Favorite/Least Favorite Food "Celebrities"

Lima Bean · July 14, 2007

not sure I agree about eric...is it just because he's friends with AB?

limabean

i keep adding favorites...
eric ripert
jaques pepin
(mainly because you people keep reminding me of them.)
as far as the whole ab snub. that sucks. and if the others in that thread speak true he's an ass to others as well. which really really sucks. because his show and books are informative and clever and useful. and he did a great q and a on slashdot (the only site i read as much as this one) that put him onto the really like list. but if his personality is that reprehensible... wow now i'm torn.
anyway here is the link to the slashdot q & a http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?...=thread&tid=129
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Shel_B · July 17, 2007

I am watching 30-Minute Meals (I know.....but I have the sound turned off) and note that Rache is showing off her <ahem> cleavage in some low cut black top. Perhaps we will soon see her in a bikini doing a 30 minute Hawaiian luau, with special pineapple upside down cake by Sandra Lee.
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http://www.torontopics.com/co/rachel2.jpg

Shel

hummingbirdkiss · July 17, 2007

almost all my favorite food celebs like my favorite rock stars are dead :sad:

guess I should be grateful to have had them at all !!!

racheld · July 22, 2007

Julia

Pepin

Tony B

Mario---why do I always think of a hungry Aslan, chopping and tossing and slurping up noodles? His bright-eyed, lusty joy in cooking and eating is a marvel to behold. And he wants YOU to enjoy it, too.

Lidia

Ming

Marcia Adams---I could listen to her read the phonebook, and will never forget the chocolate-dipped-balloon tulipes.

Nigella (though I DO wish they'd give her counter-space---it's so strange to see someone cutting and measuring ON the stove burners)

Jacques T

They all have a voice of their own. And what a widely divergent bunch they are---from the Grande Dame and the Maitrechef Extraordinaire to a wide-ranging, hard-drinking, try-anything-once (twice if it's 100-proof or tasty) guy.

They, Sarah, the TFL, along with Jamie and Ina, as well as the new face on the block---Ellie with the gentle manners and a non-pushy way of showing healthy food---are people I'd watch over and over, though only a few are people I'd be comfortable next to in the kitchen.

They all get a :wub: in my cookbook.

Midrange (as in OK, they're on---let's have a look):

Martha---loved all the old shows, but the new one is a cross among The View, The Tonight Show and a peek at my glorious lifestyle. But I still look in occasionally.

Giada

Rachel

Emeril

Paula (though that Paris vacation thing was WAY scary---flaunting her boobs at the poor butcher who merely uttered the word Bresse in referring to chicken)

Nathalie, though the wax-paper spillage of sugar and flour over burners, floor and self has probably accounted for five minutes per show, ad infinitum. And a chef with such talons---trying to peel an onion with a BIG chef's knife----eeeewww!

They rate a :blink: , with perhaps a :shock: and an occasional :cool: thrown in.

JUST CAN'T WATCH:

Alton---the science of it, the reasons and the costumes and the sheer I-know-stuff-you-don't attitude. And now I TIVO Iron Chef, just to FF through his inane talk and facial expressions. Someone PLEASE enlighten him about TAN-gine.

(But that lemon-meringue pie bed was WAY cool).

Guy---he had to COOK to win, right? Now it's the Guy Gobbles show, with a lot of chatter about greasy stuff, culminating in a huge bite. His napkin usage alone could account for an acre of forest.

Rocco. I just cannot speak.

That Ishbel lady who was on Epicurious---what a conceit, and what a marvel she lasted so long. She visited a "celebrity cookies" shop, picked up a Martha Stewart cookie, threw it down and exclaimed, "My RYE-val!!!" As if.

Ashley

Gordon Elliott when he's invading other people's homes. That whole Iron Chef Cooks Leftovers fiasco will haunt him to his grave. The only thing that saved him from Disgrace of the Year was Bobby's climbing onto the cutting board.

