Alton Brown’s flair in the kitchen developed early with guidance from his mother and grandmother, a budding culinary talent he skillfully used later “as a way to get dates” in college. Switching gears as an adult, Alton spent a decade working as a cinematographer and video director, but realized that he spent all his time between shoots watching cooking shows. He was very dissatisfied with the quality of cooking shows currently airing on American television. Convinced that he could do better, Alton left the film business and moved to Vermont to train at the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier. Soon after, Alton tapped all of his training to create Good Eats, a smart and entertaining food show that blends wit with wisdom, history with pop culture, and science with common cooking sense. Alton not only writes and produces the shows but also stars in each offbeat episode on Food Network.

In April 2007, Good Eats was recognized as a Peabody Award winner, a distinguished prize presented for excellence in broadcast news, education and entertainment. Food Network airs the series approximately sixteen times each week. Hosted by Alton Brown and now in its fifth season, Good Eats combines pop culture, comedy, kitchen science, and plain good eating. Alton seems to take particular delight in making tongue-in-cheek references to pop culture in his episodes. Episode titles include references such as "Mission: Poachable", "It's a Wonderful Cake", and "My Big Fat Greek Sandwich". A Good Eats episode takes about three days to produce, according to a special Good Eats episode "Behind the Eats."

Alton is often described as a culinary version of Mr. Wizard or Bill Nye because he brings a scientific and humorous approach to his cooking shows. Bon Appétit magazine named him "Cooking Teacher of the Year" in 2004. Alton is also an author of several cooking reference books and a regular contributor to Bon Appétit and Men’s Journal magazines.

Alton reprises his role as the resident food historian, scientist and commentator for Food Network’s new series Iron Chef America. Based on the Japanese cult classic (originally produced by Fuji Television) that launched on Food Network four years ago, Iron Chef America the series will pit some of America's favorite chefs against the inspired food wizardry of American Iron Chefs Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Masaharu Morimoto and the first female Iron Chef, Cat Cora.

As the expert commentator, Brown is usually heard throughout the episode explaining to the audience what the competing chefs are doing, able to identify most cooking techniques and explain them long before anyone watching can. Occasionally, the camera will cut away from Kitchen Stadium to show Brown as he provides background information about the secret ingredient, such as the different sizes and types of shrimp or clams, or different cuts of meat. Brown rarely makes mistakes about his information, though he once mistook the green contents of a squeeze bottle to be a garnishing sauce when it was, in fact, soap. In another episode, Iron Chef Bobby Flay called out for the remaining time in the battle, and Brown responded with "35 seconds remaining", although 35 minutes actually remained.

Alton's third series, Feasting on Asphalt, explores the history of eating on the move. In a quest for tasty edibles on the go, Alton Brown and his crew crossed the United States via motorcycle ("As far as I’m concerned, there’s no better way to experience the road than from the back of a bike," according to Brown). Alton sampled food all along his travel route, often sleeping under the stars between meals. In his traditional style, he included the usual "history of food" segments documenting famous road trips (from the Odyssey to the Crusades, to Lewis and Clark, and Jack Kerouac) and interviews with many of the foodies he met en route.

View Alton Brown’s website, and learn more about his passion for Shun knives, at www.altonbrown.com.