Damon Lee Fowler is a nationally recognized authority on Southern cooking and its history. He was born in north Georgia and grew up in upstate South Carolina. After receiving a Master of Architecture from Clemson University, he practiced architecture for more than a decade before turning to food writing, teaching, and culinary history. He is the author of six critically acclaimed cookbooks: Classical Southern Cooking: A Celebration of the Cuisine of the Old South which was nominated for two Julia Child cookbook awards (including the Jane Grigson award for scholarship) and a James Beard Foundation award; Beans, Greens, and Sweet Georgia Peaches; Fried Chicken: The World’s Best Recipes; Damon Lee Fowler’s New Southern Kitchen; Damon Lee Fowler’s New Southern Baking and, most recently, The Savannah Cookbook.
He has also written historical commentary for three historical cookbooks, was recipe developer and editor for Dining at Monticello: In Good Taste and Abundance, and his work has appeared in many national publications, including Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Relish, Cornbread Nation (a journal of the South’s best food writing), The Charlotte Observer, The St. Petersburg Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Southern Voice.
Active in both national and local culinary circles, Fowler was a founding board member and past president of the Southern Foodways Alliance. He lives in Savannah, Georgia, where, aside from his work as a food writer, lecturer, cooking teacher, and culinary historian, he is the featured food writer for the Savannah Morning News.
