James Beard, who changed how Americans eat, is spotlighted on May 5 with an entertaining live webinar by Food Network star Ted Allen, and author John Birdsall.
In the Kitchen Closet takes place May 5 at 10 a.m. Arizona time (10 a.m. PDT, 11 a.m. MDT, 12 p.m. CDT and 1 p.m. EDT).
Registrations at http://soazseniorpride.org.
Presented by Southern Arizona Senior Pride, which provides programs and services to Tucson area LGBTQ older adults, In the Kitchen Closet is free although donations are encouraged.
Allen and Birdsall will discuss Birdsall’s recent biography of Beard, The Man Who Ate Too Much, which sheds light on Beard’s hidden gay life as well as his culinary evolution.
In the Kitchen Closet celebrates Beard as the first TV chef, cookbook author and prominent culinary cooking teacher whose name now graces the top awards for food writing and cooking.
Birdsall’s book shows how Beard’s gay identity was integral to his fusion of regional fresh food sources with influences from world cultures as well as the western United States. Now living in Tucson, Birdsall has been a chef and culinary writer whose article America, Your Food is So Gay, won a James Beard award.
Emmy award winner Ted Allen hosts three shows on Food Network: the long-running hit series “Chopped,” which received two James Beard Awards; the guide to classic foods across America, “Best. Ever.”; and a competition for amateurs, “All-Star Academy.” His cookbook, “In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks,” (Clarkson-Potter), came out in May 2012. Since 1997, he has been a contributing writer for Esquire.