The new Cleo TV network will begin “New Soul Kitchen,” a cookery program starring former Chattanooga chef Jernard Wells, on Saturday.
Porsche Thomas, a vegan chef, will be presenting soul food recipes with a healthy twist alongside Wells. Two new cookery programs, including “New Soul Kitchen” and “Just Eats With Chef JJ,” starring the Harlem-based chef JJ Johnson, are on the schedule.
Wells, who goes by the moniker “The Chef of Love,” calls his style of cooking “Southern modified,” in which he attempts to make the hearty flavor of Southern cuisine more wholesome.
Wells, one of the three founders of Chattanooga Wing Co. on McCallie Avenue, lived in Chattanooga from around 2007 to 2017 before transferring to Atlanta. As a celebrity chef, he has won “Cutthroat Kitchen” twice, finished second on “Food Network Star,” served as a judge on “Chopped: Junior,” and participated in “Food Network Star: Comeback Kitchen.”
Cleo TV, a January-launched “aspirational lifestyle and entertainment cable network,” aims to appeal to Gen-X and millennial women of color. Cleo TV will initially only be available on the Comcast Xfinity roster, but further affiliate distribution deals will be revealed in the upcoming months.