Cooking Channel Premieres New Season of EXTRA VIRGIN Tonight

Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos return to Cooking Channel for more family, food, and Tuscany in the new season of Extra Virgin, premiering tonight, January 7th at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT. Over the course of 13 episodes, Gabriele and Debi continue to share new adventures with their family and friends in New York, as they create delicious Tuscan-inspired dishes. Of course no experience would be complete without a taste of the simple life as they visit their family in Tuscany.

"Debi and Gabriele became Cooking Channel's first breakout stars when EXTRA VIRGIN debuted and we are so excited to have them back for another season," said Michael Smith, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Cooking Channel. "Our viewers can look forward to even more amazing food, exciting adventures, celebrity guests, and magical family moments."

In the season premiere, Debi and Gabriele decide to give back to their neighborhood, who have welcomed them with open arms the last few years. Taking over one of the neighborhood's restaurants for the day, Gabriele and Debi cook up a variety of Tuscan recipes for friends. Since they are cooking for their neighbors, they will also shop in all of their favorite local shops for ingredients for the big feast. Join Debi and Gabriele throughout the season, with appearances by special guests, including designer Zac Posen and Aida Turturro (The Sopranos), as they experience all life has to offer. Whether it is constructing a pizza oven in Tuscany, or taking the family through the wilderness of a Tuscan safari to get a close look at some of the local wildlife, Debi and Gabriele like to enjoy it all with a little bit of family, friends and food along the way!

Debi Mazar is an acclaimed actress who made her feature film debut in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. A native New Yorker, she is best known for her outstanding portrayals of edgy, sharp-tongued characters on film, television and stage. Her extensive onscreen work includes films with legendary directors Woody Allen, Michael Mann, Oliver Stone and Joel Schumacher. She is also known for her role as hard-charging publicist 'Shauna' on the HBO series Entourage. Debi has always been interested in cooking and well-known among her friends for her fabulous dinner parties. Debi can next be seen in TV Land's new show Younger, premiering in 2015.

Born in Florence, Italy, Gabriele Corcos was raised in the Olive Country of Fiesole. His grandmother and mother taught him everything he knows about Tuscan food and traditional farmers' cuisine. Gabriele has an insatiable fascination with food, a love for organic ingredients, and foremost a determination to feed his wife and children in the healthiest and most natural way he knows...the Tuscan Way. Most recently Gabriele and Debi released their first cookbook, Extra Virgin: Recipes & Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen (Clarkson Potter).

COOKING CHANNEL (www.cookingchanneltv.com) is an entertainment brand dedicated to today's passionate food lover. For food people, by food people, Cooking Channel is the answer to a growing hunger for more content devoted to food and cooking in every dimension from global cuisines to international travel, history and unconventional how-to's. Cooking Channel is part of the media portfolio of Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also includes Food Network (www.foodnetwork.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), and GREAT AMERICAN COUNTRY (www.gactv.com).