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Cooking shows on Food Network, Netflix and PBS today give audiences more chances to see chefs of color than was once the case. Yet, some of America’s Black and Brown culinary avengers identify CLEO TV and TV One as the real superheroes of opportunity.
“To launch a show on a Black-owned network that has been around for so long and that has helped so many people in their careers is a really beautiful thing,” says JJ Johnson, restaurateur and TV host.
Johnson’s “Just Eats with Chef JJ” kicked off on CLEO TV in 2019 as one of the first cooking shows on the new network. TV One Networks launched the cable channel to deliver quality lifestyle and entertainment programming for Millennial and Gen X women of color.
“Culture Kitchen,” with its Afro-Latina host, premiered on CLEO TV in 2021. Both shows are expected to air in new seasons later this year.
“I like that CLEO TV and TV One have carved out this special niche for us. That there is a network that focuses on our stories, women, and people is beautiful,” says Bren Herrera, chef and lifestyle influencer.
Just Eats With Chef JJ
Chef Johnson looks back on when he started his cooking show career and chuckles at how far he has come from those first episodes. “It was a journey. That’s why I give a lot of testament back to CLEO TV and TV One for seeing talent that maybe I might not have seen at that time,” comments the owner of FIELDTRIP rice bowl shops.
While he is honored that PowerHouse Productions had faith in a young TV show novice, Johnson can affirm how much he has grown as a chef host. It used to take more than three hours to tape a 30-minute episode. Now, it is done from start to finish in 90 minutes.
“The greatest thing now is you don’t know if you’ll see a guest with me. In some episodes, I’m just cooking, and there is no guest.”
Then he laughingly declares, “It shows that I’ve gotten stronger on television. I connect with people behind the screen, and there are not as many hiccups with Chef JJ.”
Season Seven Offers New Inspiration
Over 150 episodes have aired through season 6 of “Just Eats with Chef JJ.” Johnson will soon start preparing for the show’s new season. He describes the process as robust.
“We write about 50 to 60 ideas of what we believe we are going to cook, from main courses to entrées and from sides to meals celebrations,” says the chef. “Then we figure out what the star of each show is, what we see people are interested in or trying to learn about, and what we want to try to make go viral.”
Johnson anticipates that one highlight of the new season will be some guests the audience will immediately recognize, along with easy and more challenging dishes for people to cook at home.
One thing that will remain the same is that Johnson always cooks food that is true to his love of African American and Caribbean cultures. “There’s so many ways you can go from what you see on the show. But it will be bold flavors. There will be kitchen table talk. It will be fun. We will still be pouring drinks, and it will be a great time,” the restaurateur declares.
Connecting FIELDTRIP Customers to CLEO TV
Shortly after his CLEO TV premiere in January 2019, Johnson opened FIELDTRIP, his first counter service shop in Harlem, specializing in rice bowls with global flavors. Three more locations now serve the chef’s rice bowl dishes prepared with classical techniques and culturally relevant ingredients, including a shop at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas.
The Just Eats host believes the most successful television chefs have restaurants where viewers can taste their cooking. FIELDTRIP Harlem attracts a lot of locals who watch and want to know when more of the shop’s dishes will be featured on the CLEO TV show.
“At our location at Rockefeller Center, we get a lot of people traveling from Virginia, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago and Oakland during the holiday season. They’re coming to Fieldtrip because they’ve watched me on television. It definitely does contribute to some of the success of FIELDTRIP,” Johnson acknowledges.
The NYC restaurateur has new ventures where he can promote “Just Eats with Chef JJ” and attract more viewers to his show. Johnson opened Bankside Southern seafood kitchens at Wonder digital food halls in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Maryland. He also is the culinary director of a jazz club called Blue Llama in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“This isn’t a JJ one-person show. This is JJ with 50 employees now. So, many people in many places believe in me and are pushing the vision and helping to grow FIELDTRIP or JJ’s brand,” the chef says.
RELATED: The Women Behind PowerHouse Productions
Family, Friends and Just Eats Rewards
The James Beard Award-winning cookbook author features some dishes from his latest book on Just Eats. The New York Times, Forbes, Eater and the Robb Report named “The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes from Around the World for the Heart of Your Table” one of 2023’s best cookbooks.
