Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Lyon.
Hi Nathan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was five, my grandfather (who lived a few houses down from my family) taught me how to garden from seed to harvest. My grandmother taught me how to can and freeze all that produce that we grew and my Mom showed me how to cook with it. This passion for cooking and enjoying fresh, seasonal produce was instilled in me at such a young age and it only kept growing year after year.
After college (I graduated from JMU with a Health Science degree), I set out to find my career path. I tried everything from acting to EMT to being a stained glass artist! All the while, a voice in my head was pushing me to pursue cooking. I remember a conversation with Mom in my mid 20’s where she asked me, “if you won the lottery tomorrow and money wasn’t an issue, what would you want to do?” I immediately responded, “I want to be a chef!” The very next day, I was calling around to different culinary schools and ended up enrolling in Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California.
While in culinary school, in addition to working in kitchens for hands-on cooking experience, I also started working at farmers markets in Los Angeles and ended up working for one farmer for over a decade, selling produce (mostly stone fruits and citrus) 4 times a week at Southern California farmers markets. At the markets, I was constantly exposed to a wide variety of produce, much of which had not entered mainstream grocery stores yet. I found great joy in experimenting and creating recipes with such an amazing bounty of food. During those years at the farmers markets, I also learned what no one teaches you when shopping in a grocery store (or in culinary school, for that matter), how to pick and choose the freshest, most flavorful produce on offer and how to properly store that produce so it lasts the longest.
It was because of my time working at the farmers market in addition to the knowledge I gained in culinary school and working under incredible Chefs in Los Angeles, that I was able to bring my love for seasonal cooking to life in my very first cooking show, A Lyon in the Kitchen, on Discovery Health and Fit TV. After developing numerous recipes for my show plus those developed over the years working at farmers markets, I had created a rolodex of “best recipes” to choose from which I put together in my very first cookbook, Great Food Starts Fresh.
In addition to A Lyon in the Kitchen, I have hosted and appeared on many other food and cooking shows on Food Network, PBS, Real Simple, Z Living, Discovery (to name a few!) and even earned an Emmy nomination for ‘Outstanding Culinary Host’ for one of my television shows.
I am constantly developing recipes and sharing my knowledge when it comes to food and since the pandemic started, I have been focusing on teaching and doing live corporate events and demos via Zoom and other online platforms.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been a wild ride, with plenty of ups and downs! Although I danced around my passion for working with food for many years, I didn’t truly find my way as a teacher and TV host until I was in my late 30’s when I got the opportunity to compete on the second season of the Next Food Network Star. That show truly changed my life’s trajectory and I feel very grateful for that. As it is with the artist’s life, there are struggles all the time – to keep hustling, keep creating, keep putting yourself out there and seizing all opportunities. It’s a wonderful challenge and I wouldn’t trade the path I’ve chosen for anything else because it’s truly my passion.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My proudest accomplishments in my culinary career are my cookbook, Great Food Starts Fresh, my Emmy-nomination for ‘Outstanding Culinary Host’ and my work with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program as a Sustainable Seafood Ambassador and Blue Ribbon Task Force Member.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I’ve told this to a great number of people who want to pursue a professional career in the culinary arts: You do not need to go to culinary school. Instead, just work and/or stage (an unpaid internship) at multiple restaurants you admire under as many chefs as possible over time for the best hands-on culinary education and training you can get. In the end, you will gain so much knowledge and experience while saving tens of thousands of dollars!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chefnathanlyon.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/chefnathanlyon
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/chefnathanlyon
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/chefnathanlyon
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LyonMediaGroup
Image Credits
Nathan Lyon
