What’s wrong with the Food Network?

Through various readings, I stumbled across this “guest blogging” entry by Tony Bourdain about the Food Network. Generally, the Food Network is one of my favorite “hey, let’s veg out and watch TV” kind of channels, but I also agree that the Food Network has relatively recently been in decline. Anyway, what Bourdain says here in his oh so gruff way strikes me as pretty much on the money. If you are a Food TV fan, read and enjoy.

3 Replies to “What’s wrong with the Food Network?”

  1. Annette, here.

    This seemed to be a fairly sexist screed, ie. the “real” chefs are all male and the crappy wannabes and frauds are *all* women.

    However, I did L.O.L. at this quote about Rachel Ray:

    She’s selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough. She’s a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that “Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!â€? Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, “Hell…I could do that. I ain’t gonna…but I could–if I wanted! Now where’s my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?â€? Where the saintly Julia Child sought to raise expectations, to enlighten us, make us better–teach us–and in fact, did, Rachael uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys.

    And, finally, (I suppose this makes me a real Food Netword geek), but the network actually started to go downhill after that super dweeby show with, what was his name?, David Rosengartner or something like than, was canned. What a great show! He was such a food snob — it was great. I remember him waxing on about Proust and madelines — not something your average Rachel Ray viewer would sit still for, I imagine.

    –net

  2. Ever since Andre pointed out two of Ms. Ray’s perkier personality points I can’t even look at her w/out giggling. Thanks Krause; I enjoyed the essay. Bourdain is quite funny and so… magnetic–gods! he can sweat my onions any day

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