Come visit, bring Bourdain. I’ll make dinner for you both.

“This is about a very recognizable, comfortable person, someone we all think we know, the sort of dream mom or sister we never had,” he said, calibrating his words. “People are attracted to her warm, if strident, embrace of the familiar.”

You were so tactful and restained, I was nearly offended. And WORRIED. Tell me you’re not getting as soft and “freckly man-breasty” as Bobby Flay (!!) I guess we’ll know tonight after your gig at the Y.

Blackouts already?

It’s a good thing my then-employer was picking up the tab.

The next time you’re in the SF Bay area I’ll treat you to some real booze and comfort food. The stuff I grew up on in New York living with a big Eastern European family.

Claudia: Rachel Ray is cute, perky, and doesn’t cross-contaminate her kitchen like the fuzzy Ewok. She also doesn’t tip ($40 a day my ass) and ruins everything by opening her mouth. If I’m going to watch food porn I’ll stick with Giada.

As for Bobby Flay, I’ve been watching the Iron Chef America show, and he’s a lot less obnoxious and wound up – he’s almost worked up to “likable”. It’s my suspicion that he’s not taking “party favors” anymore.

Sorry to miss this promising event.

Rachael Ray is half-Italian. Her use of Velveeta in a kitchen gives all Italians a bad name and has brought shame and scorn upon our tribe. Giada, however, has street cred, a lovely manner, and a voice that does NOT make you bleed from the ears.

I have nothing but nice things to say about Baltimore, except I wish that Legal Seafood stayed open later.

And I suspect the reason Bourdain might have mellowed given Rachael a free pass the other day is . . . impending fatherhood? If so, buona fortuna to him and his Italian lady love. (Ma quando, signora? E un bambino or una bambina? Benissimo!)

My wife and I ate at Mesa back when we were living in New York. It was excellent, of course. I think, however, that I am even more pleased to see Bobby being more adventurous with his cuisine on the show – he’s hardly used any corn at all in the past few battles! Now if only we could get him to stop grilling lemons all the time…

Rachael Ray annoys the hell out of me sometimes. As I said, it’s usually when she starts talking. Giada is beautiful and graceful, and cooks traditional Italian dishes. My only minor issue with her is that her head looks like an orange on a toothpick. I think it’s because the rest of her is so tiny.

I grew up in a traditional old school Jewish New York household, and had the good fortune to live in a mixed neighborhood with a lot of Italian influence as well. I love to fuse the two styles of cuisine together. I have a recipe for braised brisket in an Italian ragu that’ll bring tears to your eyes.

Problem is, I can’t remember why.

I know exactly what you mean. I once saw a recipe for gefilte fish tagliatelle that made me cry too (:o !

I also make the best latkes ever.

I once saw Giada use Swanson broth on her show “Every Day Italian.” Just how many cans of Swanson do you think Italian mammas use every day?

However, in the context of a cooking show, no – I still don’t respect it. And boo hiss to Giada for cracking out the Swanson’s, too – although it’s better than using the cubes. (I use real stock, broth and demi-glace myself. And, yes, you can BUY all three – quality stuff – if you don’t have all day to make stock because, yes, we all work, commute, etc.) I just don’t think any TV foodie should be dumbing down cooking or teaching shortcuts, whatever the food product or ingredient is. Either cook, or microwave, I feel. But that’s just me.

If you think “Italian mammas” don’t use canned broth or even bullion cubes once in a while, you are living in a “foodie” fantasy world. As a matter of fact I challenge you to find one who doesn’t have an opened package of bullion cubes in their cupboard.
Oh, and the food they make with it is still probably better than anything you can make no matter what kind of ingredients you use.