cover Allen oversees four chefs who must create meals
from a basket containing three to five mystery ingredients, which fall under the category of “un- usual.” The contestants have to prove their meddle, even when they are presented with the challenge of making something savory out of canned sardines, watermelon, pepper jack cheese and zucchini, as was the case in one memorable episode. They also have access to a pantry and fridge, which houses other ingredients, and the three judges on hand critique them on their appetizers, entrées and desserts until one of them isChopped. Allen has also appeared on Food Network’s Beat
Bobby Flay, The Best Thing I Ever Ate andThe Next Food Network Star. In 2012, he received a James Beard Foundation Award for his hosting duties onChopped. In his private life, Allen married his partner of 22 years Barry Rice in 2013.
CAT CORA She knew that cooking was in her blood at a
young age. By the time Cat Cora was 15-years-old she had developed a business plan for her own restaurant. She left her native Mississippi for New York City, at the behest of her mentor, Julia Child, to pursue an education at The Culinary Institute of America. It was during this time that she apprenticed with and was then employed by, Chef Anne Rozenweig
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Cooking competition shows are not immune to the “where are they now?” factor that
happens after the spotlight is trained away from participants in the realm of reality TV. Here’s what a few have done post-show to keep themselves in the public eye.
at famed eatery Arcadia and then Chef Larry For- gione at Beekman Tavern. She continued to hone her skills in Europe, working under the tutelage of three-star Michelin chefs George Blanc of Vonnas and Roger Verge. Upon returning to New York City, she continued her on-the-job training as a Sous Chef at The Old Chatham Shepherding Company under Chef Melissa Kelly, before heading west and becoming Chef de Cuisine at Napa Valley’s Bistro Don Giovanni. Then in 1999, she began to utilize that wealth
of knowledge on television shows such as: Food Network’s Melting Pot with Rocco Di Spirito,My Country My Kitchen: Greece, Date Plate, Fine Living’s Simplify Your Life, Kitchen Accomplished, Iron Chef America and Bravo’sAround the World in 80 Plates. Cora married her longtime partner in June of
2013, divorcing in 2015. The couple have four children together.
RICH SWEENEY San Diego-based chef Sweeney was one of the
youngest established executive chefs in the region at age 27, then going on to appear as a contestant on the fifth season on Top Chef. In 2010, he opened the popular local restaurant R
ART SMITH He has appeared on numerous cooking shows, with
Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Iron Chef America andThe Best Thing I Ever Atebeing but four of them. He has also served as a personal chef for Oprah Winfrey, has written three award-winning cookbooks and cooked for Barack Obama and Lady Gaga during her 2011 special,A Very Gaga Thanksgiving. In addition, Smith started the non-profit charity
Common Threads, which teaches children about different cultures through the magic of cooking. He also owns Art and Soul restaurant in Washington, D.C.
ANITA LO She has the distinction of winning both the battle on
Iron Chef America and for being the first female chef to do so…All while beating famed chef Mario Batali in the process. Talk about “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves.” She placed fourth onTop Chef Masters in 2009 and was most recently onBeat Bobby Flay last year. She has kept herself plenty busy with her successful upscale restaurant, Anissa, located in Greenwich Village.
Gang Eatery and was heaped with praise bySan Diego Magazine,The Food Network, Zagatand The Travel Network, also winning the title of “Chef of the Fest” at the 10th Annual San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival. Unfortunately for San Diego foodies—those yummy brunches—Sweeney closed his contemporary/retro American cuisine eatery in 2015. He is still in the kitchen however, as executive chef at Waypoint Public in North Park and as a consultant for the Gaslamp’s Florent Restaurant and Lounge. Earlier this year, he, hubby Steve Farrow and 24 other same-sex couples were married on an episode ofTop Chef, with host Padma Lakshmi officiating the occasion. There you have it, tasty morsels about some of our favorite LGBT chefs. Hopefully, it gives you some “Food for thought” about what it takes to make the cut, as a celebrity chef.
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RAGE monthly | NOVEMBER 2016
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