It's a bit of a cheesy article from TV.com, but I still had Tony's quick
slam of Rachel Ray from the "Uzbekistan" episode ringing in my head.
Bite fight: Tony Bourdain vs. Rachael Ray
http://www.tv.com/story/story.html
<http://www.tv.com/story/story.html&story_id=2776> &story_id=2776
Looking at food, watching food being prepared, and learning about food
recipes are all almost as fun as actually eating food. That's why TV.com
loves cooking shows. These days, there are a lot of cooking shows, from the
wacky old school Iron Chef, to the bopping, hammy Emeril Live! Since it's
the holiday season and you are probably stuffing your face right now, TV.com
figured we would pit two of our favorite celebrity chefs against each other:
Rachael Ray vs. Tony Bourdain.
You probably know Rachael Ray. She's everywhere. At last count, she had
almost a hundred shows on at various times of the day, and now her daytime
talk show is about to infiltrate the airwaves. Despite the fact that she has
no professional culinary training, she has a best-selling series of
cookbooks (which she often signs at various kitchenware stores) as well as a
new lifestyle magazine. If you turn around, she's probably behind you,
smirking as she eats some "exotic" item like lentils. She is poised to
become the next Martha Stewart, and the jury is out as to whether or not
that's a "good thing."
In case you don't know Tony Bourdain, he is the swaggering, slightly goofy
executive chef of NY brasserie Les Halles. He wrote a series of hilariously
scathing stories for The New York Times about the NY restaurant industry,
called Kitchen Confidential (yes, it inspired the short-lived Fox series of
the same name), then started the whole "chefs go to crazy global places and
eat weird things" trend with his Food Network show A Cook's Tour. Food
Network didn't renew A Cook's Tour because Bourdain is generally cranky,
which doesn't sit well with that goofy guy who unwraps candy in that cheesy
diner on that one show. Worse, Bourdain made fun of Emeril. The Travel
Channel gave Bourdain a new show, No Reservations; currently, there are no
new episodes scheduled. C'est la vie.
The styles of these two hosts differ greatly. On No Reservations Bourdain
visits far-away locales, like Malaysia, where he'll eat anything, and he
basically hands himself over to the local culture while saying "be a
traveler not a tourist." On 40$ a Day, Ray visits well-worn destinations,
like Belgium, where she'll read aloud a restaurant menu, mispronounce the
names, then say, "I don't know how to say it, but I sure do want to eat it."
In short, these two represent the two halves of the American psyche: the
adventurer and the homebody.
The ethos of the two also seem out of alignment. Ray extols the virtues of
30 Minute Meals, while Bourdain stresses the value of "good food, honestly
prepared," often spending an entire day with his meal. On 40$ a Day, Ray's
primary goal is to keep from spending over $40 on food per day of vacation.
This leads her to stiff waiters with 10 percent tips, a practice that
Bourdain has cited as reprehensible. What's more, since Ray has never, ever
gone over $40, where is the drama?
The personalities of these hosts are where they really stand apart. One of
Bourdain's charms is that he is kind of--for lack of a better
word--"cheesy." With his earrings, his punk T-shirts, and his sometimes
turgid narration, Bourdain is like that graying guy who never got over his
teen years but who is smart enough to know it and not care. Bourdain is not
without his drawbacks--he drinks too much, smokes too much, and has bad
fashion sense. Ray, on the other hand, seems perky and healthy and often
dresses in cute little outfits that seem freshly washed. However, if TV.com
never again hears her cooing over hot chocolate in wintertime New York, the
way she recently did on an episode of Tasty Travels, that will be just fine.
In closing, TV.com has decided there is room for all kinds of celebrity
chefs. Just as there are many flavors of food in the world, so are there
many flavors of celebrity chef. Perhaps you like tense tough-guy Bobby Flay,
rotund racontuer Mario Batali, or wondrously wise Hiroyuki Sakai. Whatever
your taste, TV chefs have got the recipe for you.
Do you have a favorite TV chef? Let us know. And happy holidays!
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