Food Network
Debbie, 39 (West Hollywood, Calif.), a former Hollywood caterer, now shares her branding and menu-planning expertise as a restaurant consultant. Her Korean heritage and Southern upbringing make a dynamic combination as she uniquely blends Asian and American cuisines. Debbie attributes her cooking chops to her mother, grandmother and notable chefs that she’s worked with.
Food specialty: Korean with a Soulful Edge
Favorite restaurant: Buddakhan
Three foods you can’t live without (other than bread or water): Bacon, fried chicken, and kimchee
Food you won’t go near: Anything with stinky blue cheese
Weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten: Don’t know if I have. Once I ate squirrel when I was young. My Aunt Frances told me it’s like chicken. Got a little freaked out. But overcame the moment.
Interests: Anything with food of course! I also enjoy music, art, theatre, hiking and yoga.
Favorite Food Network chef: As far as a chef, it’s a tie between Bobby Flay, Morimoto, and Michael Symon. In terms of food personalities, it would be a close call between Paula and Giada.
Watch Debbie Lee in action on Food NetWork
Favorite shows (doesn’t have to be Food Network): Man v. Food (just got introduced to it and love it!), anything with Paula Deen, Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, Top Chef, Project Runway, Iron Chef America, Everyday Italian, Barefoot Contessa
Favorite food destination: Anywhere in Asia of course. Want to go back this fall and travel through the Far East. I would also love to go to the south of France.
Culinary inspirations: Neil Perry, Bobby Flay, Julia Child, Morimoto
Three people, alive or dead, whom you’d like to invite to a dinner party: My grandmother, Neil Perry, and Oprah
Favorite books: Make a Name for Yourself, The Road Less Traveled, The Food I Love
Favorite movies: The Way We Were
Why do you think you should be The Next Food Network Star? I have the most unique culinary point of view and will rock your taste buds with a taste of “Seoul 2 Soul!” My passion for food is my journey on a plate, and I feel everyone watching will relate to my story and embrace it with some good old seoulful cooking.
Food Network is a cable network that airs specials and recurring (episodic) programs about food and cooking. It is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive. The network is seen in more than ninety million households. In addition to New York City, it has offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville.
Food Network can be seen internationally in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Monaco, Andorra, France, and the French-speaking territories in the Caribbean, Polynesia and Trinidad and Tobago.
Food Network was founded on November 23, 1993 as TV Food Network; its legal name is still Television Food Network, G.P. Within a few years, the network had shortened its on-air brand name. Joe Langhan, now an executive producer with the Wine Network, created the concept for Food Network in 1991 while working at the The Providence Journal.
Food Network is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. In 1997, Scripps acquired the Food Network from the A. H. Belo Corp. Corporation (in exchange for broadcast stations KENS-AM/TV in San Antonio, Texas), which had acquired the network through a takeover of The Providence Journal Company earlier that year.
Food Network programming is divided into two parts, “Food Network in the Kitchen” and “Food Network Nighttime”. Generally, “In the Kitchen” (weekday afternoons and weekend mornings) is dedicated to instructional cooking programs, while “Nighttime” features programming based on the history and knowledge of food, travel programming, cooking competitions and other entertainment-based concepts. Promos identify “Food Network Nighttime” programming but not daytime programming. Many of the channel’s personalities routinely pull double-duty (or more), hosting both daytime and nighttime programming and the channel regularly offers specials which typically either follow its personalities on working vacations, or bring together a number of personalities for a themed cooking event.
Among the chefs present at the channel’s 1993 launch were Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse, all three still major fixtures of the channel’s lineup; Lagasse’s Emeril Live! was the channel’s signature series for many years, with the series’ final taping occurring December 11, 2007. Among other duties, Flay and Batali appear regularly as “Iron Chefs” on Iron Chef America, the channel’s well-received remake of the original Japanese series. America’s host, Alton Brown, gained a cult following for his Good Eats, which mixes science, cooking and offbeat humor. Possibly the channel’s biggest cross-over star is Rachael Ray, who has parlayed her cable following (primarily through the series 30 Minute Meals and $40 a Day) into a syndicated talk show.
Beginning in 2005, an annual reality contest, The Next Food Network Star, has brought viewers to New York to compete for their own show. Previous winners include Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh (Party Line with The Hearty Boys), Guy Fieri (Guy’s Big Bite, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives), Amy Finley (The Gourmet Next Door), and Aaron McCargo, Jr. (Big Daddy’s House).
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