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A recent tour of the Food Network
studios found nearly a dozen Institute of Culinary Education
grads in on the action---from writing to production, from "Emeril
Live!" to "Calling All Cooks," from vice presidents to interns.
The network, founded in 1993, reaches 73 million cable viewers
across the country and recently expanded to such international
markets as France, Australia and the Philippines. Two to five
shows are taped daily at the Manhattan studios, a job that employs
75 people in the culinary, production and operations departments.
We spoke to a number of our alumni to find out what they do
at the Food Network, and how they got there.
The network is a diverse group of enterprises, comprising not
only the TV shows but also a popular website, special events,
advertising production, and a publishing arm. Susan Stockton,
Vice President of Culinary Operations (Culinary '93), likens
the operating structure of the kitchens she oversees to that
of a restaurant: "We have many of the same responsibilities,
many of the same positions: We have a food and beverage manager,
an executive chef. And the pressures are similar to restaurant
pressures." Stockton's responsibilities extend beyond the kitchens
to include reviewing scripts, overseeing operations, and commenting
on recipes and other content produced for the web and publishing
ventures. "I'm a bit of a Ping-Pong ball," she admits.
A former food stylist, Stockton began as a prep cook for the
fledgling network. To staff the busy, sprawling kitchens that
cover much of the ground floor of the complex, Stockton says
the network looks for "well-rounded cooks," emphasizing the
diversity of on-air chefs and projects they will face daily.
Cooking for the shows can involve preparing a single recipe
as many as four times for "swaps"---dishes at different stages
of preparation that illustrate a recipe's evolution.
Supplying ingredients to the buzzing operations falls to Assistant
Food and Beverage Manager Mark Penny (Culinary '93). "I do all
the in-the-field shopping for the productions," explains Penny,
"Chinatown, Little Italy, Dean & DeLuca.. I take up to 10 cabs
a day." The demands are very specific, and the aesthetic of
everything---even a can of tomatoes---is important. Penny calls
on his culinary education and eight years of catering experience
to track down anything from rhododendron honey to a pumpkin
in June to whole chocolate pods.
Patricia LaMorte (Pastry & Baking '98), Culinary Associate Producer
for "Emeril Live!" and "Essence of Emeril," also credits prior
experience to her success at a job that requires both long-range
research and split-second judgments. For over 100 shows this
year, LaMorte will be responsible for almost everything that
appears on Emeril's sets: utensils, china, special props, even
Lagasse's wardrobe. LaMorte studied pastry and baking at the
Institute with Andrea Tutunjian and Richard Simpson and credits
them, together with long-time mentor Carol Frazzetta, with giving
her the deep understanding of cooking and teaching she brings
to the network. After graduation, LaMorte worked as an assistant
to famous chefs who visited the school for demonstrations and
events. "I learned to anticipate their every need. It was fast
and physical, but never boring," and she draws from that experience
daily as she navigates through scripts and recipes, on and off
the set. "A show is like a play," says LaMorte, "and you have
to see it, in all its integral parts, coming together that way."
Marisol von Appen (Culinary '99) works a similar job as Culinary
Associate Producer on Sara Moulton's new show, "Sara's Secrets."
Von Appen was a manager for a shipping company in her native
Germany before coming to New York to attend the Institute. Her
externship in the network's kitchens landed her the job of production
assistant, and she was promoted to associate producer this year.
"It's fun, fast-paced; we do four shows a week, so it's constant.
Plus, we have to keep coming up with new ideas, working ahead.
You need great organizational skills for this job, and quick
decision making." In addition to working with Moulton to choose
recipes and execute the script, von Appen oversees the food
coming onto the set and wears a headset to communicate with
the director.
Patty Burns (Culinary '00) also works on Moulton's show. She
describes her primary responsibility as researching show topics
and making sure that Moulton has all the background and notes
she needs for each day's taping---a huge responsibility when
up to 185 shows a year are scheduled. After graduation from
ICE®, Burns externed in a test kitchen, learning the basics of
recipe writing and editing. Those skills gave her a foot in
the door as a freelancer at the network, and she was hired as
a production assistant last year. In addition to a strong culinary
background for being able to see both the big picture and the
minor details, Burns, like von Appen, stresses the importance
of organizational skills: "You need to be a self-starter here,
it's crucial."
An underpinning of the organization required at the network
can be found in the onsite library, where John Jenkins (Culinary
'91) holds court as Culinary Research Specialist. In a setting
that seems far removed from the fast-paced kitchens and fierce
concentration on the sets, Jenkins pores over dozens of newspapers
and magazines. Extracting from these, and distributing a synopsis
of them to network employees, is only one of the ways he keeps
the organization up-to-date on all things culinary. Research,
on everything from seasonal weather patterns in Bali to the
provenance of a specific ingredient, is his specialty, and the
material coming from his desk supports the studio operations.
Katherine Alford, the Institute's former Director of Education
and a 10-year veteran of the Quilted Giraffe, is the Food Network's
Senior Writer. Like all network employees we spoke to, Alford
remarked on the variety of responsibilities that keeps her job
fresh. Among other things, she oversees 20,000 recipes that
viewers can access on the network's website. She works on a
daily basis directing two recipe testers and developers, coordinates
special projects, and writes the weekly Scripps wire service
column "From Food Network Kitchens." "I see this as a natural
evolution of my career," says Alford. "It's a job that utilizes
so many of my skills: translating techniques, tasting and evaluating
recipes, and of course writing." In 2001, Alford published her
first book, Caviar, Truffles, and Foie Gras: Recipes for Divine
Indulgence.
Seen in front of the network's cameras is Institute alumnus
Ceci Carmichael (Culinary '97), co-host of "Calling All Cooks."
Carmichael says that her background in theater and commercials,
combined with a culinary education and catering experience,
made her comfortable in a hands-on, on-air setting and landed
her the job. After taping a hundred shows, Carmichael is enjoying
time off with her new baby. About her work at the Food Network,
Carmichael echoes what we heard from any number of our alumni:
"It's been such a joyful experience. being in the kitchen, meeting
new people. It's always different."
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