‘Science happens:’ Food Network star Alton Brown serves it up at Koger Center

Alton Brown, author, television personality – the man behind “Good Eats” and the evil genius/host of “Cuthroat Kitchen” on Food Network – will be bringing his live culinary show this spring to Columbia.

“Eat Your Science” could be described as a wilder, live version of “Good Eats” gone off the rails – in a good way – with music, stand-up comedy and “large” culinary demonstrations.

“We’re still working out the bugs on the show,” Brown said in a recent interview.

“The show’s theme is cold and heat. And we’re building the show with extra stuff, so if something works (or doesn’t) it can be refined as we go along.”

Asked about the official news release noting there may be “sophisticated protective gear for folks in the first few rows just in case things get messy ... again,” Brown responded, “Science happens. While I don’t try to make a mess, sometimes things ... happen.”

Things are happening for Alton Brown.

He’s on tour. He’s taping episodes of “Cuthroat Kitchen.” He’s getting ready for the release of a new cookbook in October, “Alton Brown: Every Day Cook.” He’s working on a new internet-based show reminiscent of “Good Eats.”And all the while he maintains a rather large presence on social media about his doings.

How is he able to keep up the pace?

“Remember what it was like when you were a kid on one of those playground merry-go-rounds? And you’re spinning around and you want to jump off and you have the feeling that you’re going to fall, but you don’t quite fall? The merry-go-round never stops. I must love it.”

Longtime fans who know about Brown’s distaste for unitaskers (tools that only do one thing, sometimes very poorly) should find the live show fun. “We’re hacking technology. Without giving too much away, we’re creating multi- and polytaskers for the show.”

The science and culinary demonstrations promise to be large – as in scale – if photographs from the previous tour are any indication.

“You’ll see things live that I’ve never been allowed to do on television.”

And speaking of his TV shows...

How did “Cuthroat Kitchen” come to be?

“I wanted to do a game show. Something that required some smarts to figure out and was funny. The idea was that we would auction off bad things and then the element of sabotage came in to play.

“The best is yet to come (I’m sworn to secrecy). My personal favorites are when someone gets a crumpled pan or an upsidedown wok to cook on. It’s great to watch someone do the problem solving. There’s always a way, there’s a secret to making it work. To me, that’s the most satisfying thing to watch.”

What’s the idea or creative force behind your shows?

“I refuse to dumb things down. I will never make shows for someone other than myself. I can’t do things thinking what the audience might like; if I like it, I’ll do it. I have to stay true to myself and maybe I’ll find an audience. It’s part of the innovative process. Sometimes you’re the person for the project, sometimes you aren’t.”

For example?

“We did a couple of seasons of a show called ‘Feasting on Asphalt.’ That show, we just got out the map and pointed the motorcycle in a direction and filmed. It wasn’t really scripted and was about the journey, as well as the food.

“It was OK, but there wasn’t a huge audience for it or maybe I wasn’t the guy to do it at that time.

“A couple of years later, the idea is revamped and, with Guy Fieri as host, ‘Diners, Dives & Drive-Ins’ is a hit.”

The latest cookbook – “Alton Brown: Every Day Cook – comes out in October. What’s in it?

“You could subtitle it, ‘This time it’s personal’ because it is all 100 percent recipes that I use every day. Sure, the recipes are reworked for publication, but these are the things I actually cook. Each recipe will have a two-page spread with a photo. I’m really excited because I’ve never done something like this before. We’re taking a cinematic approach to the layout of the book and the photographs. And every photo was take with an iPhone.”

So what do you do to unwind?

“I am a man of simple tastes. Quite happy with vegetables on the grill and a glass of bourbon. I find comfort in the act of cooking. It gives me solace. There’s power in the act of preparing food – especially for others.”

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "‘Science happens:’ Food Network star Alton Brown serves it up at Koger Center."