Car wash magnate and former Knicks forward Charles Oakley is a man of many passions: Las Vegas brawler, Michael Jordan aficionado, and chef. And now, tough guy Oakley wants to cook for you in your home for free.
It's all a part of Oakley's on-going attempts to break into the world of reality cooking TV. A few years ago, he had a web series called "Oakley Cafe" (see clip here) which didn't really go anywhere. And now, he's launching "Oak In The Kitchen." The concept: Oakley will come to your house and cook for you, and all you have to do is pay for the cost of the ingredients required for the recipe. And he has a lot of his basketball buddies supporting him in the endeavor:
In an interview with Perishable News, he explained what his style is, and how his love for cooking developed:
I think cooking is easy in my range of what I do best. I’m not cooking like a European chef, but I’m told my food has a twist to it. I like to prepare healthy, delicious comfort food without a lot of fat.
My real interest in cooking really took off when I got to New York. I was living and practicing in Westchester. I got tired and didn’t want to eat out all the time, and I began experimenting and getting creative with my home cooked meals.
As my basketball career took off in New York and Toronto, I was starting to do more and more cooking on the side. In Toronto, I even did a few T.V. cooking shows. I’d invite the team over for Monday night football and a bite to eat. It got to the point where basically the whole team would hear I was cooking and they would all come over.
We'd imagine that it might be easier for him to get his own program if he were to pay his dues on one of the many, many reality cooking shows—but then again, you're risking quite a lot stepping into that world.
