Kevin Belton (born circa 1960) is an American chef, television presenter, author and educator. Belton specializes in the

cuisine of New Orleans The cuisine of New Orleans encompasses common dishes and foods in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is perhaps the most distinctively recognized regional cuisine in the United States. Some of the dishes originated in New Orleans, while others are comm ...

. He is the chef-host for ''Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations'' and ''Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

and serves as the resident morning chef for

WWL-TV WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). Both stations share studios on Rampart Street ...

. He also teaches cooking classes in New Orleans. Belton is also a former professional American football player.

Biography

Belton was born in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

around 1960. He is of African, Native American, French, and English heritage. His mother was a school teacher whose family lived in Martinique. His father's family is from Bordeaux, France. Belton grew up in the Uptown neighborhood. He attended Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary,

Brother Martin High School Brother Martin High School is a private, Catholic, all-male college preparatory school run by the United States Province of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was established by the brothers in 1869 as St. Aloysius Col ...

, and

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. Belton played college football at Louisiana State University and Xavier before injuries ended his career at San Diego Chargers training camp. Belton's first experiences cooking was when he was a child, around age six, helping his mother and grandmother in the kitchen. The first thing he learned to cook was

scrambled egg Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred, whipped or beaten together while being gently heated, typically with salt, butter, oil and sometimes other ingredients. Preparation Only eggs are necessary to make scrambled ...

s. It is from his mother and grandmother that he learned how to cook

cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

and Creole. Using his background he became a self-taught chef.

Career

Belton started managing the store at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Eventually, he started teaching classes. He has taught at the school for over 20 years. Prior to becoming a television chef, Belton regularly watched cooking television shows, including shows by

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, '' ...

Paul Prudhomme Paul Prudhomme (July 13, 1940 – October 8, 2015), also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef propriet ...

and Justin Wilson. In 1992, he participated in the local PBS affiliates pledge drive, reading listings from an auction board live on air. He started hosting pledge breaks, eventually hosting a Saturday morning cooking show. In 2016, Belton's show ''New Orleans Cooking with Kevin Belton'' launched on

WYES-TV WYES-TV, virtual channel 12 (VHF digital channel 11), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by the Greater New Orleans Educational Television Found ...

. Belton's second national television program, ''Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen'', launched in 2018. The PBS series showcases recipes including those created by his mother and grandmother, local traditional dishes, and dishes that represent the

melting pot The melting pot is a monocultural metaphor for a heterogeneous society becoming more homogeneous, the different elements "melting together" with a common culture; an alternative being a homogeneous society becoming more heterogeneous throug ...

culture of the New Orleans area, including those that meld Greek, South American and Vietnamese. In 2019, Belton was awarded the "Best Social Media" award by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters. The Association also awarded his PBS show ''Kevin Belton’s New Orleans Kitchen'' the "Uniquely Louisiana Award". In April 2019, his show ''Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations'' debuted on PBS and an accompanying cookbook was published. Belton currently serves as the Morning News Chef for

, also presenting television features for the station about local food culture. As of 2021, Kevin hosts "Cookin' Louisiana" on WYES, a Louisiana public television station.

Style

Belton specializes in the

. His recipes are intentionally simple, with the goal of making cooking non-intimidating for people interested in learning how to prepare New Orleans-style dishes. He does not use a food stylist for his cookbooks or television show, presenting each dish as it would be if the average home cook would prepare it.

Personal life

Belton lives in New Orleans and is married to Monica Belton. He rarely cooks at home. Some of his favorite places for take out in New Orleans are Royal China, Venezia and Central Grocery. He is an avid reader, especially

mystery novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

Weight Loss

Kevin Belton used to be overweight, and he was also pre-diabetic and had rising blood pressure. These complications informed his weight loss journey, and he eventually lost over 130 pounds in two years. The chef said he exercised every day with his wife and puppy Cookie Monster in a tweet. He also ate a low-carb diet. Kevin Belton also ate small meal portions.

Works by Kevin Belton

*with Rhonda Findley. ''Kevin Belton’s Big Flavors of New Orleans''. Layton: Gibbs Smith (2016). *with Rhonda Findley. ''Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen''. Layton: Gibbs Smith (2018). *with Rhonda Findley. ''Kevin Belton's New Orleans Celebrations''. Layton: Gibbs Smith (2019). *with Monica Belton. ''Kevin Belton's Cookin' Louisiana''. Layton: Gibbs Smith (2021).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Belton, Kevin 1960 births American television chefs American male chefs Chefs from Louisiana African-American chefs Louisiana State University alumni LSU Tigers football players Players of American football from Louisiana African-American players of American football 21st-century American non-fiction writers American cookbook writers African-American non-fiction writers Writers from New Orleans PBS people American people who self-identify as being of Native American descent Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American writers