First Original Cooking Show Debuts on Food Network in Italy

Italiani a tavola (Italians at the Table) made its premiere on Food Network in Italy this week, marking the first original culinary show to debut on the channel.

Each episode of the series, produced by Stand by Me, looks on as three Italian families are filmed enjoying their traditional Sunday lunch. The fixed-rig show was created by Simona Ercolani, the CEO of Stand by Me. It is hosted by Roberta Capua, the winner of the last edition of Vip Masterchef. The show launched on the network yesterday.

Ercolani commented, “Italians at the Table is not just an ironic and funny show about the Italian food habits and their traditional Sunday lunch meeting, but also a split of real life.”

Stand by Me also produced the second season of the Studio Lambert format Googlebox 2, which premiered on Italia 1 on Sunday, May 7.

“Gogglebox took the different Italian families’ group conversations in their comfortable living room [to] TV: what they think, what they like, offering their incredible opinions about the key moments of TV programs,” said Ercolani. “We have worked a lot to find the right casting, the most characteristic families and unique human characters. It was not easy at all, but we managed to find the right people.”

In addition, 16 and Pregnant season five will launch in Italy on MTV on May 14.