Alton Brown Fires Back at Anthony Bourdain's Comments About TV Chefs

Food Network personality Alton Brown, who recently gave up booze, fired back at Parts Unknown host and general rabble-rouser Anthony Bourdain's comments about his employer and TV chefs in general. Bourdain has been a vocal critic of many of Food Network's stars like Guy Fieri, and former stars such as Paula Deen, for many years. Most recently during a stop on his Close to the Bone tour, Bourdain took a swing at Food Network, complimenting Ina Garten while insulting the rest of the network's chefs in the process: "I love Ina Garten. She's one of the few people on Food Network who can actually cook."

Brown defended his cooking skills, telling People: "I don't have to defend my skills against anybody. I've got 14 years and 252 episodes of a show called Good Eats that I'm pretty sure I can use as a résumé for my skills." Brown continued, "When was the last time you saw Anthony Bourdain actually cook anything? I've spent 14 years cooking my own food on television and I've never seen him cook a meal."

However, Brown did have some complimentary things to say about Bourdain, calling him "the best writer about food," and admitting that he is "jealous" of Bourdain's work. "He pokes a lot of things and that's fine ... I'm a fan, and the few times I've gotten to work with him I enjoyed it immensely." Maybe one day Brown and Bourdain will combine their respective tours into the most epic food-centric show of them all.

UPDATE: Following Brown's comments, Bourdain tweeted that he is a fan of the Food Network star.

I have zero beef with @altonbrown . Smartest stuff on FN and a hero to my daughter

— Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) August 12, 2015

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