Sandra Lee's Taverns, Lounges & Clubs

[Phaedrus]

Well, I think someone has finally hit on Sandra Lee's true calling: getting drunk on the air and talking about her favorite topic, places where she goes to get drunk.

I hope they throw in some tablescapes in the show.

[treb]

Looks like another version of Diners, Drivein's and Dives, FN is running out of new ideas and sticking with gimicks.

[HillJ]

treb, Sandra Lee's show is airing on the Cooking Channel.

[paulj]

Yes, it does fall in the road-trip category of food show. What else is new? There are only a few types of 'food' shows - studio instruction, road-trip, competition, and documentary. DDD wasn't the first road-trip food show, and it won't be last. It's just the most popular one on FN/CC.

[dolly52]

I am watching this right now, she might be pretending but does appear to be a little tipsy and seems to know her liquor.

[kattyeyes]

Aww, c'mon! I watched last night, "does appear to be a little tipsy"--really? I think she appeared to be ENJOYING HERSELF. Did you notice she wasn't drinking all the drinks she made? She had that contest with the bartender, then served the drinks to other people. And I'd HOPE someone hosting a show featuring cocktails would know a thing or two about liquor!

I'm by no means Sandra Lee's biggest fan, but unlike her Semi-Homemade show, which I've only watched BRIEFLY in passing (or on YouTube to witness just the silliness of it--bloopers, Kwanzaa cake), I will definitely tune into this show again if I'm up.

That "Bathtub Gin" place with the secret entrance looked fun. I could totally see myself mugging for the camera in one of those bathtubs, tipsy or not! And the place in Hollywood with the little kid sayings about alcohol, they had some great cocktail ideas (peach and basil, mmmm) and those Reuben sliders looked KILLER. Here is a list of both the drinks and bar bites they featured on the show. I've never had an avocado cocktail, nevermind an "Effen" one. It sounded great!

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/sandr...

[HillJ]

That's what I enjoyed about the show, the locations and learning about new places to grab bar grub and interested cocktails made by enthusiastic barkeeps!

[kattyeyes]

Plus, their shaking techniques were OUTRAGEOUS! Win-win-win for me. Interesting food and drink and people ENJOYING it all. Whattaconcept! ;) CHEERS!

[dolly52]

Oh please, don't get so defensive, I thought she appeared to be alittle tipsy, and I didn't say I didn't enjoy the program, I did.

[LindaWhit]

Oh geez. I'm just seeing this thread now. :-) What took her and TFN so long? Any idea when it'll be on? I just might have to watch this one.

And Phaedrus, won't they be drinkscapes? Umbrellas and the like?

[SmartCookie]

Looks like it's playing on Wednesday's at 10:30 pm Eastern time.

[LindaWhit]

Ahh....that's Top Chef time for me. :-)

[coney with everything]

It's FN...I'm sure it will be rerun ad infinitum/ad nauseam

[kattyeyes]

Actually, it's the Cooking Channel, NOT Food Network:
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/sandr...

[paulj]

It's cable TV, so there will be plenty of reruns. That's the nature of TV, not just cable. When you have to fill 20 hrs a day with a particular type of show (e.g. food related), you have to use a lot of reruns, else your production costs go through the sky.

[HillJ]

paulj, do work in television?

[Phaedrus]

Looks like someone will need to be properly provisioned with libations in order to get through the drinkscapes, as LW suggested. I'll be watching TC too.

[James Cristinian]

Assuming Top Chef is a snoozer like last year, I'll take Sandra. Actually, both are past bedtime around here, that's why dvr is great.

[The Chowhound Team]

Sandra Lee is always a controversial subject here, and this show hasn't even aired yet, so we just wanted to briefly remind people of our Guidelines for Discussing Food TV: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/334317 Please no bashing her personally. Make substantive comments based on something more than the title of the show, please, or wait until it airs to discuss it.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Ok, here is the deal people. I have never watched Sandra Lee's show, and if I have, I must have forgotten. Does she really drink that much? We don't know that. From what I gathered, she like to put alcohol in her recipes, but that does not mean she likes to drink excessively.

