Recently I had the distinct pleasure of meeting the highly acclaimed… Chef G. Garvin. Acclaimed chef, cookbook author and TV host Gerry Garvin (aka G. Garvin) is most widely known for his television series, Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin, which ran for seven seasons on TV One. Garvin also appeared in a Cooking Channel special, Georgia Roadtrip with G. Garvin. He is America’s most down-to-earth chef, and his claim to fame is showing everyday cooks how to keep it simple with a Southern twist.
I met Chef Garvin at a supplier diversity forum sponsored by Delta Airlines. During a break in the program, I noticed Chef Garvin positioned across the room and made a beeline to him before he was recognized and swarmed by the masses attending the forum. I was able to get to him quickly and was afforded about 10 minutes of incredible conversation with Chef Garvin. I shared with him that I was about to start taping my cooking show “Cooking with Chef Carlton” on the local channel AIB.
I asked him if he could give me some advice on this new venture. He looked at me dead in the eye and asked me… Are you ready for TV? I paused because I never really thought about it. He asked me again… are you ready for TV? I hesitated and said, “I think so, I’ll find out after these upcoming tapings.” He emphasized, that unless I was ready for all that comes with it, to be very careful about going on TV because if I am not prepared, there really isn’t a do-over. In this case with TV, first impressions are truly lasting impressions. He encouraged me to make sure that I’ve thought of all the possible scenarios where something could go wrong, and try to be as prepared as possible. Especially on live TV, you have to be able to respond instantly to anything that may go wrong and to recover if necessary. He really shared some sound advice that I was able to take and put into my preparation for “Cooking with Chef Carlton.”
Since meeting Chef Garvin, in preparation for the tapings of my 6 episodes of “Cooking with Chef Carlton”, I would spend a lot of time planning for each episode. At least for me, I’m finding that this show biz thing is much more challenging than I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the experience, but I think it’s my military nature as well as Chef Garvin’s advice, that just has me planning and organizing as much of the process as possible. Chef Garvin’s voice has stayed with me through this process and I truly appreciate his words of wisdom. Check us out with the premier on 17 July. AIB is on Comcast 295 and on ATT-Uverse 6.
Each of the 6 episodes will air for 1 week each for a total of 6 weeks. The airing times per week are as follows:
Mondays at 12:00 pm
Tuesdays at 11:30 pm
Wednesdays at 6:30pm
Thursdays at 10:00 am
Saturday at 7:30 pm
Until next time… Bon Appetit Y’all