Thoughts on Food Network's Celebrity Chefs

I have mentioned on the site and the podcast before that we watch a bunch of cooking shows in my house. We all love different aspects of the shows. My son likes the competition stuff. My daughter likes the baking shows. My wife and I both like to get ideas for dishes and other stuff to try and make at home. We all get something out of them, and that is what keeps us coming back for more.

We have been watching a good amount of "Beat Bobby Flay" most recently. My son loves this show and it is his turn to pick what we watch while we eat dinner. I know, we shouldn't have our television on while we eat, but we like it, so we keep it on. Last night we were watching an episode and Ted Allen was one of the guests picking someone to try and beat Flay. As we were watching, I said to my wife that there are only two Food Network personalities that I truly enjoy. One is Ted Allen, and the other is the incomparable Ina Garten. Ina Garten is a national treasure and I will not take it when people say anything bad about her. She is the best.

Anyway, this one statement started a conversation with my wife and I. After I said who I like, she went on and talked about some people she enjoys on Food Network. She mentioned Ina as well, but she also had some surprises for me. She likes Bobby Flay. I was stunned. I do not like him. He seems a little too smug and arrogant. And his shows are all about showing up other chefs. He challenges them to make dishes that they have worked on for years and years, and says he can make them better. He also tried to show up Morimoto, and that was a bridge too far for me. I find him to be a dickhead, but my wife and son both like him. To each their own I suppose. She mentioned some other names, but none of them held the same weight with me as Flay.

I then started to think of other chefs that Food Network highlights, and I found myself not really liking any of them, other than Ted Allen and Ina. Anne Burrell is too mean and too loud. I would not like to work with her or for her. Scott Conant is a fake ass wannabe Italian. He is from Maine. He has the feel of being born into money and he is very off putting. Rachel Ray isn't a real chef. Michael Symon is kind of okay, but can also be very loud and very annoying. Guy Fieri started this whole "rock star chef" trend that I truly loathe. He also hangs out with shady people. Alex Guarnaschelli is mean and vindictive and conniving. Geoffrey Zakarian seems like the type of dude who would constantly correct you at a party while he complains about the caviar he is eating. Jeff Muaro doesn't seem to have any real it factor and he tries way, way too hard. Katie Lee is dull. Duff Goldman isn’t as fun as he thinks he is. And Ree Drummond's family has said some problematic stuff in the past on her own show. I just find it really hard to root for these other people on that channel. Food Network has also shifted into highlighting these chefs that I don't care for by making every damn show a competition show.

If I want dish ideas I have to watch the Cooking Channel or look online for them. Food Network doesn't do that enough anymore. They are too busy giving an asshole like Bobby Flay seemingly ten different tv shows in the past year, each one trying to make him the star. I will still tune in to watch Ina, and if Ted Allen is a guest host on something, I'll check it out. Otherwise, these other chefs are not my cup of tea. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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