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John Catucci checks more food locations off his Big Food Bucket List

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John Catucci vividly recalls the moment COVID-19 threw production of the second season of Big Food Bucket List into disarray. They were filming in Georgia, and things got serious really fast.

“We were in Savannah just before the lockdown happened,” Catucci recalls. “Savannah has one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parties in the country. We got there just the week before that was going to happen. And then everything changed. When it changed, it changed fast.” And, rather than fly back to Canada, he and the crew piled into a car and hit the road for an 11-hour-plus drive back to Canada via Pittsburgh.

Returning Saturday at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada, Big Food Bucket List once again finds Catucci travelling North America—pre- and during the pandemic—making and tasting dishes in joints you just have to check out.

You’re still filming now. I guess you’re not walking into a restaurant with a restaurant full of people.
John Catucci: We’re following the production protocols. The hand sanitizers are just pumping nonstop all day, making sure masks are on until the last second, until we start shooting and stuff like that. The crew is wearing masks all day. People are getting tested. They’re trying to stay as safe as possible.

Has there ever been anything that you’ve tasted that you didn’t like and had to fake it?
JC: I think I had clam poutine once, years back. And it just didn’t work for me.

For you, yeah.
JC: And that’s a good point. For me, right? I think it was something that I had to learn on this show is that you’re not going to love everything on the menu. Sometimes you as a customer, you ordered wrong, and that’s not on the restaurant. That’s on you. I remember going out to dinner one night and everybody got steaks. I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to do the fish. I’m going to do the halibut. It looks good.’ It just didn’t hit. And again, it’s not their fault.

For Season 2, you went to places like Portland, Winnipeg, you were down in Florida, Seattle, Brooklyn, a wide variety of places you’ve been to. You must be really pinching yourself to get the chance to have gone to some of these cities.
JC: Portland’s got a great food scene, Seattle’s got a great food scene. San Diego’s got great food, that was great too. I love Manhattan. I love going to New York. I love going to Brooklyn, that vibe that happens in that city is unlike any other city in the world. It’s got grit, and it’s got this edge and it’s got this energy that, there’s a rush, there’s a bustle that you don’t find anywhere else. And I’ve never had a bad meal in New York. Never once. Restaurants can’t afford to have bad meals there because there are so many restaurants in there that if you have a bad meal and somebody hears about it, you’re done.

This industry has been hit hard by COVID-19. Do you think it can come back?
JC: I think it can come back. I think it might come back in a different way. Can we go back to sitting down in a restaurant full of other people? I hope so. I really miss that. I miss that energy that happens in there. I miss sitting down at a table and looking over and seeing what is that person having? Oh, that’s coming by, what’s that? I miss that. That was one of the things that I loved about going out to restaurants.

It’s not just a place where you eat. It’s the connection that it has with the people around them. And it’s the connection that it has to the community. And it’s the neighbourhood that sometimes grows around a restaurant. People come in to your restaurant, but then they go to this store and they go to that store, and they go to the paper store, and they were the card store, and they go to the park. That’s how important a restaurant is.

You’re very active on Instagram. Your garden this year has been incredible.
JC: The company is called The Good Seed. Melissa Cameron helps design and create gardens for small spaces, whatever space you have. But my backyard is a small Toronto backyard and she was able to help me design the garden space, what I could grow, and what grows together with what. And even though I’ve got a limited space of two raised beds in a little side garden, the amount of stuff I was able to grow this year was incredible. And again, it comes a lot with her knowledge and this spring, summer, I was able to be home and tend it.

For the past years, I’ve been on the road every spring, summer because that’s when we shoot our show, but I’ve been able to slow everything down and watch this garden just create food for my family to eat. And every morning, I’d go out there with my espresso and I’d water the garden, and I’d see how the tomatoes were doing and how the beans were doing, and my zucchini and my carrots. The garden this year was just spectacular. It was one of the places where I found solace. It was one of those places that helped with my mental health, was able to ground me. There’s nothing like putting your fingers in soil to connect you with the earth. It was a beautiful thing. And I was so, so happy.

Big Food Bucket List airs Saturdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

Images courtesy of Corus.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Corus Studios’ original series Big Timber makes its debut October 8 on History

From a media release:

Beginning Thursday, October 8 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, HISTORY® offers an inside look into the logging industry through the eyes of a rambunctious sawmill company. In Big Timber (10×60) logger Kevin Wenstob and his team, go to extremes to keep the family sawmill, and their way of life, alive. Deep in the heart of Vancouver Island, Kevin has invested $1.5 million on a remote timber claim high up the steep, rugged slopes of Klitsa Mountain. Home to some of the best lumber in the world, Kevin supplies his customers with the top-quality red and yellow cedar, fir, and rare hemlock that cannot be found anywhere else.

The team logs on rugged mountain cliffs where slopes reach angles as steep as 60 degrees. The weather is unforgiving, turning from scorching hot to torrential rain in a heartbeat, and snow comes early at this altitude. On top of everything else, Kevin’s equipment continues to get weathered by the harsh conditions and he is constantly concerned about equipment breakdowns.

