Today in Celebrity Chef News, we have one of my favorite Food Network stars: Alton Brown. I seriously love this guy. His show Good Eats is pretty unique in the genre, to the point of being fairly campy. There are a lot of crazy angles, and he even employs the use of an “oven cam.” He’s also a bit of a nerd, which totally works for me (just ask my geeky husband). He does all sorts of little vignettes (not to be confused with vinaigrettes), including some that explain the science behind cooking and baking. I’m sorry to say that after half-a-dozen different shows on it, I still don’t quite get emulsification. Sorry, dude.

Maybe I love Alton Brown because we both have degrees in Theatre, although I’d have to say he’s probably putting his to better use than I am. He’s got the ability to make the audience chuckle, and he’s not afraid to don a cowboy costume or talk with a funny accent for an entire episode to further the cause.

In addition to his show, he’s also done a couple of mini-series called Feasting on Asphalt. Nerds, food, and motorcycles…what more could you want? In the first season, he actually wrecked the bike and ended up in the hospital. Honestly, I would have thought some of the crazy Southern food he was eating would have put him there first, but what do I know?

Alton Brown has also had some success as an author. A couple of his titles include several takes on I’m Just Here for the Food, and Alton Brown’s Gear for Your Kitchen. He’s also done some videos for GE that go out to their wholesalers to better explain their products. These are done in the same style as Good Eats, and I have to think that those are the most entertaining instructional videos the appliance store employees have ever seen.

I didn’t set out to make this a whose-who of Iron Chef America, but like Bobby Flay and Mario Batali, Alton Brown is also involved in the show. He’s the commentator, and he knows so much about so many different foods that he really does make the show that much more interesting.

OK, I will stop gushing about my celebrity chef crush Alton Brown. (Call me!)

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Before we all get carried away, I will admit right up front that Rachel Ray is not actually a chef. I’m not telling any tales out of school, as the popular cook has been pretty clear about that herself, telling the New York Times “I have no formal anything. I’m completely unqualified for any job I’ve ever had.”

She is, however, a part of this celebrity chef culture, and I didn’t want to leave her out of the lineup. While she doesn’t have a chain of restaurants or her own line of seasonings, Rachel Ray has definitely created her own celebrity businesses for us to check out. For one, she got Queen Oprah (and I say that with reverence) behind her to start her show Rachel Ray in 2006. It’s already won two Emmys. Of course, this came after a slew of other successful shows like the Food Network’s 30 Minute Meals, $40 ad Day, Inside Dish and Rachel Ray’s Tasty Travels.

Rachel Ray has also released a number of really successful cookbooks including Just in Time, 30-Minute Meals, Express Lane Meals, Yum-O! the Family Cookbook, 365: No Repeats, and a bunch of others. Her foray into print media doesn’t stop with cookbooks either, as she is also involved with the production of the magazine Every Day with Rachel Ray.

She may not be a trained chef, but there’s definitely something about Rachel Ray that keeps us interested. I know I feel like I could sit down and have a chat with her over a cup of tea any day of the week. (Don’t tell Anthony Bourdain I said that, though, ok? I desperately want him to think I’m cool.)

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I want to talk about Bobby Flay today, but let’s just do a little recap first.

So, where were we? Ah, yes. Celebrity chefs. Not only is it amazing to me that chefs are becoming such celebrities, but I also can’t believe they’re so well known by people who have never even tasted their food. I mean, what kind of chef do you have to be in order to be adored by people who have never even eaten anything you’ve cooked?

I suppose their are some exceptions, though. While most people have never tasted Emeril’s gumbo, for example, a lot of them have tried his special seasoning called “Essence.” Many celebrity chefs have restaurant chains, too, so the masses can at least sample something the chef has had a hand in
creating.

Bobby Flay falls into both categories. He has two lines of rubs and sauces for meat, seafood, and poultry called Mesa Grill and Bobby Flay Signature. He also has a variety of product endorsements with the retailer Kohl’s. These include everything from plates, to cutlery, to bar towels, of all things. If you can use it in the kitchen, Kohl’s has managed to slap Bobby Flay’s name onto it. To be fair, there does seem to be a good sense of cohesion to the entire line with the Southwest-y colors and such.

Unlike many of his celebrity chef counterparts, Bobby Flay’s food is actually available to a fairly large number of people. Of course, you won’t likely have Bobby himself grilling up your steak at the Mesa GrillLas Vegas, you know that he has had a direct hand in creating the menu. Other Mesa Grill restaurants can be found in New York and the Bahamas. Additionally, Bobby Flay is owner of Bar Americain in New York, and Bobby Flay Steak in Atalanctic City.

