March 25--Rick Bayless' television series, "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" is up for an Emmy Award. Season 10 of the long-running PBS cooking series has been nominated for outstanding culinary program.
The season was notable because Bayless' teachers were young chefs in Mexico City, some just toddlers when Bayless opened Frontera Grill, his first restaurant, wrote former Tribune writer Judy Hevrdejs in a 2015 story.
"The most interesting part is to see some of these young chefs bring new eyes to old ingredients or old techniques," Bayless said in the article. "They all have amazing equipment in their kitchens, and some of it is quite high-tech. To see it applied to Mexican ingredients sometimes just blows me away."
Bayless was first nominated in 2012 for an Emmy as outstanding lifestyle/culinary host in connection with "Mexico: One Plate at a Time." The show's director, Scott Dummler, was also nominated. Neither won.
Dummler, president of Chicago-based Mint Media Works, said he is "very pleased" by this year's nomination. "A lot of people put a lot of hard work into this, most of all Rick," he said.
Indeed, Bayless mentioned hard work in a comment but placed the credit on the crew: "Criss-crossing Mexico for scenes -- or even just filming in my backyard in Bucktown -- is a huge challenge," Bayless said in an email. "That it translates so well on screen is a testament to the talent and hard work of our crew."
Other programs up for the award this year, according to the National Academy of Television Arts Sciences, are: "America's Test Kitchen," "Cook's Country" and "Pati's Mexican Kitchen," all on PBS; and "Giada in Italy" and "Patricia Heaton Parties" on the Food Network. The winner will be announced at the Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on May 1.
wdaley@tribpub.com
