James Beard Award-winning chef Robert McGrath of North Scottsdale's Renegade Canteen has just been named the host of a new television show on Eight, Arizona's PBS channel.

Check, Please! will be a half-hour restaurant review program featuring three different regular Arizonans' takes on a different local restaurant.

"All we ask is that you are passionate about your favorite restaurant," says McGrath of the guest reviewers, who will not be professional food critics.

"My job as host is not to offer an opinion but to share culinary insights and explain cooking techniques or dishes based on my years of experience in the restaurant industry."

A TV franchise that started in Chicago in 2001 and has editions in other major cities, Check, Please! will feature Maricopa County restaurants in its first 13 episodes, and there are plans to extend it beyond the Valley in future seasons. Taping begins October 27 and the first episode will premiere on January 5, 2011.

Interested in applying to be a guest or nominating an eatery for review? Visit www.azpbs.org/checkplease