It’s hard to think of Food Network without thinking of Alton Brown. He is the founder and star of the 14-season show, “Good Eats,” and regularly appears on “Iron Chef America.” Throughout his culinary career, Brown has published several cookbooks. His latest, “EveryDayCook,” is the first in which Brown allows the reader to truly understand what he personally likes to eat and cook.
Brown visited Williams-Sonoma in Copley Place on Tuesday for a book signing event, which is part of the “EveryDayCook” book tour. He signed each cookbook and posed for pictures with those who bought a copy. The line wrapped around the storefront and down the hallways of the mall. More than 600 people showed up for the signing, said the store’s assistant manager, Erik Stone.
“All events hosted by Williams-Sonoma are done through our corporate staff, and specific storefronts are chosen for celebrity book signings,” Stone said. “Our Boston location was chosen to host Alton, and we’re almost sold out of his cookbooks.”
“EveryDayCook” is different from Brown’s past cookbooks, which have either been about “Good Eats” or food science. “EveryDayCook” turns away from an objective viewpoint. Instead, it is a collection of Brown’s favorite recipes.
Brown addressed this in the book’s opening statement.
“Technically, this is my eighth book, but in some ways it feels like the first, because (like it says on the cover) this time it’s personal,” Brown wrote in the book’s opening statement. “These dishes were concocted because somebody (usually me) was hungry,” he wrote later.
The book continues on with descriptions of Brown’s favorite kitchen tools and techniques, ranging from basic to expert level. The book is divided into sections based on the time of day. It starts with “Morning” for breakfast foods and continues into the “Evening” section at the end for dessert recipes.
Brown also explained this method of organization in the book’s introduction.
“I didn’t arrange the book by time of day to be different or difficult,” he wrote, “it’s just how my brain functions.”
At the book signing, the demographic of the crowd includes all ages, and some fans sported personalized jackets from Brown’s last tour, an interactive food science show called “Eat Your Science.” Others had traveled for hours just to see Brown.
One family brought a Food Network apron full of signatures from celebrity chefs they had met in the past, eager to add Brown’s signature to the collection.
“We’ve watched ‘Cutthroat Kitchen’ and ‘Good Eats’ since they first aired on Food Network,” said Janis Survilas, 47, of Peabody. “We made [Brown’s] onion dip for Thanksgiving and it was absolutely amazing.”
Her daughter, Erin Survilas, 13, of Peabody, said she was a huge fan of Brown.
“It was a dream to meet him and to get his autograph,” Erin said. “He was so nice and funny and it was awesome to have the opportunity to meet him in person.”
As the 600 fans shuffled their way through the line, Brown’s enthusiasm for his fans never wavered. Many simply told him they were big supporters, while others credited Brown for being their sole inspiration to start cooking. Brown gave one girl a hug when she gave him a drawing of Brown she had made.
Two and a half hours later, after Brown signed the last book and took a picture with the last fan, he chatted with the Williams-Sonoma staff.
When asked by a staff member about the reasoning behind taking such a different turn for the new cookbook, Brown answered, “It’s come to the point in my life where a self-portrait was necessary.”
