Interview With Ted Allen

AE: You're trapped on a deserted island with Tom Colicchio, Carson Kressley and Rupert Everett. Whom do you eat to survive, and how would you prepare them?
TA: First of all, I'm not eating Carson. He'd be all stringy. Carson is a little too lean. Tom Colicchio is a delicious-looking man, but I think I'd have to go with Rupert. Many of us in the community would find him the most delicious. If we're on a desert island, I'd dig a pit. Something spicy or sort of Caribbean would be good for Rupert Everett.

AE: What is your favorite dish these days?
TA: Right now, I love making pulled-pork sandwiches. You take a barbecue grill with some natural charcoal, and you slow-grill the pork for seven hours until it falls apart. You do a dry rub and mix it with a vinegar barbecue sauce. Then you pull and shred it and put it on buns. I love that right now.

Barry and I just moved to Brooklyn after several years in Manhattan where we were not able to barbecue. Now we have a townhouse with a backyard where we can grill again, and we're going crazy! We're all about the barbecue now.

AE: Speaking of Barry, he's your long-term partner, and his last name is Rice. Admit it — you picked him because you thought it would be cute to be with a guy whose last name is a food, right?
TA: Absolutely. There was no one out there with the last name "pork." Actually, he's the only one who'd have me. Barry and I like to joke that this is just our first long-term relationship. Who knows what the next one will bring?

AE: How long have you been together?
TA: From our first date, it's been 14 years, but I don't like to measure it that way. So let's just say a couple of years.

AE: Is he a good cook?
TA: Barry likes to bake. He does the desserts, cakes, cookies, brownies, tarts and stuff. I do the meats and veggies. It's a good pair.

AE: How do you keep food exciting in your house?
TA: I never have trouble finding excitement in food. I like everything: French, Asian, Latin. It's hard to get bored for us. But when you have a partner, it's true that you're always trying to figure out what the hell you're going to cook tonight. It's like "What do you want, sweetie?" And he's like, "I don't know!"

But food shows, magazines, cookbooks — there are all sort of places to find inspiration. Also farmer markets are a good place for that, too. You can see what's fresh and what's been locally grown. We don't get bored too often.

AE: If you're a gay man who is hopeless in the kitchen and you've got a hot date coming over, what is the simplest yet most impressive thing you can make?
TA: I will first say that cooking for a date or love interest is a great thing to do on date four or so, as long as you know how to cook something. If you're a meat person, it's hard to go wrong with rack of lamb. It's pricey, but it's elegant and it's easy to cook. And meat people really dig it.

If you're not [a good cook], something easy to do is scallops. Two minutes per side and some butter, garlic and lemon. A lot of people are afraid to cook seafood, and they shouldn't be. I think what they should do is buy my cookbook, The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes.

AE: Let's talk Queer Eye. Are you glad it's over? Do you still hang out with the guys?
TA: Queer Eye was a lot of work, but it will always hold a special place in our hearts. We're really good friends, but it's difficult to get together. Thom [Filicia] has a show on Style Network. I've got a show on TBS called Uncorked. Carson is shooting something for CW, and Jai moved to L.A. Everyone is so busy that it's been hard to get together. But we do it whenever we can.

AE: Now that you're free of them, you can tell us honestly: Weren't they all just riding on your coattails?
TA: Oh, my God, such losers. All of them. I taught them all what little they know.

No, I love them to death. Though I can cope with a couple of weeks without them. Absolutely.

AE: You won an Emmy for Queer Eye. Where exactly do you keep it? Do you make company bow down in front of it before feeding them?
TA: We just moved into our house, so everything is a mess. But I have it on good authority that the wings on an Emmy statue are perfect for holding a roll of toilet paper. So I might put it in the guest bathroom. Don't tell the Academy. That's probably not allowed.

But we're so fortunate to have had the chance to do that. I never thought I'd walk away with an Emmy. It's great. It shows that it was a great idea for a show. And it was such an unlikely show to be successful. We're very lucky. That Emmy is heavy though, man.

AE: You must do a lot of wine tasting. How do you stay sober?
TA: What makes you think I do? The time-tested technique of Bravo is to its allow on-camera talent to enjoy adult beverages now and then. It loosens people up. I really love wine. I'm trying lots of dry rosés these days. When it comes to cocktails, I'm a gin-and-tonic guy. As is Colicchio, too. He's a man after my own heart. You'll see us occasionally enjoying one of those on Top Chef this season.

AE: Speaking of Colicchio, are we going to see some sexual tension between the two of you?
TA: Sexual tension? I doubt that Tom is going to feel any sexual tension with me. But I have great respect for Tom. He's an amazing chef. His restaurants are incredible. Tom is great for the show in the fact that he's a sexy guy. He's a great-looking guy with piercing blue eyes. He makes a great foil for Padma Lakshmi, who is obviously stunningly gorgeous. So if there's any flirtation going on, it's not going to be between me and Tom, probably.

AE: Do you tease Jonathan Adler of Top Design that your catchphrase is so much better than theirs?
TA: You don't like "see you later, decorator"? It's a little cheeky. I don't know if he seems to be able to pull it off. It somehow hurts more to hear Padma Lakshmi say, "Please pack your knives and go." There's a tone of disappointment in her voice. When Jonathan says, "See you later, decorator," it's kind of not the same.

AE: Last season, Cliff Crooks got booted for the Marcel wrestling/assault incident. Which contestant this season is most likely to grab one of those humongous knives and attack you for trashing their dish?
TA: There are definitely some contestants you can just see it is not easy for them to stand there and be dressed down by other people. I hope that my criticism doesn't inspire any homicidal feelings from people. I try to be polite. I don't like critics who are sarcastic.

We have one episode where we had a food blogger join as a plant, eating a meal. She later gave her reactions to the food. It's a very interesting and valid thing to do. Anyone with a computer has a platform. Just like AfterElton — and your influence has become huge because you've reached so many people. This particular food critic was very snarky and sarcastic about the food. You can do that if you want, but that's not my trip. So if anybody will have knives sharpened, it will probably be against her, not me.

AE: What is the dark side of food?
TA: Pretentiousness. And people who are not open-minded. I like food that's fresh, simple, lovingly cooked. I don't care so much about caviar, foie gras and truffles. I like those things. You'd be crazy not to. But what really matters is just trying. Try new things. Take a shot at it. Cooking is a hell of a lot of fun. I love it.

I'm not as interested in seeing fluffy things like china and 20,000 silver candlesticks on the table as I am in seeing a really delicious roast chicken or something. Food that takes love and hours and hours of cooking are worth every minute. That's the kind of food I like.

Top Chef airs on Bravo at 10 PM on Wednesday nights.