Does anyone also watch "Check, Please"

[nerissa]

I was wondering if anyone watched "Check, Please" on PBS with Amanda Puck, and if anyone had actually been on the show. I always muse what restaurant I would choose if I got on the show. Will have to look into that.

I tried a search on Amanda Puck and the show--does anyone know anything about her? Is she a foodie or a tv person?

[klinger75]

Nerissa, Amanda puck is one of the managers if not the GM at chicago's Spago. One of Wolfgangs daughters. She is there almost every time i visit. In regards to the show, i believe you can find info on the CLTV website which i believe the show airs on. To get on the show applicants must answer an array of food related questions and their favorite restaurants of all cusine in the chicafgoland area. Hope this helps you out.

[awbrig]

Nerissa, Amanda puck is one of the managers if not the GM at chicago's Spago. One of Wolfgangs daughters.

Amanda Larsen Puck is not Wolfgang's daughter. She is married to Klaus Puck who is Wolfgang's brother.

Edited February 5, 2003 by awbrig (log)

[guajolote]

Not his daughter - his former sister in law. She was married to Wolf's brother but they were recently divorced.

[klinger75]

My appologies

[guajolote]

It's on channel 11 (WTTW)

check please website

[Hopleaf]

I love that show. it's on a terrible night though. Tuesdays at what is it (see, I can't even remember for sure) 7? It should be shown on the weekend.

And I too had some misconceptions about Amanda. Thought she was married to Wolfgang. Completely baseless.

I think you can fill out a form on the website to get on the show. Go for it, nerissa! Make sure to mention eGullet!

[guajolote]

There was a long interview with her that I read recently, I think it was in the Sun-Times. She is originally from Staten Island and got her start by working at a Holiday Inn. The producers of Check Please were looking for a "Mike North" type guy to do the show, but she won them over.

Check Please is the highest rated show on Channel 11 (I thought it would be one the Yanni concerts they show during pledge week).

[awbrig]

Not his daughter - his former sister in law. She was married to Wolf's brother but they were recently divorced.

I do not believe this is accurate. Amanda and Klaus are still together. I think you might be getting this confused with the recent divorce of Wolfgang and Barbara Lazaroff.

Edited February 5, 2003 by awbrig (log)

[guajolote]

Whenever I mentioned to someone that I was having lunch with Amanda Puck, they'd inevitably respond with two notes of recognition: "'Check, Please!' I love that show!" and "She's Wolfgang Puck's daughter, right?"

She gets those a lot.

So, for the record, she is not his daughter. She is his sister-in-law. Ex-sister-in-law, actually, since she and Klaus divorced two years ago.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/pickett/cst...ws-lunch19.html

I should have bet you a bottle of Opus One

[awbrig]

thx for the info, I stand corrected...altho you said recently divorced, and 2 years isnt all that recent...

[Aurora]

I was wondering if anyone watched "Check, Please" on PBS with Amanda Puck, and if anyone had actually been on the show.  I always muse what restaurant I would choose if I got on the show.  Will have to look into that.

I tried a search on Amanda Puck and the show--does anyone know anything about her?  Is she a foodie or a tv person?

Well, now that we have cleared up the relationship connection...

Amanda Larsen Puck is far more of a foodie than a television person, but I do think she holds her own on the small screen quite well. She was managing the Spago here in Chicgao along with her then husband, but I don't know if that has changed.

Amanda is a lovely, person both inside and out. She is also makes jewelry, and she's quite good at that, too. In a photo taken by Awbrig that features Suvir's tomato chutney, the bracelett on my wrist is an Amanda Larsen Puck creation (the fourth strand added just for me ).

AWBRIG - I can't find the photo. Did they delete your "Week in Food" thread?

[guajolote]

Amanda's jewelry interview

[awbrig]

aurora, my week in food is right here

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...hl=week+in+food

[Aurora]

Thanks.

Hands (mine) sampling Suvir's tomato chutney at Awbrig's house.

Photo: Awbrig

Wrist adornment: Amanda Larsen Puck

[nerissa]

Thanks for the links, everyone.

Ooo...her jewelry looks lovely.

Awbrig- I went back and read "My week in food"--you have a lovely family.

And the chutney looks fantastic, Suvir.

[Sweet Willie]

Is "Check, Please" still on PBS? If and when I do see an episode it always seems to be a rerun.

[guajolote]

Sources tell me that they will be filming new episodes soon. We may even get to see an a egullet member on the show?

[nightscotsman]

Yes, Check Please is still on and they will be producing new episodes. I actually auditioned for the show last weekend.

I sucked.

[Lady T]

Doesn't necessarily disqualify you, NSM. You couldn't do a worse job than some of the diners have done who actually got in and got their faces on TV.

You're waaaaaaay qualified. Don't count the possibility out until you get the 'sorry' letter from them...

[Sweet Willie]

I sucked.

C'mon, really? How?

[nightscotsman]

I sucked.

C'mon, really? How?

They ask you to talk about your favorite Chicago restaurant (that hasn't already been reviewed on the show), and since I've really only been to a handful of places here yet, I chose Charlie Trotter's. When they turned on the camera I babbled on and on about the amazing service and how they will bend over backwards to make your experience special. It wasn't until about 20 minutes later that I realized I never even mentioned the food!

Doh!

[Sweet Willie]

It wasn't until about 20 minutes later that I realized I never even mentioned the food!

Doh!

Oh my! did the other diners?

edited to add: if you would rather the world see the episode than discussing it here, I fully understand.

Edited September 8, 2003 by Sweet Willie (log)

[Lady T]

Enthusiasm counts, though, especially for TV, and the near-telepathic service is a huge component of the experience at CT's. That doesn't sound as if you turned in a loser test, NSM.

[nightscotsman]

Oh, this wasn't a taping of an actual episode - just an audition. You fill out a form, they sit you in front of a camera by yourself and you say your name, where you live, and talk for about a minute about your favorite restaurant. I'm sure they all have a good chuckle watching the tape back at the studio, but you'll never see it on the air. I hope...

By the way, they were doing these auditions at a benefit for the Fairy Godmother Foundation at Catalyst Ranch downtown. The theme of the evening was desserts and chocolate and sugar showpieces, and some of the top pastry chefs in the city - and some from out of town - were demoing and offering tasting portions of desserts. Some of the chefs even made wearable pieces that were modeled by assistants, including one girl who was dressed as Tinkerbell with a dress and wings made entirely of sugar. I was there because they asked students at the French Pastry School volunteered to help out for the evening. I took lots of photos and I hope to get around to posting them soon.