:sad: :angry: :unsure: and :raz: to most of these.

And in a league of her own, an acquired taste, like beer or olives or caviar:

Sandra Lee.

I like her. She's polite and perky and always in a good mood. I watch as she chops and adds and snips packets and marinates with a bottle of vinaigrette. She sips and swallows, devoting to a cocktail the care and anticipation of a diamond cutter, swirling that 'tini in the pitcher with the fervor of a star-crossed lover.

She mixes and stirs, dumping cake mix and gravy powder and taco seasoning with mad abandon, her flowing, silky sleeves draping dangerously close to the stove burners. She stands unaproned three inches from a skillet of frying chicken, her cost-more-than-my-whole-wardrobe blouse unscathed through the fray.

She spends endless hours in crafts shops, gathering up the red plastic buckets and ostrich boas and piano-key plates necessary to complete the tablescapes; ribbon and tassels abound, with nametags written on everything from avocados to zebra-striped rocks.

And I love the fairy-tale kitchen, magically re-arranged for each viewing according to scheme and theme---a yellow-papered greeting on a stormy Monday night when you can't think WHAT to thaw for dinner; a bright red seaside arrangement of an entire coral bed to get you through the malaise of the moment, and a pink froufrou of tulle and frosting bespeaks the little girl in all of us too-grownup women.

So she doesn't really COOK---neither do quite a few of the above, and I like her.

She BRIGHTS me.

jsmeeker · July 23, 2007

I've added a whole new crop of cooking shows on PBS to my Season Pass list on my TiVo. I'm getting exposed to people I haven't seen before (or didn't watch much of previously)

Ming Tsai -- I actually like the concept of the "master recipe" (which is usually some sort of sauce or sauce base) which then gets applied to a few different dishes. He also brings in guest chefs.

Hubert Keller -- This guy is probably doing the most elaborate stuff out of all the shows I currently TiVo. Lots of steps and fussy preperations. Lots of ingredients. It all looks great. But man, it's a lot of work.

Paul Prudhomme -- I TiVo this still, but really don't watch it. Dunno what exactly it is, but I just don't get motivated to watch it.

Rick Bayless -- He's great. I need to get one of his books. I really should be cooking a lot more Mexican stuff considering I live in Texas. Might give me the motivation to do some shopping at grocery store target towards the Hispanic population.

Mark Bittman -- Not a chef, but I enjoyed is previous series Bittman Takes On, and now I am liking The Best Recipes in the World. It's a lot more "food travel" show then straight up cooking. I get to see a lot of stuff I other wise would not see.

mcohen · November 20, 2007

i really cannot stand alice waters. there, i said it. she gives off this really unpleasant 'let them eat cake' attitude.

when she was in chicago at a cubs baseball game, she sneered at the delicious hot dogs.

or, when she's asked how people in chicago can follow her philosophy when there are no local available greens in the snowy winter of chicago, she answers that those people should just build greenhouses.

at this point, she's like that old, senile uncle at thanksgiving dinner who spouts off racist stuff but doesn't understand why that's no longer acceptable.

gfweb · November 24, 2007

Absolutely right, Alice Waters seems to be FOS.

et alors · November 29, 2007

Absolutely right, Alice Waters seems to be FOS.
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Mixed feelings on this one. Of course we in California are spoiled with local goodness, and have no excuse for eating out of county much less out of country. That said, too many people use weather as an excuse for not trying. Build greenhouses; they do it in France, Spain, Italy... . Try to eat in season, it can be done even in the boring months. Try harder; if you don't then global warming may make it very easy to grow strawberries in February in Chicago. :\

I've grown very fond of Hubert Keller as well. The production values on that show are grim, though.

Katie Meadow · November 29, 2007

What a great forum for spouting off about chefs, even if we know next to nothing about them! I don't have cable or food channel but I have plenty of opinions and plenty of time since I fractured my elbow, have restricted driving capability, can't open most jars and can slice and dice only soft vegetables or television personalities. So here goes (only the living):

Lidia: top o' the heap, queen bee, wish she was my mother. How does she keep from splattering and dribbling on those silk blouses?

