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Peninsula 8-Year-Old Becomes TV Cooking Show Host

REDWOOD SHORES (CBS 5) - Santino Gigliotti of Redwood Shores is now the youngest child chef on the PBS show Hey Kids Let's Cook.

The half-hour show features a cast of young cooks teaching other children and teens how to make nutritious meals. Gigliotti is the newest member of a cast, which has been evolving since the show began in 2006.

Gigliotti learned his way around the kitchen at the age of 5.

"I am always hungry, so I asked my mom for food," he recalled. "She said 'I have to teach you how to cook.'"

He started with some simple breakfast items, but his list of signature dishes now includes, breakfast burritos and mac & cheese.

The 8-year-old has always craved the spotlight, so his parents took him to an audition for Let's Cook. After winging the tryout, he was picked out of a group of 200 kids.

"Is kind of hard for people to imagine an 8-year-old doing that," says mom Annette Gigliotti. "I have to confirm 'yeah he's the real deal.'"

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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