It's Your Boy G. Garvin!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Man ,What a crazy day. My little one went back to Oakland today. She's such a big girl when it comes to flying alone. "WOW" I can't really believe that she is actually doing it. It was tough because she was on a noon flight from LAX and I had a meeting back down town at 1230. Though my meeting was super important because it was with a potential sponsor for my Foundation's culinary boot camp, getting shorty off safe and sound was just a bit more important. The wonderful thing about mature adults is that when I called her and said that I was running late, she was completely OK with it and with out any of that typical Hollywood stress.

When I did arrive it was truly a great meeting, and I am feeling good about the whole camp this year. So much to do in pulling this thing off but god knows their ain't no quit in me.

I do have a question on a none related issue. Why is it that every where I go their is a Wolfgang Puck catering deal in place in damn near every building in the city, in a way that no one else can even bit on the job. So when a guy like me tries to get the catering gig for any event that's worth a shit , it's the same old story'" We are Contracted to use only Wolfgang Puck Catering" AAAAH Yeah this shit is going to stop. I am going to make some calls and see why this shit is going down like this. I mean i do cater a few weddings a year, along with all sorts of birth day parties, holiday parties, listening parties, viewing parties, and movie premieres and screenings just to name a few as well as producing the whole event from the food and beverage , the staff , the rentals, the ice and the valet. You want a cake ? We can get that too. So why can't one of the little guys get a break ? I will put my food up against theirs any day of the week, I'm sick of being Mr. nice guy and watching people sell what they consider "Gourmet Cuisine" while pulling the food wool over every ones eyes and at the same time charging people out the ass.

But hey who am I ?

As a matter of fact the team has a site visit for the wedding of one of the funniest people on the planet which we will be doing. I wonderful sit down at their lovely home. Don't even ask ! Client privacy is the highest priority of the One Bite Production Team. We don't cook and tell.

You all be sure and put your selves first this week, keep your head to the grind and your heart to the lord and your loyalty to whom ever deserves it. GG

1 comment:

Keithgarrick said...: You would think a person like your self would be able to get the same type of respect as those other "Big Name" catering companies. But some times people see a name and believe that is all they need for prestige and the glamor and the glitz of it all. They feel like having that particular name attached to them gives them some sort of Carte Blanche into high society. Just get your grind on, somebody is setting your path on to victory. HE is already working on your behalf! Peace-Budget Cooking Chef!; February 19, 2010 at 1:35 PM

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Bio

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’s impressive resume and philanthropic efforts has warranted such accolades as the 2007 Man of the Year award by Women Moving Forward in Business and Third Best TV Chef by Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine in 2006 (behind Jacques Pepin and Emeril Lagasse.) Additionally, Garvin has been a popular guest on both The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Good Morning America.

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.”

Garvin has great plans for his growing empire. His production company, “Garvin Productions,” will soon begin producing several distinct made for television programs. In a very unique way, he will use the culinary experience to help resolve conflict, teach life lessons, and bring a new platform to help youth and adults cope with many of life’s common social issues.

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 2^nd 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.

It's Your Boy G. Garvin!

Friday, February 19, 2010

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