Despite Recent TV Appearances, Chicago Tribune Food Critic Phil Vettel Remains Anonymous

Last Friday Chicago Tribune food critic Phil Vettel was a guest on the premiere of the Food Network series Food Feud with chef Michael Symon*. The show played up his anonymity to the maximum allowable campy limit, having him dress up in a trench coat and hat like out of an old private detective movie, in which he offered his opinion on which Chicago-based Italian beef sandwich was the best (Italian Beef vs. Mr. Beef). And then they took it even further, alternatively pixellating him, doing extreme(ly scary) closeups, or otherwise obscuring his face (see video below).

Oh, and speaking of camp, just last week Vettel appeared on the The Today Show — calling him "a guy with professional taste buds" — to give his opinion on Asian Carp while wearing a Groucho Marx mask as a disguise.

All so people could can take him seriously! Based on these video two clips alone, you could probably spot the guy a mile away:

Video: Phil Vetell on Food Feud

Video: Phil Vettel on The Today Show

* Food Feud was actually pretty good! Nearly identical in concept to the Travel Channel's Food Wars, but who knows when either show was created and shot?

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