texasmesquite

Food Network's Tyler Florence, at full speed




By David Plotnikoff
For the Mercury News CA

Article Launched: 10/21/2008 05:00:00 PM PDT


Tyler Florence just keeps getting bigger. No, the Food Network's resident hunk is still svelte. But Tyler Florence the Brand Name is packing it on.
"We constantly bite off more than we can chew. That's the way I've always worked," says Florence, lounging on a couch in the cookbook room of his eponymous Mill Valley kitchen store last week.
Consider what he does when he's not producing segments of "Tyler's Ultimate." Having just completed six holiday special segments for the Food Network, he is promoting two lavish cookbooks that hit the shelves this week.
Plus there's the construction of his latest restaurant, Bar Florence, in San Francisco, set to open in the spring. And readying Tyler Florence wine for wide distribution next year. And adding high-end cutlery to his personal line of culinary gear. And expanding retail operations beyond his flagship store.
A year in Mill Valley hasn't done anything to dial down Florence's trademark hustle. He is still very much at full Manhattan speed.
Q So why would someone as driven and ambitious as you trade Manhattan for Mill Valley — considering your primary job is still with the Food Network in New York?
A I lived in New York City for 14 years and that defined me. But I'm not getting any younger. What was edgy and cool when I was 30 is now small and dirty. I wanted some sunshine. I wanted a nice place to raise kids. New York City has its ups anddowns. I think it's a great place to be 20. But I don't think it's a great place to be 12.

Q How could leaving the red-hot core of American cuisine for the relative low simmer of a Bay Area suburb be good for your career?
A In my opinion, there are two great food cities in America — New York City and San Francisco. The respect that ingredients get here is unparalleled anywhere else in the country. The microclimate, the extended growing season, the relationships that chefs and farmers have — it's what I call the American Provence. . . . This is someplace that I can grow professionally. I see Mill Valley as my Yountville, my Lyon.
Q The new book "Dinner at my Place" is a celebration of hearth and home, showcasing meals you cook for friends and family in Mill Valley. But given your bicoastal lifestyle, how many dinners do you really eat at home?
A There's a seasonal ebb and flow to the (Food Network production). The spring's really busy, and the fall's really busy. We usually shoot 13 shows in the spring and 13 shows in the fall. Other than those times, this year I was home pretty much from May to mid-August. . . . When I'm home I'm home. . . . Wherever I am, I try to be 150 percent there. And when I'm home, I cook every day.
Q Your other new book, "Stirring the Pot," focuses on cooking techniques. It seems your basic philosophy of demystifying things and making them approachable isn't all that far from what Julia Child was doing a generation ago.
A I try to boil it down to what matters. To me it's all about starting out with great quality ingredients and then showing you a technique or two or three to get a masterpiece out of that.
Q What can you assume your viewers or readers bring to the table in terms of basic skills? Can they poach an egg? Deglaze a pan?
A You can't assume anybody knows anything about what you're talking about. So when you explain things you have to take it from a Cooking 101 or 102 point of view. But not to the point that we're patronizing the people who get it and understand it.
Q Making a basic Cajun roux or basic sushi rice can take years to master.
A Making sushi in a restaurant for people who are going to pay a lot of money for it, I'd want someone with that deep discipline and understanding. But I can get that same flavor to someone cooking at home in 45 minutes. If people walk away more frustrated than inspired, you've missed with your message. To me it's about lowering the bar a bit so that people can say, "Now I see it." My (mission) is helping people get dinner on the table.
Q There is a certain segment of the Food Network audience who aren't watching to salivate over those perfect braised short ribs — they are salivating over you. Are you OK with being seen as the Food Network's resident heartthrob?
A I guess you could blame the good head of hair on my dad. I got some good genes. . . . I want to have a nice long career, so I do take good care of myself.
Q When Katie Couric tells a million viewers you are "the sexiest man to ever pick up a chef's knife," she's probably talking about more than a full head of hair.
A I think a certain bit of that may open up a door or two. But once you get there, you can't be phony about it. You've got to deliver the goods. For me, it really is all about the food.
Q In the Food Network studios, what gets fussed over more — your hair or that perfect apple cobbler?
A The apple cobbler, sure. Me? I'm easy. The whole hair and makeup thing, I'm like in and out in 10 minutes.
Q So how many holiday crown rib roasts are really cooked off-camera?
A We probably do five. And we shoot each recipe four times. Which, compared to a lot of other productions, may seem excessive. But we're just really particular. . . . You have to get those mouthwatering moments when you go "Oh my God!" and make the food jump through the screen.
Q So is Mill Valley the first of many stand-alone Tyler Florence kitchen stores?
A Yeah. We see this as a third player in between Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table. Our second store is going to be online. And our second brick-and-mortar store is going to be in Los Angeles. I'm 37 years old. This is the next level for me. This is 2.0.
This spot that we're sitting in was the very first Banana Republic store. So this building's got some fantastic mojo. Also, Smith and Hawken was born in Mill Valley as well. We think this particular shop is going to be that next big lifestyle thing to come out of Mill Valley.
Q When it comes to building a personal brand empire, you follow a long line of media-savvy masters, from Wolfgang Puck to Paul Prudhomme. What have you learned from them?
A We like to take a look outside our own zone to see what other brands are doing to market themselves. How do they do mass and class all at the same time? Nobody does it better than Martha Stewart or Ralph Lauren.
Q So how does Ralph Lauren get away with selling both cashmere sweaters and bathroom paint?
A It's all lifestyle. Ralph Lauren sells Americana. I'm never going to design paint. But what we want to do is be able to sell anything in the kitchen.
Q So would that rule out a Tyler Florence line of designer clothes?
A I can't really talk about it — but we do have a business model that has something to do with clothes.


Tyler Florence

Age: 37
Hometown: Greenville, S.C.
Education: Associate"s degree in culinary arts, Johnson & Wales University, 1992; bachelor"s degree in hospitality management, Johnson & Wales University, 1994.
Food Network tenure: Joined full-time in 1999 to host "Food 911"
Family: Wife, Tolan, "Vice President of Everything"; sons Miles, 12, and Hayden, 17 months; daughter Dorothy, 2 months.



Bay area appearances

Today, San Francisco: book signing, 6:30 p.m., Macy"s Union Square
Nov. 1, San Jose: book signing and demo, 2 p.m., Macy"s Valley Fair
Nov. 7, San Francisco: book signing, 5 p.m., Sur la Table, Ferry Building
Nov. 8, San Francisco: book signing, 11 a.m., Cost Plus World Market
Nov. 8, San Jose: book signing and demo, 5 p.m., Sur la Table, Santana Row


HIS NEW COOKBOOKS
Released Tuesday: "Tyler Florence: Stirring the Pot" and "Tyler Florence: Dinner at My Place" (each $19.95, 256 pp., Meredith Books; paperback).
"Stirring the Pot" is billed as Cooking 101, with tutorials on equipment, technique and kitchen management, as well as more than 120 recipes.
"Dinner at My Place" is a series of menus (with recipes) for specific home occasions: birthday party, sick day, Sunday dinner and such.