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Bright eyed and bushy-tailed Tyler is the kind of guy you wouldn’t mind to be your daughter’s prom date. He’s earnest, clean cut and the type who makes lasagna and apple pie – very Americana.

I first saw Tyler on TV with his Food Network show, the mildly annoying Food 911, where Tyler would come to “rescue” ordinary folk’s meals and cooking dilemmas, large canvas bag in hand (emblazoned annoyingly again with “911”). I dont know if it was the drab looking kitchens he always seemed to visit or the lack-luster people whose meals he saved, or even his own overtly keen persona – whatever it was, the show was not his best in my opinion.

But this was obviously not the public opinion as the show apparently did very well, and Tyler’s contemporary “honest” American style described as “real kitchen cooking” took off with the masses.
To be fair to Tyler however, he has evolved somewhat, at least with his shows’ sense of style. I have not seen “How to Boil Water” yet (please, couldn’t he have thought of a more clever name?), but I have seen Tyler’s Ultimate, and it was a lot better than 911.

Born in 1971, Tyler was educated in the culinary arts in South Carolina, moving to New York in 1992. By 1998 he opened and became executive chef at the critically Cafeteria, which went on to winning Best New Restaurant in New York’s Time Out magazine.

He made his television debut as early as 1996, with a few guest appearances on the Food Network. Aside from his own shows, the affable young Tyler has hosted other Food Network shows, as well as made appearances on E!, Rosie and the Today’s Show. He has also written two cookbooks – Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen and Eat This Book: Cooking With Global Fresh Flavours.

Originally posted on September 26, 2006 @ 9:59 pm

Anyone who watches the food network knows Bobby Flay. He currently has four shows on the network: Hot off the Grill with Bobby Flay, FoodNation with Bobby Flay, the emmy award nominated Boy Meets Grill and the newest BBQ with Bobby Flay. But being a TV personality and cooking on TV isn’t all that Bobby Flay is.

Bobby Flay started cooking at age 17 when he worked in New York’s Joe Allen Restaurant. He so impressed the management that Joe Allen personally paid his tuition to the French Culinary Institute. In spie of the exposure though, Bobby Flay didn’t go into French cuisine. He found his passion in American southwestern cuisine instead.

He experimented with various dishes in his chosen theme from 1988 to 1990 at the Miracle Grill where he was the executive chef, gathering quite a following. He finally opened the doors of his first restaurant in 1991 – the Mesa Grill. The Mesa Grill was chosen as the best restaurant in 1992 by Gael Green. Now, Bobby Flay has three more restaurants. Bolo, which opened in November 1993, serves dishes that have the unique Spanish flavor combined with American ingredients. The second mesa Grill opened its doors in Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas in 2004 and he later opened Bar Americain in New York in the spring of 2005.

In May 1993, Bobby was voted the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year. This award is given to America’s most accomplished chef under the age of 30. That same year the French Culinary Institute honored him with the first Most Oustanding Graduate award.

Bobby Flay is constantly trying to enhance his skills. He competed in Iron Chef Japan against Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto in 2000 which he lost. That didn’t stop him though. He went back for a rematch and won. Bobby Flay is now one of the Iron Chefs in the show Iron Chef America.

Busy man though he is, he has also found the time to write 6 books. His first book, Bold American Food, won the 1995 IACP award for design and has set the style for the next generation of cookbooks. His other books are From My Kitchen to Your Table, Boy Meets Grill, Bobby Flay Cooks American, Boy Gets Grill and Bobby Flay’s Grilling for Life.

Iron chef, super chef, restaurateur, author and TV personality, Bobby Flay is fantastic.

Originally posted on December 2, 2006 @ 12:01 am

I’ve never seen Anthony Bourdain cook. Unlike many of the celeb chefs today one finds sassily sauteeing in front of an annoyingly colourful studio kitchen set, Anthony Bourdain actually is a real chef, who works at a real restaurant in NYC (also his hometown). Yes, “real” is certainly a word that comes to mind when it comes to Bourdain’s style – and his bashings of Emeril and Rachael Ray are now infamous (and funnily true).

These days Bourdain has become more of a travelling foodie and bestselling author, but you can just tell from his straight-talking, no-nonsense narrative style that he’s a a genuine cook (who considers the term chef slightly on the pretentious side) who simply appreciates good food and exotic travel.

Educated at Vassar, then at the Culinary Insitute of America, Bourdain is currently executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles, a classic French restaurant in Manhattan known for its fantastic pomme frites, escargots and steak tartar which is prepared tableside (and would probably my husband’s choice of a “last meal”).

Clad in black leather, sporting an earring and 4 tattoos, Anthony is an unashamed 2-pack-a-day smoker, past drug-user and not afraid of mild profanity on national television � but for some strange reason he still comes across as a decent, authentic guy who knows a lot about cooking and isn�t afraid to tell us the ugliest parts of it.

When I was lent a copy of �A Cook�s Tour�, I just couldn�t put it down. Bourdain definitely has a talent for quick-witted, in your-face-writing, and judging from his shows’ (“No Reservations” is his latest offering) success, the same formula works on television too.

As quoted from an interview:

� I don’t see writing as anything more important than cooking. In fact, I’m a little queasier on the writing. There’s an element of shame, because it’s so easy. I can’t believe that people give me money for this shit. The TV, too. It’s not work. At the end of the day, the TV show is the best job in the world. I get to go anywhere I want, eat and drink whatever I want. As long as I just babble at the camera, other people will pay for it. It’s a gift. �

Originally posted on September 2, 2006 @ 4:44 pm

If you want to talk American Cuisine, one of the first names to come to mind is Charlie Palmer. His steaks are a must eat if you are in Las Vegas or in DC. Of course that isn’t all he makes.

Charlie Palmer says he never really planned to become chef. Sports was what he was into. In fact he was a linebacker in high school. Thanks to a dare from a neighbor and working at the Colgate Inn Charlie found his way to cooking.

Charlie Palmer trained at the Culinary Institute of America. His style though isn’t french, it is considered progressive American. As he explains, “I realized that American cuisine was just in its infancy and I spent a lot of time thinking about what the idea of American cooking really meant to me as a chef”.

His distinctive style first began emerging while he was working at the River Cafe as its executive chef. The New York Times rated him three stars.

Now, Charlie Palmer has a great restaurant empire. His establishments include teh Aureole, ALva and Metrazur in New York. In Las Vegas he has the Aureole at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino and the Charlie Palmer Steak at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas. He owns a boutique hotel Healsburg in California which is where his Dry Creek Kitchen is located. He also owns and operates Astra and Astra West, beautiful catering and event spaces in New York and Los Angeles respectively.

Don’t think though that he has left the kitchen. This master chef thinks nothing of jumping in and working beside his staff at anytime. He is more creative than ever and enjoying creating new recipes for his guests to savor.

Charlie Palmer has written three cookbooks: Great American Food, Charlie Palmer’s Casual Cooking and the Art of Aureole. He is also a frequent guest on the Today Show of NBC.

Originally posted on August 26, 2006 @ 5:46 am