Alison

Alison Roman Wants You To Use Better Kitchen 'Materials'

From left: Eunice Byun, Alison Roman, and David NguyenEmmanuel Hahn

Plenty of folks have things go viral. Everything from YouTube videos to the occasional unfortunate article blows up from time to time. But recipes tend not to inspire quite the same level of devotion.

Unless they’re by Alison Roman.

Alison's recipes in The New York Times are so beloved that some inspire devoted hashtags and make people wax poetic. Her work is straightforward, always delicious, often economical, and just far enough off the beaten path.

Now, she’s using her cult following to show off her new favorite kitchenware brand, Material.

Alison gets sent lots of products for potential endorsements - she has nearly two hundred thousand Instagram followers - but she didn't feel compelled to work with any of these brands until she was sent some Material knives.

Alison was gobsmacked by how great they were, and when the team approached her about becoming a strategic advisor, she jumped at the chance. The difference, she says, is all in the quality and philosophy: “I like that it’s a less-is-more approach. That very much resonates with me and my attitude towards cooking in general. They’re not trying to reinvent the wheel or give you more stuff to worry about. Material’s giving you the stuff that you need. It’s like, you need a kitchen tool, we’re going to make it look good and function well, and that’s that. It's a no b*llsh*t approach, which I really appreciate.”

Alison's own work follows a similar idea - she describes her recipes as "highly cookable" - and her book, Dining In, is full of tricks for using things you'd usually waste (kale stems!), simple but novel ideas (anchovy butter!), and hacks to make your life generally better and tastier. In short, her stamp of approval is a big deal.

Material Founders David Nguyen and Eunice ByunEmmanuel Hahn

But it looks like Material deserves it. Founded by Eunice Byun and David Nguyen, veterans of the fashion and beauty world, the company was born out of a love of both food and design. I spoke to Eunice about the brand, and she said that as the pair began to experiment more in their kitchens, they discovered that, "there was a disconnect between the passion that so many people share with each other through food and the tools and products that they utilize to cook. I think because we both come from industries with such shared love of products, we wanted to bring that same kind of connection into the kitchen. Since we launched last year we've seen that message resonate. There's a desire for home cooks to have access to better quality, long lasting stuff, but ultimately people want to feel a sense of pride and joy when they pick up their knife or their whisk."

In order to position themselves as a happy medium between luxury kitchenwares and the kind of tools that get shoved in a drawer and ignored for years, Material has chosen to make just a few things, and make them well. Unless you're a professional chef, you probably only need three knives: one chef's knife, one paring knife, and one serrated bread knife. So that's all the knives they make. Do you really need more than one slotted spoon in your kitchen? Probably not. But you do need one.

Material's "Iconics" CollectionMaterial

During our interview, Alison was in the midst of making herself some eggplant. There are rhythmic chopping noises throughout the recording, and when she's not cooking for work, she's making snacks for herself or thinking about how to improve on her last idea for roast chicken. Alison clearly cares about making sure her readers know that to make great food, "You don't need a ton of equipment. You don't need really fancy or expensive ingredients. You also don't need superlative knife skills. People have been doing this for centuries." Owning a few good things is enough.

Alison and the Material team are going to keep working together, and getting to keep saying what she already believes in general about a brand she believes in is a bit of a dream for Alison. Pretty soon, she hopes to get to design a tool with them based on something she already uses. And for her, nothing is better than that.

Whistle Taps Refinery29’s Alison Meyer as VP of Marketing

Whistle has hired Alison Meyer, previously with female-focused Refinery29, to head up brand-marketing solutions for the male-centric digital media player.

As VP of marketing at New York-based Whistle, Meyer will lead partnership marketing for the company’s slate of original programming and branded content. She reports to Whistle president and COO Michael Cohen.

Meyer’s appointment comes on the heels of Whistle’s expansion beyond its sports roots into original entertainment with the acquisition of digital studio New Form from owners including Discovery, ITV, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. Launched in 2014, Whistle was originally called Whistle Sports and created a network of aggregated sports video content targeted at young men. With the addition of New Form, it’s added slate of premium original scripted and unscripted content — giving Whistle a wider audience and partner base.

Most recently, Meyer was VP of marketing solutions and client services for Refinery29, where she built the company’s global branded content business working with clients including CoverGirl and Revlon. Prior to joining R29 in 2012, she worked in sales roles at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Condé Nast’s Vogue.

