The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 3, 2019 — 7A

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When 
“Good 
Eats” 
premiered in 1999, it was 
clear that it is as much a 
recipe as it is a show. Each 
episode is a deep culinary 
dive into the origins, history 
and science of a particular 
dish. There is prepwork 
involved, 
research 
and 
ingredients to amass. Alton 
Brown maneuvers through 
his kitchen with rapid-
fire narration and snappy 
angles. The episodes are 
seasoned to taste with low-
budget skits. Twenty years 
later, for “Good Eats: The 
Return,” the recipe clearly 
hasn’t changed, but that 
doesn’t make it any less 
enjoyable.
The world of culinary 
television is weighed down 
by the humdrum of fast-
paced cooking challenges, 
wasteful 
extravaganzas 
and unnecessarily dramatic 
contests. But “Good Eats” 
has always been a shining 
needle 
in 
that 
rough, 
crowded 
haystack. 
A 
departure from his chaotic 
persona 
in 
“Cutthroat 
Kitchen,” 
Brown’s 
dedication to simplicity and 
effort is both refreshing 
and 
relaxing. 
In 
his 
kitchen, intensity is absent 
and replaced instead by 
advice, 
recommendations 
and guidance. Each dish 
has a history, a science and 
is given such an incredible 
amount of attention that 
Brown will often do the 

dish in multiple different 
ways. Waste is unheard 
of, as Brown uses as much 
of any ingredient as he 
can, focuses instead on 
multitools and encourages 
his viewers to save things 
they 
would 
normally 
discard for other, more 
experimental dishes.

In his return, Brown 
dons a cleaner, more chic 
look. His once bright and 
colorful kitchen is replaced 
instead 
with 
a 
clean 
and shiny neutral space 
that very much reflects 
modern taste. Even Brown 
himself 
looks 
incredibly 
different from the campy 
host 
who 
burst 
onto 
the screen in 1999, now 
exuding 
confidence 
and 
sophistication.
Much like every other 
installment, 
the 
“Good 
Eats: 
The 
Return” 
premiere focuses on an 
underappreciated 
dish 
chicken parmesan. With an 
almost scientific accuracy, 
Brown establishes exactly 
where this dish went wrong 
(it’s all mushy) and how 
they can fix it (it needs 
more crunch). First, Brown 
takes us to Manhattan, 
where he boldly proposes 
that 
all 
Americans 
are 
actually Italian-Americans 
by virtue of food culture, 
much to the dismay, I 
imagine, of actual Italian-
Americans. 
Before 
long, 
Brown dives into the actual 
dish, 
starting 
with 
the 
ingredients. 
To 
Brown, 

everything is important: 
the tomatoes, the garlic and 
even what kind of mortar 
and pestle to use.
What’s incredible about 
“Good Eats” is that the 
cooking 
is 
hardly 
the 
most 
important 
thing. 
Instead, it’s understanding 
how you’re cooking. For 
Brown, the technique and 
culinary science is both 
the 
beginning 
and 
the 
end. We’re taught why we 
spritz the chicken with 
water before pounding it 
out, to broil the pasta sauce 
alone before adding the 
chicken and to distribute 
everything evenly. Brown 
even whips it up “fancy 
restaurant style” in case 
you wanted your chicken 
parm to look prettier.
 Eats: The Return” may 
not be different, but that 
doesn’t 
mean 
it’s 
stale. 
In many ways, it feels 
like 
coming 
back 
to 
a 
relative’s 
house, 
except 
you haven’t seen them in 
a while and everything’s 
been 
updated. 
It’s 
still 
the same “Good Eats,” it’s 
just been modernized. At 
its heart, “Good Eats” is 
still 
about 
appreciation, 
not just for food, but for 
the work that goes into 
it. It is a celebration of 
learning, 
understanding 
and 
practice. 
“Good 
Eats” doesn’t pander to 
dramatizations or tension. 
It is as it is — relaxing, 
thorough and, above all, 
good eats.