“We’ve definitely introduced some recipes from that book on the show. We’ve done the cinnamon lamb rice. We’ve done the chicken shawarma. We’ve done a show around rice and how simple it is for people to feel comfortable cooking it,” adds Johnson.
The growth of the chef’s culinary brand gives him more chances to share his love of cooking and entertaining family and friends. As a young kid, Johnson dreamed about cooking on television one day. So, he gets joy out of meeting people who watch his cooking show.
“It’s great to know that people are watching and connected to the show. It’s rewarding to make people want to pick up a pot, pan, or wooden spoon to cook some of the food I’m making on the show,” he says.
Johnson also finds it gratifying to talk about “Just Eats with Chef JJ” when inviting celebrities, family, friends or even guests with new business ventures to appear with him. “I try to bring them on the show all the time and spread the love. It’s a great platform to bring up other people,” he replies.
“The food is there for me to talk about, from chopping or cutting to how it sizzles or pops or the history behind it. That’s the most important part. That’s the magic.”
Whether they watch the encore episodes of “Just Eats with Chef JJ” or tune in for Season 7, FIELDTRIP’s founder believes that viewers will see that he is still enthusiastic about sharing the magic of “Just Eats with Chef JJ” with as many people as possible.
“My ultimate goal is to drive more and more people to CLEO TV to not only watch my show but to watch all the other great programming on there.”
Culture Kitchen With Bren Herrera
The “Culture Kitchen” chef knows from her conversations with people that her show attracts more Afro-Latinos to CLEO TV. Bren Herrera has spent many years crafting her television persona.
Still, three seasons of hosting the show have fine-tuned her focus. “I try to deliver in the most authentic way I can, and I think that has just gotten better and better. Food-wise, I’m much more intentional with telling impactful stories behind the food,” says Herrera.
The D.C. area resident has always been passionate about telling the stories of the Afro-Cuban and Caribbean cultures. She wants CLEO TV’s viewers to engage with her as if they were sitting at a kitchen table and listening to her talk about food.
“One of the very best ways to get to know people and to know a culture is through food: understanding how they engage with food, how they connect with food, how they source food, and the role that food plays not just in the family dynamic or the family unit, but also as a community and a larger culture,” says the chef and TV personality.
Telling Cuban and Caribbean Food Stories
Chef Herrera cooks dishes and tells stories that reflect her passion for the cuisines of Black and Brown people. CLEO TV’s audience is predominately African American. However, Culture Kitchen’s host presents food stories that span the diaspora of countries with African and Latin descendants.
“We come from the same lineage of ancestors. We all come from the African diaspora, specifically. The differences are just in the ingredients or how the ingredients are prepared. I eat collards and the more traditional Black southern foods. But then, I also eat foods that are not traditionally rooted in Black American history. So, it’s great. I get to tell that story and introduce people to ingredients like yucca,” Herrera explains.
Culture Kitchen’s recipes might come from Black southern, Cuban or Caribbean cultures, but they still have one thing in common: the food stories passed down through generations. Herrera states why she is passionate about keeping our stories alive through the recipes and dishes we share.
“We are very family-oriented. We are very protective of our ancestry and history. We take great pride in sharing our history with our children and grandchildren and we want to continue passing it forward. Food, for me, and storytelling are two ways I can easily do it.”
The Afro-Latina host encourages viewers to talk to their parents and grandparents and document food stories for future generations. “Ask them the questions that will continue to keep that story alive because it is important. Otherwise, it will die. It will die if we don’t continue telling the stories and cooking the food. We’re all sharing these experiences because family is at the core of our existence and purpose,” says Herrera.
The lifestyle influencer comes from a family of seven, and having her parents and siblings on her show is one of her most treasured memories. But what she finds the most fun, exciting and rewarding is featuring her mom, Carmen Beatrice, on “Culture Kitchen.” Herrera recalls how Mama Betty’s presence makes her feel.
“I get really emotional. I’m like, ‘Wow. This little immigrant girl whose parents fled a communist country has her own show, and it bears my mom’s maiden name.’ It’s just a really good love story to my parents for all the sacrifices they’ve made and the provisions they’ve made for me to be able to do what I do.”
Oxtail Love and Pressure Cooking
Mama Betty’s influence on Herrera comes through on “Culture Kitchen” whenever the chef prepares oxtail or uses a pressure cooker. Her mom taught her how to cook the meat dish popular in Cuba and the Caribbean.
