Du Jour: Amanda Simpson

LSU’s final home tailgate this Saturday gets a little more interesting with the addition of “food pornographer” and alumna Amanda Simpson, a 2005 graduate who cofounded the wildly popular Food Porn Daily website. Simpson’s companion cookbook of the same name was released earlier this fall, and she’s in the midst of a 28-city promotional tour that includes the LSU bookstore. “No matter where I’ve been, I’ve been saying I can’t wait to get back to Baton Rouge. I love it, and I love Louisiana,” says Simpson, a Virginia native, who says she was drawn to LSU to study French. After working locally in restaurants (including former hotspots Harvest and Rocket Fajitas) and as a mental health counselor for troubled youth in San Diego, Simpson says she realized promoting tasty food and developing recipes was her calling. Click here to read the whole story.—Maggie RichardsonTo read previous Du Jour features on local chefs and other culinary experts, click here.