7 Questions with Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen
7 Questions is a series of interviews with the culinary movers and shakers you want or ought to know better.
Have you ever gotten so drunk that you did something extremely ridiculous? Of course you have. Imagine if someone had gotten that crazy stunt on video. Now imagine if it then went viral on the YouTube. Well, that’s what happened to Hannah Hart and the worst part is she’s the one who video taped it and she even uploaded it to the world’s most popular video site, too.
The video in question was meant as a joke. A way of sharing a laugh with an old friend clear on the other side of the country. That was four months and 630,000 downloads ago. Today it is known throughout the Interwebs as Ep. 1: Butter Yo Shit.
So successful was that one drunken evening butchering a grilled cheese sandwich that eight more followed to create a web series called My Drunk Kitchen. The series as a whole has amassed a staggering 4.6 million downloads, again in just four months. There’s just something intoxicating about Hannah’s signature, “Hello!”
So what’s her secret? It’s no secret really, she’s damned funny. She also sports a nerdy sexuality that surely has fan boys throughout the country 
love-stricken. Well cool your jets, boys, Hannah supports the penis embargo. Or as she puts it “she’s a big ol’ homo.” It hasn’t stopped her from receiving nearly a thousand marriage proposals, and not just from undersexed geeks and Glee fans either but also from normal people.
When she’s not charming the masses in her quirky cooking (for lack of a better word) show or it’s companion series Advice from the Hart, Hannah is a proofreader specializing in Japanese/English texts for an international translation firm. According to her web site her free time is spent, “listening to music and doing Sudoku in cafes. She calls this writing. She enjoys long meandering walks, impromptu dance parties, and artisanal cheeses.”
Sure having a cooking show where the chef gets a little tipsy isn’t new (see Julia Child, Justin Wilson) but one where the host gets three sheets to the wind and the food is iffy? Yeah, that’s new. Hannah Hart is the coolest, hippest thing on “the online” right now and that’s why she’s appearing at VidCon 2011 this week in LA. But she’s neither too cool nor too busy to answer 7 Questions:
1. Have you ever cooked anything on your show that turned out surprisingly well?
Yes! The “America Day Pie Cakes” that I made for the 4th of July episode were edible! Not only that, they were actually tasty. I was shocked.
2. What would you say is the sexiest cheese?
Definitely Swiss. Such a tease.
3. The phrase “overnight sensation” is usually a misnomer but not in your case. How crazy have the past few months been?
The past four months since the first episode launched have been a bit crazy! I was just goofing off and sent my friend a “parody of a YouTube cooking show” and now…this! I’ve been really surprised and really flattered by the positive response.
4. What creates the best cooking drunk – wine, beer or hard liquor?
Champagne! Easily. The most giddy episodes are the ones where I’m bubblin’ on bubbly.
5. Any plans for a spin-off like My Stoned Auto Shop or My Tweeked Chiropractic Clinic?
Ha! All those and more are brilliant ideas. I definitely want to expand the kitchen concept into more comedy. But hopefully people will accept me as just “a girl who likes to make you laugh” instead of “the sloshed chick with the internet thing.” We shall see. Here’s hoping!
6. What can you tell me about My Drunk Iron Kitchen Chef?
It’s going to be FUNDERFUL. If you can get to SF in August, you should. Dates and info to come! The best way to find out about appearances/events is to sign up for the mailing list on the website. I promise no spam! Only monthly e-mails with info.
7. Do you think My Drunk Kitchen could translate well to the big screen a la Julie & Julia?
The real question is: Is America ready to handle such TRUTH? I’d like to think so.
[ad] Empty ad slot (#1)!
If you haven’t witnessed Hannah’s magic yet enjoy this playlist of her work:
ICA: Cora vs. Grieveson
There was no new Iron Chef this past Sunday so we’re stuck with a rerun this week. It is Battle: Butter between Iron Chef Cat Cora and challenger Koren Grieveson.
The judges for the episode were Isaac Mizrahi, Clint Arthur and Elizabeth Blau a group that was labeled by one poster at ChowHound as the “Worst Panel of Judges Ever.” It appears many ICA fans had issues with this episode suggesting it was fixed, declaring a secret ingredient like “butter” lame and calling it Battle Lesbian because both competitors are gay. I find this distasteful. The sexual orientation of the competitors is not at all important.
However, at least one site, Velvet Park (subtitled Dyke Culture in Bloom) celebrated the episode solely because of the contestants’ sexual orientation. Tell me, how is that any different than those who discriminate against people for the same reason? I can tell you; it isn’t any different. In fact it’s worse; it’s hypocritical. Bigotry is bigotry. Between a bigot and a hypocrite give me the bigot, at least you can count on them to tell the truth.
Any way Koren Grieveson is the chef de cuisine at avec in Chicago and according to the restaurant’s web site she, “developed her singular style and meticulous palate during a five-year partnership with Executive Chef Paul Kahan at Blackbird restaurant, where she served as Sous Chef from 1998 until 2003. Working with the collaborative chef, Grieveson was part of the team that launched Blackbird onto the world stage, earning the restaurant accolades for its extraordinary cuisine.”
And the winner is . . .
[ad] Empty ad slot (#1)!
a tie.
