Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

How about none of them? Here's an idea.....what if the TV powers to be (PBS , Food Network, Travel Channel, Fine Living Network-I don't really care) re-ran the old shows from Julia Child, Jeff Smith, Justin Wilson, Marcia Adams, Graham Kerr, Earl Peyroux, Joyce Chen, Madeleine Kamman, Natalie Dupree, the Romagnoli's, Marcel Desaulnieres, Biba Caggiano, Nick Stellino, Mollie Katzen, the 'Great Chef's series', Anne Willan (cooking from LaVarenne) et al.......if for no other reason other than the newbie generation of foodies can experience the kind of cooking shows that paved the way for this current wave of cooking shows? My daughter (in her 30's) has no idea of what a cooking show on TV is other than the crap we see on these reality shows and 'most' Food Network shows.....did I just have an epiphany or will be I be flamed?

You know what? I'm tired as hell as of the new "cooking shows" and I'm not going to take it anymore. I have a remote control. And I can read books.

Steingarten was on White's show? Eff. So, original programming isn't such a big deal to Steingarten. Still think he'd balk at hosting a show that has a tired, cooking competition format.

Love him or hate him, Steingarten is the only one of the three who could move the ball forward in the world of food shows. Can you imagine him putting on a fake persona or doing something unoriginal? Not me. He's believably and genuinely crabby -- unlike Ramsay -- but he's also humorous and an astute professional eater from whom we could learn valuable lessons. His books certainly suggest this. And you know he'd rather eat a preservative-laden salad before appearing on a reality show with a unoriginal format. White did just that by appearing on another show with the GD kitchen competitions. If the viewing public is feeling anything like me, they're tired of celebrity chefs involved in competitive cooking events. Something new would be nice!

Steingarten would be the ultimate surly moderator for a weekly roundtable series, a la The McLaughlin Group, where guests with different culinary viewpoints hash out food issues in an intelligent yet often comical manner. Could also see him hosting a culinary Jeopardy-type show, where he'd get to make hilariously bitchy quips in response to people's answers.

So, I'm all in for Steingarten. He's one-of-a-kind and real. Real smart, real funny and could be truly great on his own show . . . maybe a reality show. Or not.

Ramsay - He's pretty rough on Hell's Kitchen, but if you ever see Kitchen Nightmares, you get to see a different side of him. I find him honest and while pretty raw sometimes, and I watching him.

At this point it's pretty easy to see through Ramsay's shtick--I'm finding him entertaining again.
MPW's 'power' finger approach is the new joke around the house.
As much as I like Steigarden as a critic I worry about him being wasted as a host--this happened to Ted Allen; having to carry the ball still haunts Emilio at times.

An aside: Chilean Sea Bass is no longer considered endangered; there are other reasons activists recommend that you avoid it.

Actually, Marco doesn't claim to have made Gordon cry. Marco says Gordon made himself cry. And Marco also had Batali in such a tizzy that Batali stormed out of his kitchen, dropping handfuls of salt into several sauces on his way out.

Jeffrey Steingarten is a very intellectually focused food critic...and I don't know that he would translate all that well for the masses in a reality show. He's too understated and has very little "drama" in the way he presents himself. I enjoy reading him, and as long as I don't have to watch him eat I enjoy his commentary on cooking competition shows.

As for Gordon and Marco, let's see them go head to head. :) That would be some serious reality show drama. Marco claims to have made Gordon cry...so let's see it.

love steingarten. i miss the show the two of you had Ed!

I don't mind Steingarten's TV commentary or the things he's written, but I get a little creeped out watching the way he eats. He holds his fork like he's shoveling the food into his mouth. I'm getting a little bored with the all the reality shows in general but watch them when nothing better is on....ah the good old days when cooking shows really involved cooking.

It's very clear that Fox has instructed Ramsay to go totally over the top angry on Hell's Kitchen. He's nowhere near as extreme on any other show I've seen him on, especially the British ones. When he loses his temper on the British version of Kitchen Nightmares it's almost always with someone who is really asking for it. And even then, he does come across as someone who genuinely cares about getting the restaurant running right.

I can't form an opinion (much) about White yet because I've only seen one episode of his show. Steingarten is someone I can take or leave.

We want Jeffrey

I meant "idiOts;" my bad...