Alton Brown, lies and videotape

I have an amazingly special treat to share with everyone thanks to my great friend Anne. First I will let her tell everyone of this major scoop she obtained last week in the Big Apple and how I'm pleased to bring everyone some footage of Alton Brown on the red carpet at the James Beard Awards!

Here is Anne's part of the caper:

This is the true story of a little white lie, and how it bore much fruit. I had heard about the James Beard Awards a few months ago, but realized I couldn’t attend the ceremony itself because the tickets were, well, let’s just say they were beyond my price range.

Still, when I heard Alton was going to be co-hosting the event, I wanted to be there in some capacity. Since I live only a short two hour train ride from NYC, I decided to head down, walk over to Lincoln Center, and see what there was to see. Lisa and I have been friends for a while (we went to the event in Pennsylvania together) and I asked her if she wanted me to bring back any information I could glean, she said yes.

I arrived at Lincoln Center at around 4:30, and watched as the railings were set up outside of the Red Carpet at Avery Fisher Hall, where the awards to be held. Almost no one was there, so I took a place by the railing. A few minutes later the press began to arrive, and I was sure I would be asked to leave, but no one said anything.

I struck up a conversation with one of the reporters who was there with a camera crew, and this is where the deception began. He asked me, “Are you a food fan?” I answered, truthfully, “Yes.” When he asked me, “Are you covering this for someone, I thought about saying no, but said, instead, “Yes,” and told him I was covering it for this blog. I told him all about the blog and he seemed impressed and interested. Then he said something that blew my mind, telling me, “If your friend wants some footage, tell her to e mail me, and I’ll send her some.” I said, “Really?” and he said, “Sure!”. He gave me his card, and then I got out of his way.

At around 4:45 the attendees started arriving, but I didn’t see Alton until around 5:00. He was standing with some friends, outside the Red Carpet. Everyone was dressed to the nines, so I didn’t approach, but it was fun to watch him interact with his colleagues and be interviewed. It was worth the trip.

And, as Paul Harvey would say, I’ll let Lisa tell the rest of the story…

When Anne called (and texted me) about the event she couldn't wait to let me know about this offer. I shot off a quick email to the man not really knowing what would happen. The next morning, he replied with the offer to give--that's right GIVE!--me some of the footage from the event.

Needless to say I was astonished! Here, this complete stranger, someone who didn't know me, just about my site from what Anne told him, offered to let me have video he shot at the red carpet. In writing this post, I'm still amazed by Mr. Simon's generosity.

Special thanks goes out to Anne, of course for striking up the conversation with Mr. Simon. And to DS Simon Productions for the offer!