These days everyone wants to be famous…pregnant teenage moms, children in beauty pageants, and yes, let’s not forget the celebrity chefs. I recently read an article by Rachel Forrest and she hits it on the head. Chefs should be cooking in the kitchen, not acting on TV.

To many, celebrity chefs are stepping away from what they’re meant to do. Ms. Forrest is not talking about very accomplished and talented chefs who are nominated for the James Beard Award. She’s talking about the chefs that don’t actually cook anymore. In fact, these days, celebrity chefs are shamelessly promoting themselves doing things that have nothing to do with cooking. They’re on the road traveling around the world. Or they have a daytime talk show. Or worse yet. And this is worse.

They’re acting on prime time television.

If you’re a fan of Entourage, you’ll know what I’m talking about. In the HBO show, Ari, the high-powered agent, and his wife are getting a divorce. Guess who she’s dating? Bobby Flay. Yes. Bobby Flay is playing himself in the show. The writers put in a bunch of stuff surrounding his cooking. The problem is that in real life, Bobby Flay is actually already married to Stephanie March, an actress. So if he’s playing himself (because why would a celebrity chef play anyone else), we have to pretend that it’s Bobby Flay, but not the real Bobby Flay. Just the idea of Bobby Flay. Is it bad to say that the real problem here is that these chefs can’t really act?

A couple of years ago, Tom and I were in Vegas for a catering convention. While we were there, we dined at Bobby Flay’s famed restaurant, Mesa Grill. The server was telling us how cool it was when Bobby would visit the restaurant and come out of the kitchen to say hi to the guests. Come out of the kitchen? When is he ever IN the kitchen anymore?

I don’t dislike Bobby Flay. In fact, I think he is an extremely talented chef who, at the age of 8, asked for an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas. His dad thought this was not gender appropriate and wanted instead to buy Bobby a GI Joe. Little Bobby got both. He later dropped out of high school at the age of 17 and studied culinary arts at the French Culinary Institute. The rest is history.

I guess I can’t call the kettle black when I, myself, auditioned for the Food Network a couple of years ago. But it just seems to be such a waste to me to have someone like Bobby Flay who is so talented in the kitchen act on television shows. Where is the pride, Bobby??

Well, maybe next time I visit Mesa Grill, Bobby will “step out of the kitchen” and come say hi.