HUNTINGTON -- Some national attention will be on downtown Huntington on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in anticipation of ABC's "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" TV show now in production, and events are planned throughout the week for the show.

Between 7 and 9 a.m. Tuesday, a representative from "Good Morning America" will be reporting from outside Jamie's Kitchen, located in the 900 block of 3rd Avenue. Inside, 93.7 The DAWG will do a live remote radio broadcast as Jamie Oliver and crew work to finish off an on-air bet that Oliver made with morning radio personality Rod Willis.

Jamie's Kitchen offers free classes on how to prepare healthy meals. Oliver bet Willis that he could get 1,000 local residents to take those healthy cooking classes.

Already, more than 800 have and Oliver's team is trying to hit the 1,000 mark Tuesday. Local residents are invited to participate by heading to Jamie's Kitchen to take a class.

"We're expecting a pretty good turnout," said Stacy McChesney of Huntington, kitchen manager for Jamie's Kitchen. "The goal is to get enough people to beat the challenge."

Then on Saturday, Nov. 21, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" is hosting a food festival in the 900 block of 3rd Avenue, in front of Jamie's Kitchen. Admission is free to the festival, where local and state vendors will sell wholesome foods.

"It will be a mix of restaurants and local producers of food," McChesney said.

It will go on from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and will focus on fresh foods that meet Oliver's definition of healthy, she said.

"He wants people to eat fresh and local if possible, and he wants to reduce the amount of canned ingredients we use -- they've been processed," McChesney said. "He doesn't like artificial sweeteners -- he likes honey instead. And we use real butter and unprocessed cheeses."

Also this week, a private fundraiser is planned to help Oliver's crew meet financial goals needed for the show and its aim, which is to help Tri-Staters put Oliver's lessons into practice and learn better eating habits.

Oliver became known to American audiences through his Food Network cooking show, "The Naked Chef." His upcoming reality-based series will lean more toward "Jamie's School Dinners," a British television series about Oliver's efforts in his native England to remove unhealthy food from school cafeterias.

He chose to base the show in Huntington because of a recent Associated Press article that called the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area the unhealthiest in America.

Right now, Jamie's Kitchen is partially a production studio and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering three to five cooking classes a day.

After Dec. 1, the center will be rolled over to the ownership of Ebenezer Medical Outreach and hours will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., which will allow for evening classes, McChesney said.

The classes utilize recipes from Oliver's new cookbook, "Jamie's Food Revolution."

"These are easy-to-prepare, quick recipes that are tasty," McChesney said. "And the classes we teach in the kitchen are primarily for people who do not cook. We're trying to get people to eat at home and spend time with family. We encourage adults and children to come and learn to cook, or grandparents and their grandchildren -- or mothers and their mothers."

Everybody is invited, she said. One word of advice, however, is that the more advanced cooks are usually redirected to MCTC's Culinary Institute next door for classes. The classes at Jamie's Kitchen are pretty basic, she said, and most of the meals prepared average $2.50 to $3 per person. Omelets, stir fry and sauces are among the lessons.

"There are 10 classes altogether, and you don't need to take them in consecutive weeks," she said. "We keep track of your attendance and make sure you're rotated through the classes accordingly."

Local businesses are sending employees as part of their wellness programs, she said. Employees can take a class during their lunch hour and head right back to work, McChesney said.

For more information about Jamie's Kitchen, visit its Facebook page at Jamie's Kitchen West Virginia, send an e-mail to jamieskitchenwv@gmail.com or call the Kitchen at 304-522-0887.

Lori Wolfe/The Herald-Dispatch

Jamie Oliver is filmed while preparing a stir-fry recipe during a Cook-a-thon on Nov. 3 outside of Jamie's Kitchen on 3rd Avenue in Huntington. Between 7 and 9 a.m. Tuesday, a representative from "Good Morning America" will be reporting from outside the kitchen.

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