NYT reviews new Alton Brown show

by Nick Vagnoni, Posted Jul 28th 2006 @ 2:32PM

Today's New York Times features a review of Alton Brown's new road food series Feasting on Asphalt, which premiers tomorrow on the Food Network. NYT television critic Virginia Heffernan has apparently grown tired of food shows that exalt gritty American fare and she sees Brown's new series as the latest example. The piece is actually one of the more negative reviews of Brown that I can recall reading. By the end, Heffernan indirectly critiques AB for trying to "capitalize on the down-home food craze and create a franchise." I've yet to see the show, so I can't offer my own opinion of its content, but I don't think Heffernan's criticism is totally unfounded. Still, it could probably be applied to any number of contemporary cookbook authors or food celebrities. Yes, there are plenty of road food shows, likely inspired by writers like the Sterns or Calvin Trillin, and those shows are there because viewers have shown a growing interest in regional food. Is there something wrong with that?

Filed Under: Television/Film, Newspapers
Tags: alton brown, AltonBrown, feasting on asphalt, food network, new, new york times, review, road food, show

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

7-28-2006 @4:19PM emel said... Yesterday, I listened to Alton on the Bob Edwards show while he pedanticly described the diner that was suggested to him by a student from Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) in Savannah Georgia.

It made me not want to watch the show. He said of the diner "as with all things at an art school 'form does not follow function.'" Apparently this was some dig on art schools or art students? I do not know which, especially since in this case, SCAD is also a DESIGN school which advocates form following function. It was a uneducated and bias attack.

Fine, he thought the diner was similar to "microwaved food served in airports." But come-on, he should leave the commentary to what he knows about, FOOD not off-the-cuff commentary on the state of art (or design) schools.
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7-28-2006 @8:03PM jmchez said... AB criticized a modern art school? That's great! Now I want to watch his show even more!

Anyway, leave it to a NY Times critic to dislike food shows on American downhome cooking. She must so acustomed to all the ultra fancy restaurant in the city that anything else is beneath her contempt.
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7-28-2006 @8:15PM gromit said... So a guy who's had a food tv show that features down-home cooking on the air since 1999 is trying to capitalize on a craze? I would say he's probably been a driving force behind the emphasis on good, old-fashioned home cooking, and he deserves that recognition.

And keep in mind, Alton worked for 10+ years as a cinematographer and television director before going back to school to get a culinary degree. I think he probably knows better than most of us what life inside an art/design school is like. Maybe give him the benefit of the doubt here that his comments come from his own life experience and that he does know what he's talking about...

g
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7-29-2006 @11:36AM Anonymous Coward said... At least Alton knows the difference between a "diner" and a "dinner". I know it's a minor typo, and should be forgiven for someone who clearly went to an art school, but it seems like you could get it right since you are commenting on a food blog...?

Sorry Emeril. Oops, I mean Emel, just kidding, but you need to be a little less sensitive about little digs....
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7-29-2006 @9:04PM tr said... yeah, emel, take it easy. so he said that...big deal. i'm an industrial designer; and the art department shared the same building as the design department at university. i know exactly what he means, and i thought it was pretty funny. off the cuff commentary? he was making a joke. and i like his sense of humor, as well as the information he presents in his shows, especially the science behind food.

whoa...his new show is on right now, time to go!

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7-30-2006 @12:54AM jacqueline said... I've just posted on the Road Food phenomenon. Is it because we can't afford to drive, so the Food Network thinks we'll get a vicarious thrill? My favorite part of the show is when a local biscuit maker doesn't know about him or his show. Great fun!

http://leatherdistrictgourmet.blogspot.com

Jacqueline
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7-30-2006 @1:22AM jacqueline said... I think the criticism is a little unfair. Why not start with Rachel Ray's $40/day? I watched the new AB show tonight and the segment about the all-American Diner was great. It prompted my husband and I to remember our favorite diner experiences of long ago. I also ponder the profusion of road shows during a period of record high gas prices. I welcome opinions on my observations and others' favorite diner memories or road trip food memories...see http://leatherdistrictgourmet.blogspot.com

Cheers,
Jacqueline Church
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