With a thousand truckloads of timber waiting up top for him, he could make millions if he succeeds in getting them all down. However, it’s a huge gamble, and if he fails he could lose everything his family has worked for, he risks a hefty fine for any logs he leaves behind. It’s a constant battle to complete his mission and stay alive, but they’re up for the fight.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Season 2 of Nations at War debuts September 19 on APTN

From a media release:

Producer, Writer, Director Jason Friesen of Chasing Pictures Inc., and Creator/Writer Tim Johnson will premiere the second season of Nations at War, a documentary TV series on September 19 on APTN.  Friesen (Health Nutz) is a BC Metis filmmaker; and Johnson is a writer and story editor with a BA in History from Nova Scotia.

For centuries, the mass migration of peoples across North America has reshaped the face of the continent. From the 17th century migrations of the Ojibwe, to the 19th-century flood of American settlers. Standing in their way were nations who battled to defend their ancient homes.

For the majority of human history, North America’s population was entirely Indigenous in its character. Then in the early 1600s Europeans began to establish colonies along the Atlantic coast. These settlements became gateways through which millions of people would eventually flow west, creating incessant demand for new land.

However, these foreigners were not the only migrants creating chaos as they claimed new homes across North America. Nations like the Ojibwe and Lakota were already on the move. Their migration created a domino effect which provoked conflict and cultural change, as peoples who already called the west home fought to defend their territory.

From the Atlantic to the Pacific, the wars created by mass migration would transform North America into the continent we know today.  Nations at War is hosted by David H. Lyle (Arrow, Arctic Air); and features Simon Fraser Professor of Archeology, Dr. Eldon Yellowhorn.

Nations at War is produced by Chasing Pictures Inc. with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, and in association with APTN.

 

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Original APTN series Amplify starring Indigenous singer-songwriters to air Friday, Sept. 11th

From a media release:

From Wolfwalker Productions and Wabung Anung Films comes original series AMPLIFY. The series is set to air its first two episodes on APTN beginning on Friday, Sept. 11th at 8pm ET. The series is made up of 13 – 22 minute episodes and following the Sept 11th airdate, a new episode will air each week in English and separately in Ojibway.

The premise of the anthology series is to invite an Indigenous songwriter to find a piece of inspiration (whether it be a book, art piece, belief, etc.) and write a song about it. Each episode is a platform for Indigenous songwriters and Indigenous knowledge keepers to share ideas about a specific topic close to them and create music out of it. Each episode ends with a music video of the song that was created based on the theme in the episode.

The series is produced by Michelle St. John (Colonization Road) and Shane Belcourt (Red Rover) from Wolfwalker Productions and Jeremy Edwardes (Kaha:wi – the Cycle of Life) from Wabung Anung Film Co. AMPLIFY is created by Shane Belcourt and the executive producers are Jim Compton and R. Todd Ivey.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Hosted by Paralympian Greg Westlake, the AMI original series Level Playing Field debuts September 7 on AMI-tv

From a media release:

Everyone deserves a level playing field. Debuting Monday, September 7, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on AMI-tv, the AMI original production Level Playing Field highlights and celebrates the power of sport by introducing audiences to the athletes, community groups, healthcare professionals and grassroots innovators who demonstrate a desire to help drive positive social change through sport.

Hosted by Paralympian Greg Westlake, Level Playing Field‘s eight half-hour episodes travel across the country, following the stories of athletes and organizations.

In the premiere episode on Monday, September 7, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on AMI-tv, we meet Rob Shaw. The 30-year-old para-athlete from North Bay, ON, has been playing tennis competitively from a young age and coaching, including coaching wheelchair tennis. After sustaining a spinal cord injury that resulted in C5-C6 level paralysis in all four limbs, Rob has limited mobility but has not stopped playing the sport he loves.

Future Season one episodes focus on Paralympic hopeful Anthony Lue, boxer Debbie Haryett, Para Triathletes Jon Dunkley and Jessica Tuomela, Para Judo star Priscilla Gagné, Wheelchair Rugby Canada team members Shayne Smith and Eric Rodrigues-Furtado, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

Season one of Level Playing Field was developed following the broadcast of two 2019 pilot episodes featuring Para Ice Hockey and Para Cycling. Stream the pilot episodes on demand on AMI.ca and the AMI-tv App.

In keeping with AMI’s mandate of making accessible media for all Canadians, Season one of Level Playing Field features Integrated Described Video (IDV) making it accessible to individuals who are blind or partially sighted.

Host Greg Westlake
Para ice hockey team captain Greg Westlake helped Canada to the silver medal at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

At the World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Gangneung, South Korea, in April 2017, Greg, a forward, helped Canada defeat arch-rivals U.S.A. to win a record fourth world title for the Canadians. The win marked his third world championship gold: Greg was on teams that won in 2008, 2013 and 2017.

Greg competed at his third Paralympic Games in 2014, in Sochi, and collected a second career Paralympic medal as Canada won the bronze. Greg finished the Sochi Paralympic Games tournament with four points in five games, including an assist on Billy Bridges’ insurance goal in the bronze medal game 3-0 victory over Norway.

In addition to Para ice hockey, Greg is developing a successful career as a broadcaster. He worked as a reporter for CBC at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games and the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.

Greg had both legs amputated below the knee at age 18 months. When he was born his feet were malformed and were never going to be fully functional. The technical term is congenital bilateral below knee amputee. He began playing Para ice hockey with the Mississauga Cruisers in 2001 and made his debut in 2003 with Team Canada at age 17.

Level Playing Field debuts Monday, September 7, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on AMI-tv. Stream episodes post-broadcast on AMI.ca or using the AMI-tv App.

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