Dinner With The Band
Encyclopedia
Dinner With The Band is an American food reality show
hosted by chef
Sam Mason. It began as an ON Networks web series
in March 2007 but was later acquired by the Independent Film Channel
and premiered as a full length 30-min television show on November 24, 2009.
loft
doubling as a kitchen
/small concert studio space. The band joins him in the kitchen as he creates an original meal in their honor such as Sharon Steaks and The Dap Rings for Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
or Les Savy Pheasant for Les Savy Fav
. In addition to the meal, Mason also prepares cocktail
s inspired by the band during the show. Typically, the featured band will perform two songs in between kitchen sessions and banter with Mason about their music and experience with food throughout the show.
. Before becoming the host of Dinner With The Band, Mason worked under such famous chefs as Wylie Dufresne
and Jean Louis Palladin. He has appeared in an episode of Iron Chef America, losing in a skirt steak
battle against Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto
. His latest restaurant gig before Dinner With The Band was as chef/owner at Tailor in New York City
, a position he left in late 2009.
Mason does not play an instrument himself though he has moonlighted as a country music
DJ for East Village Radio
. In an interview with The New York Times
, Mason said that he was originally asked by the show's creators (Darin and Greg Bresnitz) to host despite the fact that they didn't know who he was. “No joke: they Googled ‘tattooed hipster chef’, and I came up.”
Food reality television series
Food reality television is a common subgenre of television programming, reality television that is somehow themed on food. Some shows within the genre have a competitive aspect, others are similar in nature to documentaries, and others try to help the subjects involved. Many shows in the genre...
hosted by chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
Sam Mason. It began as an ON Networks web series
Web series
A web series is a series of episodes released on the Internet or also by mobile or cellular phone, and part of the newly emerging medium called web television. A single instance of a web series program is called an episode .While the popularity of web series is continuing to rise, the concept...
in March 2007 but was later acquired by the Independent Film Channel
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
and premiered as a full length 30-min television show on November 24, 2009.
The premise
In each episode, Mason invites a band into a BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
loft
Loft
A loft can be an upper story or attic in a building, directly under the roof. Alternatively, a loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use from some other use, often light industrial...
doubling as a kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
/small concert studio space. The band joins him in the kitchen as he creates an original meal in their honor such as Sharon Steaks and The Dap Rings for Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the Dap-Kings are the house band. They are spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s...
or Les Savy Pheasant for Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav is a New York City indie rock band. Their style is influenced by art rock and post-hardcore. The group is known for the stage presence of lead singer Tim Harrington...
. In addition to the meal, Mason also prepares cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
s inspired by the band during the show. Typically, the featured band will perform two songs in between kitchen sessions and banter with Mason about their music and experience with food throughout the show.
The host
Sam Mason is a Brooklyn-based chef who attended culinary school at Johnson & Wales UniversityJohnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University is a private, nonprofit, co-educational, career-oriented university with four campuses located throughout the United States. Providence, Rhode Island, USA, is home to JWU's first and largest of four currently operating campuses. Founded as a business school in 1914, by...
. Before becoming the host of Dinner With The Band, Mason worked under such famous chefs as Wylie Dufresne
Wylie Dufresne
Wylie Dufresne is the chef and owner of wd~50 restaurant in Manhattan. Dufresne is a leading American proponent of molecular gastronomy, the movement to incorporate science and new techniques in the preparation and presentation of food.-Early life:...
and Jean Louis Palladin. He has appeared in an episode of Iron Chef America, losing in a skirt steak
Skirt steak
Skirt steak is a cut of beef steak, from the plate. It is a long, flat cut that is prized for its flavor rather than tenderness. Sometimes flank steak is used interchangeably with skirt steak, but it is a different cut of meat....
battle against Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto
Masaharu Morimoto
is a well-known Japanese chef, best known as the third Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show Iron Chef, and an Iron Chef on its spinoff, Iron Chef America. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food....
. His latest restaurant gig before Dinner With The Band was as chef/owner at Tailor in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, a position he left in late 2009.
Mason does not play an instrument himself though he has moonlighted as a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
DJ for East Village Radio
East Village Radio
East Village Radio is an Internet radio station which broadcasts from a storefront studio in the East Village of Manhattan, in New York City. EVR serves both as a voice for the local downtown cultural scene and as a forum for the community at large...
. In an interview with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Mason said that he was originally asked by the show's creators (Darin and Greg Bresnitz) to host despite the fact that they didn't know who he was. “No joke: they Googled ‘tattooed hipster chef’, and I came up.”
Bands who've appeared on the show
- Sharon Jones & The Dap-KingsSharon Jones & The Dap-KingsSharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are a funk/soul band. They are signed to Daptone Records, where the Dap-Kings are the house band. They are spearheads of a revivalist movement that aims to capture the essence of funk/soul music as it was at its height in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s...
- Les Savy FavLes Savy FavLes Savy Fav is a New York City indie rock band. Their style is influenced by art rock and post-hardcore. The group is known for the stage presence of lead singer Tim Harrington...
- Rufus WainwrightRufus WainwrightRufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
- MENMEN (band)MEN is a Brooklyn-based band and art/performance collective that focuses on the energy of live performance and the radical potential of dance music...
- The Mountain GoatsThe Mountain GoatsThe Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
- YACHTJona BechtoltJona Bechtolt is an electronic musician and multimedia artist based in Portland, Oregon, United States. He is a former member of The Badger King and The Blow, and has released solo records under the name Yacht since 2003...
- Kid SisterKid SisterMelisa Young better known by her stage name Kid Sister, is a rap artist based in Chicago, Illinois, well known for her single "Pro Nails", featuring Kanye West.-Background:Melisa Young was born July 3, 1980 in Markham, Illinois...
and FlosstradamusFlosstradamusFlosstradamus is the stage name of Chicago-based DJs J2K and Autobot .They have performed at events such as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Pitchfork Music Festival, Rothbury Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and South by Southwest... - The Devil Makes ThreeThe Devil Makes Three (band)The Devil Makes Three may refer to:* The Devil Makes Three , an American band* The Devil Makes Three , a 1952 film...
- The Murder City Devils
- VEGANeon IndianNeon Indian is an indie electronic band from Denton, Texas. The music is composed by Mexican-born Alan Palomo , also known for his work with the band Ghosthustler and as the artist VEGA. The band's debut, Psychic Chasms, has received many favorable reviews, including the designation of Best New...
- My Brightest DiamondMy Brightest DiamondMy Brightest Diamond is the project of singer–songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Worden. The band has released two studio albums, 2006's Bring Me the Workhorse and 2008's A Thousand Shark's Teeth, along with a remix album Tear It Down and a download-only release through iTunes...
- Au Revoir SimoneAu Revoir SimoneAu Revoir Simone is an electronic dream pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, formed in late 2003. The group is composed of Erika Forster , Annie Hart , and Heather D'Angelo...
- Andrew WK
- Lightspeed ChampionLightspeed ChampionDevonté Hynes , better known as Lightspeed Champion or Blood Orange, is a British composer, songwriter, producer and author, who has written for artists such as Florence and the Machine, Diana Vickers and The Chemical Brothers on their 2007 Grammy award winning album We Are The Night...
- Final FantasyOwen PallettMichael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....
External links
- Official site for Dinner With The Band
- Official Twitter page for Dinner With The Band
- Trailer for Season Two posted by Pop Tarts Suck Toasted
- Sam Mason interview with Food & Wine Magazine
- Music Mix playlist by Sam Mason for Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...