Reality bites

It's odd. I am a print journalist who ends up doing a lot of writing about chefs appearing on TV. Question: it's okay that every chef (sorta-kinda) wants to be a TV star - but now, does a chef have to be one? Must every credible chef bio now include an "as seen on blah-blah reality show" entry? I am a little numbed to the drumbeat announcing the latest local chef to score a TV spot. And yet, every time I hear that one of "our" chefs is on a show, I feel a surge of local pride.

We are proud that Ming Tsai and Todd English have had their own PBS shows for years. We are delighted to see favorite locals appearing on other people's PBS, network, and Food Network shows. (Thank you Martha, Matt Lauer, Ruth Reichl, et al.) But about two years ago, the TV floodgates opened. First came a trickle of suggestive press releases and unexplained absences. Chefs wouldn't talk to me - or would talk to me but said within the first 12 seconds of the conversation that there was "something they couldn't talk about." Or that I couldn't talk to them at all until May 1 without a PR minder from Bravo on the line.

Andy Husbands was first on Hell's Kitchen, with Jason "Smurf" Santos and Ben Knack to follow. Then came Ana Sortun and Jody Adams on Top Chef Masters, Mary Dumont and Ming Tsai on The Next Iron Chef, Rebecca Newell on Chopped, the Pallotta sisters on Throwdown with Bobby Flay . . .
and on and on. No disrespect to the great chefs who have been on TV lately, but it's hard to remember them all, let alone in the right order. And they keep coming. Recently, I deduced that Antonio Bettencourt, chef-owner of Salem's 62 Restaurant & Wine Bar, will have "something exciting to announce in August." (Spoiler: it's not the Nobel Prize. Those are in the early fall.) And Boston restaurant icon Steve DiFillippo of Davio's is hosting a new segment for styleboston, exploring the dining scene from the restaurateur's point of view - entering through the kitchen door, not the hostess stand. "They came to me. It's fun to do, and a very good way to promote my brand," he says. TV now matters so much that I know of two Boston restaurant women who have paid for or produced infomercial TV series about themselves.

Undeniably, TV is good for a chef's profile. Those of both Jody Adams and Jason Santos have been much (and deservedly) enhanced in the past year by their TV gigs. And though Bettencourt doubts that being on a TV series will turn his Salem restaurant into a national destination, he acknowledges the allure. "It does elevate you and gives you greater cachet. Wow, I'm on TV! But at the end of the day, we're all just trying to get noticed, support our kids, and pay our mortgages. TV can help."

I am thrilled that New York and LA casting crews have discovered Boston's treasure trove of culinary talent. Yay us! What took them so long? Didn't Julia Child put Boston cooking on the map and give many of our local stars their first TV moments? And wasn't Julia the godmother to all things food on TV? WGBH's Laurie Donnelly, producer of many of PBS's lifestyle shows, says, "Personality is what makes good TV good TV. Julia was a tremendous personality. That's what made her show a success, even more than her cooking skills." For sure, Boston has no shortage of megawatt food personalities. But has TV training become just as necessary for chefs as knife skills? I guess we'll have to tune in to find out.

Louisa Kasdon can be reached at louisa@louisakasdon.com.