Chef Todd Fisher takes a bite out of his bucket list in TLC's United States of Food

Everyone has a bucket list of things to accomplish in their lifetime – hike the Appalachian Trail, visit Graceland, go on a New Orleans ghost tour, get pulled onto stage at a Vegas magic show – but Chef Todd Fisher hungers for experiences with a bit more meat to them. 

 

As a life-long restaurateur, Chef Todd's passion for palate pleasers has him questing for the best steaks, burgers and bacon at not just eateries, but meat temples, across America in TLC’s new stomach-growl-inducing, sensory-overloading original series United States of Food, premiering every Monday at 10:00 p.m. starting April 22  with "United States of Steak." Subsequent episodes include "United States of Burgers" on April 29 and "United States of Bacon" on May 6. Encores every Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Wednesday at 7:00 a.m.

 

Having worked in the food industry almost all of his adult life, Chef Todd Fisher is the perfect man for the job – uncovering America’s love affair with food, particularly the hearty hallmarks of steak, burgers and bacon! Armed with an appetite and a tremendous zeal for all things meat, Chef Todd will inspire taste buds through television screens showcasing mouthwatering, juicy treats one could ever dream off from sexy steaks to the quintessentially American hamburger to squealing-ly awesome bacon.

 

Throughout the series, United States of Food visits venues with the best and most innovative menu items in America. Making Chef Todd's "bucket list" are pop culture mainstays like Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern, whose cheeseburgers were made famous by U.S. popular late night comedy show Saturday Night Live, as well as trail-blazing small businesses like the Bacon Bacon Truck in San Francisco and their traffic-stopping grilled cheese, which oozes bacon jam in addition to containing a few strips of the real stuff. 

 

A visit to NYC's famous Crif Dogs proves serendipitous as record-holding hot dog competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi is spotted among the crowd of diners tasting his first bacon-wrapped hot dog. United States of Food also rounds out its journey at venues as interesting as the dishes they concoct, such as The Grill House in Allegan, Michigan, a grill-your-own steak joint that is also rumored to be haunted.

 

So loosen those belt buckles and prepare to go into a state of meat nirvana with the following episodes of United States of Food:

 

United States of Steak

Premieres April 22

 

Todd Fisher is on a mission to check the best steaks in America off of his bucket list. Kicking off in the Lone Star State, known for their cattle and cowboys, he tastes the perfect Texas T-Bone and samples a down-home classic: the chicken fried steak. In Michigan, Chef Todd cooks up his favorite cut of beef at a haunted grill-your-own steak joint then makes his way to Boston for the classic Yankee fare and a monstrous prime rib. Stopping in Brooklyn, Chef Todd finds out why Peter Luger's Porterhouse has been rated number one in New York for 28 years running before finishing his journey in Mississippi at the unlikeliest steak mecca you'd ever imagine.

 

United States of Burgers

Premieres April 29

 

The hamburger is America's signature sandwich, but Chef Todd Fisher only has the best of the best on his burger bucket list. His food journey begins in Connecticut at Louis Lunch, the home of the hamburger's creation and then onto Boston where Bartley´s Gourmet Burgers constantly adds a twist to the staple sandwich. Next, Chef Todd finds hamburger perfection in a New York City steakhouse and then hits Chicago for cheeseburgers, made famous by a Saturday Night Live skit but inspired by the grill masters at Billy Goat Tavern. The bucket list then brings Chef Todd to Memphis for a mouthwatering deep-fried burger from Dyer's On Beale, and finishes in Atlanta at Holeman and Finch, where the coveted "Burger Time" ritual offers 24 carefully assembled burgers each night.

 

United States of Bacon

Premieres May 6

 

Bacon is undeniably, irrefutably one of America's most favorite foods. But long gone are the days when all that greasy goodness was restricted to a measly side order at breakfast. Today, America is taking bacon to a wild, new extreme that has it popping up in meals and on menus you'd never expect and in ways your taste buds have only dreamed. Chef Todd Fisher samples bacon burgers at Slaters 50/50 in Huntington Beach, Cal., learns how NYC's Crif Dogs crafts their bacon-wrapped hot dogs, nibbles a bacon and chocolate ice cream sandwich at Big Gay Ice Cream, and halts traffic to taste test the Bacon Bacon Truck's bacon jam-filled grilled cheese in San Francisco. These aren't just restaurants or eateries. They're bacon temples. One man. One country. One strip of bacon at a time. Press release and photos from TLC