Those oh-so judgemental New York media know-it-alls are at it again.  They have once again decided to fan the fire of class warfare by picking on Southern food and those who cook it.  The last time I saw a group of people so convinced of their superiority they were goose stepping through Berlin.

This is the latest installment in a continuing series that documents my personal quest to become the host of my own cooking show. Since this is a relatively new “career,” there are no vocational programs or community college courses to prepare me for it. From what I have seen, the two most important elements in securing such a position are passion for food and plain old dumb luck. Born with a passion for food, I set out to make my own luck.

New Chef in Town

Roughly a month after I am hired as the executive chef at Mars Hill the church that owns the cafe brings in a new general manager to oversee the operations. That’s a load off my shoulders. The FOH manager is a great guy who works hard but doesn’t have management in his blood. He’s not comfortable being the bad guy. The new GM is perfectly happy being the bad guy if needed. With a new management team in place we were ready to resurrect this noble enterprise.

Stuart Reb Donald has built a reputation for doing some of the most poignant interviews of America’s favorite chefs and food writers. Whenever a network is rolling out a new cooking show they make sure to call Stuart to interview the stars.

In addition to interviews published by several different publications this anthology also includes interviews from Stuart’s blog Wannabe TV Chef including the popular series 7 Questions, WTVC Exclusive and Inside Look. Just a few of the chefs profiled include Bobby Flay, Ted Allen (twice), Michael Symon, Tory McPhail, Graham Kerr, Alton Brown, Amanda Cohen and Alex Guarnaschelli.

The author is also offering the Kindle Single for a special introductory price of just $2.99.

With Food Network Star set to begin its seventh season in just a few hours I am home recovering from my trek over to New Orleans to take in the Guy Fieri Road Show.  It was an epic adventure to say the least.  Hold your hats because here we go:

First a little geography.  I live in Mobile, AL which is give or take 185 miles due east of New Orleans on Interstate 10, roughly a two hour drive.  The first hour and forty-five minutes was a torrent of seriously technical food conversation between myself and my comrade (i.e. road dawg) Garrick a chef/instructor at a local culinary school.

So recently I was contacted about doing a review of the new independent film, Bitter Feast directed by Joe Maggio.  So naturally I was curious.  Why on earth would someone want a chef and food writer to review a movie?  Scanning down the e-mail I saw why I was being offered this opportunity - the film featured the big screen debut of Iron Chef Mario Batali.  Additionally the story centers around the friction between a chef and a food blogger

Now movie critic is not something I've ever done before, not officially anyway.  My friends can tell you that I am not a fun person to see a movie with because I am so critical of them.  I have seen great works of cinematic art like Amadeus, Schindler's List and Apollo 13 and I am always left wondering if such original drama is possible why on earth does Hollywood churn out so much predictable rubbish like Speed.  I am literally offended by movies that are not stellar.  In short formulaic movies piss me off.

“THIRD COAST CUISINE” HIGHLIGHTS CULINARY HERITAGE OF THE GULF OF MEXICO.

Celebrity Chef Stuart Reb Donald Pledges A Portion Of The Proceeds Of His Latest Cookbook To Aid Clean-up of the Gulf Oil Spill.

Mobile, AL – Award winning food writer and chef Stuart Reb Donald has once again opened his culinary bag of tricks for his latest cookbook Third Coast Cuisine: Recipes from the Gulf of Mexico.

Donald, long established as one of the most passionate food writers in the blogosphere, offers a over 150 recipes, 11 essays and 70 color photos of the diverse foods to be found along the Gulf of Mexico.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 04/01/10

POPULAR FOOD NETWORK TO BE CANCELED AT MONTH’S END

This is the latest installment in a continuing series that documents my personal quest to become the host of my own cooking show. Since this is a relatively new “career,” there are no vocational programs or community college courses to prepare me for it. From what I have seen, the two most important elements in securing such a position are passion for food and plain old dumb luck. Born with a passion for food, I set out to make my own luck.

It’s Always Darkest Right Before It Goes Pitch Black

Wow! Life is great. I am actually making money writing about food and travel. Notoriety? Yep, I’ve got some of that, too. I’ve just published an interview with Food Network star Bobby Flay and my series on tailgating (Saturdays in the South) has created a bit of a buzz here in college football obsessed Alabama.

This is the latest installment in a continuing series that documents my personal quest to become the host of my own cooking show. Since this is a relatively new “career,” there are no vocational programs or community college courses to prepare me for it. From what I have seen, the two most important elements in securing such a position are passion for food and plain old dumb luck. Born with a passion for food, I set out to make my own luck.

Big Timin’ It

Since I began actually writing about food for a living, my life has been going well. Not only am I making seven and a half times as much per article with Current than I made for that first one published by Lagniappe, but the food editor for the latter has begun to mimic my style. My work, it seems, has created a buzz as the cuisine articles are what’s driving the success of both ‘Zalea and Current.

Originally published on Well Fed on August 12, 2009.

This is the latest installment in a continuing series that documents my personal quest to become the host of my own cooking show. Since this is a relatively new “career,” there are no vocational programs or community college courses to prepare me for it. From what I have seen, the two most important elements in securing such a position are passion for food and plain old dumb luck. Born with a passion for food, I set out to make my own luck.

I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night

So now I’m Stuart the food “journalist,” the food “critic.” And life is good, my friends. My editors love the style I have evolved of doing a paragraph or two about five or six restaurants in a given genre rather than the more familiar method of one article dedicated to a single establishment. Sure, part of the reason this has developed into my “style” is so that I get to eat at five or ten restaurants on any given assignment but also because I have a lot to say.