However, I was a restaurant critic at Chicago magazine before I worked at Esquire, and Ive been a really enthusiastic home cook for a long time. Its just something Im passionate about. – Ted Allen
I think what I do differently from a lot of TV chefs is that I break down barriers and make fine food more accessible to the regular person, who might be intimidated. I try hard, particularly with wine, to make it not intimidating. Its sort of a teaching job. – Ted Allen
The funny thing about Thanksgiving, or any huge meal, is that you spend 12 hours shopping for it and then chopping and cooking and braising and blanching. Then it takes 20 minutes to eat it and everybody sort of sits around in a food coma, and then it takes four hours to clean it up. – Ted Allen
Believe me, I understand the need for easy and speedy. After a 12-hour day of shooting Chopped, say, Im talking stir-fry, spaghetti, heck, peanut-butter sandwiches. But thats not about the joy of food. Thats survival. – Ted Allen
Since the departure of good old-fashioned entertainers the re-emergence of somebody who wants to be an entertainer has unfortunately become a synonym for camp. I dont think Im camper than any other person who felt at home on stage, and felt more at home on stage than he did offstage. – David Bowie