While all of this is well and good, I’m most familiar with Bobby Flay because of his participation in Iron Chef America. Just like our previously-highlighted Mario Batali, Bobby Flay is on of the American Iron Chefs, even after creating a bit of controversy on the original Japanese incarnation by staning on his cutting board.

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Mario Batali is the first celebrity chef to be included in this little series. He’s been working in kitchens since he was in college in the early 80s, getting his start as a dishwasher. Boy, has he come a long way since those humble beginnings.

Best known for authentic Italian-style cooking (he apprenticed in Northern Italy after an already successful stint as a chef in both the UK and the US), Mario Batali has become a household name due to his numerous television shows. These include Molto Mario, Mediterranean Mario, Mario Eats Italy, and Ciao America. He is also one of the Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America. Apparently, he’s also got an upcoming series on PBS with Gwyneth Paltrow called Spain…On the Road Again.

Like so many of the celebrity chefs today, Mario has also penned several books with long titles, including Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages, Mario Batali Holiday Food: Family Recipes for the Most Festive Time of the Year, Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home, and a few others.

While the general public has really been introduced to Mario through his television and literary careers, he is actually highly though of in the culinary world, too. He and his business partner Joseph Bastianich are owners of several restaurants. Some of these include Lupa, Esca, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Bistro Du Vents, Del Posto, Enoteca San Marco, and B&B Ristorante. For a full list of his resturants, check out his web site.

But wait, that’s not all. With this croc-wearing redheaded chef, you also get a line of kitchen tools and cookware. I am not even joking when I tell you that there are even Mario Batali toys! This guy is more than a chef, and he has really learned to leverage his celebrity to the nth degree.

So far we’ve only taken a look at one celebrity chef, but there are a ton of them out there just waiting for us to take note! The whole concept of a celebrity chef is a relatively new one, with the huge popularity of the Food Network. “Celebrity chef” used to refer to a trained professional who was famous for his or her food. Now it’s all about television shows, product endorsements, and catchphrases (Bam!, Yummo!, etc.)

I actually kind of like some of these folks, and you certainly can’t fault them for using their fifteen minutes in the spotlight to make a little extra coin. Some of them have practically built empires on cook books and grilling spices.

Over the next week, we’re going to take a look at some of the big names in celebrity chef-dom. We’ll also look at what they’re doing outside of the kitchen that qualifies them for inclusion on a blog about celebrity businesses. I’ll admit to having my favorites, and there are a few that sort of annoy me, but I’ll try not to let that bias my opinions too much.

Bon Appetit!

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One of the hardest things about “reporting” on celebrity clothing lines is determining if they’re still around. In the last week, I’ve tried to tell you about Pamela Anderson’s “The Pamela Collection,” Kylie Minogue’s “Love Kylie,” and Ryan Seacrest’s “The R Line.” It seems that all of these clothing lines were announced with much fanfare, but have so much more quietly disappeared. (I suspect that Love Kylie is still around, but it’s sure hard to find . . . not the best marketing ploy, IMHO.)

One person who has never really had much trouble getting his name out there, however, is Justin Timberlake; and that holds true for his clothing line, as well. Granted it’s only a year old, so who knows what the future holds. In the meantime, we can take a peek at the William Rast line by Justin Timberlake and his best friend Trace Ayala.

I’m guessing that the other celebrities were expecting a lot out of this line because tons of stars were their first runway show, including Patrick Dempsey, Nicky and Paris Hilton, Wilmer Valderrama, and (of course) Cameron Diaz. The focus of the collection really seems to be on jeans, with a number of hip-hugging women’s styles and some options for men, as well. There are a few v-necks and t-shirts with the William Rast logo, and what I can only hope is supposed to be an ironic camouflaged baseball cap.

The hook for William Rast clothing – besides Timberlake’s involvement, of course – is touted to be attention to detail and high-end production. The outcome is knits and denims that are made to be especially comfortable. Oddly, many of the styles have a note encouraging customers to buy a size smaller than they usually would. Not sure what that’s about . . . Must be an attempt to avoid some sort of “wardrobe malfunction.” (C’mon, it’s a post about Justin Timberlake and clothes; I had to use the phrase at least once!)

Anyhow, the prices are a little high with jeans averaging about $220 and t-shirts priced around $57. The jeans especially, though, are going to get you noticed, and most likely in the “good” way.

(Seriously, don’t you want this fashion maven dressing you? Tee hee.)

I’ll admit it. When I first heard that Reba McEntire had her own clothing line, I couldn’t help but think of the sequins and big hair that sort of defined her look in the 80s and 90s. What on earth was this lady going to be able to offer the every day woman, I wondered.

