When Rachael Ray signed her newest “30-Minute Meals” cookbook at the Borders Books & Music in Ann Arbor, Mich., in November, 2,000 people showed up. Ray signed books until midnight, staying even after the store closed.
At the gigantic Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., three days earlier, thousands of fans filled three levels around the rotunda where Ray gave a cooking demonstration before signing books at the nearby Barnes & Noble.
“The only other time we got a crowd this big [for a food person] was for Emeril,” said a bookstore manager.
Everywhere she went, it seemed, rock star-size crowds awaited the bubbly, 35-year-old Food Network personality. More than 1,200 lined up around the block at the Sur La Table cookware store in San Jose, Calif., including teenagers with homemade Rachael Ray T-shirts.
Britain has domestic goddess Nigella Lawson, with her temptress looks and seductively staged cooking show. America has Rachael Ray, a perky single woman from Albany, N.Y., who talks fast, hates to measure and cooks food designed for the typical harried, distracted working American.
With her dark brown hair, plump cheeks and wide smile, Ray is the hot new darling on the food scene.
Two of her cookbooks–“Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals 2” and “Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals Get Togethers”–made the New York Times paperback advice bestseller list. Her Food Network shows–“30-Minute Meals” and a travel show called “$40 a Day”–are among the most popular on the cable network.
“It’s so surprising,” says Ray about her wild success. “I feel like J.K. Rowling. It’s so overwhelming, I can’t even wrap my head around it. But it’s really cool.”
Her concept–simple meals you can make in less time than it takes to buy takeout–is nothing new. What Ray projects is warmth and charm. She’s like a good friend–“your next-door neighbor, a menschy cousin,” as she puts it.
On her show, she yaks away non-stop, yanking stuff out of drawers, rummaging through the refrigerator, just like most of us. She uses slang and talks about her “mommy’s recipes.” She giggles. She drops stuff. Watching her cook, you feel like you could do that recipe too.
Her friendly demeanor and cute, girl-next-door looks are a hit with men and women. Especially men. Just ask Pat Coniff, owner of Heroes bar in Green Bay, Wis., where the guys watch her show every night. Coniff sent her a fan letter, and Ray saluted his bar in her “30-Minute Meals 2” book.
Men also undoubtedly enjoyed the photos of Ray in skimpy costumes that ran in October in FHM, which usually features stars such as Neve Campbell and Kim Cattrall on its cover. The magazine noted that Ray’s cooking show is popular with guys because “she doesn’t mess around with stupid ingredients, she doesn’t bother with measurements, and, like us, she’s a danger to herself in the kitchen.”
She, in turn, revealed that she keeps her figure trim by doing 200 sit-ups every day. “And I do 100 push-ups too. Man push-ups,” she added.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
