What is the subtitle for this season’s The Next Iron Chef?
That’s flattering to this magazine — but is it accurate?
A Super Chef has to have multiple restaurants outside of one city as well as other business interests besides cookbooks (product lines, endorsements, and consulting), media presence, and culinary acumen. Do these celebrity chefs fit the bill?
Here is the line up of “cheftestants”:
- Anne Burrell: She has no restaurants. She has media exposure, but no other businesses
- Michael Chiarello: He has one restaurant, branded products, and media exposure
- Elizabeth Falkner: She has three restaurants in the same city, media exposure, but no other businesses except consulting
- Alex Guarnaschelli: She has two restaurants in the same city, media exposure, but no other businesses
- Chuck Hughes: He has two restaurant, media exposure, but no other businesses
- Robert Irvine: He has one restaurant, media exposure, but no other businesses
- Beau MacMillan: He has one restaurant, and media exposure
- Spike Mendelsohn: He has one restaurant, and media exposure
- Marcus Samuelsson: He has multiple restaurants, some of which were outside New York City, media exposure, and product lines
- Geoffrey Zakarian: He has three restaurant, consulting, and media exposure
They are all accomplished chefs, but being a Super Chef means balancing diverse business demands and a restaurant empire. It requires a special combination of management and culinary acumen – rare among chefs.
With the exception of Marcus, aren’t these Celebrity Chefs not Super Chefs?
might want to fact check your restaurant counts. you’re wrong on at least three counts.