"Check, Please!": Reality TV that believes a viewer's heart is in his stomach

It's a television show that has attracted entries from 20,000 people who want to appear on the air. And it's not "American Idol."

It's "Check, Please!" on which a mix of three everyday diners — instead of food critics — each get to pick their favorite restaurant and wax rhapsodic, then bicker about them.

Creator and executive producer David Manilow calls it "Zagats meets Siskel and Ebert" and he hopes that it inspires viewers to leave their comfort zones and try new restaurants or cuisines.

"There are a bunch of cities in the United States it would do very well in," Manilow said. "It's a great thing for these cities -- it gets people to go out and about and leave their neighborhoods."

The original version of the series is now taping its sixth season for Chicago's public television station, WTTW. The three diners check out each other's chosen eateries, as well, and give their own take. In that way, three restaurants are highlighted on each show.

A San Francisco-based version of the show is about to start a second season, and a Los Angeles-based entry is in development, according to Manilow. Negotiations are under way for similar shows in New York City and Seattle.

Battle of the Belly

The 30-minute Chicago-based show revolves around a dining table (natch) featuring show host Alpana Singh — a sommelier by training — and three diners.

The participants have already visited that week's highlighted restaurants individually and without any television cameras, although they often take family or friends along.

The three guests do not meet each other until the show taping, and to preserve spontaneity, they are barred from talking about their restaurants until the cameras roll. Once taping begins, they are honest in their assessment of what they did like (the atmosphere, the wine list) or didn't like (the prices, the appetizers) about another guest's choice.

For each episode, Manilow strives for variety in both the guests and the restaurants, which are located in Chicago and its suburbs.

Past selections have served everything from haute cuisine and sushi to soul food and pizza. Even the Superdawg Drive-In — home to two, 12-foot wieners on its roof — was featured on one show.

As for the guests, Manilow will pair a tattoo artist with a high-powered attorney, a Chicago cop with an interior designer. One guest was a pink-haired sex shop owner. Another show was devoted just to children.

"My goal, for most shows, is to have people look at the show and say, 'Wow, I would never see these three people sitting at this table anywhere other than here," Manilow said.

Beyond meat and potatoes

At a recent taping, the dining table featured a Chicago public teacher who recommended a Trinidadian restaurant, an executive staffing consultant who raved about her favorite Greek place, and a sports producer who recommended an off-the-beaten-path, romantic fine dining spot.

Before the taping began, they talked about Bernie Mac, the merits of TiVo, the hassles of airport security — and the amount of wine they were drinking to keep them relaxed.

Once cameras began rolling, Karen Lewis, a chemistry teacher, spoke about how her choice — Chicago's Café Trinidad — reminds her of the year she spent in Barbados. Lewis even lapsed into her Caribbean accent as she talked about the restaurant's signature wraps, called roti, filled with ground split yellow peas and spices.

"When you walk in, all of a sudden you want to slow down, you want to savor the spices, you want to listen to the calypso in the background, you want to be a part of the family that runs this place," Lewis said. "I love it because it's so authentic I literally feel like I'm back in Barbados, walking into a roti hut."

But another guest, Voula Callas, discussed her disappointment — several of the menu items were not available, some of the dishes featured too much curry for her taste and she was not impressed by the desserts.

"It's the Caribbean, child. We do things on a different level here," Lewis said, her voice lilting Caribbean-style, to laughs. "It's island time."

For host Singh, the show is an addition to her full-time job as director of wine and spirits at the Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., restaurant group. She believes the variety of restaurants that guests have chosen to highlight on "Check, Please!" demonstrates that Americans have become much more adventurous in their dining choices.

"They know the difference between Argentinian food and Colombian food. It's going beyond Italian and French to the more exotic, like Lebanese or African or Korean food," she said. "It's not just meat and potatoes restaurants anymore."