Posted on 02/15/2014 7:04:05 PM PST by RoosterRedux
The queen of Southern cuisine is making a comeback — and this time she's all business.
Paula Deen's newly formed company, Paula Deen Ventures, has secured between $75 million and $100 million of funding from private equity firm Najafi Cos, which is led by Book-of-the-Month Club owner Jahm Najafi. This latest enterprise will entail the restructuring of the chef's many brands, which include Paula Deen Foods, Paula Deen Restaurants, and Paula Deen Media.
“We know that the enterprise will be successful and valuable, as Paula and her team continue to bring quality products and experiences to her loyal fan base; and now we have a proven management team in place to build and lead the organization,” Najafi said in a statement.
New business deals are already on the horizon: The company is discussing possible partnerships with TV networks, retail chains and other partners, according to Paula Deen Ventures' chief executive Steven Nanula. The Food Network, which announced it would not renew Deen's contract last June, is not on that list.
This new company was formed less than a year after Deen, 67, found herself embroiled in scandal when she admitted to using the "n"-word and planning a "plantation-style Southern wedding" during a court deposition that went public last May. In the wake of those revelations, the TV chef lost at least 12 business deals, with companies like Walgreens, J.C. Penney and Smithfield Foods terminating her contracts.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.com ...
. . . and also an authority on spelling. Ahem. It’s “cuisine.” Sorry, I’m a schoolteacher. As a Southerner, I apologize for my effrontery. As for cooking, well, I did live up north for a few years and almost died of food poisoning several times. The rubberized calamari I didn’t expect in the Italian section of Boston almost killed me. Yes, my hat’s off to the Barefoot Contessa, whose “northern” cooking show is terrific, but she is easily just as fat as is Paula Deen. And yes, the blueberries and lobster in Maine were terrific, and I had a nice bowl of clam showder in Connecticut, but, good God! Do they even know what vegetables are? And the ever-present Italian eatery up north, with its calzones a la grease and sodium, would have sent me to an early grave had I not returned to my beloved South, which has always been a land of gracious plenty, and hospitality, green and verdant and full of health, homemade jams and preserves and grandmothers and root cellars. And besides, if my grandmother tossed a little lard into her homemade biscuits, who cares! There was no finer cuisine on the planet!
“Payula Deen is a retched human being.”
You should get that anger problem addressed.
Food Network; You cr@pped out.
Jesse Jackson supported Deen in this matter. Check an earlier post.
I don’t have an anger problem. I calmly stated a fact. You are angry at me, because I won’t go along with Jesse Jackson and Obama?
I wish her well, I wish I could get 75 to 100 mil-large for a venture, but in terms of the cooking guru's on the Food Network, I didn't get her, tried to watch but the ingredients turned me off. I agree it was too fattening, not that I am anti-butter, but I have my limits...
I learn so much more from "Triple D" watching Guy and all the other chef's tricks, herbs and spices, and combinations to experiment to my hearts content and come up with some interesting twist on sauces and rubs on my own....
Nah. I cook much better than she does any given day. Southern and Southern hemisphere.
And I bet to assuage her white guilt.
As Paula told Larry King one time “I am not a chef, I am a cook.”
Wretched - descriptive of those who let hate and ignorance drive their opinions.
The buffet at The Lady and Sons is a lower quality than the food ordered from the menu, significantly lower in my experience. In fact, the overwhelming majority of menu items are not available on the buffet.
The buffet at Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, the restaurant she owns with her brother, Earl "Bubba" Heirs, on Whitemarsh Island, GA, offers seafood and, in my opinion, is better than the one at The Lady and Sons in downtown Savannah.
Thx. I’ll try Uncle Bubba’s when I am next in Savannah.
No.
Lisa Jackson alleged that Deen's younger brother, Earl "Bubba" Heirs, made sexually inappropriate remarks, distributed inappropriate pictures to employees, and watched pornography in the office of Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, a restaurant owned by Paul Deen and Heirs.
Lisa Jackson was the restaurant's general manager.
Last year, I lived in Savannah from April through October, working on a project for a client. In Savannah, everyone seems to know everything about anybody who is old-school Savannah.
From what I heard, all of those alleged acts were consistent with Bubba Heirs' reputation.
Uncle Bubba’s is on Whitemarsh Island, on the Islands Expressway (80) between Savannah and Tybee Island (not far past the intersection of 80 and Johnny Mercer Boulevard). The parking lot is always full and the dress is casual.
Deen couldn’t bow, scrape, snivel, bawl, and beg hard enough when she went on her pathetic apology tour. I have zero respect for her.
I had the pleasure of meeting her when she came to a Super Storm Sandy relief center and brought 100 hams with her. She insisted there be no media or politicians and pitched in on the serving line. Great to see her rebound.
Exactly.
This would be like Dinesh D’Souza getting out of his legal tussle and landing a $100M movie studio deal.
You asked the million dollar question taking on the establishment. Deo Vindice
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