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| Born | July 30, 1962 Los Angeles, California, United States |
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| Cooking style | American, Southern |
| Education | University of Georgia New England Culinary Institute |
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Television show(s)
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Alton Crawford Walter Brown (born July 30, 1962, in Los Angeles, California, United States) is an American chef, cinematographer, author, and actor. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show Good Eats and the miniseries Feasting on Asphalt and Feasting on Waves, and he is the main commentator on Iron Chef America. Brown is also the author of several cooking how-to books and a regular contributor to Bon Appétit and Men’s Journal magazines.[citation needed]
He brings a knowledge and enthusiasm for the science of cooking and food and a humorous approach to his shows. Bon Appétit magazine named him "Cooking Teacher of the Year" in 2004. He was named "Best Food Guru" by Atlanta magazine in 2005.[1] In 2008, he guest starred on Nickelodeon's TV series SpongeBob SquarePants in the show's sixth season episode, "House Fancy".
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Brown received a degree in drama from the University of Georgia. He began his career in cinematography and film production, and was the director of photography on the music video for R.E.M.'s "The One I Love." He also worked as a steadicam operator on the Spike Lee film School Daze.
Brown notes that he was dissatisfied with the quality of cooking shows airing on American television, so he set out to produce his own show. In preparation, he enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute, graduating in 1997.[2][3] Brown says that he was a poor science student in high school and college, but he focused on the subject to understand the underlying processes of cooking.
The pilot for Good Eats first aired on the Chicago, Illinois, PBS member station WTTW-TV in July 1998. Food Network picked up the show in July 1999 and continues to air new episodes.
Many of the Good Eats episodes feature Brown building makeshift cooking devices in order to point out that many of the devices sold at conventional "cooking" stores are simply fancified hardware store items.
Good Eats won the Best T.V. Food Journalism Award by the James Beard Foundation in 2000.[4] The show was also awarded a 2006 Peabody Award.[5]
In 2004, Brown appeared on Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters, the second attempt to adapt the Japanese cooking show Iron Chef to American television (a previous adaptation featured William Shatner and was produced for, and aired on, UPN; it was not well received). Brown served as the expert commentator, a modified version of the role played by Dr. Yukio Hattori in the original show. When the show became a series, Brown began serving as the play-by-play announcer, with Kevin Brauch as kitchen reporter. Brown also served as the primary host for both seasons of the spin-off The Next Iron Chef.
Brown's third series, Feasting on Asphalt, explores the history of eating on the move. Brown and his crew crossed the United States via motorcycle in a four-part miniseries about the history of road food. Brown samples food all along his travel route. He includes a "history of food" segment documenting famous road trips and interviews many of the foodies he meets en route.
The series premiered on Food Network on July 29, 2006. The mini-series was picked up for a second run, entitled Feasting on Asphalt 2: The River Run, in 2007. Six episodes were filmed during April and May 2007. The episodes trace the majority of the length of the Mississippi River through Brown's travels. The second run of episodes began airing on Food Network on August 4, 2007.
The 3rd season uses the title Feasting on Waves and has Brown traveling the Caribbean Sea by boat in search of local cuisine.
Brown lives in Marietta, Georgia, with his wife DeAnna, his daughter Zoey (born in 1999), two Cardigan corgis, and a green iguana named Spike, although he claims to have disposed of a nasty lizard in a Good Eats episode.[6] A few members of his extended family have appeared on Good Eats (such as his late grandmother, Ma Mae, his mother, and daughter, Zoey, who is known on the show as "Alton's Spawn"), but most of his "family" portrayed on the series is made up of actors and the show's production crew.[7][8][9][10] DeAnna Brown is the co-executive producer of Good Eats but only appears on the tenth anniversary episode along with Zoey. Brown also portrays his frequently arrested evil twin brother "B.A." On the DVD release of the episode "American Pickle", Brown notes that many viewers ask him what his brother does for a living, suggesting that they are unaware that B.A. is simply the result of clever editing.
Brown is a born-again Christian and a member of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia.[11]
He is a connoisseur of cheese and vinegar and is also a motorcycling enthusiast,[12].
Brown was a contributor to the 2005 cookbook Food Network Favorites: Recipes from Our All-Star Chefs. He selected the nonprofit world hunger organization Heifer International to receive a portion of the royalties.
Brown is also a budding aviator completing his first solo on June 25, 2007 towards his private pilot certificate. He earned his private pilot certificate on June 5, 2008, and was featured in the aviation magazine AOPA Flight Training.[13]
Brown has at least two tattoos, a honeybee on his left shoulder (shown on Iron Chef America), and a skull with a crossed knife and fork with the inscription "MMVII" (Roman numerals for the year 2007) that he got during the filming of Feasting on Asphalt.
Brown is an avid knife collector. In addition to his personalized line of Shun kitchen knives, in Good Eats and Feasting on Asphalt he can be seen using Spyderco and Kershaw products.
On November 11, 2007, Brown was the guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies as part of their guest programmer month. The films he selected were What's Up, Tiger Lily?, Closely Watched Trains, Point Blank, and Blowup.
Brown changed his eating habits in 2009 in order to lose weight and become healthier, losing 50 pounds over the course of nine months. He announced his weight loss and described the details of eating from the four basic lists without going on a typical diet on the January 4, 2010 episode of Good Eats entitled "Live and Let Diet."[14]
His first list he eats from daily include: fruits, whole grains, leafy greens, nuts, carrots, and green tea. His second list he eats from at least 3 times a week include: oily fish, yogurt, broccoli, sweet potato, and avocado. His third list he eats from no more than 1 time a week inclue: red meat, pasta, dessert, and alcohol. His fourth list includes foods he avoids which includes fast food, soda, processed meals (TV dinners), canned soups (salt), and "diet" anything because this was not a diet.
In 2010, Brown will return to his alma mater, The University of Georgia, to deliver the commencement address at the May 8th ceremony in Sanford Stadium.
Brown has done commercial work for General Electric products,[15] including five "informercials" touting the benefits of GE refrigerators, washers and dryers, water purifiers, Trivection ovens, and dishwashers.[16] The infomercials are produced in the Good Eats style, employing the use of unusual camera angles, informational text, props, visual aids, scientific explanations, and the same method of delivery. These informercials are distributed to wholesale distributors of appliances/plumbing devices.
Brown has also aided GE in developing a new type of oven. He was initially called by GE to help their engineers learn more about the effects of heat on food;[17] that grew into an active cooperation to develop GE's Trivection oven.[12]
Brown has also done promotion for Dannon yogurt, Welch's grape juice, and Shun knives.
Alton's Angles is a series of Shun Cutlery designed by Brown and bearing his image. Brown liked the shape of the Shun Vegetable Knife but had difficulty using it because his knuckles kept hitting the cutting board. Alton's Angles add a 10° angle to the handle of the knife, lifting the knuckles away from the cutting board and making the knife easier to grasp. Alton's Angles can sometimes be seen on Good Eats.
   | ''Good Eats'' show fan site - GOOD EATS FAN PAGE |
| | Macworld interview - Add Apples for Flavor | Root | Macworld |
| | Personality Profile - Chef Alton Brown of Good Eats |
| | Good Eats Cast Pictures - Good Eats Cast and Crew - Good Eats Cast and Crew - TV.com |
| | "Good Eats" (1999) - Full cast and crew - "Good Eats" (1999) - Full cast and crew |
| | FoodTV.com: ''Good Eats'' - Food Network - Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos : Food Network |
| | Johnson Ferry Baptist Church - Johnson Ferry Baptist Church | Marietta, Georgia |
| | Shun Cutlery - KAI USA : Kershaw Search Results |
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