‘Good Eats: The Return’ is as 
good as ever

MAXWELL SCHWARZ
Daily Arts Writer

Curing my summertime
sadness: from NYC to A2

When 
“Good 
Eats” 
premiered in 1999, it 
was clear that it is as 
much a recipe as it is a 
show. Each episode is a 
deep culinary dive into 
the origins, history and 
science of a particular 
dish. There is prepwork 
involved, 
research 
and 
ingredients 
to 
amass. 
Alton 
Brown 
maneuvers through his 
kitchen with rapid-fire 
narration and snappy 
angles. 
The 
episodes 
are seasoned to taste 
with low-budget skits. 
Twenty 
years 
later, 
for “Good Eats: The 
Return,” 
the 
recipe 
clearly hasn’t changed, 
but that doesn’t make it 
any less enjoyable.
The world of culinary 
television 
is 
weighed 
down by the humdrum 
of fast-paced cooking 
challenges, 
wasteful 
extravaganzas 
and 
unnecessarily dramatic 
contests. 
But 
“Good 
Eats” has always been 
a 
shining 
needle 
in 
that 
rough, 
crowded 
haystack. A departure 
from 
his 
chaotic 
persona in “Cutthroat 
Kitchen,” 
Brown’s 
dedication to simplicity 
and 
effort 
is 
both 
refreshing and relaxing. 
In his kitchen, intensity 
is absent and replaced 
instead 
by 
advice, 
recommendations 
and 
guidance. 
Each 
dish 
has a history, a science 
and is given such an 
incredible 
amount 
of 
attention 
that 
Brown 
will often do the dish 
in 
multiple 
different 
ways. Waste is unheard 
of, as Brown uses as 
much of any ingredient 
as 
he 
can, 
focuses 
instead on multitools 
and 
encourages 
his 
viewers to save things 
they 
would 
normally 
discard for other, more 
experimental dishes.

In his return, Brown 
dons a cleaner, more 
chic 
look. 
His 
once 
bright 
and 
colorful 
kitchen 
is 
replaced 
instead with a clean 
and shiny neutral space 
that very much reflects 

modern 
taste. 
Even 
Brown 
himself 
looks 
incredibly 
different 
from the campy host 
who 
burst 
onto 
the 
screen 
in 
1999, 
now 
exuding confidence and 
sophistication.
Much like every other 
installment, the “Good 
Eats: 
The 
Return” 
premiere focuses on an 
underappreciated 
dish 
chicken parmesan. With 
an 
almost 
scientific 
accuracy, 
Brown 
establishes 
exactly 
where this dish went 
wrong (it’s all mushy) 
and how they can fix it 
(it needs more crunch). 
First, Brown takes us to 
Manhattan, where he 
boldly proposes that all 
Americans are actually 

Italian-Americans 
by 
virtue of food culture, 
much to the dismay, 
I 
imagine, 
of 
actual 
Italian-Americans. 
Before 
long, 
Brown 
dives into the actual 
dish, starting with the 
ingredients. To Brown, 
everything is important: 
the tomatoes, the garlic 
and even what kind of 
mortar and pestle to 
use.
What’s 
incredible 
about “Good Eats” is that 
the cooking is hardly 
the 
most 
important 
thing. 
Instead, 
it’s 
understanding 
how 
you’re 
cooking. 
For 
Brown, the technique 
and 
culinary 
science 
is both the beginning 
and 
the 
end. 
We’re 
taught why we spritz 
the chicken with water 
before pounding it out, 
to broil the pasta sauce 
alone 
before 
adding 
the 
chicken 
and 
to 
distribute 
everything 
evenly. 
Brown 
even 
whips 
it 
up 
“fancy 
restaurant 
style” 
in 
case you wanted your 
chicken parm to look 
prettier.
 Eats: The Return” 
may not be different, 
but that doesn’t mean 
it’s stale. In many ways, 
it feels like coming back 
to a relative’s house, 
except 
you 
haven’t 
seen them in a while 
and everything’s been 
updated. It’s still the 
same “Good Eats,” it’s 
just been modernized. 
At 
its 
heart, 
“Good 
Eats” 
is 
still 
about 
appreciation, not just 
for food, but for the 
work that goes into it. 
It is a celebration of 
learning, understanding 
and 
practice. 
“Good 
Eats” 
doesn’t 
pander 
to 
dramatizations 
or 
tension. It is as it is — 
relaxing, thorough and, 
above all, good eats.

ISABELLE HASSLUND
Daily Community Culture Editor

When 
summertime 
fades into 
remembering 
rather than 
making memories, 
it’s easy to feel 
stubborn to 
change.

