Sitting Down With Mr. Food

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Art Ginsburg, better known to millions of TV viewers as “Mr. Food.” I interviewed Art for the To Life, L’Chaim Show seen nationally on Jewish Life TV Tuesday nights at 8pm on DirectTV channel 366. When I say it was a pleasure I truly mean it! Off camera Art really is Mr. Food- that same happy, smiling personality you see on TV is the same guy you would meet at the grocery store. While many of us have watched him cook up simple but great meals on the air, I wanted to get to know a little of his personal history. Art was born in an observant Jewish home in Troy, New York. His father came from Europe in 1912 and his mother was first generation American. Art’s father was originally a cattle dealer and then a kosher butcher. Art’s face lit up as he told stories about making the rounds to local farmers to buy cattle but always being sure that he and his father would be home before Shabbos. Jewish food and Jewish holidays were always important in their home. Learning from his father Art became a kosher butcher in Troy and later he and his wife opened a kosher catering business. As much as Art enjoyed food he always had another passion- acting and singing. It was his lead role in “Fiddler” that Art credits for his TV career. The owner of a local store saw him starring as Tevya and asked him to do a local commercial for the store. Art showed up as Teyva for the commercial and it became a hit. After that more commercials followed and his first chance to do a cooking spot. That local success became the basis for what has been a forty year career as “Mr. Food.” Today Art is viewed across the country. Art has written over 50 cookbooks and still works at his test kitchen here in Ft. Lauderdale where he records his episodes. Always looking to reinvent himself and keep up with changes, Ginsburg now has a website, MrFood.com. that has one million daily followers. (Check it out for the best free recipes and tips.) Spending some time with Art I learned that he is very proud to be Jewish and has always maintained close ties to the Jewish community. We even spent a little time talking about how his recipes can easily be adapted for a kosher kitchen. Mr. Food is still a man with a mission- to teach people that great cooking can be easy and done with simple ingredients. He noted that this idea of “great, simple meals” is more important than ever because of the busy pace of life today. Interviewing Art was a real joy because he is a truly joyful person. He gave me a piece of advice: If you are lucky enough to love what you do, you never have to go to work. Art Ginsburg is a lucky man because he loves what he does. He is a joy to be with because he still remembers to be grateful to be able to do it! If you would like to see the entire interview go to youtube.com/tolifelchaim.