Wicked Wednesday: Who is Your Favorite Celebrity Chef?

We are celebrating the release of Murder Most Finicky today. The wicked question of the week, in keeping with the theme of the book: Who is your favorite celebrity chef? The cooking show you like to watch?

Liz: I’m probably going to be the worst at answering this question because I don’t watch cooking shows! I’m going to go with Kris Carr. She’s not a traditional celebrity chef, but her Crazy Sexy food revolution is helping people use food as their pharmacy. Via her blog and cookbooks (Crazy Sexy Diet, Crazy Sexy Kitchen, Crazy Sexy Juice), Kris offers tips on how to eat way better without sacrificing enjoyment. Her recipes are yummy, vegan, and offer gluten- and dairy-free options.

Jessie: I don’t watch cooking shows either. I do love to watch Anthoy Bourdain travel the world and experience other cultures through food. Does that count?

Julie: Jessie, we’ll let him count. I have three favorites. #1, of course, Julia Child. #2 Martha Stewart. #3 Emeril Lagasse.

Edith: Ha. I don’t watch cooking shows, either. So Julia Child gets my vote. And does anybody remember Graham Kerr, the handsome Galloping Gourmet? I watched him in high school. I was so impressed that he would pour some wine into his cooking, and then some into his glass (my parents did not drink) and drink it right there on air. Now I AM him. (Look, I found a picture of Julia Child and Graham Kerr together!) And congratulations, Liz!

Sherry: It’s ironic that I’m probably the worst cook of us all and yet I love to watch cooking shows. One of my favorites is Chopped on the Food Network. I love the judges on the show but have a new favorite, Chris Santos. There was a recent episode with military vets, one of them (the first runner up) was having a particularly hard time in life. Chris said he was opening a new restaurant and offered him a job adding that he didn’t do it lightly and thought the vet was a great cook. It touched my heart because I’ve never seen a judge do that before.

Barb: I have to go with Tom Colicchio and Top Chef. It was eleven years ago that I spent a snowy Saturday wrapping Christmas presents and watching a marathon of the first season of Project Runway. I had never watched reality TV before, not even American Idol or Survivor, but Project Runway spoke to me. I’m not into fashion, but I loved watching creative people solve problems to compete in interesting challenges. When I learned the same production team was doing Top Chef, I had no interest. “If you can’t smell it or taste it, what’s the point?” I said to my husband. But nonetheless, around the second season, they got me. I have to say I’ve learned a lot about cooking and a lot about food from Top Chef.

Readers: Cooking shows or no? Who’s your favorite TV chef?