Curtis Stone, who is this guy?
I am seeing Curtis Stone EVERYWHERE these days - Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Next Great Restaurant - and he is always intriduced with a bio of "Celebrity Chef" but no detail on his experience. Who on earth is this guy, what has he done, and why is he a celebrity? I honestly never heard of this guy in my life!
I feel like the bar to be called a celebrity chef (in fact any celebrity) just keeps getting lower and lower. For example on the Chopped All Stars episodes, apparantly simply losing on a reality show makes you a celebrity, but I digress...
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rabaja
Apr 13, 2011 12:12 PM
My sister and I fell for Curtis when we discovered Take Home Chef. Yes, it was a kind of hokey, cheesy show, but Curtis had appeal and lot's of it.
One day we turned a corner in Nob Hill in SF and whadd'ya know? There's Curtis!
My sister lost it, totally started screaming, was very excited to get out and meet him.
He was very nice, he took the time to talk to us (well, her really, I stayed in the car) and even pet her dog a bit.
His career really seems to be taking off, but yes, over saturation is always a problem. Even when you're easy on the eyes. -
TheHuntress
Apr 13, 2011 06:33 AM
Being Australian I remember Curtis Stone from way back when he did his earlier show called 'Surfing the Menu' with Ben o'Donahue years and years ago. I always liked what they cooked and his recipes have always turned out well for me. He also happens to be a typical charming, larrakin Australian, but hey that's just a bonus.
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C. Hamster
Apr 12, 2011 08:46 PM
Do you people only watch food shows and not Celebrity Apprentice? Which he was close to winning? And made him more of a mainstream media honey (tool) than a chef?
;-)
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re: C. Hamster
goodhealthgourmet
Apr 12, 2011 09:08 PM
Do you people only watch food shows and not Celebrity Apprentice?
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as far as unscripted shows go, yes. i watched one season of the regular Apprentice only because i knew one of the contestants. but even if i had an interest in Celebrity Apprentice i wouldn't watch it anymore. in light of the Donald's recent political shenanigans, i refuse to support any project of his.plus, i blame him for introducing the world to Bethenny Frankel ;)
but back to Curtis, i'm interested to see how this gig goes for him on TCM, because i'm really not enjoying watching him on America's Next Great Restaurant. everything he says just sounds so rehearsed and forced.
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re: goodhealthgourmet
C. Hamster
Apr 13, 2011 04:54 AM
How did the combover guy bring us precious Bethanny? :-(
Curtis came off very well on CA, I thought. Not so much now. I agree that he's become more of a pretty boy reading some lines.
And I find ANGR hard to watch thanks to the uber-annoying Chipolte man.
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re: C. Hamster
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re: C. Hamster
goodhealthgourmet
Apr 13, 2011 11:45 AM
Donald Trump started the Apprentice franchise, and was one of the executive producers of the Martha Stewart version..and that's where Bethenny Frankel got her "big break," so to speak.
and i agree with you on Steve Ells...there's something really creepy about him. plus he's kind of an ass.
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Cheese Boy
Apr 9, 2011 11:05 PM
Yes, I remember Curtis from "Take Home Chef" where he was quite entertaining and amazingly talented in convincing these women to take him home. His second appearance for me was when he played in "Celebrity Apprentice". He was a class act and played rather well. I find him to be fairly competent as both an actor and chef. JMO.
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re: Cheese Boy
Curtis might not have a restaurant empire or the culinary school/French pedigree of some of other celebrity chefs but I think he's a quality chef with a solid on-the-job-training background and I trust his palate. He's also one of the most charismatic chefs around and comes across well on camara. Also having watched his Celebrity Apprentice stint, he seems to have the requisite smarts and savvy to succeed in his career.
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Curtis has been around for a long time. Personally, I liked his show "Take Home Chef". This was a while back, when cooking shows were limited. He was charming, knew what he was doing in the kitchen, and appealed to a large viewing audience. It's about time he's back (especially in light of the boring shows the network(s) are coming up with now.
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re: BubblyOne
I prefer PBS's Create to FN and other channels. No interruptive commercials. They have done a little bit in competitions, which I don't like, but mostly demos and discussion. I love the old Julias and Julia and Jacques shows. Cook's Country is informative.
On FN, Alton Brown is fun, Giada does great stuff. Ina is good. Paula Dean, not that interesting too me.
If somebody signed up Harold McGee, I'd watch and listen to his explanations.
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re: BubblyOne
goodhealthgourmet
Apr 8, 2011 05:13 PM
yeah, i linked to it a couple posts up. the timing was so perfect in light of this thread that i had to laugh when i saw it.
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re: BubblyOne
AmblerGirl
Apr 9, 2011 01:07 PM
Ha! Love this quote from the article:
If you visit Stone's website, you'll notice that his "about" section is divided into two tabs: Chef and Celebrity. (You'll also notice that the celebrity portion is double the length of the chef portion.)
I also love that they use "chef" in quotations in the article!
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goodhealthgourmet
Apr 8, 2011 10:34 AM
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LurkerDan
Apr 8, 2011 08:06 AM
wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_S...
I am on Curtis Stone overload. Not only is he on those, but he also regularly appears on the Biggest Loser. I am really tired of him.
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Gio
Apr 8, 2011 04:52 AM
Ahhh...Curtis. I first saw him a few years ago on one of the cooking channels as the Australian born, London chef who stopped grocery shoppers in the LA area and invited himself into their homes and kitchens to cook dinner for their families and guests. Supposedly he was out to teach those women how to cook. Here's his web site:
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re: Gio
Sooeygun
Apr 8, 2011 06:43 AM
To be fair, it was the production staff that approached people in the stores and asked if they wanted to participate (I had also heard that the people actually applied to be on the show and the store part was a set up, but not sure if that is true). Curtis would just walk in and look for the cart with the ribbon tied on it. Wasn't like he was stalking or anything.
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re: Gio
HillJ
Apr 8, 2011 08:19 AM
Take Home Chef was the name of that program and first introduced Americans to Curtis.
I thought at the time it was clever and sweet and clearly Curtis' charm and Aussie accent was played to the camera but the Curtis of tv lately is more intense. It's difficult to know what is real and what is scripted with these shows but I still find Curtis appealing.
And, overload happens with every chef that strikes a cord with viewers. Every single tv chef.
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re: HillJ
chicgail
Apr 12, 2011 07:48 PM
I liked him as the charming guy on THC, but I also really like the intensity and probing questions that he is asking on this show.
Wasn't he also on Celebrity Apprentice? If you saw that show, can you say what he was like on that particular version of Reality TV?
Also, does anyone know what his credentials are as a chef and not just eye candy for whatever reality food TV is on today?
One thing for sure is the guy has a heck of an booking/PR agent.
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re: chicgail
HillJ
Apr 12, 2011 08:03 PM
http://www.curtisstone.com/About-Curt...
this link from up thread provides some background and a jumping off point to other cred. on Curtis Stone.
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