I read and thoroughly enjoyed Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential quite a few years ago. Of course, he's made quite a name for himself as a cooking "gadfly." Well, there's quite a bit of gadflyerie happening in this guest post that he's written about the current crop of Food Network personalities.
I love this take on Giada DeLaurentis:
And Food Net seems more interested in her enormous head (big head equals big ratings. Really!) and her cleavage--than the fact that she’s likeable, knows what she’s doing in an Italian kitchen--and makes food you’d actually want to eat.
And this on Emeril:
As much mileage as I’ve gotten over the years, making fun of Emeril; he deserves a lot more respect than I’ve given him. He does run a very successful and very decent restaurant group. He is--in fact--a really nice guy. And-as much as I hate the show-- compared to the current crop of culinary non-entities, he looks like Escoffier. He will probably be the last of the Real Chefs. I’m sure they’re growing future replacement options in petrie dishes somewhere, conducting Top Secret focus groups at suburban malls with their latest Bright Young Hopeful. I’m just glad he’s still there--a rebuke to the geniuses who brought us such Great Ideas as Dweezil and Lisa.
Glad to see him finally give props to Emeril. Bourdain ripped him pretty bad in the book, but I have to say that I try to eat at an Emeril restaurant in any city I travel to that has one, and I've never -- NEVER -- had anything less than a great meal at one. (via Kottke)