Favorite/Least Favorite Food "Celebrities" (Part 2)

[Shamanjoe]

Favourites include:

Alton Brown

Paula Dean (just because I can't stop laughing when I watch her show)

Not so favourites:

Mario Batali (he just sounds so full of it)

Gordon Ramsey (he might be a good cook, I have no idea, I just can't get past the fact that he won't shut up!)

[Ce'nedra]

A 'celebrity' chef I recently discovered and will add to my favourites is Jo Pratt. I recently bought her book 'In the mood for food' and boy am I impressed! Her recipes are simple, easy to follow (perhaps a little girly also) and most importantly, taste divine! I really recommend the book for the everyday cook. Jo's recipes aren't groundbreaking -many are based on classics- but she gives a unique spin on them. Great, crowd-pleasing food.

Edited December 13, 2009 by Ce'nedra (log)

[nbaines]

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Although the content of his books and shows are good, I just can't stand him. He is far too scripted. nothing is, "off the cuff." He uses too many similies and metaphors to describe food, makes me cringe a bit.

[emilyr]

Am I the only one here who is a big fan of Giada De Laurentiis? I like Emeril too don't get me wrong. I just really enjoy Giada.

Nope! I like her, too. She's not overly cheery, seems comfortable on camera, and can obviously cook, which puts her head and shoulders above most of the rest of the female population of the FoodNetwork. I also have never had a dud with her recipes.

[Shel_B]

Chris Kimball of America's Test Kitchen, etc., is someone I don't like, nor do I like his magazines or his show in general. Paula Deen just rubs me the wrong way on many levels - her personality irritates me, the products she endorses are products I don't like or support, and her cooking (FRIED BUTTER! for example) turns me off completely. Rachael Ray annoys the heck out of me - I don't like her personality, her physical appearance, and the recipes and food she prepares. It's like fingernails on a blaclboard.

I used to dislike Emeril, but now that he's on Planet Green he seems to have toned down quite a bit, sticks more to cooking than showmanship, and has produced a few very interesting recipes.

I don't get the attraction some people have to Nigella Lawson. I don't dislike her, but I don't watch her show.

Most of the PBS cooking show chefs are fine, although there's some BBQ guy that, while his 'que recipes and techniques are OK, his personality annoys me. JoAnne Weir rubs me the wrong way even though some of her recipes are interesting. Julia and Jacques - love to watch them, especially when they make the same dish side by side and each put their own spin on it. Martin Yan doesn't interest me very much - over the years his schtick has become annoying.

[inventolux]

Barefoot Contessa and Paula Deen. They are ruining America and are setting one horrific example for tomorrows generations. Come on, you know i'm right!

[ethermion]

Top shelf:

I can't seem to give up on Jacques, Julia, and Jacques and Julia. I wish I had 1/10 the talent of either.

Hubert Keller. My kind of cook. Here's the deal, here's how to cook it, here's what it looks like. Very cool.

Sarah Moulton is also near the top for me, but I don't see her often in our market. Cute little (really little) petite girl too!

Tolerate:

Jose Andres. His cooking shows are more flash and travel than cooking, but I cut him slack because I live near his restaurants. His restaurants rock big time. And, his accent is funny. "Mmmmm. Berry, berry good!"

Puzzled by:

Eric Rippert. I suspect there is a good chef inside, but the guy is just a dullard tree stump on his show. Tasting fresh honey. "Wow, that's really sweet." Tasting artisan cheese. "Wow, you can really taste milk." Maybe they smack him on the head with a bat before each show? Or maybe the tele-prompter says "move stiffly to the left, then smile awkwardly."

Alton Brown. Seems to focus more on the "show" part of cooking show. Last time I saw him, I turned off the TV when some dude in a chef's outfit started playing harmonica. Might know his stuff, but doesn't know that not EVERYBODY is ADD. Who ever said cooking had to be funny?

Chris Kimball. I subscribed to Cook's Illustrated long ago, back when CI wasn't yet cool. But, they have really gone weird. I doubt Jacques watches their show. And the gadget ratings suck eggs. They don't like copper because it is too heavy and expensive. They like this gadget because it is cheaper, even though it is junk and falls apart after the 2nd use. They don't like the French Bron mandoline because it is too complicated??? Two levers? I love both of mine. Maybe just an overdose, but the overdose is SEVERE.

Ina Garten. I truly suspect she smokes a joint after each show, and everyone holds hands. Kinda creepy, and I don't like the idea of her barefoot.

