Talia in the Kitchen
Talia in the Kitchen is an American telenovela-formatted teen sitcom that premiered on Nickelodeon on July 6, 2015. It was an adaptation of the Nickelodeon Latin American telenovela, Toni, la Chef, and was created by Mariela Romero & Catharina Ledeboer, the same writers who made Every Witch Way & WITS Academy.
On March 4, 2015, Nickelodeon ordered 40 episodes for the series, all the episodes making up the first season. The season premiered on July 6, 2015, and continued on November 30, 2015. Before the next set of episodes, a sneak peek of the set aired on November 25, 2015. A majority of the episodes aired in July and December 2015. Very few episodes were shown in-between those months. On January 12, 2016, it was confirmed that the show was cancelled.
Plot
14-year-old Talia Parra has her passion for cooking take flight when she and her younger sister visit their grandmother in Miami for the summer and later move in with her. With help from her new friends and her late father's magical spices, Talia revives business in her family restaurant by cooking truly life-changing meals that are just what each customer needs.Cast and characters
- Talia Parra : An optimistic girl who loves everything and is fond of cooking, ready to help Lola's. She doesn't like the Fuccinellis due to their rivalry after them closing Lola's. Debbie Fuccinelli, Talia's greatest rival, works at Fuccinelli's. The two are constantly competing to see who is the better one of the two. Talia dislikes Debbie because of her self-absorbed personality, and also being somewhat jealous of her. Not only is Debbie more attractive, popular, and intelligent than Talia, but is also a more exceptional chef as well. Talia has made it her goal to try and surpass Debbie, and dislikes anyone affiliated with her. However, she did have a crush on Tyson, Debbie's twin brother. Her two best friends are Rudy & Valerie. Her little sister is Julia, a child prodigy who helps to get Lola's back into shape. Talia finds magic spices her father has been hiding from her after a long time, and she later discovers she is a SpiceMaster, someone special who can use these spices with the effects.
- Deborah "Debbie" Fuccinelli : Maria's main rival. Debbie Fuccinelli astonishingly pretty, popular, and smart and is an extremely talented and amazing chef with unrivaled skills in the kitchen and cooks at the Fuccinelli's Restaurant. She dreams of ruling the restaurant world with an iron fist, and will ruin the life of anyone who dares oppose her. Which is why she has chosen Lola's, the Fuccinelli's rival restaurant, as her target. Debbie is seen constantly competing with Talia Parra, a chef at Lola's and her greatest rival, to see who's the better one between the two. Debbie despises Talia because of her ignorance. She finds it irritating to meet someone who has the "nerve" to try compete against her. So, Debbie has taken it upon herself to teach Talia, and anyone who helps her, a lesson in what means to mess with Debbie Fuccinelli. Debbie acts like no one can beat her, but she is secretly tends has little confidence in her skills, believing that her best isn't good enough. This was shown during the second half of the series, when she inadvertently accepts a win against Talia in a cooking contest when her cousin and teacher, Frenchie, cheated. Debbie loses her self-confidence because her win wasn't fair. She eventually learns to not have so much doubt and regains her confidence in the kitchen. She also becomes more nicer and kind towards Lola's, no longer trying to sabotage them and even helping them. All Debbie basically wants to do is be best chef she can be. She obviously cares a lot about her family and their business, and is willing to do anything to protect the Fuccinelli name.
- Julie Parra : Julia is Talia's younger sister who's the incomer of Lola's. She is smart, creative, gifted, and talented. Even though she is younger, Julia is often the one to take the role as older sister, being more responsible and mature than Talia. She is a child prodigy with a knack for making complex and amazing inventions that never fail to hold other people in awe. She has a passion for fixing things such as the sign of Lola's and making the stove hotter. After they move to Miami to live with their grandma for the summer, Julie helps Talia jump-start the mission to save Lola's. Julia is quite arguably the most important person in Talia's life, often giving her words of advice and helping her out of jam. However, that doesn't mean that they don't have their bad moments. Julia uses her superior intellect to easily outwit and manipulate Talia to do whatever she wants. Julia can also often get her in trouble, and the two of them also argue a lot, not always seeing eye to eye. Julia can get infuriated by Talia's unseriousness, while Talia is annoyed by Julia's mischievousness. Even so, at the end of the day, the two still love each other. Like her sister, she's is also a very talented chef. Julia isn't just good with her hands when it comes to making machines, but also making delicious meals. Julia uses her bright and brilliant mind and her many other abilities to help put Lola's back on track. Especially if it means she can do it in her own unique and amazing way.
- Rudy Rosales : Talia's best friend. He is great at fixing things, such as putting Mexican music, which everybody hates, in Miami; he also can make Mexican into Punk Rock just for Talia. At first, Talia didn't like Rudy because he would be every other typical guy, but they developed feelings in "Sugar Rush", though Talia had a crush on Tyson. Rudy is great friends with Valerie too and doesn't like Fuccinelli's as much as Lola's.
- Valerie Landry : Talia's best friend. She is very kind and sweet but she is very scared to commit any crimes. She confesses a lot because she wants to tell the truth. She also doesn't like getting into trouble due to her parents grounding her, or for some other reason. Valerie tries to be in her good side and bad side, but it has to work. She is great friends with Talia & Rudy.
- Tyson Fuccinelli : Debbie's twin brother who couldn't be any more different from her. He's charming, polite and a little bit clueless, but he's got a good heart. He's a total heartthrob, awesome athlete and thanks to his killer smile, he is Talia's love interest.
- Federico "Frenchie" Fuccinelli : Debbie's cousin and the head chef of the Fuccinelli's Restaurant who doesn't want to make the business fall if Lola's was reopened by Talia. Frenchie is very strict, egotistical, and wants everything perfect. He is even a bigger enemy to them, because he is not a nice guy to be around, and he does bad actions, like taking down the posters for Lola's in "Don't Cry Over spilt Tres Leches". He is sworn enemies with Lola's and tries to close it again, but Talia's plans could keep it open for years. He is unable to realize his envy against Lola's, due to his belief is that he "looks good on everything".
- Dolores Parra : Talia and Julie's grandmother and a sweet lady who wants to share her taste in culinary arts. She taught Talia how to cook, and she was the owner of Lola's until it was closed down by the Fuccinellis. She encourages Talia to step in and be the best.
- Rocky Palroso : A 12-year-old boy whom Julie meets at the local community center. He has helped Talia, Julie, Rudy, and Valerie many times, always stating that he "knows a guy."
- Avery : Debbie's best friend who stays with Debbie and Frenchie at Fuccinelli's. She's usually seen with a deadpan expression and is always texting or taking pictures, including selfies. Her sarcasm and one liners are a stark contrast to Debbie.
- Jayden Grubb : A chef introduced in the episode "Storm and Grubb" who is a SpiceMaster just like Talia. He and his brother Michael work in a food truck called Brothers in Grubb. Jayden has a crush on Talia, but since they are both SpiceMasters, they have to compete against each other.
- Michael Grubb : Jayden's brother who works with Jayden in their food truck. He helps Jayden train to go against Talia.
- Will : A chef who used to work at Lola's before moving to Fuccinelli's after Lola's was closed. He later returned to Lola's, but was after the magic spices.
Episodes