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The Land of OzIn the kitchen with a Baylor original
By Terri Jo Ryan
NAME: Michael "Oz" Osborne '76
CLAIM TO FAME: After eight years as a "demo" chef for H-E-B's Cooking Connection in Waco and as a teacher in
 McLennan
Community College's continuing education program, the former "in-home"
catering service entrepreneur is now a student at the acclaimed
Culinary Institute of America's (CIA) Hyde Park campus in New York.
HOME, COOKIN': Osborne, known
to his fans as Chef Oz, is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisana, and his
family moved to Waco in 1958, when he was four. His father, Dr. Harold
Osborne, was head of Baylor's sociology department for many years. His
mother, the late June Osborne, was an ornithologist and birding
columnist for the Waco Tribune-Herald.
Osborne learned how to cook out of necessity, he said. "My mom, my
grandmom, and my ex were all great cooks." But after he divorced in
1991, Osborne said, "I ate out every meal for about six months and got
real tired of that."
OUT OF THE FRYING PAN: A 1972
graduate of Waco's Richfield High School, Osborne started course work
at Baylor but dropped out before finishing in 1976 to sell boats for
about eight years in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and New
Mexico. His business ventures of the 1980s and early 1990s included
video production and advertising, performing as a morning radio show
sidekick, and freelance writing.
INTO THE FIRE: Osborne left
Waco in April for a three-year course of intense study at the CIA,
which bills itself as the "world's premier culinary college" and boasts
celebrity chef alumni like broadcaster Anthony Bourdain. "My philosophy
of food is fairly simple," Osborne said. "Fresh beats frozen or canned.
Slow is better than fast. Always think scratch. And take the best,
fresh seasonal ingredients you can afford and try not to mess them up."
In addition to promoting urban gardening, Osborne hopes to advocate for
better nutrition on the national scene to combat the obesity epidemic.
"We as a nation are suffering, bleeding, and dying from largely
self-inflicted wounds," he said. "We have to get through to the school
kids and right the ship."
BUNS IN THE OVEN: While he's left his Texas roots behind, Chef Oz plans to keep in touch. He writes a blog for the Waco Tribune-Herald, bringing his saucy sense of humor to greater audiences as he shares tidbits of food lore and recipes galore.
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