April 16, 2008
In Top Chef Era, Fame Spotlights Chefs' Foul Language
Sure, the stress and time pressures of the kitchen inevitably spark infernos of obscenity, but recent shows like Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen have exposed the salty language of star chefs to untold millions. Last week’s Top Chef episode raised eyebrows for its higher-than-normal profanity quotient, when contestants lit into each other with so much F-bombing “the resulting bleeps ran together like a test of the old Emergency Broadcast System,” according to the Times.
Most audiences seem spellbound by the larger-than-life persona of the macho, trash-talking chef, as embodied by Gordon Ramsay (pictured) and Anthony Bourdain, who says he owes his livelihood to cussing these days:
I’m making a living at it. I do a lot of speaking engagements and sometimes I feel like I’m being paid to curse in front of people who haven’t heard it in a while. I’ve been pushing it and pushing it and have unloaded like a marine in front of a vast roomful of blue-haired ladies, and they seem to get it.But Culinary Institute of America L. Timothy Ryan insists all this foul language is hurting the profession and turning back the clock to an era when chefs were not considered professionals. Bourdain couldn’t disagree more: “It indicates a real move from servant to professional status. Better than professional. Who gets away with talking like that to their customers?”
Ramsay even called profanity the “industry's language” last month. But white-hot chef David Chang, whose massive New Yorker profile a couple weeks back highlighted his potty mouth, seems repentant: “It’s not like I want to do it, I just want to get my point across and unfortunately I’m not that eloquent or articulate. If I could find a better way – and I’m trying – to communicate, I will change in a heartbeat.” Chang must be out of his fucking mind; half the fun of his tiny new Momofuku Ko is that the open kitchen gives diners a front row seat to watch some colorful cooking fireworks, as seen on TV.
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Come on people all they are doing is cooking food. A burger is a burger. It's not something special like getting laid by a former Brazilian super model.
They probably wouldn't curse so much on Top Chef if they weren't fueled with booze while waiting for the judges to deliberate... it used to be the contestants would share a bit of leftover wine, but now it looks like they have coolers set up for the contestants, complete with college-style red solo cups. Of course, Bravo knows that booze makes for good TV...
cursing is not a very good mental environment. it cheapens the words. I only say FUCK when it's only absolutely needed. If you say it everyday then you need to invent new words like SHITBALLS and FUCKWHORE to get people's attention.
As long as I don't see any more fat crying asians on these shows, they can say whatever they want.
"As long as I don't see any more fat crying asians on these shows, they can say whatever they want."
Yeah what was up with that guy?
I'm sure he's unpleasant to work for, but at least on Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's persona seems completely forced. You can actually tell he is pausing to think about what the nastiest or angriest thing he can say would be.
I don't fucking go to fucking restaurants for the fucking food anymore, I just like to watch the fucking show in the fucking kitchen while the fucking cooks flip my fucking burger.
I don't mind the swearing; it's the bullying of underlings that disgusts me. I'd like to see him pull that with someone who isn't afraid of being fired.
I love the bullying of underlings and the swearing. A lot of what goes on in Hell's Kitchen is getting a bunch of half-assed chef wannabes to realize that they aren't even close to as good as they think they are, and forcing them to evolve to a higher operating level. No different than Army basic training. Break them down and then build them back up, stronger than before.