The term "celebrity chef" gets tossed around a lot these days. But just because you land
yourself a cooking show on TV, that doesn't mean you're a whiz in the kitchen. From
Fieri to Deen — and everyone in between — these culinary stars leave us hungry for something else.
Scott Conant is a real chef with all the pedigree you'd think would lead to real
success in the restaurant industry. And for a brief period in the early 2000s,
his modern take on Italian cuisine had his star rising fast in the culinary world.
In 2002 he opened L'Impero, which would receive critical praise,
and in 2008, his joint Scarpetta was touted as one of the best new restaurants in New York City.
"That's gonna take about ten minutes. And I know that because
here on the package it says it cooks in about ten minutes. See how clever?"
Soon Conant was appearing on Chopped and Top Chef – in both cooking and judging roles. But beyond
his signature Italian pasta dishes, it seems he really doesn't have many chops after all. In the
last decade, the chef has had nearly half a dozen restaurants open and then fail after less than two
years. His eatery Faustina didn't even make it a single year before it closed down in late 2010.
So while Conant can certainly cook,
he doesn't seem to be so great at the business side of the industry.
She may have no formal culinary education, but Sandra Lee was taught to cook by her
grandmother — in a style that's as much about frugality as it is about flavor.
Yet, her positioning as a legitimate chef might not be all it's cracked up to be. To Lee's credit,
she never even wanted to do the cooking show that has brought her the most recognition.
Regarding the launch of her 2003 Food Network show, Semi-Homemade, Lee is quoted as saying:
"When I came to the Food Network, I didn't want to do a cooking show.. […] I
told [producer] Kathleen Finch for nine months I didn't want to do a cooking show,
I wanted to do a home-and-garden show. She said, 'No, we really need you to do this.
You can do tablescapes also, as long as you cook.' I said, 'Okay, fine.'"
"Look at that. That's yummy. Look at that. That's yummier."
Lee does not create original recipes of note
and often uses prepared ingredients rather than working from scratch.
Granted, that's her whole schtick, but it is not the type of cooking worthy of the title "chef."
She's a great entertainer, a skilled businesswoman, and an occasional cultural
lightning rod, but by Rachael Ray's own admission, she is no chef at all. Ray has
no professional culinary training and never worked in a restaurant kitchen or studied under a chef.
Her journey to becoming a TV cook came rather by surprise.
While her mom managed several restaurants, Ray worked in several food-adjacent capacities;
such as her job at a candy counter in Macy's. But it was her experience teaching customers of a
gourmet food market how to use pre-packaged foods to create meals in less than 30 minutes that would
set the course of her life. Soon she was doing weekly "30 Minute Meals" classes on a local news
station. This led to appearances on the Today show which resulted in her eventual stardom as a "chef"
specializing in "quick and easy" cooking. And selling lots of branded…well, everything.
"Who's hungry? I said, who's hungry!"
Not only does Ray not claim to be a great chef, but she even once said,
"My husband cooks fancier food for himself than I've ever cooked
on-air. […] Not only am I not a chef, I'm not a better cook than my own husband!"
To be clear, Jamie Oliver does a lot of good for the world when it comes to food,
but a brilliant chef, he is not. Good cook, maybe, but don't hold your breath waiting
for him to open a Michelin star restaurant. Oliver studied art, geology, and home economics.
And he found cooking merely because he took a job as a pastry chef, working at the famed London
restaurant Neal Street. Oliver was soon recognized more for his personality than his cooking,
appearing in a documentary about another restaurant where he worked a few years later.
"I'm good at quite a few things, but not necessarily brilliant at everything."
The chance appearance led to his show The Naked Chef when Oliver was just 22 years old. In the
years since, he has opened restaurants, starred on other shows, spearheaded charitable efforts,
and encouraged everyone to eat local. But he has never created a dish of real note,
nor has his cooking earned any major awards or accolades from prominent critics. Instead,
Oliver tends to focus on homemade-style cooking and usually reproduces safe, classic dishes.
Great for fans at home, but not exactly chef-like standards.
While her everyday cooking is something you might typically save for a cheat meal,
Paula Deen has proved herself most adept at putting her foot into her own mouth. She's
been accused of making overtly tone-deaf comments that have repeatedly landed her in hot water. She
even had a cooking show canceled and her career derailed less than a decade ago because of it.
