credit: chun-mui miller
Soundtrack: “The Noise of Carpet” by Stereolab from Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Professionally, this has truly been a stellar year. Since I will be off the grid for the remainder of 2009, I decided to post some highlights and send a THANK YOU to all who have supported me on this journey. I sit in deep gratitude.
A month before Vegan Soul Kitchen was published in March, Publisher’s Weekly gave it a starred review stating that, “In this electric, eclectic collection of vegan soul food, West Coast chef Bryant Terry manages not only to demystify classic southern cooking, he makes it healthier and more accessible.” For me, this was the perfect review to launch the project into the world. On Tuesday March 3, The Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco hosted the national book release party for VSK. I was overwhelmed with the turnout. Despite the torrential downpour and strong winds, over 3oo family, friends, mentors, colleagues, comrades, supporters, and folks came out to show love. It was truly humbling. Thank you again to all who helped pull it off.
I made over 80 presentations since March. From lecturing at colleges to demonstrating my recipes at green festivals, I put in work this year!
Big thank you to Chow.com for including me in their “CHOW 13” list and to Mother Nature News Network for including me in their “40 Chefs Under 40” roundup.
As you can see on my press page VSK received tons of coverage. A few of my favorites:
- An article that came out in The Commercial Appeal, the daily newspaper in my hometown Memphis, 10. They even quoted my dad: Booker Terry remembers the garden his father, the late Andrew Johnson Terry, maintained during Booker’s childhood as one even larger than the one Bryant recalls. “He had apple trees, grape vines, plum trees — oh, I remember those purple plums so well. My daddy was from South Mississippi and grew up on a farm. He brought those ways with him when he moved to Memphis.”
- A feature on Heidi Swanson’s 101cookbooks.com. In her “Favorite Cookbooks” section I got a chance to talk about the chefs and cookbook authors who inspire me as well as my approach to cooking. I got lots of love in the comments section of that piece. Heidi also posted a beautiful piece in which she describes making my ‘Jamaican Veggie Patties.’
- Two weeks after VSK was published I had a fun television interview on “Bay Sunday,” a topical talk show that airs on CBS.
- It was a pleasure joining Tavis Smiley and talking about my work on his radio show.
- My favorite radio appearance was The Splendid Table. They did a great job meshing, food, music, and conversation.
- Of course, being featured in Jet magazine was one of my media highs this year. I got so many calls and emails from black folks over the age of 45 that week it wasn’t even funny.
- I was happy to be quoted a few times in the piece “How does your city garden grow?” on Salon.com and talk about the traditions of growing food locally that were passed down by my ancestors.
- I love the piece in Yoga Journal, as it was cool talking about my yoga and mindfulness practices as tools that I use for staying present.
- I made an appearance on Emeril Green and had the pleasure of cooking with Emeril Lagasse in Napa Valley.
- I had fun talking about the music that inspired some of my Harvest dishes on NPR’s In Your Ear.
- Scoring the November/December cover and a beautiful 8-page spread in Vegetarian Times was a great bookend to awesome media coverage this year.
Vegan Soul Kitchen is now in its 5th printing.
I’m looking forward to 2010. I’m working on a new book-project (coming out in 2011)–think Edna Lewis meets Stereolab with Roger Doiron sprinkled on top. I also have a BIG project in the works that I look forward to sharing with you all. Happy New Year!
