Blogs and Stories
The Secret Sex Lives of Chefs
I did find one pro, a restaurateur at the center of the star-chef game, who pines for the old days, and had some decent reasons. “It’s not like the '80s anymore,” he says. “It’s too dangerous to take risks. The camera is always watching. Someone will sue or write about it. They are more groupies than ever, but for people my age, some of us married now, we’ve grown out of it.”
“All day you see women coming for your food, looking at you that way. After all, food is sexy.”
I suppose that monogamy is admirable, but it saddens me. Opportunity abounds, yet the libido is muffled by hunger, propriety, and fear. I hope it doesn’t extend to the young and single. I worry that the lust that drove earlier generations from disco to bed seems too focused now on food, shopping (organica and leafy local greens), cooking and eating out ,and endless blogging about it. I can’t believe that anyone has the time for advanced love-making— changing the sheets, soaking in a scented bath, setting up a favorite porn film. If the newbies are born already attached to a keyboard and their parents spend those midlife-crisis years at the computer, or scouting plywood sheathing coming down on new restaurants and texting gossip to Eater and Gawker… where does erotic adventure fit in? A Yelp is not like an orgasmic moan, or maybe to some it is. As for the compulsion to Tweet. Tweeting does not lead to kissing like dancing did. Whatever became of infidelity in the afternoon—would one Tweet it afterward with a euphemism or a rating?
Such is the price of fame, it seems. As a woman who is proud that I had the creativity to spend an infamous afternoon with Elvis Presley, the thought of chefs as rock stars amuses me. “Will you be having fun with your groupies?” I playfully ask Jonathan Waxman, who has cooked everywhere from Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in Berkeley to his own Barbuto in New York, as he headed for the Food and Wine Festival in Aspen. He protests: “No. Oh no. I’m too old. I’m an old married man.”
“But young women love older men,” I said.
Jonathan smiled and shook his head. “But then you have to talk to them afterward.” Spoken like a celebrity.
Plus: Check out Hungry Beast, for more news on the latest restaurants, hot chefs, and tasty recipes.
A New York restaurant critic for 40 years and author of seven books (two bestselling novels, a sex guide and a memoir: Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess), Gael Greene’s reviews and archives can be found at her Web site.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Why America Must Learn to Bow
Martin Jacques is the cofounder of the UK think tank Demos, writes a regular column for The Guardian, and is a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics Asia Research Centre. His new book, When China Rules the World, is available now.
Going Rogue: The Index
Christopher Buckley's books include Supreme Courtship, The White House Mess, Thank You for Smoking, Little Green Men, and Florence of Arabia. He was chief speechwriter for Vice President George H.W. Bush, and is editor-at-large of ForbesLife magazine. His new book is Losing Mum and Pup, a memoir. Buckley's Daily Beast column is the winner of an Online Journalism Award in the category of Online Commentary.
In Philly. The morning anchor on Channel 6 ABC did just that.
She interviewed a Chef in Philly and a month later they were married.
Hope he got a prenup.
Those Channel 6 women anchors are notorious for marrying rich guys then taking them to the bank.
Fork Play? Are you kidding me?
Why does Giada de Laurentiis' head always look disproportionate to the rest of her body? She looks like a bobble-head sometimes.
hahaha that is my nick name for her! bobble head... haha.
I always refer to her as Tweety Bird
Giada's other assets are quite proportionate, thank you very much. Plus she is a pretty damn good cook/chef. Try some of her recipies, I have and they work out rather well.
Yeah, Jamie Oliver, Emril, Rocco DiSpirito etc., real "rock stars"...I thought HGTV's home improvement dudes were the latest "rock stars", I must have missed something
Why is Rachel Ray not mentioned??
My guess is because she is not a trained chef. She's a cook who has done well.
Rachel Ray is not a cook. She's strictly hard hat short order.
An invention of Food Network that caters to large audience of those who need "quick,fast,etc" and "new". She is not in the category of great chefs, and am sure she'd admit it.
Rachel is getting richer by the minute but needs throat surgery, as she is so hoarse I can barely understand her when I watch.
BTW, food is necessary to sustain life. Sex is not. It's a bonus.
Actually, sex is necessary to sustain life. Well, the procreation part of it, anyway.
But you still watch her and her chubby jiggly parts and annoying hand gestures!!!
OK, so there are no gay chefs?
The food/sex connection is hardly news. Avid home cooks who know their way around a pantry have been reaping sexual benefits for years. If you're a professional *single* chef worth your salt, you shouldn't have to spend any night alone. I imagine the temptation for married chefs is excrutiating.
Why is Giada's photo on this article? It's not about her. This is misleading.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.