“Alison has been and continues to be a passionate advocate for media brands like Whistle who are cultivating positive and accessible representations of today’s generation and we are delighted to have her join the team,” Cohen said in a statement. “Her ability to build innovative, purpose-forward and successful collaborations with brands and partners is unparalleled and aligns perfectly with our content strategy.”

Commented Meyer, “Whistle’s growth and evolution into premium content provides so much opportunity to collaborate with the right marketers, and that’s why I’m so excited to step into this role.”

Whistle has raised over $100 million from investors including Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo, Aser Media, Liberty Global, NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Tegna, Beringea and Emil Capital.

Hugh Jackman and Alison Hammond get flirty on This Morning ahead of Birmingham show

Birmingham-based TV presenter Alison Hammond famously had a date with Hugh Jackman on the set of This Morning a couple of years ago.

He was on the show ahead of the release of his final Wolverine movie, Logan.

And now Alison has met the Hollywood star once again, this time inviting him to her jacuzzi back in Birmingham during a very flirty chat.

Jackman was back in the studio to talk about his new one-man solo tour Hugh Jackman coming to Birmingham on first world tour - how to get tickets

Alison - who admits to having a huge crush on the actor - pleaded with The Greatest Showman star to 'promise his love.'

She said: "Last time we had a date, I thought we had something special.

"Obviously we’ve had Valentine’s Day, and you’re like six days late.

"Look at this - I’ve got wilted roses, the champagne had to go. You’re six days late!'

Jackman responded with: "I promise you love in my way. Can you accept that or not?"

Watch Hugh Jackman beam with excitement as he talks about UK tour  

© ITV Alison Hammond flirting with Hugh Jackman in 2017

Hugh Jackman's secret seven-minute workout routine to get shredded  

He added he was "so excited" about the Hugh Jackman coming to Birmingham on first world tour - how to get tickets - which calls at Birmingham's Resorts World Arena on May 27 and 28, 2019.

Get tickets for Hugh Jackman's tour at the Ticket Factory bookings page

He said: "I haven’t performed on stage here for 21 years, so to come back doing this, it’s my dream job.

"That is my happiest place, work wise."

Alison responded: "And you’re coming to my hometown Birmingham, I’ll come to see you by the way' - to which Hugh teased: "But I’m not performing, I’m just coming to see you!"

She said: "I thought we were going to keep that secret?... I’ve got a jacuzzi by the way!"

Hugh Jackman coming to Birmingham on first world tour - how to get tickets  

Jackman has become a world record breaker because of his multiple performances as X-Men character Wolverine.

Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief of Guinness World Records, presented the star with a certificate for having the longest career as a live action Marvel superhero after portraying the metal-clawed mutant for 16 years.

Jackman exclaimed: "That is officially amazing!"

© ITV/This Morning Hugh Jackman and Alison Hammond during their date on This Morning in March 2017

Alison Hammond shocks This Morning viewers by doing unthinkable with bacon roll  

Jackman holds the record with fellow X-Men star Sir Patrick Stewart.

Both have had careers as Marvel Comics characters that span 16 years 228 days in the X-Men film franchise.

They made their first appearance in X-Men in 2000 and their final appearance in Logan in 2017.

Speaking via video link, Sir Patrick Stewart, 78, said: "I have discovered that you and I are now in the Guinness Book of Records, congratulations my friend there's another thing to hang on a wall."

Below, Alison Hammond in hilarious weather map mishap:

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Hugh Jackman has also revealed that Robbie Williams will be joining him on his world tour.

The actor is hitting the road in May for the arena tour which will see him perform songs from his film The Greatest Showman as well as tunes from Les Miserables and other Broadway classics.

Get tickets for Hugh Jackman's tour at the Ticket Factory bookings page

He told Capital's Marvin Humes that Williams would be joining him at some stage.

Hugh Jackman to open Brit Awards 2019 with The Greatest Showman performance  

Discussing which artists he would like to take on tour with him, Jackman said: "I'm a big fan of having guests on tour, concerts should feel like something happened that night that couldn't happen anywhere else.

"So, I don't know if I should say, but Robbie's going to join me at one point."

Jackman was speaking to Capital's Humes on the Brit Awards red carpet.