If you've been on social media ever, you know the comments section is rarely a friendly place to be, especially where celebrities are concerned. So it comes as no surprise that when Delish posted a reimagining of The Little Mermaid cast using chefs (José Andrés as Flounder—spot on or SPOT ON?), someone was going to be annoyed about something. What we didn't expect, though, was debate over whether any of these people were actually chefs.
A few people questioned Antoni (Have you watched Queer Eye? Did you know he has his own restaurant?) but overwhelmingly the 'are-they-a-chef' comments centered on Chrissy Teigen. A sampling of thoughts found on Facebook and Instagram:
- Chrissy Teigen is considered a chef? But cooks at restaurants aren't....?
- Chrissy Teigen is a chef??
- Chrissy isnt a chef but ok
- When did Chrissy Teigen become a chef?
That last one elicited a fair and well thought out response: "I think you can be a cook and not a chef. Chefs are specially trained. I don’t know much about her personally. I just thought she was a famous person who happened to cook sometimes."
But...she is a chef! So while Chrissy needs no help standing up for herself—and likely does not give a sh*t anyway—we're here to defend Chrissy as part of the 'yes, she's a chef' camp. Especially since she said recently she feels like people assume she just slaps her name on recipes rather than developing and testing them herself in her own kitchen.
Which brings me to my first point: She has two cookbooks! Cravings and Cravings: Hungry For More, have you heard of them? Both appeared on the The New York Times Best Sellers list. And while yes, there are plenty of celebrities who have put their name and face on something without doing the dirty work, Chrissy is not one of them. Check out her Instagram story while she's working on a cookbook and you'll see for yourself.
She also recently signed a deal with Hulu to create "food-focused programming" with chef David Chang AND announced a new recipe-focused website, so, yeah, cooking is definitely more than a hobby. In the post below, she even wrote this: "I learned that a hobby that made me and a handful of people happy could be a job that made me and a lot of people happy."
Perhaps more importantly for those concerned with degrees and such, Chrissy has had some formal training. While she didn't go to culinary school in the traditional sense, she did complete a condensed program at the French Culinary Institute, POPSUGAR reports. Other graduates of the Institute include Bobby Flay and Christina Tosi, NBD.
One last point: The definition of 'chef' is "a professional cook, typically the chief cook in a restaurant or hotel." So yes, typically, a chef works in a restaurant or other public space. But Chrissy without a doubt cooks professionally, as evidenced by her wildly successful cookbooks and forthcoming shows. Take Ina Garten as another example. She doesn't come from a restaurant background either, but would you ever say she's not a chef?? No, no you would not.
