I get so much e-mail from national PR people who have never read my column, I can barely hit delete fast enough. But recently, I received a press release from The Food Network asking me to spread the word about an open casting call for its show Food Network Star. It’s kind of like Bravo’s Top Chef except … well, it’s exactly like it, but the winner gets to host a cooking show. So, PR person who sent the same e-mail to everyone in my office, I’ll take it a step further: I’ll nominate local chefs to be on your show –– and I’ll write it PR style, so you’ll be able to understand.
My first, and perhaps most obvious, nominee is Chef Jon Bonnell. The head honcho of Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine (4259 Bryant Irvin Rd., 817-738-5489) and Waters Fine Coastal Cuisine (2901 Crockett St., 817-984-1110) is everything you want in a reality TV hero: charming, successful, award-winning, and apt to using local produce, protein, and I’m pretty sure his table napkins were made from Texas-grown cotton. Also, he’s a marathon runner. So don’t think he’ll be one of those contestants who will get tired and fizzle out. If you’re worried about his versatility, don’t. He owns a steakhouse-ish place and a seafood restaurant.
My next nominee will go far on laidback charm and further on his upscale southern Southern cuisine. If you want a serious ratings bump, get soul hippy Chef Keith Hicks of Buttons Restaurant (4701 W. Fwy., Ste.100, 817-735-4900) on your show. Hicks’ menu has all of the soul food classics: fried chicken and waffles, fried green tomatoes, and shrimp, fish, and grits. If you have one of those challenges that tests the chef’s breakfast skills (you probably will), Button’s serves one of the most wide-spanning brunches in this town or any other. He won’t win on subtlety. He’ll knock you on your asso-bucco with big, bold flavors.
If you’re looking for someone who will evoke a modern twist on Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, then Sandra Avila of Le Cep (3324 W. 7th St., 817-900-2469) will instill some class into your reality show. I’m not sure how quickly her cuisine can be prepared, with its infusions, various sauces, and dainty garnishes, but her menu has a bigger wow factor than anyone else’s in town. If there’s a dessert contest (that’s Cooking Reality Show 101), she’ll, uh, take the cake. She’s adept at molten lava cakes that erupt at the touch of a fork, hard candy shell-like brûlées, and glazes that will amazes.
Those are my top three choices for the next Food Network shill, uh, star. For the rest of you, the open casting call is at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 7 at The Westin Dallas Park Central (12720 Merit Dr., 972-385-3000).
Contact Chow, Baby at chowbaby@fwweekly.com.
