George Duran

George Duran is a chef and entertainer. Author of Take This Dish and Twist It and host of Ham on the Street and Secret Life of… on Food Network, Duran was born and raised in Venezuela, the son of Armenian immigrants. With such a diverse background, when it came time for college, New York City seemed the obvious choice.

So Duran left his beloved Caracas (and more importantly, his beloved mother’s home cooking) behind to attend New York University, where he majored in Communications Studies (and minored in begging his mother to send Care Packages of her home cooking). There, he commenced his all-out assault on a career in radio and TV production, culminating in 1996 - with an award for Best Radio Talk Show at the National Association of College Broadcasters for his work hosting HYE Time Radio show on WNYU.

He attended culinary school at the Ecole Superieure de Cuisine Francaise Groupe Ferrandi. While attending school, Duran created and hosted Pop Cuisine on France's Cuisine TV network. His unpretentious, quirky culinary style was a hit—garnering Pop Cuisine a nomination for a 7 d’Or (French Emmy) for Best Cable Show as well as a 2003 Silver Grape Gastronomic Award.

In 2005, Duran returned to New York, taking his career as a TV Chef to the next level—creating and hosting Food Network's popular Ham on the Street. The program showcased George’s keen interviewing and culinary skills—and determined once and for all that you can’t fry a fudge-cicle.

In October, 2008, George's first book, Take This Dish and TwistIt hit bookstore shelves. As colorful and funny as the chef himself, the book is packed with highly useful tips, extremely amusing anecdotes, and, of course, mouthwatering recipes that reveal his delectably unexpected take on comfort food. Duran's interests lie in French, Armenian, and South American cuisines as well as cinematography and video editing. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

On the web: Click Here

At the Festival: Take this Dish and Twist It