As the doors of the town hall opened, Alton Brown, a food television personality and food scientist, stood in front of me. With butterflies in my stomach, I was fangirling over the man I have watched concoct recipes and explain the nuances of ingredients on television for years.
Brown’s presence was made known by his recognizable glasses and his corny jokes as he approached scholar students prior to his on-stage presentation. When meeting celebrities you often wonder if their true self matches their celebrity persona. In the case of Alton Brown, he is exactly as you would expect.
Brown started his career as a cameraman when he was still in college, then followed with eight years of directing television commercials before heading to culinary school in the early 1990s with a goal to produce food shows.
Fast forward to today, Brown has been working with Food Network for 20 years and has spent most of his time as the writer, host, and showrunner of the food science show “Good Eats.”
Brown, who has been in the culinary industry for 25 years, shares his top three rules for better living with the audience:
- Beware Stuff! Culinary items cost a lot of money, so make sure you can multitask with the things you buy; “The more you know the less you need.” You don’t always need fancy tools.
- Savor Everything! Brown talks about savoring food in different ways other than eating slower. His idea of savoring food includes all 5 senses.
- Read the recipe! Cooking is an experience, his algorithm is read+ cook+ reflect = experience
Senior Sanjay Stephen talks about an interesting tidbit he learned at Town Hall.
“What I thought was unique was that Alton Brown finds most of the food he eats in his cooking shows inedible.”
Brown shares how to stay passionate about cooking after decades in the business.
“Cooking is kind of its own reward, even if I don’t eat the food most times I do,” Brown said. “It helps me stay connected with myself and contact with the world.”
Brown has written eight books on food and cooking, including “Good Eats: The Final Years,” while also doing live tours around the country featuring his culinary expertise. He has also released a CD with his musical trio in 2016 and has been on the Billboard charts twice. In his free time, he enjoys scuba diving, flying planes, and riding motorcycles. He lives in Marietta, Georgia with his wife Elizebeth, and dog Franny.
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