C.H. Greenblatt (SpongeBob SquarePants, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) has cooked up his own visual feast with Chowder. The half-hour animated show is spicing up an otherwise bland "Fried Dynamite" block (previously called "Fridays") on the Cartoon Network. Chronicling the adventures of a hungry boy apprenticed to a master chef, the show has already captured two Annie Award nominations.

Chowder has the manic charm of an Alton Brown show, except with magic instead of science. Mung Daal, the centuries-old chef who runs his own catering company, trains young Chowder with an assortment of tricky culinary maneuvers, sincere advice, and aphorisms which may or may not make sense. Meanwhile the excitable Chowder is ravenous to the point where his mouth functions as a kind of 'hammerspace' which stores anything and everything.

That melange of flavors permeates every aspect of the production. Every episode features conventional 2-D animation, claymation, stop-motion animation, and even puppetry. The edible scene transitions wouldn't look out of place in a Peter Gabriel video. The backgrounds of Marzipan City are detailed, lush, and — dare I say it — eye-candy. Musically it's strangely understated, like an in-house oompah band in the wee hours of the night. So far the few musical numbers are endearingly off-key, plus they're not afraid of tossing in some gospel or country.

This is classic Cartoon Network. While the verbal humor isn't as sophisticated as Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, the gags are hilarious. In "Gazpacho Stands Up," Chowder and fruit-stand owner Gazpacho actually page through the audience's own meta-textbook on comedy, complete with an attempt to squeegee the CN logo off the screen. Expect universes on gum-balls, "Katamari Damacy" and "Lord of the Rings" references, and an occasional effeminate snow leopard.

A lot of the gags work solely because of the voice actors. (V.A. reveals ahead!) Eleven-year-old Nick Jones brings fresh enthusiasm to Chowder; Liliana Mumy as the would-be girlfriend Panini has just the right mix of sugar and spice. Playing the respective master chefs to these apprentices, Dwight Schultz (The A-Team and Star Trek:TNG) as Mung and Mindy Sterling (made famous by Austin Powers) as Endive do a stellar job defining their characters. Shnitzel literally steals scenes thanks to John DiMaggio a.k.a. Futurama's Bender. Not bad for a character that only says "Radda radda." The only miss is Mung's wife Truffles. Tara Strong's comic timing and her grating characterization are on the mark. It's the unintelligible delivery which seems awkwardly directed.

If you're accompanying younger viewers, Chowder passes the watch-ability test. The jokes meant to fly over their heads generally clear the bar. The inevitable gross-out humor isn't too distasteful. One might notice the frequent appearance of cleavage (or, rather, the bulbous shapes that go with them), but it's not gratuitous. Just the same, it's recommended to have a follow-up with kids. The show is firmly set in the 'girls eww' stage, and an old-fashioned battle of the sexes runs through almost every episode. Humor and consistency help keep the teachable moments within reach, unlike, say, a violent drama with no emotional consequences. Nonetheless, if you choke over lines like "make an honest woman out of her" — which they oh-so-innocently explain as marrying the girl — be prepared to eat your words.