Husband-and-Wife Team Behind "Foods & Dudes" Is on a Mission to Get More Men in the Kitchen

Creator and Executive Producer Tricia Messeroux-Curwen and her husband, host Shawn "Mr. Fantastic" Curwen, are using food, culture and conversation to reimagine what happens when men step into the kitchen.

NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As they approach 25 years of marriage, Tricia Messeroux-Curwen and Shawn Curwen have learned a thing or two about partnership. Now, the husband-and-wife team is taking that partnership into an unexpected place: the kitchen.

Together, they are behind Foods & Dudes, a growing cooking and lifestyle platform built around a simple idea: get more men in the kitchen—and get them talking while they're there.

Executive produced by award-winning director Messeroux-Curwen and hosted by her husband, Foods & Dudes brings together men who know their way around the kitchen with men who may not, using cooking as the entry point for conversations about relationships, fatherhood, health, careers, money, sports, culture, purpose and legacy.

The premise was intentionally simple: men who cook teach men who don't.

At the center of it all was Shawn Curwen—better known to audiences as Mr. Fantastic—a husband, father of two and lifelong New Yorker who didn't set out to become the host of a cooking show.

"I'm not standing in the kitchen pretending to be a celebrity chef," said Shawn Curwen. "I'm a husband, I'm a dad, I'm a sports guy, I love to cook and I love good food. The chefs on the show make it all look so easy.  This is a space we're men are learning, laughing, sometimes messing things up, and having conversations that matter."

Foods & Dudes has now produced over 15 episodes expanding its culinary conversations beyond New York to include chefs, personalities and guests in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Virginia.

The series has also received media attention including appearances on The Kelly Clarkson Show, NBC New York and WPIX.

The Next Generation Is Already Entering the Kitchen. In an upcoming episode, a male college student steps into Mr. Fantastic's kitchen and flips the show's usual premise—showing the host how he prepares full Caribbean meals for fellow students on his college campus.

"That's when you realize this isn't just about getting a 40- or 50-year-old man to cook," Messeroux-Curwen said. "We're talking about changing the relationship that boys and young men have with the kitchen. Here's a college student who isn't surviving on instant noodles. He's making Caribbean meals and feeding other students. Now he's walking into Mr. Fantastic's kitchen saying, 'Let me show you how I do it.' That's Foods & Dudes." 

As the Curwens approach their 25th wedding anniversary, their roles within the company reflect their individual strengths. Their partnership has become part of the DNA of Foods & Dudes—even when only one of them is standing in front of the camera.

About Foods & Dudes
Foods & Dudes is a food, lifestyle and entertainment platform created and executive produced by Tricia Messeroux-Curwen and hosted by Shawn Curwen. Built around the idea of Cooking, Culture & Conversation, Foods & Dudes uses food to bring men together, encourage more men to cook and create space for authentic conversations about life, relationships, family, health, culture and legacy.

The brand includes the Foods & Dudes video series, Cooking with Bae — America's Favorite Virtual Date Night, and THE SEVEN, its annual experiential tasting event. Foods & Dudes has produced 22 episodes with content filmed in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Virginia. Foods & Dudes is produced by The TMezz Creative Group.

Media Inquiries / Interviews / Partnerships
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Tricia Messeroux-Curwen
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SOURCE Foods & Dudes