Showbiz Chefs
by Barbara Ann Rosenberg
It seems one of the surest (and fastest) ways to become a celebrity these days is to become a media "star". Having your face on the tube or your voice on the radio (along with your name, of course) brings instant recognition. Cab drivers, doctors, lawyers, accountants and housewives all get friendly when you enter their sphere...that is, walk into their offices, enter their vehicles...or just walk down the street. Folks you've never met say "Hi"...and, in some extreme cases, occassionally even ask for your autograph.
When this phenomenon is juxtaposed on the star status that many chefs have already achieved in recent years .on the strength of their cooking prowess (and their diligent public relations efforts) it just intensifies the celebrity madness. Chefs get frequently unsolicited calls from perfect strangers asking for (heretofore) secret recipes, tips on "how to" cook or bake or repair failed meals. It's part of the price chefs pay for achieving stardom in the media as well as in their own culinary domain. And many of them enjoy it....love it, in fact. The media "bug" bit Jim Coleman, executive chef at the Rittenhouse Hotel and Condominiums, "six or seven years ago, I believe it was," he recalls. Coleman was living in California then and plying his trade at the Resort at Toriey Pines in La Jolla, California. "It all started with a 'Chef's Hotline'," he says. "The 'hotline' was actually just a phone in my kitchen," he explains, and people who had been guests in the hotel used to call in from all over the country with questions about something they were cooking - - or planning to cook - - and they needed advice about a procedure or an ingredient." Then, somehow, according to Coleman, the Associated Press found out about his "hotline" and, he says, "Within four days, "The story was in 117 newspapers nationwide, and everything started happening - - including an invitation for me to be on 'The Home Show' on ABC." Coleman notes that when he went on the national TV program for the first time, "I really enjoyed doing it." and continues, "I guess you could say, the 'bug' bit me. I went on 'The Home Show' about once a month and since then I've done about 100 TV shows:on the A&E, Discovery and Lifetime channels." Chef Coleman now has his own cooking show on the Nostalgia channel and says that it will be going to the Public Broadcasting System (Channel 12 and others on that network) starting in November.In addition, beginning September 7, Coleman will be host at his own "Chef's Table", a public radio show that will broadcast every Saturday from 1-2 p.m. utilizing different guests each week, both local and national. But, for all that, Coleman says that he has no illusions about making a fortune a la David Letterman on TV . Most of the work I do is for a mostly female audience on daytime TV". He notes, further, "I try to keep the recipes and concepts simple so I can demonstrate them in a 10 - 15 minute segment." While Coleman has no illusions about his financial future as a fallout of his TV work, he says that it is helpful in bring people to Treetops, the restaurant at the Rittenhouse Hotel and Condominiums. "It is unquestionably valuable as a marketing tool for an independent hotel without a national corporate structure as a means of publicizing itself to out-of-towners." Jack McDavid, proprietor/chef of Jack's Firehouse, is another veteran on the media circuit. He appears three times daily in "Grillin' and Chillin' on The Food Network and has, according to his best estimate, "been doing TV shows for about five or six years." Says McDavid in his traditional "modest" stance, "But I'm not very good at putting on airs, so I'm best when I do a show that's not 'scripted' and they just let me 'run my mouth'. He continues. "I just finished 42 shows (126 segments) with my good friend Bobby Flay (of New York's Mesa Grill) for the 'Great Chefs' series." McDavid notes humorously, "I guess I'm lucky to be able to do a national show in my bib overalls and all." But, then he adds, "I guess they're part of my personality." However, he takes time to talk about a new line of chef's clothing "that includes, (guess what?) bib overalls." And he explains, "It makes sense. They're protective, durable, cool and they have a few extra pockets." McDavid goes on to expound on the benefit to Philadelphia of his media work, "People are thrilled to have someone talking up their city - - it brings a lot business this way." Michel Notredame, chef/owner of Cuvee Notredame, renowned for its Belgian cooking and endless array of Belgian beers, is a bit more sanguine about his experience in the media. His initial foray into TV came as a result of two people from an independent TV network approached him to do a show with them. He says that their idea was to tape 26 chefs and I was among the first. Then, he recalls, "These guys had a falling out with the original host for the show and I asked if I could interview for that position." After an initial refusal on their part, Notredame recalls they reconsidered when I persisted that I knew more about food than any of the other people applying." Notredame says they began their taping of the series in November of 1993 and "brought in chefs - - two or three a day, by limousine...the whole' bit' The studio where they were taping, He says was in south Philadelphia, complete with all the kitchen equipment anyone would want." He recalls that some of the chefs were good" , but most were very nervous. " But, for all the work I did, I still hadn't been paid a dime", says Notradame, unhappily. "Talk about nervous!" The show that Notredame is talking about played on Channel 12 for several months. "And, he says, ruefully, I never did get paid - - and they've dismantled the company I was 'working' for!" However, he, too was "bitten" by the media "bug" and says I'd love to do more TV." And, to assuage the "bug", Notredame says he's doing a show for a Channel 12 fund-raiser, "for the fun of it"! Notredame brought his (now) partner Kevin Meeker into the fold when he was doing his initial series. Meeker enjoyed the experience, "Everyone's ego likes to be stroked a bit." Meeker says one of his most enjoyable media experiences came, however, when he was with Sam Choy (of Hawaii) on Tokyo TV. I was cooking for the suomo wrestlers - - fifteen of them. I actually cooked enough food for 45 'normal size' people, though.. finds the greatest challenge of TV is to get the recipe completed in the allotted time. "You just have to have some steps accomplished ahead of time and explain on camera what you did." Philippe Chin is a veteran "on camera" person, too,....although he has never hosted his own show. It's just that he's such a popular guest that he's been on the tube many, many times. "But, maybe one day I'll have my own show," he says, hopefully. "There's not much money to be made...that's for sure, he adds...I just like it!" And with customary Chin modesty, he adds, And I'm good at it...I think!" Georges Perrier caused quite a stir in town (and across the nation) when he appeared on David Letterman's Late Night Show. The celebrated chef, it appeared, was quite capable of holding his own on camera against one of showbiz' greatest pranksters. "Yes, of course I cooked," says Perrier," but you know he (Letterman) fools around with everyone. But it was fun," he says. "It was really fun!"
And, now word is out that Allison Barshak, former chef at Striped Bass, is poised to join the ranks of the media stars with a 26 week show being produced by the folks at Prevention. And with the seemingly insatiable appetite of the viewing public for any peek into the machinations of the folks who prepare food for the rest of us mere mortals, who knows where the frenzy will cease. Or will it?
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