"Well I might have a little extra cream…there we go."
But besides all the bad press, Deen's indulgent dishes could trigger a public health emergency.
Her signature style of Southern cooking could be described as wildly unhealthy.
But to her credit — and unlike other celebrity chefs — Deen does apparently eat the way she
cooks on TV. That sort of diet though is no doubt a primary culprit for her Type-II
diabetes — something she knew about for years, and ultimately revealed in 2012. And that was
only after signing a major endorsement deal with a drugmaker. She may be leading us to an early,
buttery grave full of mac n cheese, but at least she doesn't call herself a real chef.
Snoop Dogg is an American treasure whose long career in music has changed the cultural
landscape. He will be remembered as a foundational pillar of hip-hop and a cultural icon worthy
of acclaim. But — amusing collabs with Martha Stewart aside — he's not a good chef. Many of the
recipes in Snoop's cookbook From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen
are neither platinum in quality nor are they from his kitchen. Instead, according to Vice,
the book gussies up long-established dishes with more aggressive names,
with nothing notable to be found in its pages.
"Burgers square so they fit on the bread. It's about geometry."
Granted, the book is a fun read, with recipes like "Biscuits with Tha Thickness Gravy," "Not
Ya Mamma's Corn Muffins," and "Mile-High Omelet." But anyone looking for genuine inspiration will
have to look elsewhere. For the record, there are no recipes that call for marijuana, so don't
be let down if that's your thing. On the other hand, if you like a hearty breakfast, go for it.
Nigella Lawson is English, she's a food writer,
and she's often on TV. But she is certainly no chef — not by any measure. And apparently,
she's aware of the fact as well. She's even on record saying:
"I'm not a chef. I'm not even a trained cook."
"When do you graduate to 'chef'?"
"Never. And most people who call themselves chefs are not chefs."
Rather than trying to be an inventive and progressive icon of the industry,
she instead focuses on what she describes as,
"The sort [of cooking] that goes on in homes, [that] does not have to be tricksy or difficult."
So is her cooking any good? Well, her book How to Eat was a huge success. And the same has
been true of her more recent books. Yet, fans have taken issue with her cooking. Putting a
fried egg on a salad led to a major backlash, with Intelligencer publishing the headline:
"Nigella Lawson Made the Worst Salad in the World." While Lawson may not be an original
or notable chef, her literary success has revealed her to be a remarkably good writer.
It's easy to take swipes at Guy Fieri. From his wacky appearance to his Flavortown lingo,
he's basically a walking target for critics. But despite the barbs thrown his way,
Fieri has done lots of good in the world — like working with children's charities and feeding
literally thousands of firefighters battling wildfires on the West Coast.
To top it off, Fieri is 100 percent a real, legit chef. He developed a keen interest in
cooking in his teens and has spent his entire career working with food. And the man can cook
well. And he can also judge food well. And he has done both on scores of episodes of TV shows,
including Guy's Big Bite, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and Guy's Grocery Games.
"That's full-speed, man. That's all throttle no bottle, man. That is just gettin' it done."
So what is a person with a credible claim to being a decent chef
doing on this list? It's because world class chefs typically practice flawless hygiene in
the kitchen. And aside from constantly handling food on camera, a New York City health department
report revealed one of Fieri's restaurants was infested with flies in food prep areas.
Gina Neely and her then-husband Pat had several highly successful barbecue
restaurants in their home state of Tennessee. And Gina was satisfied with helping to manage
them. Where Gina was not happy was in her marriage to Patrick. She was ready to end it
when a deal for a Food Network show, Down Home with the Neelys, fell into her lap.
Gina found herself all but forced to stay in her marriage for years — portraying
herself not only as a chef, but also as a happy wife, in front of millions of fans.
"I never wanted to do that show. I never wanted to live my life quite out loud like that."
Things came to an eventual end when Neely finally filed for divorce in 2014,
after 20 years together. Pat was initially devastated by the separation, but Gina was
relieved. Apparently, the former couple has not spoken in years. But while her days as a celebrity
chef may have come to an end, Gina didn't walk away from TV forever. She landed on Bravo's To
Rome for Love which follows several women as they go to Italy in search of international romance.
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