Absolute dregs:

Lydia. I cook like my Mama. I don't want to cook like her Mama. Nor do I want to see here Mama, nor kids. And she needs to buy a wig.

Tod English. Everybody is his best friend. Not much about cooking. And he is a hunchback. Seems the most excited about getting on an airplane.

Paula Dee'in. Horribly irritating accent, and no, thank you, I don't want a "dollop" of mayo in my coffee.

Martha Stewart. I credit her with adding porno soundtracks to cooking shows. Nothing else.

Giada. Never trust a skinny cook. Double never trust an anorexic cook. I want to force feed her bacon and cheese.

Rachael Ray. I never tailgate, so I have no use for her cuisine. I also suspect she doesn't really know how to cook.

Just about everyone on Food Network.

Anyone who uses the word "Foodie".

And anyone who's face adorns kitchen malware at Kohls, etc.

[Aloha Steve]

Over the last 3 months on my airplane flights, there is a short that is shown called "Man vs Food." It is really a TV show on the travel channel hosted by Adam Richman. Now, I can enjoy very fine dinning but am not a food snob. I grew up eating deli sandwiches, egg sandwiches from diners, which we wrote about on EG, and do not always, in fact mostly do not eat finely made, small portioned food.

Watching this guy attack food and that is what he does, its in the title M VS F, is like watching a bloody boxing boxing match. I like a good boxing match, do not mind seeing a guy knocked out, as long as he is not permanently hurt. With this show, its like he KILLS his opponent. I don't care for the show.

Have any of you seen it ?

[Ono Loa]

i dont remember if this show is on the food network or the travel channel but there is this screaming b*tch hosting it .... its called ' Food Wars'. i think her name is Camille... what is it with this nutjob? the level of obnoxious has reached its zenith with her. MY GOD! she trying to be a female version of Adam Richman which works for him but not her!

another one..... Guy Fieri..... hes on all kinds of things now and hes become SO TEDIOUS ! everything is about 'taking the bus to flavor town' !

same old crap over and over again. everything has to have some stupid rhyme.... 'winner winner chicken dinner?' oh PLEASE! one time it was interesting..... but over and over again. SOOOO BORING !

ok.... i know hes popular...... but hes an irritant to me. and what an ego...his head is so big he could wear a bathtub for a hat. i also noticed that HE loves everything he says on the shows and even looks around for approval after he says them. LOL .. its ridiculous.

there are alot of shows i wont watch anymore because i cant stand the host.

just my 2 cents.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Ono Loa (log)

[rarerollingobject]

Favourites:

Julia Child. Everything, everything.

Ina Garten - I watch her when I'm stressed and a couple minutes taking in her somnambulistic speaking tones and her otherworldly use of butter, I'm calm as a Hindu cow. I'm also highly tickled by her Hamptonsness, her coterie of very camp on-show friends, and the fact that she seems to keep a guy around permanently to do nothing more than decorate the table..!

Jamie Oliver, but really only on Jamie at Home. Love the garden scenes and the freshness of his food, though his addiction to lathering MORE olive oil over every finished dish already liberally cooked with olive oil kinda ooks me out.

Rick Stein - he is such a roly poly cheery sort and I love his unabashed enthusiasm, as well as his occasional grumpy old man-ness. His personal life is somewhat..brow-raising, which sometimes makes me go "hmm" as I watch him, but hey, it's his personal life and I try to remember that it's none of my business.

Anne Burrell - we don't get her show where I live, but what I've watched online I've been quite taken by. I love her food.

Annoyed by:

Kylie Kwong. I'm Australian and her speaking voice is just too Australian to bear. Plus her chronic overuse of the word "beautiful" - everything is "beautiful", ginger is beautiful, these onions are beautiful, this chicken is beautiful; vinegar, for pete's sake, is beautiful..arghh. My boyfriend and I have a KK drinking game, where we must quaff every time she uses the word "beautiful" - needless to say we get quite drunk.

Ainsley Harriott - grinning idiot. SUCH a ham. And I'm otherwise a very big fan of ham!

Rachael Ray - it's her speaking voice. She's nasal, loud and yell-y.

Nigella - chronic and comedic over descriptiveness. Lentils are "crocodile-skin green", cocktail sauce is "blushing bride pink", the sound of the knife cutting iceberg lettuce is..well, you get the idea.

Edited April 10, 2010 by rarerollingobject (log)

[Toliver]

This is driving me nuts. I'm watching "Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian" on the FoodNetwork and, just like Rachel Ray, she is wandering around the kitchen and pantry gathering up the ingredients she needs for the dishes that she is making.

