Jeffrey L. Smith (January 22, 1939 – July 7, 2004) was the author of several cookbooks and the host of ''The Frugal Gourmet'', a popular American cooking show. The show began in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, as ''Cooking Fish Creatively'' on local

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

station KTPS (now

KBTC-TV KBTC-TV (channel 28) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area as a member of PBS. Owned by Bates Technical College. KBTC-TV maintains studios and transmitter facilities separately in Taco ...

), where it aired from 1973 to 1977. It then moved to

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and finally to KQED in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

where it aired from 1984 to 1997. From 1972 to 1983, Smith was the owner and operator of the Chaplain's Pantry Restaurant and Gourmet Shop.

Early life

Smith was born in

, on January 22, 1939. He graduated from the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

(UPS) in 1962. In 1965, he graduated from

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, which ordained him a minister in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

. In 1965, he became a chaplain at the University of Puget Sound. In 1966, Smith married his wife Patricia "Patty" Smith, and had two sons, Channing and Jason. Patricia is credited with originating the nickname "Frugal Gourmet". Jeff Smith served as a chaplain at UPS from 1966 to 1972. In 1972, he left the university to open and run Chaplain's Pantry Restaurant and Gourmet Shop, a deli and kitchen supply store in Tacoma, where Smith and his students also offered cooking classes to the public.

Career

Smith began his television career in 1973 at KTPS in Tacoma with a show called ''Cooking Fish Creatively'', which ran from 1973 to 1977, and was then renamed ''The Frugal Gourmet''. In 1983, Smith moved to

, which took ''The Frugal Gourmet'' national in 1984. In 1991, Smith moved ''The Frugal Gourmet'' to PBS station KQED in San Francisco. The show aired for 11 seasons, with a total of 261 episodes produced. Over the course of his career, Smith published numerous cookbooks, such as ''Recipes from the Frugal Gourmet'' (1977), ''The Frugal Gourmet'' (1984), ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks With Wine'' (1986), ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American'' (1987), ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines'' (1989), ''The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors'' (1990), ''The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas'' (1991), ''The Frugal Gourmet's Culinary Handbook'' (1991), ''The Frugal Gourmet Whole Family Cookbook'' (1992), ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian'' (1993), and ''The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast'' (1995). Smith was regarded as a "genius" by some and as a "tyrant" by others. Kathy Casey, a ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'' food columnist and longtime friend of Smith's, described him as a knowledgeable and generous man who "...knew more about food and culture than anybody I know in the food world." She said he donated both money and time to charitable causes and helped individuals get started in the food industry, even after his retirement. Smith also had his share of detractors.

Irena Chalmers Irena Chalmers-Taylor (June 5, 1935 – April 4, 2020) was an author and food commentator/essayist, teacher and culinary mentor. Named "the culinary oracle of 100 cookbooks" by noted American restaurant critic and journalist, Gael Greene, Ch ...

, a faculty member at the

Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its main campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first to ...

and president of the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

, once described him as "the Frugal Gourmet, who is neither". ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' food and wine columnist William Rice wrote, "I've tried to cook his stuff, and let's say it was hit or miss. Some things worked and others didn't." ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' writer

Laura Shapiro Laura Shapiro (born June 20, 1946) is an American food journalist and historian. Shapiro was a dance critic for ''The Boston Globe'' in the 1970s and joined ''Newsweek'' magazine in 1984. She shifted to food writing during her 15-year tenure at ' ...

criticized him as "a prime example of prominent cooks who may compromise their integrity by being paid to recommend food products and kitchen ware." She cited ''The Frugal Gourmet Whole Family Cookbook'' as "especially shocking", calling it "the cookbook as infomercial". In a 1992 ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'' article,

Barbara Grizzuti Harrison Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (September 14, 1934 – April 24, 2002) was an American journalist, essayist and memoirist. She is best known for her autobiographical work, particularly her account of growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, and for her tra ...

ridiculed him as "a purveyor of patronizing poppycock ... conveyed with the kind of mock anger that is always a mask for real anger." Smith brushed aside such criticism: "Not many people read ''Harper's''," he said. "That's a very small audience." He continued, "People criticize me for enjoying good food when I use the word frugal. Frugal doesn't mean cheap. It means you don't waste your money. They haven't read my books. They don't know the meaning of the word."

Sexual abuse allegations

In 1997, seven men filed a civil lawsuit against Smith, charging him with sexual abuse. Six of them alleged that they were molested as teenagers in the 1970s while working at the Chaplain's Pantry in Tacoma; the seventh claimed that he was assaulted in 1992, at age 14, after Smith picked him up as a hitchhiker. Smith denied the allegations, and no criminal charges were filed, but he and his insurers settled the cases for an undisclosed amount in 1998. The litigation ended his television career, though he continued his writing and charitable work.

Personal life and death

Smith and his wife Patricia ("Patty") had two sons, Channing and Jason, whose wives were Yuki and Lisa. Smith died in his sleep of heart disease on July 7, 2004, at age 65.

Bibliography

* ''Recipes from the Frugal Gourmet'' (1977) * ''The Frugal Gourmet'' (1984) * ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine'' (1986) * ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American'' (1987) * ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome'' (1989) * ''The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother'' (1990) * ''The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas'' (1991) * ''The Frugal Gourmet's Culinary Handbook: An Updated Version of an American Classic on Food and Cooking (1991) * ''The Frugal Gourmet Whole Family Cookbook: Recipes and Reflections for Contemporary Living'' (1992) * ''The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian: Recipes from the New and Old Worlds, Simplified for the American Kitchen'' (1993) * ''The Frugal Gourmet Keeps the Feast: Past, Present, and Future'' (1995)

References

External links

Jeff Smith bio
at the Internet Movie Database
''The Frugal Gourmet''
at the Internet Movie Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jeff 1939 births 2004 deaths American male chefs American food writers American television chefs Drew University alumni Writers from Tacoma, Washington University of Puget Sound alumni Chefs from Washington (state) 20th-century American Methodist ministers 21st-century American Methodist ministers American United Methodist clergy Writers from Washington (state)