Television producers have discovered that Central Texas is fertile ground for reality TV contestants. As a result, a steady stream of Austinites has shown up on reality cooking shows over the past year. This month alone, winemaker Don Pullum from Mason spent a few weeks cooking with Nigella Lawson on ABC’s The Taste and this week, food scientist and restaurateur Dr. Foo Swasdee and her 26-year-old Thai restaurant, Satay, are the subject of an hourlong episode of the Cooking Channel’s Restaurant Redemption. Contributor Wes Marshall and I spoke with them about what it’s like to see the story of your life edited for reality TV – and how the reality bug is contagious.

This article appears in January 31 • 2014.

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