NY Chowhound makes appearance on Bravo Housewives spinoff?

[goodhealthgourmet]

OK, so a friend of mine who knows about my CH obsession called me today to tell me that some guy who said he was a food blogger and a Chowhound was on a new reality show about Bethenny Frankel last night. of course i immediately Googled, and found this post & clip on eater.com...

http://ny.eater.com/archives/2010/06/...

i got a kick out of it :)

[HillJ]

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2011/03/...

Big pay day for Bethenny Frankel

[lilgi]

I must be in evil-mode tonight. I was hoping this thread was about Miami since I keep having to adjust my screen.

[FoodChic]

Yay for Chowhound! Boo for all reality TV!!!

[mcf]

I say "boo" for reality TV shows that *I* don't watch!

[linguafood]

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/the_s...

ouch.

[mcf]

Most folks on the discussion boards think he has Asperger's on the autism spectrum, and he may. He's encyclopedic about food, and there's something very touching about him... I hope the season goes well for him and he gets more opportunities from it. One problem from a foodie perspective: he doesn't eat red meat, which *really* is limiting in terms of coverage and variety.

His blog: http://feitelogram.wordpress.com/

[southernitalian]

As someone pointed out in the comments section of his blog, he took a very large bite of a burger in the most recent episode. I love BF and her show. I think she's hilarious. She and her husband are clearly taken with Nick. I hope the show opens a few doors for him. Seems like a really sweet guy.

[mcf]

I think he took a bite by mistake, having mixed up orders with B?

[Chemicalkinetics]

Don't feel bad. They probably pay him very well.

[linguafood]

I'm sure they do. I'm a big fan of The Soup, and I suppose anyone who puts themselves in the spotlight / on a "reality" tv show is fair game.

[mcf]

Bravo? Nah.

[Chemicalkinetics]

:) Maybe nowhere near Charlie Sheen made, but probably still better than most jobs he can get elsewhere.

[mcf]

well, yeah, prolly somewhere between zero and Charlie Sheen money. ;-)

[Chemicalkinetics]

:) The important thing is that he is making more than he could otherwise.

[mcf]

Maybe so. But cable is not a big pay scale, and I'm pretty sure he's not in any performer's union. He mentions in his blog having shot a grand total of 6 scenes, I think. Still, could've bought him a few food cart meals.

[mcf]

Nick is back as a regular on this season's Bethenny Ever After, and she's asked him to blog monthly on her web site. Last night's show featured him prominently, including a food crawl in Manhattan.

The episode will rerun a lot, and be available on bravotv.com, too, soon. Bethenny blogs about him here:

http://www.bravotv.com/bethenny-ever-...

[goodhealthgourmet]

i really wish Bethenny Frankel would just go away...and take Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga with her.

[mcf]

I was actually posting about Nick. To your Bethenny Frankel thread. ;-)

[goodhealthgourmet]

i know, but if you read my OP you'll see that i don't actually WATCH her show...or, for that matter, anything related to all those Bravo housewives.

[mcf]

Yes, I remembered that. I'm not *proud* of watching it, just too honest to conceal the fact. :-)

[goodhealthgourmet]

no need to conceal it. i don't *judge* people for watching, i just don't see the appeal. but there is something about Bethenny Frankel in particular that really rubs me the wrong way...and i have a sneaking suspicion it's the fact that she & i are similar in a lot of ways, and the room just wouldn't be big enough for both of us ;)

[mcf]

I hear ya. When I called it a "guilty pleasure" I meant that literally!

[chowser]

Me, too--not that there's any similarity between me and Bethenny. I watched bits and pieces of Skating with the Stars but couldn't watch her at all. She's very awkward, on skates and off. What is her claim to fame? Is she just a reality superstar?

[mcf]

She was awful on that show, hard to watch and to listen to. She is strictly an ambitious entrepreneur using available media opps to create a brand (herself) and market it.

[LindaWhit]

LOL! You could *so* take her, ghg. ;-) I'm not a fan of her either, whereas my sister LUVS her. I just don't see the attraction.

[goodhealthgourmet]

ha! thanks for the vote of confidence...and you're right, because i may be small, but i'm scrappy. plus, i have gravity on my side - she's so darned top-heavy i'm guessing she'd be easy to topple ;)

[Nick F.]

Jeez dudes. Funny I ended up here and that people went to track me down.

Yeah, I used to write here more, but over the last few months (and especially since I started my own blog) I stopped posting as much. Really, I have no excuse. I love this community and it's nurtured me from the time I was in high school. Searching for food here helped ease terrible family vacations and food quests helped to make boring weekends otherwise.

As for why I would want a job working for Bethenny? Because it was a job! I just graduated from college and am among the many marginally employed youngsters you keep reading about. Her post was just another one on Mandy that sounded like it paid (more than the majority unpaid jobs that those familiar with Mandy know exist there).

Anyway, I am sorry if I did any dishonor to this community in my somewhat-poor excuse for a job interview.