I don't get it. It's extremely inefficient for her to do this on-camera and her wandering around (just like Rachel Ray's) is taking up valuable cooking time on the show. I am sure other chefs on the network do the same (I think I've seen Guy Fieri do the same). Is this the new black?

Whatever happened to mise en place? This kitchen wanderlust isn't a good thing to teach people who are learning to cook from the show.

Or am I saddling these food personalities with too much instructional responsibility?

[Porthos]

This kitchen wanderlust isn't a good thing to teach people who are learning to cook from the show.

Or am I saddling these food personalities with too much instructional responsibility?

IMHO teaching became way secondary to entertainment on Food Network a few years ago ... sad but IMO true.

[Kouign Aman]

It's extremely inefficient for her to do this on-camera and her wandering around (just like Rachel Ray's) is taking up valuable cooking time on the show.

Bingo. You think of it as valuable cooking time. They think of it as airtime to fill.

If they didnt wander, they'd have to add an entire extra dish.

[JAZ]

Least favorite: Jane and Michael Stern. Whenever they're on The Splendid Table I have to turn it off -- they're probably very nice people, but they sound so smug and smarmy and full of themselves I can't stand to listen to them speak.

[violetfox]

Rocco is rapidly moving ahead of Gordon Ramsey, Guy Fieri and even Sandra Lee in terms of least favorite-ness. I do believe that once upon a time, he could and did cook.

Emeril is moving high up in favorite-ness - I love the show "The Originals."

[weinoo]

Have I mentioned Curtis Stone?

[Big Joe the Pro]

Can I put the same person on both lists?

The British version of Gordon Ramsay's 'Kitchen Nightmares' is great television. It's informative, occaisonally funny and I can pick up a few cooking tips as well.

On the other hand; the U.S. version repels me, and 'Hell's Kitchen' does as well. It makes me feel sad for the state of my homeland to watch what passes for entertainment there and angry at the producers of the show for aiming so low intellectually.

[Holly Moore]

Least favorite: Jane and Michael Stern. Whenever they're on The Splendid Table I have to turn it off -- they're probably very nice people, but they sound so smug and smarmy and full of themselves I can't stand to listen to them speak.

Major disagreement here - and not only for what the Sterns have brought to road food - like inventing the term and, for over thirty years, showing folks that a meal in a road side shack can be just as fulfilling as dinner in a multi-star restaurant. I've spent some time with both Jane and Michael and they are none of the above. They are good/kind hearted and their love of road food and joy at discovering a new road food destination is totally genuine.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Have I mentioned Curtis Stone?

He's kind of annoying. Unfortunately I know his S/O (went to school with her for 6 years) so I need to play nicely, at least on social media.

[lindag]

I'm a regular viewer of "The Chew". I never much cared for Mario Batali until he became a host there...he's quite funny and interesting and intelligent!

On the other hand, Michael Symon and his idiotic, hysterical laugh make me lose the will to live. Frankly, I just want to punch him in the nuts.

[Toliver]

Apparently Richard Blais has jumped into a PR machine and is starting to be seen in quite a number of shows on the Food Network and elsewhere.

This is my preemptive "Gosh I can't stand him now" post.

[MelissaH]

I kinda enjoyed watching Richard Blais in his original stint on Top Chef. But the more I see of him since then, the more of a cad he seems and the less I like him. I shudder to think of what's going to happen once he gets overexposed, as it sounds like is happening.

[GlorifiedRice]

Emeril needs to see this thread before blaming the President for his restaurants not doing good...lol

 

 

My faves:

Andrew Zimmern

Bourdain

Guy Fieri

Lidia

All the ppl from Cooks Country

Daisy Martinez

Pati Jinich

Biba Caggiano

 

Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger but only when they used to have their cooking show, not now

 

And even though they both annoy me:

Steven Raichlen

Rick Bayless

 

Hated:

Christina Perillo

Anyone on The Chew

Joanne Weir

Emeril

Scott Conant for his hatred of raw onions

Bobby Flay

Nadia G

[pufin3]

Floyd

Julia

Jacque

Anthony

Any of the original Iron Chefs

 

Dislike:

GF (intensely)

"BAM!"

Flay...he lost me forever when he jumped on the cutting board on ICs.

Todd English....would YOU ask him to babysit?

[GlorifiedRice]

oh i also love Kevin Dundon from Ireland...omg so dreamy.