Photo courtesy Arthur Ircink
Since 2007, “Wisconsin Foodie” has been a staple of Milwaukee Public Television on Thursday nights, entertaining and educating audiences with the stories behind Wisconsin’s celebrated food, beverage and agricultural businesses. For Season 12 (airing locally Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. on MPTV Channel 10), Arthur Ircink, the producer and brainchild of “Wisconsin Foodie,” crafted a new introduction and debuted new host Luke Zahm—a James Beard Best Chef Midwest semifinalist who co-owns Driftless Café in Viroqua, Wis., with his wife, Ruthie. Zahm takes over for Kyle Cherek, the show’s longtime familiar face.
Zahm had been featured in and guest-hosted a few episodes prior to taking over as the regular host. We caught up with Zahm and Ircink at a “Wisconsin Foodie” viewing party at Three Brothers Serbian restaurant in Bay View. Three Brothers, along with the Serbian Days Festival, was featured in an episode of the show that aired on Thursday, Feb. 6.
“I enjoyed the experience and played off a skillset that I didn’t realize I had,” Zahm says. “I grew up in LaFarge, Wis., in blue-collar America, and I love sharing these stories, because it’s part of our identity and to be able to celebrate that and mix it up in that fashion is great. These guys [Ircink and the crew] put me in all sorts of crazy situations, like making food with machinery that I don’t understand!” Ircink feels that having a chef as a host gives “Wisconsin Foodie” a new dynamic. “Luke is a chef from rural America and bringing that skillset was really important,” Ircink says. “Luke’s personality is just infectious.”
Keeping Wisconsin’s Food Traditions Alive
The episode featuring Three Brothers and the Serbian Days Festival was a special show for Ircink; his wife’s family is Serbian, so for years, he’s been immersed in Serbian culture. The episode featured his nephew, 15-year-old Neven Stojadinovic, who was helping his grandmother prepare krofne, airy Serbian donuts, for the picnic at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, in Racine, Wis. “My grandmother helped me a lot, and we made them together at home,” Stojadinovic says. He hopes to open a Serbian American bakery when he gets older.
Those stories behind traditions and intergenerational food preparation is what drives Zahm and Ircink to showcase all that our state has to offer, and they’ve got no shortage of ideas. “It’s a collaborative process, from working with the team around me and with the community. I have such a great network of people around me—chefs, food activists and product-makers,” Ircink explains. “People also send us information.”
In addition to the state’s vibrant metropolitan regions, areas such as Sheboygan, Door County and the Driftless Area have become popular food and beverage destinations. “We have to be geographically sensitive to our episodes, then break that down,” Ircink explains. Zahm adds that they often go into a story with one idea, and it comes out with a completely different angle. “One thing we hold dearly is that we let stories unfold organically. To script a show like this, you can only do so much, and the story starts presenting itself in layers.”
“Wisconsin Foodie’s” crew has a good rapport, and nobody takes themselves too seriously, which allows them to still have fun, even after a 10-hour day of filming. After 12 seasons, two Emmy Awards and seeing some of his camerapersons move on to other networks and shows, Ircink remains committed to the overall idea for “Wisconsin Foodie,” an idea he originally sketched out on a paper napkin while vacationing in Montréal, Québec. “There are so many traditions, and it’s so important to keep those traditions alive. If we can do that through “Wisconsin Foodie,” that is our biggest goal,” Ircink concludes.
For more information, visit wisconsinfoodie.com.