Pepin: what's not to like, especially since Claudine has retired or gotten a job on her home planet or whatever. And I love his life-long friend too, whatever his name is. Also it's sweet that he keeps that little stuffed cat around.

Bourdain: only seen him a coupla times but yes, he's reckless and he's hot. Points off for smoking, though; I'd never kiss him. It's hard to say which will happen first, getting poisoned or being hooked up to an oxygen tank.

Bayless: he's very strange, isn't he? Sort of compelling and a little weird at the same time, but I like the way he swoons over one little oyster. His food is appealing and he would be fun to eat with on the playa. Major points for elevating the food instead of himself.

Chiarello: smarmy, arrogant and sexist.

Flay: maybe not so smarmy, but he seems awfully taken with his own cuteness. I'm indebted to him for his "cowboy steaks" recipe, though.

Batali: never seen him on tv, but I think I might like him. He must have a sense of humor about himself, or he wouldn't wear shorts and orange plastic footware. I cook a lot from Molto Italiano. Is he really going tete a tete with Gwyneth? Now that's bizarre.

Nigella: my husband finds her awesome and pays no attention to what she cooks. I am not wild about her recipes, but she actually comes across as rather straightforward--or at least she used to.

Jaimie O: he looks and acts like he's 14--not that that's necessarily a bad thing, of course, but he seems to be getting sillier now that he's on all the talk shows. Hard not to like him, though. Endearing, infectious enthusiasm.

Daisy: not very many fans here? She seriously loves her own cooking in a nice way and her food is homey and not at all fussy. I'm sure I would like whatever she cooked, but I probably wouldn't cook it myself.

Giada: never seen her except a photo. She smiles and wears tight sweaters. Can she cook?

Rachel: well of COURSE I'm saving her for last. I've only watched her a couple of times but she is definitely the most irritating person on tv. I cringe when she says the Eword. As far as I can tell she usually makes variations on sloppy joes, the main ingredients of all her dishes being ground chuck, lots of cheese and prepared sauces because "I know you're as busy as I am." Quick, where's the remote?

mcohen · December 1, 2007

Hate:
Alice Waters - her constant whining drives me insane. And her fixation on how everyone in the world needs to eat only locally made foods from small producers drives me nuts. That's great when you live in the Bay Area, and I certainly appreciate the opportunity to take advantage of it, but she doesn't seem to realize that it isn't exactly a practical lifestyle if you live in say, Cleveland.

As Alice Waters would condescendingly inform you, all you need to to is just build yourself a greenhouse and then a hoophouse.in your backyard...

I've practically had wet dreams about publicly debating her on all her ridiculous little food philosophies and taking her down in front of a sea of onlookers.

If she ever got in a real debate, she would be absolutely get destroyed.

But, we never get to hear how ridiculous she sounds cause fawning interviewers never include the stuff she says in her interviews where she comes off as a crazy loon. Try listening to an unedited speech or interview...

For example, in one interview, she was opening ridiculing those who made the Midwest argument by restating that argument in a whiny, falsetto baby voice. She didn't have a really good answer for that so she just mocked and ridiculed those who made that argument. But, when the interview got printed, there was no mention of any of this...

Peter the eater · December 2, 2007

This is such an entertaining thread to read, so much energy, so much anger, not so much love. . .

I just watched Anthony Bourdain No Reservations in Hong Kong last night and I must say his food shows are the very best I have ever seen. Maybe I'll change my mind in the future but I always learn a lot and laugh out loud. His ability to put total knobs in their place while acknowledging the importance of everyday people and their great food is always impressive.

