Much has been written about the
Gen Y foodie culture that’s flourishing in Brooklyn, LA, and other
cities where hipsters thrive. But the scene isn’t just happening in trendy restaurants and
underground supper clubs. As Gen Y chefs are now themselves rising the culinary ranks, a new crop of young adult-oriented cooking shows and cookbooks is surfacing on screens and in kitchens everywhere.
Rebel with a Culinary Cause: Twenty-eight-year-old Justin Warner left a plum gig—which
Millennials are wont to do—at an acclaimed
Danny Meyer hotspot to open his own restaurant,
Do or Dine. The inventive Bed-Stuy eatery earned instant acclaim among Brooklyn’s gastronomic elite. The kitschy décor stands in stark contrast to the neighboring ramshackle bodegas, but it’s the haute stoner menu—
dumpling nachos, Dr. Pepper-glazed frog legs, and foie gras doughnuts—that's driving buzz. The local hero landed on The Food Network’s hit show
Next Food Network Star, where the so-called "Rebel with a Culinary Cause” earned the win and a starring role
in his own eponymous pilot.
Brothers Green: Mike and Josh Greenfield grew up watching The Food Network, as did many Gen Ys, and credit all of their culinary knowledge to the cable channel. The brothers now enjoy throwing dinner parties in their Williamsburg apartment and, perhaps inspired by cooking shows, began
filming and posting the get-togethers online. The videos caught the attention of producers at
The Rachael Ray Show, where they were subsequently invited to participate in
a cooking battle. Most recently, they landed their own web series, “Brothers Green,” on
Hungry, one of
the new niche channels launched by YouTube to compete with traditional television such as, ironically, The Food Network.
This is a Cookbook: Max Sussman is the chef de cuisine at Bushwick pizza joint-turned-cool kid clubhouse
Roberta’s. Eli Sussman is a line cook at
Mile End, NYC’s gourmet take on a Montreal deli. The brothers (and roommates) published their first cookbook right out of college and, after spending a few years cooking both professionally and for fun, they decided to team up on a collection of recipes for young people who aren’t yet comfortable in the kitchen. The result is a no-fuss cooking manual called
This is a Cookbook: Recipes For Real Life, a title that winks at the Gen Y meme,
“Is this real life?”.