It turns out that her down-home charm extends beyond the friendly twang of her accent. Her clothes are actually quite cute and accessible. I imagined something you would expect to see on the character from her song “Fancy,” but what I found was actually much more of what you would see on a 30-something mom who was still making an effort on her appearance.

In addition to cute tops, jackets, and jeans, she has some really cute skirts and dresses.

The line is really one of the most comprehensive I’ve seen so far, and it’s definitely one of the most affordable for us mere mortals.

I’m in love with this $58 shirt, for example:

It turns out that cute clothes aren’t the only trick the country star has up her sleeve, as she’s also rolled out a line of shoes, as well as a line of home decor called Harmony for the Home”.

All three lines can be found at Dillard’s stores.

While Paula Abdul has had sort of a second career with her role as a judge on American Idol, I still remember her first career as that lady dancing with the animated cat in the “Opposites Attract” video. It turns out that she has a third career now, too. No, I don’t mean as a reality television star. Would that that would be her fourth career?

Hey, I’m getting distracted!

In the last few years, Paula Abdul has branched out to become a designer. While many celebrities have their own clothing lines, Paula’s is actually highly focused. She designs cheerleading and dancewear for her own line called Skirtz. Of course, Paula was actually a cheerleader herself as a Laker Girl in the early 1980s. So, wait, I guess that was her first career . . . After that, she went on to choreograph for big stars like Janet Jackson.

So, the first career was as a cheerleader, the second was as a choreographer, then she became a singer, then an American Idol judge, then a designer, then a reality television star. So, that technically makes the whole designing thing her, um, fifth career, right? I am so confused.

Anyway…

In addition to designing her dance clothing, Paula Abdul also designs jewelry based on the dedication of contestants on American Idol. The line is called “Innergy.” Many of the pieces have charm tags on them with messages like “Sing your heart out as if no one’s listening” and “When you wish upon a star you just might become one.” She’s even been known to give out various pieces of her own jewelry designs to contestants on the show.

No matter how many different ways Paula Abdul reinvents herself, she sure seems to stay pretty near and dear to Americans’ hearts.

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Ask just about any university-level drama student, and he or she will tell you that you can’t make a living as a playwright these days. Having been a university-level drama student who wrote plays, I happen to know first-hand that very few of us ever expected to get rich and famous.

Fortunately for him, Tyler Perry had a lot more faith in his abilities. While you may be most familiar with him from his role as “Madea” in movies like Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Tyler Perry has built himself quite an empire on his ability to spin a yarn.

He is one of those really inspiring celebrity entrepreneurs because he truly had to persevere in order to succeed. In 1992, he saved up $12,000 so that he could mount a production of his first play, I Know I’ve Been Changed, a musical about adult survivors of child abuse. The show totally tanked, but Perry kept after it. Six years later, the play hit it big at the Atlanta House of Blues and kept going from there.

Today, Tyler Perry is a household name. Much of this is due to the exposure he received by being on Oprah . It’s quite fitting, as it was an Oprah show that first gave him the idea to deal with his feelings about his own childhood abuse, and this is where he got the material for many of his future scripts.

In addition to writing plays, he has also written and produced a number of movies, in addition to producing the television show Tyler Perry’s House of Payne on TBS. In 2006, he even came out with a book called Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings.

When we think of “moguls” these days, we generally think of real estate or the recording industry. We don’t usually picture some guy sitting at a computer writing.

Remember how I said you won’t get rich and famous as a playwright? Well, Tyler Perry estimates he’s made $50 million dollars from writing and producing plays alone. And, well, he’s famous enough to get mentioned here.

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There were probably never two little girls worth as much money as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Starting out playing the adorable Michelle Tanner on Full House all those years ago was just the beginning for the twin stars.

Mary-Kate and Ashley have pretty much become their own brand. A string of straight-to-video movies has kept them going and in the forefront of the tween girl market. In addition to their acting, however, the marketing machine has been pumping out products for 15 years.

It wasn’t all that long ago that we hadn’t even heard of the term “tween,” a description of kids who are past middle childhood but not yet quite teenagers. In fact, it seems like the term was created specifically so there would be a new demographic to market to.

And Mary-Kate and Ashley were the perfect face to sell to that new market. Their products include fragrances, clothing, books, and – of course – videos. The company is called Dualstar, and it’s been estimated to bring in more than one billion dollars annually. Not too shabby, ladies!

The coolest thing I ever heard about the Olsens: They’re not actually identical twins. You could have fooled me!