Alton Brown

Alton Brown

24 quotes

Alton Brown, an American food show presenter, chef, author, cinematographer, and musician, is widely remembered for insights that continue to resonate with readers everywhere. Alton Brown's observations on Food are as sharp as their thoughts on Science, revealing genuine breadth of mind. Browse 31 quotes by Alton Brown that cover ground from Food, Science, Home, History, and Thankful. A favorite of many readers: "Everything in food is science. The only subjective part is when you eat it."

“I spent a college semester in a small town in Italy - and that is where I truly tasted food for the first time.”

— Alton Brown

Food

All Quotes by Alton Brown

“You know most of the food that Americans hold so dear - things like hamburgers and hot dogs - were road food, but even before they were road food, they were peasant food.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“I know people that could serve me canned tuna and saltine crackers and have me feel more at home at their table than some people who can cook circles around me. The more you try to impress people, generally the less you do.”

— Alton Brown

Home

“I think a lot of food shows, especially when we started 'Good Eats' back in the late '90s, they were still really about food. 'Good Eats' isn't about food, it's about entertainment. If, however, we can virally infect you with knowledge or interest, then all the better.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“I kept thinking, 'Somebody has to make a food show that is actually educational and entertaining at the same time... a show that got down to the 'why things happen.' Plus, I hated my job - I didn't think it was very worthwhile.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“A balanced diet may be the best medicine. I was eating too much good eats. But people consider that part of your job, you know? Eat. And I do!”

— Alton Brown

Diet

“Culinary tradition is not always based on fact. Sometimes it's based on history, on habits that come out of a time when kitchens were fueled by charcoal.”

— Alton Brown

History

“I'm like a really goofy home ec teacher.”

— Alton Brown

Home

“I'm a filmmaker who decided to go to culinary school. All I picked up was the fact if I didn't understand what was going on with every single ingredient, I could be qualifying for, like, the lunch food job at my daughter's school.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“I'm going from doing all of the work to having to delegate the work - which is almost harder for me than doing the work myself. I'm a lousy delegator, but I'm learning.”

— Alton Brown

Learning

“The worst food you'll ever eat will probably be prepared by a 'cook' who calls himself a 'chef.' Mark my words.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“The kitchen's a laboratory, and everything that happens there has to do with science. It's biology, chemistry, physics. Yes, there's history. Yes, there's artistry. Yes, to all of that. But what happened there, what actually happens to the food is all science.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“My college degree was in theater. But the real reason, if I have any success in that milieu, so to speak, is because I spent a lot of years directing, I spent a lot of years behind the camera.”

— Alton Brown

Success

“I have nothing but sympathy for the people who are forced to work with me. I'm better now at picking out those that want to play that game with me, and those that don't.”

— Alton Brown

Sympathy

“I am a filmmaker. That is all I've ever been. You know, Martin Scorsese makes films about the mob. And I make movies about food.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“Do not allow watching food to replace making food.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“I like television. I still believe that television is the most powerful form of communication on Earth - I just hate what is being done with it.”

— Alton Brown

Communication

“The thing that helped me get into the film business was that I went to school in Athens, Georgia and managed to get on, um, working on music videos for a band called R.E.M. and that kind of opened up a lot of doors for me.”

— Alton Brown

Business

“Everything in food is science. The only subjective part is when you eat it.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“I spent a college semester in a small town in Italy - and that is where I truly tasted food for the first time.”

— Alton Brown

Food

“Enough people have now mentioned Bill Nye the Science Guy to me that I now desperately avoid it all costs.”

— Alton Brown

Science