Meet Baron Ambrosia, "The Ali G of Food."

Through this Esquire blog post, I learned today about Baron Ambrosia, aka Justin Fornal, the "outsider foodie" whose Bronx Flavor public access cable show is -- well, surprisingly watchable. Sort of like Anthony Bourdain meets Paint, Exercise and Make Blended Drinks TV meets Don the Magic Juan. He also reminds me of Gary Vaynerchuk. Looks like I'm among the last to know about him, though: John Law guest-blogged about him back in January on Laughing Squid. More: NYT profile, Slashfood, Wikipedia. I hope some profit-hungry web video carpetbaggers don't come along and mess it all up for him by trying to slickify it. Keep doing your weird thing, Baron, keep it raw and real, baby. That cake don't need no icing! (thanks, Matt Sullivan)

[#1 posted by Celestyna, July 22, 2009 2:32 PM]

Hahaha.
I saw this guy on Cash Cab After Dark a few months ago. He was being dropped off at Beauty Bar.
He looked like fun people.

[#2 posted by marthagrace, July 22, 2009 5:55 PM]

I just started watching Bronx Flavor today, too, thanks to the NYT profile. Surprised at how well he pulls off the combination of ridiculousness and true respect for the food he's featuring. The in depth portrayal of the food producers themselves is refreshing, too. It's also a wake up call for those of us in New York to experience more of the Bronx (I know I've been guilty of ignoring everything besides Arthur Avenue).

[#3 posted by Anonymous, July 22, 2009 8:37 PM]

Mr. Ambrosia can probably manage his own affairs regarding this confounding internet thing.

But we do need to maintain the quaintness of it all, don't we.

[#4 posted by Anonymous, July 23, 2009 11:50 AM]

The Baron's talent bursted my burrito!

[#5 posted by uptofiftysixpercentless, July 25, 2009 8:03 PM]

Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMDsLTIuIQ8
This is by the same guy. It's a trailer for a film that might exist. Seeing that film is close to the top of my list of life-goals.