stars in the first episode of the Food Network’s newest series, Star Plates. The program puts A-listers in the kitchen with celebrity chefs, and challenges them to recreate a signature dish for hungry guests during service. Maine native and sportscaster Erin Andrews, and actors Alyson Hannigan, Colin Hanks, Busy Philipps, and Minka Kelly round out the star power in the six-part series.
“The stars might be used to on-screen drama, but it does not compare to the reality and fast pace of a professional kitchen,” says the network’s senior vice president of programming, Didi O’Hearn, in a press release.
In the premiere, Kaling joins Marcus Samuelsson, a James Beard Award-winning Food Network regular, at his Harlem soul food spot, Red Rooster. The chef’s famous fried bird royale—a whole fried chicken with mac and greens, white mace gravy, liver butter, waffles, and biscuits—is one of Kaling’s favorite meals, but can she pull it off herself? The network promises dredging up some drama along with the traditional flour crust. Did somebody say, “eye candy in the kitchen?” Of course they did.
The later episodes feature L.A. chefs Susan Feniger at Border Grill, Michael Voltaggio at Ink, Vinny Dotolo at Animal, Dakota Weiss at Estrella, and Geoffrey Zakarian at Georgie. Catch the Star Plates premiere with Kaling on Tuesday, September 27, at 11 p.m.
