Past Series

KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEAN CELEBRATIONS

KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEAN CELEBRATIONS began airing on public television stations nationwide April 2019.

Belton checks out some of the city’s top festivals, going on location to the Oyster Festival, the French Market Creole Tomato Festival, Bastille Day Fete, Satchmo Summer Fest, and others. During these colorful segments, viewers will get a taste of New Orleans as the 6’9” chef chats with food vendors and mingles with festival goers.

National funding for KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATIONS is provided by the L.E. Phillips Family Foundation and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation.

 

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KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS KITCHEN

KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS KITCHEN began airing on public television stations nationwide April 2018.

The series follows the success of his first 26-part, NEW ORLEANS COOKING WITH KEVIN BELTON, distributed by American Public Television in 2016, has been seen coast to coast and in Canada on individual stations and the public television lifestyle network Create TV.

The 26 episodes were produced in a reimagined kitchen at WYES. For the custom kitchen, the WYES production team tapped into the chef’s roots for a Creole cottage design that is distinctively New Orleans. During construction of the new space, the designers repurposed materials from the first series, giving a second life to the warehouse loft featured in NEW ORLEANS COOKING. The vintage elements and upcycle features of the new set help create a Big Easy vibe that is the ideal backdrop for Chef Belton’s tasty fare.

Recognized as one of the top thirty Louisiana chefs by the American Culinary Federation, Chef Belton will again explore the wide mix of cultures that contributed to the distinctive food of New Orleans. This time delving into the city’s diverse culinary influences, including Cuban and Vietnamese.

KEVIN BELTON’S NEW ORLEANS KITCHEN showcases the food of the city, with an emphasis on the bounty of ingredients available in the local pantry – from coffee, to seafood, to citrus and more. In NEW ORLEANS KITCHEN Chef Belton will continue his mission: teaching home cooks the hallmarks of New Orleans’ flavorful cuisine while letting the good times roll Kevin-style.

 

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NEW ORLEANS COOKING WITH KEVIN BELTON

NEW ORLEANS COOKING WITH KEVIN BELTON began airing on public television stations nationwide April 2015. The new series can be seen locally on WYES-TV/Channel 12 on Saturdays at 9:30am and Sundays at 1pm. For air dates in your area contact your local PBS station.

Creole chef Kevin Belton takes viewers on a tasty tour of New Orleans in a new 26-part cooking series produced by WYES-TV. From Classic French to soul food to German, Irish and Italian influences, NEW ORLEANS COOKING WITH KEVIN BELTON explores the diverse mix of cultures that contribute to the distinctive food of the Crescent City.

Belton is a gumbo of English, French, Native American and African ancestry. His mother’s family has roots in the French-Caribbean island of Martinique and his French-speaking father’s family came from the Bayou Lafourche area of South Louisiana, near Thibodaux.

The self-trained chef began cooking under the watchful eye of his mother and grandmother in the uptown New Orleans home where he grew up. From these talented home cooks Belton learned to prepare the venerable dishes of the city and in his new series he’ll share family recipes and personal tips for making seafood gumbo, pralines, shrimp remoulade, chicken Clemenceau and many other New Orleans specialties.

Cooking instruction is second nature for Belton, who has spent the last 20 years teaching the foundation of Louisiana cooking to appreciative audiences. As an instructor at the New Orleans School of Cooking, located in a renovated French Quarter molasses warehouse built in the early 1800’s, this homegrown chef has introduced visitors from around the world to the food and rich traditions of the region.

In addition to the almost 7,000 lessons he has led at the cooking school, Belton has also offered classes and cooking demonstrations throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has been a featured chef and guest on numerous food programs including Emeril Live; Ready Set Cook; Life, Love, and Lunch; Food Fighters; and Taste of America. In 1999 he was co-host and chef on the BBC series Big Kevin, Little Kevin, which also featured British celebrity chef Kevin Woodford. The series, taped in the United Kingdom and the U.S., aired in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. A companion cookbook co-authored by Belton, “Big Kevin, Little Kevin-Over 120 Recipes from around Britain and America by TV’s Odd Couple,” was published by Ebury Press.  In 2014, he became the resident chef for the CBS affiliate WWL’s morning show.

Belton has long been associated with WYES-TV as the host of several popular cooking marathons. He is also a past recipient of the WYES President’s Award, which is given annually to individuals, organizations or businesses that have demonstrated exemplary support of public television in the metropolitan area.

In 2014 he was recognized as one of the top twenty Louisiana chefs by the American Culinary Federation.

In his public television debut Belton wants to pull back the curtain and show viewers what really makes the legendary cuisine of New Orleans so delicious. “Everybody says you make it look so easy,” he says. “I tell them, no, it is easy.” Taped in the studios of WYES-TV, NEW ORLEANS COOKING WITH KEVIN BELTON is a chance for viewers to meet a new APT host whose big personality is a perfect match for his 6’ 9” frame. When recently asked to name his five most important ingredients, the gregarious chef responded in classic Belton fashion, “salt, sugar, fresh herbs, a good pan and a phone to make a reservation!”

NEW ORLEANS COOKING WITH KEVIN BELTON is distributed to public television stations nationwide by American Public Television and with support from Louisiana Economic Development.