All I can offer up is that I'm sure everyone on this board has at least one job interview they f-ed up. It just probably didn't end up on television.

Yours,
Nick F.

[goodhealthgourmet]

welcome back :)

no one thinks you "dishonored" the community, in fact, you represented pretty damn well with your local Chow knowledge. i think we were all just wondering why someone who clearly takes good food seriously would want to work for a woman who made a name for herself selling diet cocktails and books about "unleashing your skinny girl." but we've all been in your shoes - makes much more sense now. thanks for the explanation!

[chowser]

I agree.

Nick, I think you came off as knowledgeable to the food scene in NY, not just the trendy places but the real CH places I'd come here to find out about. But, Bethenny... I have never seen the show but did catch her on Apprentice once a long time ago and was surprised she's popped up elsewhere. The Housewives seem too preoccupied with being size 0's over good food but hey, if they're on Top Chef, she can chat about CH, too. Enjoy your 15!

[mcf]

"Anyway, I am sorry if I did any dishonor to this community in my somewhat-poor excuse for a job interview.

All I can offer up is that I'm sure everyone on this board has at least one job interview they f-ed up. It just probably didn't end up on television."

I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I certainly didn't think you dishonored the CH community at all, I thought that was the best part of the conversation and the interview.

I can think of two interviews I gave in my youth that seriously sucked; even I wouldn't have hired me.

[Chemicalkinetics]

When I said the show looks bad, I were refer to her, not you. You did good. A bit nervious, but I think that is so common in interviews that no one really discount that as a fault. I don't know if "not getting an offer" is the same as "f-ed up an interview". Those are completely different things. Considered that I have been on both side of the isle (interviewer and interviewee). For example, we had 5 candidates in our last interviews. We decide to hire one (of course), but there was only one f-ed up. In other words, we were happy to hire an of the 4 out of 5, but we can only hire one, so we extended our offer to one.

If you think about there was not a particular question which you f-ed. I think she just decided not to hire you from the get-go if you know what I mean.

[Chemicalkinetics]

The shows look bad.

[davina]

seems like it's this guy: http://twitter.com/feitelogram
but who is he on Chowhound? All I can find is old, old stuff: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/219584

[Melanie Wong]

A lot of people changed handles when the new software launched in 2006. How about this profile for Nick F.?
http://www.chow.com/profile/22662

And if the CHOW.com management really want to know, they can check his registration info.

P.S. I found it using google's site:chow.com search.

[goodhealthgourmet]

dingdingding! we have a winner :) looks like he hasn't posted under this account since January. maybe after the show taped he decided to switch to a less identifiable CH moniker?

[Melanie Wong]

Here's what he blogged about the experience.
http://feitelogram.wordpress.com/2010...

[goodhealthgourmet]

thanks for posting that. do you think on some subconscious level he purposely misspelled the name of the TV show? ;)

[howlin]

so ...who is it?

[goodhealthgourmet]

no idea - that's sort of why i posted it, i was *hoping* he'd pipe up and identify himself!

[mcf]

IIRC, he was from NJ? Maybe he's posting on their boards?

[goodhealthgourmet]

i didn't catch a mention of Jersey so i'm guessing you watched the show....very brave of you ;) but i'm pretty sure he'd be posting on the NYC boards - all the places they talked about in that clip - Taïm, Mamoun's, Crif Dog - are in Manhattan.

[mcf]

That show is my guilty pleasure. More brave of me to mention it here than to watch, though this season did have it's share of truly disturbing and scary moments.

[goodhealthgourmet]

we all have our guilty pleasures :) i can't handle any of the Housewives, but Bethenny in particular has always rubbed me the wrong way...even before she was on the show.

it struck me as completely bizarre that this kid would want to work for her...but he does have his finger on the pulse of good, cheap NY chow!

[mcf]

Bethenny is so NY,m definitely an acquired taste. I love her humor and her candor. I think a job with her would provide a lot of valuable exposure and be a fun, interesting ride.

[goodhealthgourmet]

it's not her New York-ness that bothers me...i was born in NYC and lived there for many years so i'm not exactly a shrinking violet ;) but i always feel like she's talking out of both sides of her mouth - one minute she's a natural-foods chef promoting "wholesome" foods and a healthy lifestyle (i said wholesome in quotes because i take issue with some of the recipes she's published over the years and the line of baked goods she used to sell)...and the next she's shilling her line of alcoholic drinks. but yes, if her life is half the circus that i imagine it's become, working for her probably wouldn't be boring.he just seemed extremely out of place in that environment.

[mcf]

I pay no attention to her diet plan or recipes, which haven't impressed me from what little I've seen. And I don't drink Margaritas. For those who do, though, taking out that boatload of sugar was a good idea, assuming that's what she did. Honestly, using the word "skinny" as the ideal is offensive to me, as compared to "fit."

[mcf]

I was impressed by his apparent encyclopedic knowledge of good places to go, but NOT the best interview. :-)