CHANGING THE WORLD ONE BITE AT A TIME
Acclaimed chef, cookbook author and host Gerry Garvin (a.k.a. G. Garvin) is most widely known for his television series, Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin, now in its fifth season on TV One. The show’s increasing popularity earned the talented artist a second series on the same network entitled G. Garvin: The Road Tour, which premiered in 2007 and is currently in its second season.
Garvin is also a notable author. His first cookbook, Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin (Meredith Books) debuted in October 2006. Its widespread success quickly prompted a second printing and won an American Literacy Award. It was also chosen as a participant in the 2006 Library of Congress National Book Festival. Garvin’s highly anticipated sophomore effort, Make it Super Simple with G. Garvin, a collection of recipes for super simple, healthful and delectable dishes, was released in February 2008. Garvin’s third cookbook, aptly titled, Dining In, releases on October 7, 2008 and features all new, fine dining recipes that will provide even the most inexperienced cooks with recipes to create the most impressive gourmet meals in their own homes.
Garvin has mastered offering a “one-size-fits-all” approach to cooking- sophisticated simplicity- proving that even the most basic cooking palate can create the most flavorful of dishes. Ever the entrepreneur, Garvin has developed his own line of spices, called G. Garvin Spices, and is currently working on national distribution.
To further make an indelible mark on culinary history, Garvin is working passionately on opening a culinary camp in Chicago in 2009. The camp will cater to young adults and will offer an experiential education in hospitality and restaurant operations management, as well as culinary arts. Through this effort, he hopes to aid in breaking down the diversity barriers within not only the cooking industry, but the silos to which chefs of color are often kept – categorized more often by race than profession. Also in 2009, we can expect the release of his memoir, “The Making of A Chef.”
Beyond possessing business and cooking savvy, Garvin also holds a deep commitment to giving back. Raised by a single mother, and victim of domestic violence, he has been a continued supporter of the Jenesse Center, the oldest domestic violence intervention program in South Los Angeles. He has also become involved with Second Harvest, the nation’s largest charitable hunger relief organization, through ongoing partnerships with iconic brands such as Kraft and Tyson.
Garvin’s popular success as chef, author, entrepreneur, and television host, did not happen overnight. The Atlanta native began building his culinary repertoire during childhood. His earliest experience came with cutting and peeling vegetables alongside his mother in the kitchen of Atlanta’s Jewish Home for the Aging.
Being raised by a single mother and surrounded by four sisters, the determined 13 year-old Garvin traded after-school football practice for a job at The Old Vinings Inn in Atlanta, soaping dishes while soaking up the inner workings of a high-end kitchen operation. Two years later, he became the youngest cook at the downtown Ritz-Carlton, where he held summer and academic year positions.
Garvin moved to the West Coast for the first time in 1988 to open the Ritz-Carlton’s Rancho Mirage resort in Palm Springs. Soon after, at the age of 20, he moved to Europe to further his informal culinary training and serve as an apprentice to Jean Pierre Maharebacha. There, he gained a wide range of on-the-job experience, taking kitchen positions in Paris, Hamburg, and Warsaw, documenting everything he learned. After nearly two years, he returned to Atlanta to become sous chef of the award-winning Italian restaurant, Veni, Vidi, Vici. However, the lure of the West Coast drew him back- this time to Los Angeles.
During the 1990s, he served as executive chef at Morton’s, where he orchestrated dinner for the 2nd Annual Vanity Fair Oscar fete, as well as a lavish banquet for the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The opportunity to do “really good food” led him to the former Hollywood watering hole Kass Bah, where he shaped a creative menu appealing to serious gourmets and show-biz partiers alike. A year later, he became executive chef at the restaurant Reign, which became an instant smash and earned Garvin his then-best reviews and highest salary.
Yearning for both business and creative success with food, he left Reign to independently cater high-profile events, including two exclusive dinners for President Clinton, a private brunch for Senator Hillary Clinton and other notable clients. After two years, he teamed with a catering client to open a restaurant. In fall of 2001, G. Garvin’s opened to critical acclaim, then expanding two years later to more than double its size.
Plans for a series of cooking DVDs brought him to the attention of TV One in early 2004, where his sophisticated simplicity and infectious enthusiasm seemed perfect for a new network looking to bring a broad range of lifestyle programming and entertainment to the tremendously underserved African-American audience. It was then the idea of Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin, came to fruition.
12 comments:
HI G Garvin
Congratulations! Your cookbook is wonderful with great recipes and illustations. I wish you all the best!
God Bless,
Lexie
Hello chef Garvin,
I am very happy for you. I like all of your books. Keep up the good work. I will look forward to seeing you accept your award on TV. ( It would be even better if I was your date for the ceremony.) :)
I hope you will come to Baltimore, Maryland soon.
Congrad Garvin: A Blackman doing wonderful things like I said before if you read some of your December comments...
Wow!!! I am so very happy for you and very very proud of you. Also, I pray many more blessings over your life because you definitely deserved them. Do not forget to let me know when you are in Chicago again.
GOD BLESS
HI GARVIN
CONGRATULATION! I DONT KNOW YOU OR YOUR SHOW BUT,I HAVE SEEN YOU IN vision.i accidently log onto your site and to my surprise you where there.Your food and recipes look mouth watering and full of flavor.i will continue to log on for recipes,continue to strive for the sky . GOD BLESS
ROSE.
You make me want to start cooking. You make it look so fun.
Wrote about you in our EMagazine
Lutonya
www.industrybuzzz.com
Congrats! It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving individual.
Speaking of awards you certainly should be nominated for the
“Father of the Year Award”.
The Sunday after the New Year I was sitting in the Airport awaiting my departure when you and your daughter walked in and sat in the seats across from me. (pleasant surprise)
When it came time to pre-board it was quite apparent that there was some separation anxiety going on there. However, you handled the situation so graciously and with a whole heap of patience I might add (all that with a thousand and one eyes peering at you). A beautiful sight
“A picture is worth a thousands words”
Dream on -Blessings
Congrats man - you deserve it!
-Darius
www.everydaycookin.com
Congrats!! I just wanted to show my appreciation and congradulate you on your nomination. This is my first post, however definately will not be my last....You have earned this star, no doubt. But what you may not see is that your future is so bright and filled with so many moments of shine that this is just the begining of your journey. Each day there is a star to pluck from the sky for you to hold. And the beauty of it is, is that each star only directs you to next bigger and brighter one.
Once Again,
Congrats,
Carmen B.
Hello Chef G Garvin,
Congratulations on your nomination. Keep sowing your seed into the kingdom. Wishing you nothing but the best in '09. You have a beautiful spirit and heart in all that you do.
Sabrena:)
So very, very proud of you. I'm so touched in how God is working in our lives as Black People...and just know what God has for you is for YOU!
Keep on making us smile in the kitchen....God Bless
Much Luv!
Donna~
Hello G Garvin,
Congratulations on your nomination!!! I have all your books and I think they are just great. Maybe we can have a cook off when you come to Baltimore, lol. Wish you the best!
God Bless,
Kim
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