While many great chefs leave the steamy hell of restaurant kitchens for the cushy life of successful restaurant owner, or even television celebrity, sometimes the competitive spark, and ability to trash talk-- both invaluable skills to any line cook --- never leave them, they just get directed at other food world compadres. Here are five great recent chef disses:
5) Anthony Bourdain Vs. Alice Waters: When asked by a reporter from DCist about Waters, Bourdain remarked "Alice Waters annoys the living [expletive] out of me. We're all in the middle of a recession, like we're all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There's something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic." At a food fest a few months later, Bourdain added "She's Pol Pot in a muumuu. I saw her on 60 Minutes. She used six cords of wood to cook one egg for Lesley Stahl."
4) Tyler Florence Vs. Andrew Zimmern:
After an appearence by Florence on Ryan Seacrests's reality show, Momma's Boys, Bizarre Foods Host Andrew Zimmern delivered this barb via his personal blog "Monday's episode featured the worlds least talented TV chef, Tyler Florence, once again churning out the questionable cooking advice and leading the ladies through a menu of the Mom's fave recipes. Watching Florence wolf down the food, stare and ogle every a** that strolled by his cutting board and play the role of local TV stud was high comedy of the highest order." Florence quickly posted a response on his Facebook blog that included this nugget: "I guess it's hard to have a sense of humor when you're on your 10th take of eating Yak testicles, smiling to the camera, wondering where your life went wrong......... mmmmm, Delicious! Go get 'em guys."
3) Mario Batali Vs. Gordon Ramsay:In late 2008, after Ramsay's continually referring to Batali as "Fanta Pants" in the press, Batali officially banned him from any of his restaurants in an interview in The Guardian, saying "I won't have him in there. If he called me himself and said, 'Let's sit down for a drink,' I'm sure it would be fine. We'd be cool. But right now it's not cool."
2) Clarissa Dickson Wright Vs. Jamie Oliver:When the Independent, asked Wright, one of BBC's "Two Fat Ladies" of her opinion of Jamie Oliver and replied, "He is a brilliant cook...But his restaurants are lackluster, I'm told. I don't know. I don't eat in them. I don't want to risk being poisoned."
1)Dave Chang Vs. San Francisco Chefs:During a Q & A with Anthony Bourdain at the 2009 NYC Wine and Food Fest, Bourdain asked Chang about food trends that he hates. His response:"F***in' every restaurant in San Francisco is just serving figs on a plate. Do something with your food." After the SF Asia society cancelled a book tour event due to the comment, Chang stood his ground saying, "Why would people get upset? I'm not gonna retract what I said. I think everybody needs to chill out. People need to smoke more marijuana in San Francisco."
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