Also likes: Jacques Pepin, Charlie Trotter, Alton Brown, Mario Batalia, Heston Blumenthal, and those crazy kids making cakes in Baltimore.

violetfox · December 2, 2007

Like:

Mario Batali - most informative, least insulting to viewers' intelligence of all food shows

Ming Tsai - blew my every preconception and experience of "fusion" clear out of the water

Bourdain, of course

Jacques Pepin - love his beautiful new cookbook

Alton Brown - not so crazy about his hosting on ICA, though

Jamie O - his delivery can be too much, but I really like his recipes

Alice Waters - shifting my focus a little at home from lots of involved cooking on work nights to selecting great ingredients and not messing about has made my life a whole lot better

Emeril - without a live audience!

Martin Yan

Dislike:

Rachel Ray - does Dunkin Donuts seriously think that plastering larger-than-life posters of the grinning "Rach" cause passersby to do anything other than flee in horror?

Paula Deen - really wanted to like her, really tried - but her show has a rapidly increasing tendency to produce actual nausea

Bobby Flay - no doubt at all tht he can cook, but I find him unwatchable

Rocco - still not sure whether it's all a joke or nearly a tragedy

Sandra Lee - makes "Rach" look like a genius chef

I'm amazed that no one has mentioned the horrible "Mr. Food!"

MomOfLittleFoodies · December 2, 2007

My lists, keep in mind that I'm a suburban housewife who likes to cook, but that I'm not professionally trained in culinary arts, so I'm not hardcore foodie.

Likes, in no particular order

Ellie Krieger

Lidia Bastianich

Julia Child

Jacques Pepin

Mario Batali

Jacques Torres

Jaime Oliver

Anthony Bourdain

Alton Brown

Martin Yan

Sam Choy

Tyler Florence

Ina Garten

Giada

Mollie Katzen

TFL

Ming Tsai

Dislikes

Michael Chiarello

the Semi Ho and her wannabe, Robin Miller

Christina Pirello

Christopher Kimball

tupac17616 · December 2, 2007

Dislikes
the Semi Ho

You have just made my day :biggrin:

MomOfLittleFoodies · December 3, 2007

Dislikes
the Semi Ho
You have just made my day
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I can't claim that as an original... originally saw that term applied to SL over at televisionwithoutpity

tastykimmie · December 5, 2007

i keep adding favorites...
eric ripert
jaques pepin
(mainly because you people keep reminding me of them.)
as far as the whole ab snub. that sucks. and if the others in that thread speak true he's an ass to others as well. which really really sucks. because his show and books are informative and clever and useful. and he did a great q and a on slashdot (the only site i read as much as this one) that put him onto the really like list. but if his personality is that reprehensible... wow now i'm torn.
anyway here is the link to the slashdot q & a http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?...=thread&tid=129
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more faves:

caio italia - maryann esposito

grilling with george hirsch

b. smith with style

faves:

Paula Dupree

Paul Prudhomme

Justin Wilson

Caprial

Jacque Pepin with his daughter (i forgot her name) :blink:

Julia Child

Edited December 5, 2007 by tastykimmie (log)

tastykimmie · December 5, 2007

But in this era of reality TV, Aunt Sandy has the only remaining sitcom.
Take a NY strip, melt chocolate chips, add a taco seasoning packet, pour over NY Strip, put in a slow cooker for 6 hours?
Hilarity ensues!
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:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :raz:

zpzjessica · December 6, 2007

katie -

you might be interested to know that tony has quit smoking since his daughter was born :smile:

chappie · December 6, 2007

More flashes in the pan than celebrities, but I'd name Ilan from Top Chef II, with Betty as a close second.

Jane Die · December 13, 2007

I :wub: Rick Stein.

JanMcBaker · December 14, 2007

Yikes! I can't believe it took me so long to remember these guys! From the syndicated, never ready for prime-time cooking shows, came Larry Bly and the late, lamented Laban Johnson, with 'Cookin' Cheap.' It originated with Blue Ridge Public Television and was syndicated among other public TV stations. What a hoot that show was! Very, very down-home recipes. I imagine the production costs for the entire series would probably still be less than that for one episode of FoodTV's shows.