Vegan cooking show New Day New Chef has won two prestigious Taste Awards. Known as the “Oscars of food, fashion, and lifestyle media,” the Taste Awards are the highest awards for creators, producers, hosts, and directors of lifestyle programs, series, shows, and cinema. New Day New Chef was nominated for eight awards and ended up taking home a Taste Award for Best Series Pilot as well as Best Filmed at Home Episodes or Film for its special Support + Feed edition.
The two awards are both viewer’s choice awards, reflecting the popularity of the series, which also airs on public television stations around the nation. “These viewer’s choice Taste Awards show that the public is really embracing the whole idea of plant-based cooking and hungering for more information and vegan recipes,” New Day New Chef host Jane Velez-Mitchell told VegNews. “It’s a sign that the vegan lifestyle is now mainstream. It won’t be long before plant-based is the default and meat is the outlier. Vegan is the new nouvelle cuisine.”
A vegan show with celebrity appeal
Along with vegan chefs, the show features co-hosts such as vegan athletes—including NBA legend John Salley and Olympian Dotsie Bausch—bodybuilder, actors, and singers. The show’s Support + Feed edition focused on the work of vegan nonprofit Support + Feed, created by Maggie Baird (musician Billie Eilish’s mother) to raise funds for vegan restaurants to make nutritious food for those in need. The season featured celebrities such as Downton Abbey’s Lesley Nicol, Dynasty’s Elaine Hendrix, Lost’s Emilie de Ravin, Dancing with the Stars’ Joanna Krupa, and America’s Next Top Model’s Katie Cleary, and a cameo appearance by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas.
“We are so delighted to have won two Taste Awards. It’s extra special that they were the ‘viewer’s choice’ and a huge boost for all of us on set,” Eamonn McCrystal, New Day New Chef producer, told VegNews. “Thank you to Jane Velez-Mitchell for her determination and passion for the vegan cause—without her, there would be no show. Also, a big thanks to Maggie Baird and all of her team at Support + Feed—they allowed us to follow them and film their chefs. They do great work, and we were delighted to be able to shine a light on their charity.”
New Day New Chef is currently taping its next season, New Day New Chef LIVE, which will feature some of America’s top chefs showing off their skills live with no edits.
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