Troy Johnson

Troy is a San Diego-based author, writer and TV host. He has a degree in Speech Communications and Poetry from California State University, Chico. He's the food critic for San Diego Magazine, and appears regularly as a judge on the Food Network series, "Guy's Grocery Games." He also co-hosts the series "Campus Eats" with Jenny Dell on Big Ten Network. Troy started as a rock journalist before turning to food writing. He was the music editor of San Diego CityBeat (2002-2007) and wrote bits and pieces for Rolling Stone, Spin, Mojo, Paper and Paste (along with Surfer mag). He also hosted and wrote an indie-rock TV show in San Diego called "Fox Rox" (2001-2007). The name of that show was forced upon him by tragic rhyming Americans. It did win two regional Emmys, however. And provided a live, in-studio outlet for some of Troy's favorite bands, including TV on the Radio, Blonde Redhead, The Fiery Furnaces, M. Ward, Calexico, Peaches, Low, Buzzcocks, Badly Drawn Boy (aka "Badly Drawn Boy"), Drive-By Truckers, The Hold Steady and many more (plus the first-ever TV performance by Maroon 5). Troy hosted a San Diego Padres pre-game show entitled "Outta Left Field" (2006-2007). In 2007, he switched to writing about food for Modern Luxury Media's "Riviera" magazine, and his humorous take on food has won 30-plus awards from Society of Professional Journalists and the San Diego Press Club. In 2008, Arcade Publishing released his comedic memoir about growing up with a gay parent ("Family Outing"). Again, that title was forced upon him. He lobbied for "Son of a Butch". In 2011, Food Network tapped him to host, write and narrate a new travelogue series called Crave (2011). Troy currently lives in Ocean Beach, San Diego. It's where hippies live. He is re-editing his book, "Son of a Butch," and developing TV shows. He posts regularly on comedy Twitter, and his tweets have been featured on CNN, Buzzfeed, Reader's Digest, Playboy, and other media outlets.