After nearly a year of surveying, scouting and filming at locations across Vietnam, the reality TV show "Robert Danhi-Taste of Vietnam/ Discovering Vietnam with Robert Danhi" has officially completed filming.
The film crew had 4 filming sessions in more than 10 provinces and cities from Ca Mau Cape to Ha Giang, across 3 regions of the country and beautiful islands. In particular, Cat Ba - Phu Quoc - Ly Son - Con Dao are wonderful stops.
The production crew of Discovering Vietnam with Robert Danhi at the press conference before airing
At the press conference before the broadcast, the most important person of the program - photographer, chef Robert Danhi could not hide his emotions. Not yet a famous name like the first season with super chef Martin Yan, however, Robert made a strong impression with his friendly and enthusiastic style in every step he has taken.
Sharing at the meeting, the chef from the US said: “When I first arrived I was stunned, I was amazed, I was fascinated with Vietnamese culture. Vietnam is so different from other countries I have visited and your food culture is so vibrant, full of life.life and simplicity. I felt so welcomed - from the warm and friendly smiles of the Vietnamese people.".
That is also the reason why, since his first trip 15 years ago, he has returned to Vietnam 12 times and this time became the host of the most elaborate culinary reality TV show.
Robert Danhi at Ong Dung beach, Con Dao
Robert also confided that during his journey, he was lucky to experience every land and every road with authentic Vietnamese dishes.I love Vietnam, I am proud to host the show, honored to be a member of the show and I love every person, every place I have been to.... I am very happy to introduce and Discover Vietnam.with the world".
When asked about the dishes he cooked, tasted and the places he visited, Robert said he had 90 recipes but the number of dishes he tasted was even more, up to hundreds. He also especially loved the stops in Bac Ninh, Thanh Hoa and Con Dao and promised to definitely return one day soon.
At the meeting, one of the most concerned issues was the investment and production costs for the program. Mr. Do Van Buu Dien - representative of the copyright holder and production organization said that the plan for "Discovering Vietnam with Robert Danhi" was conceived 2 years ago.
Immediately after finishing part 1 of this series, the whole crew planned for part 2 with a huge investment budget. Mr. Buu Dien also revealed that the production cost of each episode is estimated at more than 1 billion VND, and the total program is expected to cost about 1.5 million USD (equivalent to 30 billion VND).
And excitedly cook right in the middle of the mangrove forest at Ca Mau National Park
One of the issues that the production team carefully calculated was that the production always put quality first. Every day, the crew started filming at around 4am and sometimes lasted until 11pm for a long time.
Mr. Dien also revealed: "In Part 1, we didn't have much experience in negotiating so the amount of money spent was quite large, about 1.5 million dollars. In Part 2, we proactively cut down on human resources but invested more in scenes spread across Vietnam.".
Two good news revealed by the producers at the meeting is that a book of recipes for the two seasons of the show will be released in the near future. In addition, the first season of Discover Vietnam has been purchased by the US TBS station to broadcast on about 300 television stations in North America. Countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are also in the process of negotiating to buy the copyright of the program.
At the recent film fair in the US, many foreign distributors were particularly interested in the second part of this interesting reality TV series. Many foreign partners even assessed that the quality of the program could be comparable to shows like Discovery or National Geographic…
"Discovering Vietnam Robert Danhi" will officially air at 9:00 p.m. every Friday on HTV7 channel starting July 18, 2014.
Some features of American super chef Robert Danhi
Robert Danhi is internationally renowned for writing, photographing, and publishing his book Southeast Asian Flavors, a journey through the cuisines of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore. The book won the 2009 Best Asian Food Book Award in the United States and was runner-up for the Best Asian Food Book Worldwide. In March 2012, he published his latest book, Easy Thai Cooking - 75 Family-Style Dishes You Can Prepare at Home.
Born and raised in the US, he has a special love for Southeast Asian countries. He married a Malaysian woman and has since developed a special passion for both photography and cuisine in this region. Interestingly, Robert Danhi was nicknamed “Hai Lua My” when he participated in Discover Vietnam.