I rarely rarely drink coffee, but I use ground coffee powder to make cookies.

[paulj]

I wonder if there is any credible evidence that she has a drinking problem. A quick web search turns up a lot of name calling, but no serious sources, not even a rumor of a DUI.

[pamf]

It's not so much that she likes to put alcohol in her recipes, but that just about every show has a "Cocktail Time" segment. she features one, and sometimes 2 or 3 different drinks. She likes to throw around catch phrases, like "it's the best time of the day", "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" and "come to mama" when she is taking the first sip of her concoctions. She also likes to over pour and joke about it.

So that is the image that she puts out there. Whether or not it's any reflection of her real life habits. It's fair game for commenting on her show.

[paulj]

If Tony Bourdain did a show about the best places to drink during a 24 hr stop over in London, would we make the same sort of comments?

[pamf]

Bourdain has done time and time again. He has his detractors on this board who complain about it.

Bourdain has never tried to present himself as anything other than this well-known persona.

[Duppie]

A "turn and burn hack" I believe was his description of his cooking career..

[coney with everything]

if Bourdain ever made anything with bottled ranch dressing, probably.

[redfish62]

If Bourdain did it I would think "Well at least he's not doing heroin anymore."

[HillJ]

I thought Sandy provided enough evidence that she enjoys cocktails. Who said anything about a drinking problem?

[kattyeyes]

I enjoy cocktails (don't most of us?) and have been known to make baked goods spiked with bourbon and other spirits. I don't think that makes me any more of a drunk than Sandra Lee.

I thought I had seen the show in question while flipping channels. Turns out it was "Sandra's Restaurant Remakes." I happened upon this "We Miss You Elvis" cocktail. Interesting idea to rim a glass with peanuts. Hmmm.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sa...

ROCK ON, Sandra. Not sure I want to eat at your house or partake of your Kwanzaa cake, but I'm a two-ounce pour kinda kat myself.

[HillJ]

Bravo, right there w/ya. My only reaction to this tv show announcement is/was..good on you Sandy-you like your cocktails-have at it (a show about making them, enjoying them proper).

[sunshine842]

chem, if you put as much ground coffee powder into your cookies as she puts alcohol in her drinks, you might as well just go ahead and sub coffee powder for flour.

Some of her concoctions look pretty tasty -- most of them look pretty potent, sometimes enough to put me off of thinking about making them. (multiple alcohols, with heavy overpours)

[Chemicalkinetics]

<if you put as much ground coffee powder into your cookies as she puts alcohol in her drinks>

That bad, huh?

Like I said, I don't think I have ever watched her real shows. I have watched segments ofher shows from youtube. I should be clear that I only use coffee ground for one or two types of cookies. I follow this one. It is pretty good:

"....1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon good-quality instant espresso powder..."

http://www.marthastewart.com/315946/c...

[sunshine842]

I've only seen a few episodes, but yeah, they're that bad.

[redfish62]

She seems like she'd be a lot of fun to drink heavily with.

[chileheadmike]

I may actually have to check this show out. I'm all in.

Especially if she cuts off all her hair and makes it into white spikes, grows a goatee, and wears her sunglasses backwards.

[RC51Mike]

that would be so money off the hook....in flavortown.

[coney with everything]

very difficult to drink cocktails off a flip-flop, however.

[Duppie]

It would be too easy and just wrong to pan a show that hasn't even aired yet solely on the resume of the hostess but I for one immediately thought that the concept more suited Miss Lee' personality.
The woman obviously drinks,and judging by past exploits....quite a bit. So I for one will look forward to it's premier.

[HillJ]

Phaedrus, I am so happy you posted this (cause I would have)! Finally, SL is busting a move and living her truth. This suzy-homemaker has been dying to share her real passion-cocktails for a long, long time! I fully expect cocktail-scapes but mostly I'm just so darn delighted to know SL is owning her truth!

[RC51Mike]

And here I thought you were kidding and thought they'd censor your post for making fun of a tv host. But no, it's all true, all too true.