Davenport native getting a show on the Food Network

Font Size:

By Kay Luna | Wednesday, April 9, 2008 11:03 PM CDT | () comments

Mary Nolan, 26, a Davenport native and 2000 graduate of Assumption High School, will soon star in her own cooking show series on the Food Network. (Contributed photo)

Cooking has always been a big part of Mary Nolan’s life — and now it’s getting even bigger.

The 26-year-old Davenport native, a 2000 graduate of Assumption High School, will soon star in her own cooking show series on the Food Network. The program begins running May 18.

Food Network officials said she is one of the youngest people to host a show on their channel.

“I’m very excited. I’m excited to represent the Midwest,” Nolan said.

She landed the series, called “Chic & Easy,” after submitting an audition tape for a reality cooking show advertised on the network. Officials there liked her tape so much that she got to skip the reality show and was chosen instead for her own series “a little bit more immediately,” Nolan added.

The series “shows off her sophisticated, yet simple, meals and unique entertaining solutions,” according to a news release from the network.

“Whether highlighting her practical approach to using local produce, showcasing a single splurge ingredient or impressing guests with a unique flea market find, she always offers crowd-pleasing and affordable solutions to make memorable entertaining ‘Chic & Easy,’ ” the release continues.

Nolan puts it this way: “It can be simple and easy, and it can still be very sophisticated. It doesn’t take too much to really have an impressive outcome.”

Michelle Betrock, a publicist for the Food Network, said the series is geared to a younger demographic interested in cooking and entertaining at home, and it “speaks to a whole new audience in a way.”

“It speaks to moms, also, and ladies that really want to throw that posh brunch or picnic,” she added.

Nolan left the Quad-Cities in 2000 to study journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but she ended up enrolling in nutrition and food science classes. She then began catering bridal showers and parties.

She spent a semester in Italy, providing another source of inspiration for her cooking.

When she graduated from college, Nolan moved to New York City to become an assistant at Gourmet, a premier culinary magazine, where she eventually became an advertising copywriter.

She is now attending the Institute of Culinary Education in addition to starring in the Food Network series.

Growing up in Davenport, Nolan credits her mother, Patricia Nolan (her father’s name is Robert), with fostering her cooking interest through hands-on experience in her own kitchen, as well as culinary-focused vacations and excursions.

Tom Sunderbruch, who was the principal at Assumption High School when Nolan graduated, said he remembers her as an “excellent student and an outstanding person,” adding that he is very proud to learn of her New York City success.

Nolan also spent a lot of time on her grandparents’ farm in Grand Mound, Iowa, where she learned an appreciation for homegrown food — and knowing where our food originates.

“My roots are very important to me,” she added. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without my great base of growing up in the Quad-Cities.”

Kay Luna can be contacted at (563) 383-2323 or kluna@qctimes.com.