I would love to throw out my two cents on a few FN shows. I am a professional chef and I love watching FN, but some of those shows I just cannot deal with regardless of which level I try to enjoy them on.

I guess I should start with my favorite show, Good Eats. AB is the man, in my opinion – and although he has HIS opinions, he is usually right on. I enjoy good eats because it’s a show that I can learn something from. Whether it’s foolproof methodology (although not always applicable in a professional kitchen) or just easy consistent recipes, it’s a great show. Some controversial opinions AB has been accused of lately have been saying that Molecular Gastronomy isn’t cooking – I couldn’t agree more, it isn’t cooking and certainly not food I am willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for and go home hungry. The world is trending towards fresh, healthy and natural – why are we infroducing chemicals into everything? If you want something to taste like bacon, why not just use bacon? Also, I heard AB said that Man vs Food was gluttonous and irresponsible – bravo AB, it certainly is, not to mention disgusting.

Anne Burrell – love her! She’s a real chef, not some yahoo masquerading as one. I love to watch her cook because it comes naturally to her and she really believes in great flavors. She worked for Mario Batali – enough said!

Guy Fieri – not much I can say that hasn’t already been said, so I won’t bore anyone. I do enjoy watching DD&D because it shows real people making real food and as a travel enthusiast, I find lost of interesting places I can try to find and most of them are somewhat affordable. Guy’s Big Bite – I’ll pass. I don’t need to garage kitchen, instruments that don’t get played and fake crap all over the place. Also, there is no need to make some flamboyant cocktail – if you have 5 minutes more airtime, would it kill you to make another dish.

Sandra Lee – she’s fun to watch, she’s cute and bubbly. I don’t get the table-scapes, pitches of cocktails, costumes and decorations though. I feel bad sometimes for her, I think she has this crazy bad reputation of being an alcoholic that I haven’t really seen.

Emeril – a true chef, although over-exposed in the early days of FN. I love the fact that he cooked for real and showed people how real cooking really did work. I respect him as being one of the pioneers of the food network, though I think that the FN executives embraced his personality more than his talent and turned him into a late-night talk show wearing a chef coat.

Barefoot Contessa – ok, I like Ina but the show is way over the top in an “I have more money than you” sort of way. The biggest pet peeve I have about her show is the way her recipes are written. It is an “unwritten rule” of the cooking world that recipes are ALWAYS written using large eggs. If a recipe doesn’t specify – always assume it is large. Ina, however, uses extra large eggs for all her recipes. I like her recipes and her flavors…. just can do without all the Hamptons crapola.

Paula Deen & Sons – i don’t think I can add anything that hasn’t already been said, so I will just leave this alone.

Rachael Ray – see above. (also over-exposed)

Bobby Flay – see Rachel Ray and learn how to cook without cilantro – it doesn’t need to be in everything you make.

That’s all for now, I will post a part 2 later. Have a great week everyone and happy cooking!

I have to say the absolute worst show is Aida with her elf/troll computer side kick. How DO these two get air time????????

I stopped watching FN, now watch Cooking Channel…which isn’t much better.

giada with her over enunciating? are you kidding?? THANK YOU, THANK YOU for calling her out on it. keep up the great work. i mean, how successful are these chefs really if they cant laugh at themselves, right?

gelly ~