# I don't like the new Alton Brown. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137 "2010-10-14T15:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/21 "2010-10-14T18:57:33Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Yes, and that’s fine but Alton Brown isn’t, nor was he ever, a chef. He’s just a guy with a show about food that works for the Food Network. Depends on your definition of “chef”. Was he ever the head chef at a restaurant, or owned his own restaurant? No. He was originally a cinematographer and video director, and did a lot of commercial work. When he came up with the idea for _Good Eats_, he went to culinary school, and graduated from the New England Culinary Institute, in order to gain the training and knowledge needed to create and host the show. So, he _is_ trained as a chef, though I’m guessing that his work experience as a chef is likely limited to what he did during his time at NECI. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/22 "2010-10-14T19:37:25Z")
Am I the only one who gets totally distracted by his hair? It’s AWFUL! I can’t pay attention to anything but how bad it is. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/23 "2010-10-14T20:59:26Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@DCnDC](#): > > > > Yes, and that’s fine but Alton Brown isn’t, nor was he ever, a chef. He’s just a guy with a show about food that works for the Food Network. > > Depends on your definition of “chef”. Was he ever the head chef at a restaurant, or owned his own restaurant? No. > > He was originally a cinematographer and video director, and did a lot of commercial work. When he came up with the idea for _Good Eats_, he went to culinary school, and graduated from the New England Culinary Institute, in order to gain the training and knowledge needed to create and host the show. > > So, he _is_ trained as a chef, though I’m guessing that his work experience as a chef is likely limited to what he did during his time at NECI. The New England Culinary Institute, CIA, or Johnson and Wales will tell you to not even think about considering yourself a chef without your education plus 15 years in the industry. There is more to being a chef than writing recipes and cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/24 "2010-10-14T21:00:22Z")
> [@Snake\_Plissken](#): > > The New England Culinary Institute, CIA, or Johnson and Wales will tell you to not even think about considering yourself a chef without your education plus 15 years in the industry. There is more to being a chef than writing recipes and cooking. I doubt Alton considers himself a chef at all. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/25 "2010-10-14T21:13:21Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > When he had that reality show a couple of years ago in which he and some other foodie buddies toured the U.S. on motorcycles, there were many unguarded moments when he came across as rather a douche. He was all “I’m the boss and the star here and anyone who disagrees with me is the equivalent of gum on my shoe.” > > And it wasn’t a self-lampooning, done-for-comedy kind of schtick, either. I can think of several times during the show (Feasting on Asphalt) when he did it precisely is a “self-lampooning, done-for-comedy kind of schtick”. In fact, I didn’t find it funny since it was so obvious. Maybe there were other times when he was a real life douche, but I didn’t notice them. As far as the original question goes, I only really watch him on Good Eats. I think he is more preachy, with his diet and sustainable food and everything, than he has been in the past. I think that was mainly evident in the first few episodes of this season, and he has gotten back to the old Alton pretty much now. I will say that my wife also thinks he is much too skinny. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/26 "2010-10-14T21:15:44Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > > [@Snake\_Plissken](#): > > > > The New England Culinary Institute, CIA, or Johnson and Wales will tell you to not even think about considering yourself a chef without your education plus 15 years in the industry. There is more to being a chef than writing recipes and cooking. > > I doubt Alton considers himself a chef at all. He has specifically said a couple of times that he is not. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/27 "2010-10-14T21:35:07Z")
> [@Snake\_Plissken](#): > > The New England Culinary Institute, CIA, or Johnson and Wales will tell you to not even think about considering yourself a chef without your education plus 15 years in the industry. There is more to being a chef than writing recipes and cooking. Maybe, but Good Eats is pretty much geared towards people cooking in their homes, it doesn’t really have anything to do with running a big kitchen or spending hours on the perfect meal to impress someone or running a restaurant or catering for a large gathering or many of the other skills I imagine you’d need on the job training for. Even if he had those skills, they’d be a pretty marginal asset for what he does. As to the OP, I don’t really see what your talking about. I think his main problem is Food Network decided to massively over-expose him. He was very good creating and starring in his scripted TV show, but for MCing and non-scripted stuff he’s just kinda mediocre. I’m not sure why they didn’t play to his strengths and create more scripted stuff for him to do. The main draw of Good Eats was mixing the cooking stuff with food-science, history and anthropological mini-lectures. They should’ve had him create a second show where he ditched the cooking and just did documentaries on the “edu-tainment” bits of Good Eats. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/28 "2010-10-14T22:59:08Z")
> [@Snake\_Plissken](#): > > I cant really watch much of the Food Network, because I see alot of stuff that would get you corrected—\> reprimanded—\> fired in my kitchen. > Ever notice the gal on Secrets of a Restaurant Chef is always licking her fingers and puts them back in the food? Even when she uses a tasting spoon she will reuse it in preparation. I haven’t been able to watch anything with Paula Deen ever since I saw her stick her tongue in a running chocolate fountain. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137/29 "2010-10-14T23:24:33Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > The main draw of Good Eats was mixing the cooking stuff with food-science, history and anthropological mini-lectures. They should’ve had him create a second show where he ditched the cooking and just did documentaries on the “edu-tainment” bits of Good Eats. Yeah, but that wouldn’t be YET ANOTHER FUCKING CONTEST SHOW, which apparently is all Food Network is interested in showing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-the-new-alton-brown/557137.md?page=1)