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photographed to give home cooks visual
cues for how each step should look. The
walk-through ends in an alley, which
serves as the location for barbecue shoots.
After the tour we chat about what it’s
like to make the change from test cooks to
co-hosts, how they prefer eating in to dining out, and their new cookbook, Cooking
at Home with Bridget & Julia.
THE COSTCO CONNECTION: Your new
space sounds luxurious compared with
what you have now.
BRIDGET LANCASTER: I’m already practicing my old-codger voice: “You kids don’t
know how [good] you have it.”
JULIA COLLIN DAVISON: We already do
that. When we started here, I had to do the
shopping, lugging it in my o wn car, putting
it on my own credit cards.
CC: Season ;; starts airing in January
;;;;. Is there anything you’d like to share
about the new season?
BL: It’s the second season for a lot of the
new crew, and it was great seeing them
grow into their roles over the last year. The
;rst year that you’re on television you have
no idea what to expect. So they had some
expertise built into it this year.
JCD: This year you [Bridget] and I tried to
really bring the testing forward … to talk
about the day-to-day around here, because
this place is pretty amazing. To talk about
the ;; pounds of shrimp that it took to
develop this recipe. And, you know, how we
develop a recipe, which I don’t think we’ve
ever said to our camera audience before.
CC: What did you learn last season that
you carried over into season ;;?
JCD: For me, it’s a constant sense of learning how to be a host and how to be the kind
of host that I want to be. Because I was
always a cook, I don’t want to step on other
people’s toes. I want to really reinforce
what they’re saying, but I’m not the cook
anymore. I’m not in a place where they’re
teaching me how to cook. I know how to
cook. So that’s a di;erent relationship to
the host cook than we’ve had before.
BL: We’re setting [the test cooks] up for
success. Julia and I are giving the recipes
and what we’re going to be doing, and it
really is: How can I draw that information
out of the test cook? Because they’re the
experts now, and sometimes I feel like
we’re the interpreter.
JCD: Especially if something is very sci-ence-based. It’s where we’re trying to get to
the molecular level of it, and then what’s
the takeaway? That’s really what our show
is about. You should be able to take away at
least one thing and bring it into a kitchen,
no matter if you make that recipe or not.
CC: What was it like moving from test cook
to co-host?
BL: Fun. If there’s that moment when I’m
stumbling and I can’t remember, Julia will
;nish the thought. And it’s really, really,
really helpful.
It’s an interesting dynamic that you
have with the audience when it’s two people. You’re talking to each other, but you’re
also talking to the camera. So no w you’re in
a group, instead of on a date. When it’s
three people, I feel like the conversation
becomes a lot less formal—more comfortable and conversational.
JCD: It’s PBS, so it’s educational. But it also
has to be entertaining. It’s not going to be
fun if we’re not having fun. You can’t make
that up. It’s just us being friends, but teaching something and still having fun.
CC: What strengths and skills do you each
have that you feel complement the other?
JCD: Bridget is hysterically funny. She
could easily be a stand-up comedian if she
wanted to. So, on top of being a wonderful
cook and able to talk about the food, she
can keep it light and funny.
BL: Julia is the most technically brilliant
chef. The girl can chop anything. She’s a
human Ginsu.
OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS
The chemistry between these two
chefs is on hilarious display in this
clip. (See page 11 for details.)