Juliette Rossant

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The Food Channel® Trendwire

Chef Todd English is the poster boy for overextension

From Art Siemering's vantage point at the Noble Idea Center —

Today's prevailing wisdom is that star chefs are on a roll. But I'm convinced that a considerable share of the chef worship we hear about is mostly publicist-driven and likely to sag sooner than a lot of people are willing to admit.

What we have here may well be a "Chef Bubble" not unlike the one we speak of in real estate, and no less likely to burst. Even the lengthy, thoughtful and generally celebratory "Special Report: Celebrity Chefs" published in the March 22 edition of Nation's Restaurant News paired the evidence of some chefs' wretched excess with murmurings of eventual downfall.

PUSHING THEIR LUCK?

Here are some key points excerpted from the NRN story by Erica Duecy. I'll let you decide whether they are good or bad portents.

• Chef's Theater is a new Broadway show that combines live cooking with legit cabaret performances, held Tuesdays through Sundays at the Supper Club near Times Square. Chefs scheduled to participate include Jacques Pepin, Todd English, Andre Soltner, David Burke, Tyler Florence, Douglas Rodriguez, Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger and many more. Ticket prices for the three-course dinner performances range from $115 to $225.

• The traditional model of a chef whose singular focus is the restaurant is becoming increasingly rare. Chef Rocco DiSpirito (of The Restaurant television "reality" series infamy) is quoted saying: "Essentially every chef tries to pretend they're in the kitchen all the time, when, in fact, they're not."

• And little wonder. In the past 10 or 15 years, many chefs have multiple units to oversee. And a good number have become cookbook authors, television stars, tour operators, product manufacturers (packaged foods and cookware just for openers), product endorsers and consultants to restaurant and hotel chains, airlines and cruise ships.

• Juliette Rossant, whose book Super Chef: The Making of the Great Modern Restaurant Empires will be published in May, told NRN: "Chefs keep expanding further away from the kitchen in a way that is similar to sports stars. I'm not sure if that will be successful. Getting away from a core brand identity risks confusing customers." With multiple commitments and responsibilities, Rossant continued, chefs also risk overexposure and spreading themselves too thin, resulting in suffering restaurant operations.

• While chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Emeril Lagasse cooked for years below the rader of a national audience, younger chefs are attaining nationwide fame at an unprecedented pace.

• At least one younger chef, the Food Network's Tyler Florence, has no intention of going the cookware route. "I would never want to put my name on a line of pots and pans, he told NRN. "Everything eventually ends up at a yard sale, selling for 50 cents." ¬Ý

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© 2004 Noble Communications. The Food Channel® Trendwire newsletter is published by the consumer intelligence unit of Noble & Associates, a food-focused advertising and marketing company with offices in Springfield, Mo., Chicago, Ill., Milwaukee, Wis. And Washington, N.J. Comments or questions may be directed to Art Siemering, the newsletter's editor-in-chief, at art.siemering@noble.net, by phone at 417-875-5187 or by fax at 417-875-5199.

The Trendwire newsletter is distributed electronically each week, 52 times a year. Its content, in whole or in part, may not be copied or reproduced in any form. All quotations must credit The Food Channel Trendwire as the source. Individual e-letter subscriptions are available for US$195 per year. Corporate subscriptions are US$895. For subscription inquiries, contact Art Siemering at 417-875-5187 or art.siemering@noble.net.

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