Celebrity Chefs

Jamie’s G20 Feast Critiqued

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jamie-oliver-picture-1This guy will never have his full share of controversy, will he? Jamie Oliver had the honor of serving the leaders of the world during the G20 summit in the UK, and this is what he had to offer them:

Starter: Organic Scottish salmon with samphire and sea kale, and a selection of vegetables from Sussex, Surrey, and Kent.

Main course: Slow-roasted shoulder of Elwy Valley lamb with Jersey Royals, wild mushrooms and mint sauce.

Dessert: Bakewell tart and custard.

Vegetarian option: Goat’s cheese starter followed by lovage and potato dumplings for the main course.

There are some things there that I am not familiar with, like samphire and lovage (ah, spank me!), but all in all, the menu looks fabulous to me. But no, some people are quite unsatisfied with the menu, saying that it is not representative of what British cuisine has to offer. Chef Yotam Ottolenghi, in particular said:

The first impression I get from this menu is that it’s extremely British and very politically inoffensive. I don’t think it’s terribly exciting, but then I don’t think it should be on an occasion like this, when Jamie is trying to satisfy so many people.

I would have liked to have seen a few subtle multicultural influences in the menu to reflect modern Britain. It’s a very northern European menu and it doesn’t represent the very strong south-east Asian influences that do exist here.

Some of the foreign guests might raise an eyebrow to the idea of mint sauce with lamb, but as long as Jamie keeps it fresh and doesn’t make it vinegary, like some of the shop varieties, people won’t find it offensive.

Who finds mint lamb offensive? Maybe vegetarians? Anyway, from what I heard, the dinner went off quite well.

Originally posted on April 13, 2009 @ 10:51 am

Ramsay: Sexiest Chef

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Gordon Ramsay - Book Signing

Who is the sexiest chef on TV today? If you were to ask the women in UK, they would probably say Gordon Ramsay. At least, that’s what the polls have shown. One Poll carried out the research last month and announced the results late in November. In The News has this report:

The F Word host and richest chef in the world topped a poll of TVcooks voted for by more than 4,000 women.

Though tabloid reports recently emerged claiming Ramsay has been cheating on his wife for seven years, his alleged infidelity seems not to have dented his sex appeal among female fans.

A spokesman for www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the research, said: “We weren’t surprised that Gordon came out on top.

“Women go for bad boys all the time. The fact he’s rumoured to be cheating on his wife for years only adds to his appeal.

“It makes him more obtainable for everyday women on the street.”

Hell’s Kitchen’s Jean-Christophe Novelli, 47, was voted second while Marco-Pierre White, Ramsay’s former mentor, came in third.

Saturday Kitchen host James Martin came fourth while Jamie Oliver rounded off the top five.

A spokesman for www.OnePoll.com added: “Most of the men in this poll aren’t purely chefs. Most of them are highly successful restaurateurs, broadcasters and TV personalities.

I do not agree with the results – I think that Jamie Olivier has more sex appeal than Gordon Ramsay but then that is just me talking. Who is the sexiest chef for you?

Originally posted on December 20, 2008 @ 7:13 pm

Jamie Oliver Using The F-word Too Much?

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Sirius XM Radio Welcomes Jamie Oliver To

And it is not just him, apparently! It seems that the British public is becoming increasingly bothered by how much the F-word is being used on the telly. Oh, and I am not talking about “F” as in “fowl” but “F” as in the other foul word. The National has a write up of this today:

A backlash has emerged in Britain against the amount of swearing now common on television and radio.

For years, there has been a progressive increase in the use of bad language in popular programmes, particularly among comedians, talk show hosts and, for no apparent reason, celebrity chefs.

There were a lot of personalities mentioned in the article, including the recently infamous duo of Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross. There were no other celebrity chefs mentioned except for Jamie Oliver, who was said to have used the F-word 23 times in a 50-minute episode.

To be honest, I never really noticed this! Perhaps the episodes that I have seen were “clean?” Or maybe they were edited. Another possibility – I have become so immune to hearing that word that I do not even take note when it is mentioned on TV.

It does not matter – the fact is that for once, I agree with the critics. There is no reason for celebrity chefs to be using the F-word in their cooking shows. Although I have to admit that I have probably used it on several occasions while working in the kitchen. Poor Jamie Oliver, always in the middle of these controversies…

Originally posted on December 24, 2008 @ 12:28 pm

Top Chef Judge Stiffing His Employees?

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He may be at the top in the reality TV show Top Chef but Tom Colicchio does not seem to be on top of his game when it comes to real life. Colicchio opened his restaurant Craft in New York in 2001 and has since then widened his horizons by opening other branches in different parts of the States.

On Friday of this week, however, a former employee of Calicchio file a lawsuit against him. The complaint? It seems that the Top Chef star has been remiss in giving his workers their due. Included in the complaint are violations such as not paying minimum wage, overtime, and tips from customers.

The complainant is a certain Nessa Rapone, who worked at the Craftbar in New York last year. In her statement, she declared that she is filing the lawsuit on behalf of the other workers of Calicchio who were paid on an hourly basis. Reuters has this report:

A former employee sued “Top Chef” TV show judge Tom Colicchio in federal court on Friday for allegedly not paying some of his restaurant workers minimum wages, overtime and tips from customers.

Nessa Rapone, who worked at Craftbar in New York in 2007, filed suit in Manhattan federal court on behalf of other hourly paid workers seeking to recover “minimum wages, overtime compensation and misappropriated tips” from Colicchio.

So what does the Top Chef celebrity has to say about the lawsuit? That camp has been silent on the matter so far

Originally posted on December 13, 2008 @ 3:52 pm

Celebrity chefs at war

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delia

Poor Antony Worrall Thompson. That poisonous plant incident has him the laughing stock of all the celebrity chefs — but it’s not the first time he’s been under fire.

Delia Smith once said of him, “Antony Worrall Thompson is dreadful, just repulsive. I think that Food And Drink, the show that he is on, is the most disgusting programme on television. I will never, ever know, as long as I live, how the BBC or the general public can tolerate it.”

His response: “She’s the Volvo of cooks.” (Gordon Ramsay agrees: “Here we are trying to establish a reputation across the world for this country’s food and along comes Delia and tips it out of a can. That hurts.”)

Well, so does eating a poisonous plant. Read this for other celebrity chefs word wars

Originally posted on August 6, 2008 @ 11:16 pm