Richard M. Ameil, Founder and Chairman

Rick Ameil loves food. He loves to eat it. He loves the taste of it. The scent of it. The look of it. And he loves the excitement and the surprise of it. But most of all, Rick loves cooking it!

And now Rick is on a mission: to inspire people to get out of the fast food drive thru lanes...to avoid the world of pre-cooked and packaged foods...and to ignite their passion and enthusiasm for preparing home-cooked meals, served in their own dining rooms, surrounded by family and friends.

In "I Love Cooking," Rick makes cooking fun and enjoyable, giving viewer's practical tips and techniques about preparing restaurant-quality meals in minutes at home using uncomplicated, easy-to-follow recipes, bright flavors and fresh food. He'll show how one great dish---one prepared thoughtfully and with love---is the basis for a great meal.

An entrepreneur, restaurateur, cookbook author, and foodie, Rick owned and operated successful restaurants in San Francisco and Honolulu for many years. Because of his passion for cooking and food he returned to the industry in 2005 opening a restaurant in the heart of downtown Palm Springs, California. Rick is the author of a celebrity cookbook, Cooking with the Stars released by Barron's Publishing, New York, in October 1999.

Prior to his return to the restaurant business Rick worked in the nonprofit sector. His experience and expertise in fund raising, marketing and public relations allowed him the opportunity to work for many prominent charitable organizations including the March of Dimes, United Cerebral Palsy Associations, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross and the United States Olympic Committee.

An eighth generation Californian, Ameil was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California. He received an AA degree from Cabrillo College where he served as student body president. He went on to earn his Bachelors Degree in Political Science from Sacramento State College.

A descendant of los californianos, the original Spanish settlers who came to California, Ameil has had a longtime interest in California history and its historic missions. His great-great-great-great grandfather, Felipe Santiago Garcia, was a Spanish solider recruited by Captain Don Fernando Xavier de Rivera for the second expedition from Loreto, Baja California to Alta California. Garcia helped build many of the California missions.

Concerned for the future of California's missions, Ameil founded the California Missions Foundation in 1999, a non-sectarian, nonprofit organization of civic-minded citizens dedicated to the preservation, protection and maintenance of the California 21 missions.

Because of his love of the desert and eager to return to the restaurant business, Ameil relocated to the Palm Springs area in 2004. He opened GRILL-A-BURGER at 166 N. Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs in January 2005. A second location of the restaurant is scheduled to open in Palm Desert in late February 2007.

Ameil is in the process of launching the Academy of Culinary Arts and Sciences. A non-profit educational organization dedicated to fostering, promoting, encouraging and inspiring appreciation for the culinary arts and food sciences. Academy programs will include sponsoring culinary conferences and workshops, producing educational materials and funding scholarships for aspiring culinary professionals.

"I Love Cooking" in its first season produced 12 episodes and can be seen on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. on MY13/KPSE Palm Springs. "I Love Cooking's" second exciting season begins pre-production in February.