Live with Chef Larry

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Just got off the phone from a live radio interview with Chef Larry for "The Chef Larry Show," based in San Diego, CA. (Listen with Windows Media Player to Segment 3, Segment 4.) Chef Larry was a total doll, for all his seriousness during the interview. He had read my book on a flight down and was upset that he had not quite finished, but that did not stop him from interviewing me most skillfully. He focused on an important question. One of the concerns many Foodies have is that a chef with many restaurants becomes an absentee landlord in all of them to a great (if varying) degree, and traditionalists often say that a restaurant cannot be as good when the master chef is not home, or if he or she is not there to greet you in the dining room. He and I argued, however, that even traditional, "one-shop" chefs do not cook each dish, while if he or she is in the dining room, someone else must be doing the cooking! Furthermore, super chefs have created incredible opportunities for young chefs by opening more than one restaurant, as well as luring in investors who might not invest without the super chef attached. He asked me whether super chefs suffer from super egos. I replied that it ran the gamut, from Todd English to Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. Mary Sue and Susan were so down-to-earth, in fact, that it caused me real distress when it came time to critique them. Ironically, I have faced some tough criticism from people who wanted me to draw more blood in Super Chef - and, if I may say, don't seem to take the time to discern some of the very deep criticisms I have made of these chefs. While I frankly admired all of them, I did not hesitate to cite their mistakes and lapses of judgement. It seems, however, that the sensationalism of celebrity chefs has led some to expect sensational (read "over the top") ranting and raving - no thanks, I pass on that.