Quotes by Ted Allen

• I think that curiosity happened on these reviews where I was just a guest of the reviewer, because it introduced me to new cuisines and to the idea of cooking as a mechanism for studying other cultures and understanding other parts of the world.
• For each episode the five of us are all wearing clothes by the same designer. It's a different designer for each episode, but for each one we're all wearing their clothes.
• Jay Leno is not a guy who likes change. He eats the same food every day.
• It's very important to me that people who are actual chefs and other professionals in the culinary world, understand that I'm not, and have never held myself out as being, like a CIA trained chef.
• In actuality, there was casting for the show and it was pretty difficult.
• If I have committed any culinary atrocities, please forgive me.
• I've leased the apartment; my partner is going to come out here. But we're keeping our house in Chicago because real estate is a really good investment and also because it is just crammed with full of stuff!
• My place in Chicago is a 105 year old house, but I really like contemporary spaces too, so it's refreshing and fun to be in a space where you can do contemporary things.
• I went in saying I wanted to be the food guy.
• My whole problem is that all of my favorite things at Thanksgiving are the starches, and everyone is trying to go low-carb this year, even a green vegetable has carbs in it.
• I really have a great deal of humility in that department, and a great deal of respect for people who spend their lives learning how to make these amazing preparations.
• I like to have friends in the kitchen and make a big mess and use every pot in the kitchen.
• I had a really good time with Martha Stewart, who also is somebody I really admire a lot. I've learned a lot from her and I think all of America has, about attention to detail and using fresh ingredients and making things beautiful and special.
• I cook everything. I love Mediterranean cooking, I love Asian cooking. I do lots of Japanese noodles.
• I am much more interested in the process than results.
• However, I was a restaurant critic at Chicago magazine before I worked at Esquire, and I've been a really enthusiastic home cook for a long time. It's just something I'm passionate about.
• I'm in a loft and the kitchen is in the very center of the apartment. The whole place revolves around it.
• Thom is one of those wonderful people to cook for because he absolutely loves it, just loves it. He loves to eat and drink and he'd be a great guest at any dinner party.
• You know the great irony is that people think you have to have money to enjoy fine food, which is a shame.
• What I bring to the table is a huge enthusiasm and love for this stuff.
• Well, we don't take money from people and then show the product. It has to be a product that we like anyway, and that's true for all five of us, which is one of the really nice things about the way we make the show.
• Because the show is popular, people do recognize us on the streets.
• The great mystery to me is how restaurant critics think they can get away with doing their job without anybody noticing who they are.
• Sesame oil is probably my favorite condiment, period.
• Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a form of service journalism. To be successful, I think it has to be a combination of a good story, it has to be funny, and it also needs to be packed with useful information.
• Oh, did I tell you I have a cookbook? I have a cookbook deal.
• No, Queer Eye has a book coming out before mine, in the Spring of 2004, in which each of us has a section and we do a brief overview of our subject area.