Paula Deen

Paula Deen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American celebrity chef, former cooking show host, restaurateur, author, actress, and Emmy Award-winning television personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. She has published fourteen cookbooks. Though married in 2004 to Michael Groover,[2] she uses the surname Deen, from her first marriage.[3] Contents  [hide]  1 Early life 2 Restaurants 3 Books and magazines 4 Food Network and other television 5 Personal life 6 Other work 7 Awards and honors 8 Criticism 8.1 High fat, salt, sugar recipes and diabetes 8.2 Racial epithet controversy 9 Filmography 10 References 11 External links Early life Deen was born Paula Ann Hiers in Albany, Georgia,[4] the daughter of Corrie A. (née Paul) and Earl Wayne Hiers, Sr.[5][6] She grew up Baptist, and is still deeply devoted to her faith.[7] Her parents died before she was 23, and an early marriage ended in divorce. In her 20s, Deen suffered from panic attacks and agoraphobia. She then focused on cooking for her family as something she could do without leaving her house.[8] Her grandmother Irene Paul had taught her the hand-me-down art of Southern cooking; one of the only places she felt safe was at her own stove, making thousands of pots of chicken and dumplings.[9] She later moved to Savannah, Georgia, with her sons. In 1989, she divorced her husband, Jimmy Deen, to whom she had been married since 1965.[2] She was left with only $200[4] and money was tight raising both her kids and her younger brother, Earl (“Bubba”). She tried hanging wallpaper, working as a bank teller, and selling real estate and insurance.[9] She then started a catering service,[10] making sandwiches and meals, which her sons Jamie and Bobby delivered. Lady & Sons restaurant in Savannah, Georgia Restaurants Deen's home business, The Bag Lady, soon outgrew her kitchen. She first moved into the Best Western on Savannah's southside on Abercorn Street in 1991 with a restaurant called The Lady. In January 1996,[citation needed] Deen opened her restaurant, The Lady & Sons, in downtown Savannah, on West Congress Street. Within a few years, the restaurant moved to the old White Hardware building on Whitaker. USA Today named The Lady & Sons the "International Meal of the Year" in 1999. The specialty is a buffet of Southern "comfort foods."[11] Every buffet meal includes a salad bar and one dessert. Her sons are also involved in managing the restaurant, which is popular with tourists visiting Savannah.[12] In 2008, Deen opened another restaurant, the Paula Deen Buffet, at Harrah's Tunica Casino in Tunica County, Mississippi.[13] It has an entrance facade modeled on Deen's home in Savannah and features Southern cooking.[14] As of June 2013, the Paula Deen Buffet does not appear on Harrah's Tunica Casino's website list of restaurants.[15] In September 2009, Deen announced a new dessert line to be sold at Walmart including signature pies Apple Crunch Top, Dark Rum Pecan, Old Fashioned Fudge and Gooey Butter Cake bars.[16] In addition to these, Deen currently co-owns Uncle Bubba's Oyster House in Savannah, Georgia.[17] Books and magazines