Judi Gallagher is not a breakfast person. She never eats it. She is not even a morning person. But still, when she has an early day of TV tapings and arrives at the John Karl Salon to have her hair done, the conversation will be about food.

This is a preview of Judi's whole day. She lives in the world of food, and it's a rare person who doesn't like to talk about food. Even more than love, food is the great human passion. You don't need love to live, but you do need food. When people talk about it they use the most passionate expressions that language can summon. "Sooo good..." "I love it..." "Heaven..." "To die for..."

Salon owner Richard Day is doing her hair. They discuss a recipe Richard prepared over the weekend. Something wasn't perfect. Like a TV cop on one of those autopsy shows, Judi questions him. Had he done this? Had he done that? After some deliberation, Judi decides it was probably the bitterness of the white wine.

Judi has a strong profile and is what is known as "a big girl." She is almost six feet, two inches tall, and her height gives her a considerable physical presence. Thin and fluid, she has the body language of a comedian. Her hair, to which Richard is attending at 8 a.m., an hour before the salon opens, plays an important part in her look. It is ash blond, long and can assume a variety of styles. Sometimes she suggests a Junior Leaguer. Sometimes a country and western star. Part of her role is that of a performer, and she has grown into it. At 45, she is now approaching her peak.

Judi is one of a new phenomenon, the channel-surfing celebrity. "It's hard to miss me," she jokes, and indeed it is. She's on SNN6 with Gulfcoast Cooking on Saturday and Sunday, on Channel 21 with Suncoast Cuisine on Thursday and Suncoast Cuisine Too! on Monday. (And there's another TV show in the works for Naples.) Then she does two radio shows on WIBQ on Thursdays. All this, plus the appearances she puts in at charity events, has made her one of the most recognizable faces in Sarasota.

The salon is coming to life. The employees are arriving and setting up. One eats a Danish. One combs out a wig. Richard and Judi discuss the finer points of pasta. "It's my drug of choice," Judi confesses. "I love, love, love pasta."

Judi makes a quick stop at her house, which is off McIntosh Road in the eastern part of Sarasota, to pick up supplies and five changes of clothes and arrives at the Chef's Table, a gourmet cooking supply and wine store off University Parkway. She carries all her supplies to a cooking demonstration area in back and begins to set up. Jim Ramer and Scott Anzalone also arrive with their camera and sound equipment. Once again the subject of food comes up. Jim has worked with Judi for years, and the three of them immediately start discussing a new restaurant.

In a matter of minutes everyone is ready to begin taping.

It quickly becomes apparent that each Gulfcoast Cooking segment is not just a cooking demonstration but also a theatrical challenge. Judi has two minutes to greet the audience, describe what she's going to cook, show them how to do it, throw in a cooking tip, then present the finished product, all garnished and looking delicious. For reasons having to do with the editing, she must do it all in one take. She does not use cue cards. Every step, every gesture must be carefully planned. She admits to lying in bed at 2 a.m. trying to figure it all out.

The first segment, shrimp and pasta, goes perfectly. A short break is taken, while the cast, crew and I devour the shrimp and pasta, then it's back to work, this time with a stuffed swordfish, also devoured. By this time I only eat half of mine, trying to save room for what's coming up next-chicken piccata.

But something goes wrong. Judi forgets the garlic, the parsley and the cooking tip. "How can I be so stupid?" she wails.

"Are you going to try it again?" I ask.

Fortunately she is, and this time it's to die for.

Judi has a rare couple of free hours in the afternoon, so we go over to her house, which is in a quiet family neighborhood. We have a snack of melon with prosciutto, olives from the olive bar at Whole Foods, flat matzo-like fennel bread, salsa heaped on small slices of Italian bread, three kinds of cheese, including a runny Camembert-and Diet Coke. I ask her how she manages to stay so thin, and she tells me she watches her carbs, although I never once during the entire day see any evidence of this.