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Lisa Garza Speaks!

Patient Dishers, we finally have our comments from Lisa Garza, our fave Dallas cheftestant on The Next Food Network Star. Follow the jump for her thoughts on last night’s show, her history, plus some info on those “Three C’s.” It’s a good read, and it’s unedited, just FYI.

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First I will address the very ugly ugly attacks by bloggers about my actual skills.
I have worked in the restaurant industry since the age of 16, in every single position, thats 16 yrs if your counting.
Yes, I do own and opperate the restaurant with my husband, who is the executive chef, and I run our catering business. I have apprenticed under him in the kitchen since the age of 17. I have paid my dues.
What you don’t get to see is that I made 4 recipes in 20 minutes and plated 10 plates without much help.
Second, my designer diva status-My niche in Dallas has become catering for detail oriented fashion clients such as Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Hererra, Barneys and so on. It is important for me to represent a certain style and maintain the utmost attention to every detail in order to get such accounts.I studied fine arts all through school and find that these skills are the same as food styling which is what fashion clients want most, that doesn’t make me a snob, just a good business woman trying to hustle a buck in an industry that was killed after 911.
WARDROBE FYI- Most of my clothes are vintage, bought at Barneys 75% off sale, or thank you gifts from my clients. I’m just as happy in a gap t-shirt and jeans, which is what I wear in my interviews.
“The 3 C’s”- Bloggers fav topic this morning- I wanted a variety show similar to Martha’s with a focus on these subjects-
COOKING EDUCATION= take the mystery out of fine dining, break it down and make it accesible.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH=any one who really knows me, knows this, I overcame a very difficult and abbusive childhood to be the strong ass woman I am today. I will never forget where I came from. I will never forget what it feels like to be hopeless and in need of love. I don’t throw change at the homeless, I hug them, I love them and I feed them.I am sick to death of all these beautiful celebs eating up the attention and not addressing real issues. I don’t think food TV does enough to educate the public on how hard we work to feed the homeless, how many millions of dollars are raised because we donate our time, food, and service to charity events, sometimes, during the busiest time of our year.
The only reason I agreed to be on the show was because I want to use the attention and possible celeb status to promote my purpose for living, to feed the homeless, care for impoverished children and make a damn difference in this shitty ass selfish world. I give a large ammount of my personal income to an organization that feeds and cares for impoverished children. Divas have hearts too, big ones.
CULINARY CRAFTS= how to’s for building a buffet table, home made gifts, arts and crafts that relate to cooking in some way. I want a Martha Stewart type show where I can show the public how to get high dollar presentation on a budget.
A lot of this is edited to look the way it does. You are not getting the whole story yet. If you want to see who I am then go to facebook, I am an open book. – Lisa Garza