She also showed her daughter how to use a pressure cooker to prepare what was once a poor man’s food. “Now it is this beautiful stand-alone meat that is very expensive. Oxtail is the cornerstone of my food story. So those episodes do well, and I love them because I’ve also introduced people to how to eat them,” says the cooking show host.
Herrera started writing about oxtail as a food blogger trying to gain an audience as an Afro-Latina chef. Oxtail is beloved in Cuba, Jamaica and the Caribbean, so it perfectly represents her multicultural background.
It’s the chef’s favorite ingredient. She enjoys showing her viewers how to eat it. “It’s a fun dish. You can’t eat oxtail with a fork and knife. You’ve got to get down and dirty and use your hands.” And she admits probably, your lips. “Listen, girl, you’ve got to suck the marrow out of that oxtail.”
Culture Kitchen’s host makes oxtail in a pressure cooker on the show and at home. Herrera gained a reputation as the Queen of Pressure Cooking. She has six at home and celebrates the cooking appliance as a Cuban and Caribbean cooking staple.
“Our foods merit quick cooking because of the lack of natural resources. When you’re talking about oxtail or beans, which take a long time to cook, the best, most efficient way is using a pressure cooker. You’re using significantly less water. Obviously, you’re cooking in less time, so you’re not consuming as much electricity,” Herrera notes.
The celebrity chef continues to instruct home cooks on simple, safe ways to use a pressure cooker on “Culture Kitchen.” Herrera’s 2016 cookbook, “Modern Pressure Cooking,” provides over 100 stovetop recipes for mastering the time-saving tool.
“When I was approached to write a cookbook, specifically on pressure cooking, I thought it was a God-sent gift. That was like Jesus knows me, loves me, and wants me to write this book,” she recalls.
Preserving Culture Through the Power of Food
When she makes oxtail, black beans, plantains, collard greens or any dish, Herrera feels blessed to be cooking and sharing her culinary expertise on CLEO TV. Getting laid off from a paralegal position in her 20s opened the door to her true calling.
“In the deepest parts of my soul, I knew that entertaining was what I wanted to do, and I wanted to celebrate my culture. I wanted to be in the lifestyle entertainment space, whether with music or food. I knew that early on in my life,” the chef remembers.
“Culture Kitchen” gives Herrera a stage for celebrating Afro-Caribbean cultures through her food and other interests. “I dress a certain way and wear hairstyles that represent the culture that every woman watching can relate to, whether you are a 20-year-old, an 18-year-old in college, a young professional, a grandmother or a 45-year-old,” she says.
“I’m speaking to our people, whether you speak Spanish or not. I’m speaking to the Black and Brown woman who loves food, knows the culture, and emotes a certain way.”
Chef Herrera’s dreams for the future include a restaurant, a travel cooking show and a food product line. Most of all, she hopes her experiences traveling the world and telling food stories on “Culture Kitchen” will encourage other Black and Brown people to appreciate their food and cultures more.
“I want them to emotionally walk away knowing that our culture matters, that our food matters and that our stories matter. If they still have their parents and grandparents, they should take the time to create their own memories with them so that they can pass them on to their children.”
Being on a Black-Owned Network
Chefs Herrera and Johnson agree that their celebration of food and culture gains superpower status from being on Black-owned networks. They both find inspiration and strength in their freedom to be authentic.
“I don’t have to show up and be anybody else but JJ. And I don’t have to worry about people telling me to not be who I am. I’ve never had to have that conversation with anybody at TV One, CLEO TV or the production company,” stresses Chef Johnson.
The Black-owned PowerHouse Productions employs a non-scripted format for “Just Eats with Chef JJ’ and “Culture Kitchen.” There is no teleprompter, and no one tells the chefs what to say or cook.
“As we see daily in other areas of American life, our voices are constantly silenced or suppressed. That I get to tell our story, my story, very authentically without it being censored, is beautiful. I’m really thankful for that,” Chef Herrera concludes.
TV One celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. The network and CLEO TV are solely owned by Urban One. Catch encore episodes of Just Eats with Chef JJ and Culture Kitchen on CLEO TV’s website or YouTube Channel.
Follow Chef Johnson @chefjj and Chef Herrera @brenherrera on Instagram for updates on the new seasons of their shows and other pursuits.
