The Food Network just launched a saucy new site, Food2, aimed at engaging a younger generation of cooks and foodies through blogs and video content. Scripps Network, which owns the Food Network, also recently launched a recipe aggregation site, which we reviewed here. Food2 is a flashier, more hip FoodNetwork.com (Food Network’s site) that features and outspoken, “eclectic slate of food bloggers” aimed at the twenty-something crowd who favor appetizers and cocktails.
The video content on the site is short and sweet, making it easy for viewers to see a five minute visual snapshot of how to make a dish. The site features Food Network video content and a variety of new web video series from spunky, young cooks (think less Emeril, more Top Chef). Food TV chef Kelsey and Top Chef star Spike pair up on a show where each use similar ingredients to create dishes-kind of like a face-off of recipes. Kitchen Conspirators, from the Brooklyn, NY-based underground supper-club group Whisk & Ladle, features three young chefs who with the help of a guest chef, plan a meal for a dinner party. There’s $12 Challenge, which is a food meets love show, where two young chefs try to woo a bystander with an inexpensive meal. The site also features a how-to series with food blogger Adam Roberts, The Amateur Gourmet,, who leads viewers through how to make simple drinks and food items.
The blogs, on the other hand, leave much to be desired. The content is not organized by type of recipe or subject, which makes it difficult to sift through. It looks like the site has good amount of blog content, from recipes to other news about food but there’s no useful breakdown of the content. The site also features a number of recipes and tips which seems to be focused on the basics, like how to clean a grill or how to prevent apple slices from turning brown. Recipes are a little more creative and ranges from “Jumbo Shrimp Stuffed with Cilantro and Chilis” to “Panamanian Corn Tortillas & Lobster Disc with Cilantro Pesto.” The site also trying to combine elements of social media by integrating with Facebook Connect.
If the site ramps up its blog content, I think it could be a useful platform for twenty-somethings who are more interested in creating quick, cheap meals and drinks than some of the large, elaborate meals (often time for families) that are shown on Food TV.