Food restaurants owned by famous chefs (ie, food network)

Apr 2, 2008
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has anybody been to any restaurants owned by famous chefs? how's the food? the service? which chef owns it? what was your experience like overall?

only restaurant i've been to owned by a food network star is babbo by mario batali in new york. the service was simply amazing. the food - oh. my. gosh. simply to die for. it's by far the best restaurant ive ever been to and if i lived in new york, i'd make it a habit of going there at least once a month. it was pricey but well worth it.

too bad when i went, i wasnt 21 yet so i didnt get to enjoy some wine with my meal. oh to go there again is a dream of mine...and all the other restaurants owned by famous chefs.
 
<----I had dinner at Emeril's in Orlando. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't worth the price. I find these restaurants that are associated with a popular celeb chef tend to become quite mediocre once they get established. Emeril wasn't cooking in the kitchen that evening....and he probably never will !
 
mario batalli and morimoto from iron chef america are really the only chefs on the food network who can actually cook. i've never been to their restaurants but that's what my perception. bobby flay's restaurants don't seem to get the best reviews and emeril is just a joke.
 
I've been to many Spago and Chinois restuarants,owned by Wolfgang Puck. Of course, i've also been to his Wolfgang Puck cafes, but those don't count.They're like chili's these days! I've been to Charlie Trotters and all of Rick Bayless' restaurant in CHicago. Also, Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand's Brasserie T. I've been to many restaurants of that ilk..... I'll try to remember more.
 
<----I had dinner at Emeril's in Orlando. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't worth the price. I find these restaurants that are associated with a popular celeb chef tend to become quite mediocre once they get established. Emeril wasn't cooking in the kitchen that evening....and he probably never will !

I agree w/ you on the main point and also about Emeril's. I think that some of the FN chefs have good recipes on the shows, but sometimes the translations to a restaurant is not that great.
 
Wolfgang Puck is a joke!! :yucky:

I went to Bar American (Bobby Flay) and my DH ordered a steak..it was super dry, even though my DH asked for RARE, it came out MEDIUM WELL..but we were w/ a GROUP so my DH didnt want to make anyone uncomfortable so he asked for some sauce (which is an extreme for DH bc he NEVER asks for steak sauce or anything..he loves his steak as is!) and the waiter (who was nice) said they dont have any! :confused1: Then, the manager came and offered my DH KETCHUP W/ STEAK! WTF?????

Now I watch Bobby Flay on TV and I cant help but laugh..what a joke! he films the "Throw Down" @ Bar American..if people only knew! :Push:

I also went to Craft, and Craft Steak, both owned by the head judge from Top Chef (the bald guy) cant remember his name right now..Anyways, both were just AVERAGE at best...definitely not what I was expecting from a guy who critiques other chef's work.
 
Wolfgang Puck is a joke!! :yucky:

I went to Bar American (Bobby Flay) and my DH ordered a steak..it was super dry, even though my DH asked for RARE, it came out MEDIUM WELL..but we were w/ a GROUP so my DH didnt want to make anyone uncomfortable so he asked for some sauce (which is an extreme for DH bc he NEVER asks for steak sauce or anything..he loves his steak as is!) and the waiter (who was nice) said they dont have any! :confused1: Then, the manager came and offered my DH KETCHUP W/ STEAK! WTF?????

Now I watch Bobby Flay on TV and I cant help but laugh..what a joke! he films the "Throw Down" @ Bar American..if people only knew! :Push:

I also went to Craft, and Craft Steak, both owned by the head judge from Top Chef (the bald guy) cant remember his name right now..Anyways, both were just AVERAGE at best...definitely not what I was expecting from a guy who critiques other chef's work.


lol. i know! it's so funny. i'm like does he film at like 6 in the morning when there's no one there and the chefs are prepping or something? but at least he's not all like "so here i am at my restaurant, Bar Americain, bla bla bla".
 
I've also been to Emeril's... nothing special; actually the atmosphere was a little stuffier than othr nice restaurants i've been to and the service staff seemed to look down on me a little.

Also been to both of Rob Feenie's restaurants in Vancouver (he was on Iron Chef America vs. Morimoto).. those I liked.
 
I've been to Emeril's in Atlanta, which was one of the most disappointing meals I've ever had (thank god I wasn't paying!). Even my mojito was bad, and seriously, I've never had a bad mojito! I had osso buco, which i was looking forward to since a small, local Italian place always has it as the special the week of my birthday and my family always takes me there to have it. Osso buco is a braised lamb shank that has been cooked for hours - at the local place, I don't need a knife to eat it, it falls apart at the touch of a fork. Well, not only did I need a knife at Emeril's, but it was TOUGH! How you braise something for hours and make it tough, I have no idea...there was also lots of connective tissue and fat on it, ugh. Would never go there again.

On the other hand, I've been to Lady & Sons, which is Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah, GA, and WOW. It was absolutely delicious, even the free nibblies that they give you before your food comes out (I believe they were called ho cakes, lol) were tdf. Although the dining in Savannah was by far better than any other city I've visited (including New York, Boston, Chicago, and DC), so her restaurant would have to be amazing to make her stand out in such a packed market.
 
I've been to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in Vegas. We went last Thanksgiving.
The food was excellant. I had a filet, it was one of the best I've ever had.
I can't remember what everyone else had, but everyone was talking about
how good the food was.
 
I went to Feenie's, which is owned by Rob Feenie, who owns Lumiere and won Iron Chef once. It definitely wasn't worth the money. They serve a $25 hamburger there and my bf didn't think much of it. I got pasta and it was ok but nothing special and the service also wasn't anything special. Feenie has since been "let go" from his own restaurants!
 
I also went to Craft, and Craft Steak, both owned by the head judge from Top Chef (the bald guy) cant remember his name right now..Anyways, both were just AVERAGE at best...definitely not what I was expecting from a guy who critiques other chef's work.

i LOVED craft. it's one of my favorite restaurants in nyc. the porkchops were the best i've ever had. everything was perfect for me: the atmosphere, the menu, and i had the souffle for dessert. my mouth is watering just thinking about it. i'm a huge tom colicchio fan. i love him and his bald head on top chef. :lol:

i went to perilla in the west village. that's owned by harold dieterle who was the first season winner of top chef. it was average, and i wouldn't go back, but it was nice to have tried it. i did see him come out of the kitchen twice and had to do my best to supress my fangirl screams. can you tell i'm a top chef fan?

gordon ramsay at the london is nice too. the food was nice. i'm just not a huge fan of prix fixe menus. no matter how small the portions are, i can never finish without feeling like my stomach is threatening to burst.

batali has a million restaurants in manhattan - well, eight, but that's still a lot! i've been to babbo, bar jamon, del posto, lupa, and the spotted pig. all of them enjoyable. the spotted pig and lupa were my favorites. babbo and del posto's atmosphere was a little stuffier than i'd prefer. i'm dying to try casa mono, which is spanish. i live close by, but still haven't managed to go yet for some reason.

there's a bunch more, but i can't remember any right now. i'm a huge foodie. :smile: