Quick Facts
Biography
- For other people with this name, see Adam Roberts (disambiguation).
The Amateur Gourmet, or Adam Roberts, is an American food and humor blogger who resides in Los Angeles, California.
Roberts, born in 1979, started the blog while a frustrated law student in Atlanta in 2004, and it was initially popularized after Roberts appeared on CNN with cupcakes resembling Janet Jackson's breast after the Super Bowl XXXVIII "wardrobe malfunction" incident. Roberts moved to New York in 2005, and published a book based on his blog in 2007.
The blog depends largely on Roberts' own public persona—the Boston Globe describes him as "skinny and nebbishy, with a nasally musical theater voice that would fit perfectly on NPR's This American Life" -- and combines irreverent accounts of Roberts' own cooking attempts with foodie essays and restaurant reviews.There are also short videos intended to be humorous, such as "Great Moments in Musical Theater Featuring Eggs." Roberts' roommates, friends, and romantic interests were regular characters from early on, but his eccentric family has been featured most prominently, including his celebrity-photographing parents from Boca Raton, Florida.
Roberts has also been the Food Network's official blogger for the competitive cooking program The Next Iron Chef, and in 2008 became the host of their weekly web show, the FN Dish.
In 2010, Roberts sold his first cookbook to Artisan, the publisher of such notable cookbooks as the James Beard Award-winning Ad Hoc at Home and A Platter of Figs. Roberts's book, Secrets of the Best Chefs, was published in October 2012.
Openly gay, he is the partner of screenwriter and film director Craig Johnson.
In 2015, Roberts left the world of food blogging and began work as a television writer on the ABC sitcom, "The Real O'Neals," starring Martha Plimpton and Jay R. Ferguson.