The Secrets of Skinny Chefs
You’ve probably heard the term, “Never trust a skinny chef.” But in LA, chefs often have to be camera ready. You never know when the Food Network might call. This city is full of beautiful chefs serving food to beautiful people, and I’ve always wondered how they manage to stay so trim amid all that temptation. Then one night while watching late-night TV, I ran across Ford’s Filling Station’s new chef, Kristi Ritchey, in an infomercial for Barry’s Boot Camp. She was touting the fact that she’d lost 100 pounds.
I decided to dig a little deeper and came up with this piece that will appear in Monday’s LA Times. The answer, of course, is working out really hard and watching what you eat — unless you’re Table 8 Chef Govind Armstrong, who is blessed with an inability to gain weight no matter what he eats. But what surprised me most is how many chefs refuse to eat their own food.
Here’s Page Moll, chef at the beachcomber Cafe in Malibu: “I’ll make you a great crème brûlée or flourless cake, but I’m not going to eat it.”
“Every dish we do we taste over and over,” says Sona and Comme Ca Chef David Myers. “You get sick of it.”
I suppose I can identify. Back in college, I had a summer job at Billy Bakers in San Pedro. Oat bran muffins were all the rage at the time. For years after leaving that job, I couldn’t eat another muffin. The thought made me cringe. In fact, the first muffins I truly have enjoyed since then were the fresh ones baked every day on a recent Wilderness Safaris trip to the Kalahari Plains Camp and the Okavanga Delta in Botswana. Enough time and distance from the saturation source, I suppose. Plus, those muffins were goooood.
So if cooking is an appetite suppressant, maybe those who want to lose weight should get a job in a kitchen. Then again, if you have a serious sweet tooth or issues with impulse control, that strategy just might backfire. Here’s Kristi Ritchey: “There were definitely times after a workout — I’m not going to lie — there were a few days when I ate cheesecake for breakfast.”
Good to know that chefs are only human. — Jenny
Sometimes, the day before Thanksgiving, when I am prepping all the holiday dishes, I end up already being sick up stuffing, sticky rice, and all the side dishes before the meal has even arrived. That’s because after tasting them all to make sure the seasoning is A-OK, I get tired of them. But fortunately, it doesn’t last long. By the actual holiday, I’m able to stuff myself like everyone else at the table.
That’s good. It’s my favorite holiday, but Mom always cooks. This year my sister gave it a go. I only made cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes. Do you ever worry that your taste buds adapt so much that you will over season? Vic and I both love a lot of seasoning and spice. So I don’t worry when I cook for him, but for others, it might be a problem. How does one avoid such a mistake?
I had to give up spicing foods after cooking for kids. They didn’t like pepper, didn’t like mysterious green and red floaty things, no visible onions,mushrooms or garlic. Surprisingly, they will heartily accept things that are flavored with garlic and onion and herbs — but only if can’t see them. Some kids, however, really like hot sauce, like Texas Pete or Tabasco. One kid was the pickiest eater ever — but he had a secret taste for habanero pepper sauce. I was amazed!
Wow, strong tongue but squeamish eyes.
Dare I make a jab about L.A.’s focus on style over substance? Do you think that some of these chefs might improve their cooking performance if they focused the time spent on their image on food? Is this about real chefs or about TV personalities?
Don’t knock their food until you have tried it. A lot of these chefs are incredibly talented. And most aren’t focused on image but on health. It’s tough to be fit as a chef, and I commend them for working it out.
Thanks for the backstory on your piece Jenny. I thought it was really well done and I was very curious how you came up with the idea–I knew it had to be original.
Do you have a fitness regime?
Hi Kathy, I wouldn’t call it a regime, but I practice yoga and volunteer as a yoga teacher at a homeless shelter. I also rollerblade on the beach a lot and hit the gym once a week or so. Because I write about fitness, I also get these great exercise videos. I try all sorts of wacky things, such as Bollywood Booty. I like to keep it varied and fun so it doesn’t feel like work. I enjoy staying fit, which is good because I LOVE food!
And thanks, too, Kathy, for the kind words.
I still don’t care for cheesecake years after working in a kitchen when I could have it every weekend if I really wanted to. We’d taste one bite of every new flavor we made for the buffet, but that was it. Also, we often didn’t have time to eat lunch…that helped save a lot of calories, if not sanity.