Even Celeb Chefs Enjoy Fast Food

From onion blossoms to overhyped chefs, these things need to go away

(NEWSER) - Asked to name the decade's worst dining trends, chefs and other food experts couldn't shut up. There were too many (including "mache, water sommeliers, organ-meat entrees, unisex bathrooms, bacon tattoos on chefs, over-flaunted kitchen burns, chefs tables") for Christopher Borrelli to list them all, but he hits the top 10 in the Chicago Tribune:

• Fried onion blossoms: Too sweaty, too greasy, too little onion, and too much fried stuff.
• The $40 entree: When your neighborhood bistro has hit these heights, it's time to say enough is enough.

Fritos, Cheetos, and donuts, oh my!

(NEWSER) - Even a world-renowned chef sometimes needs a good old-fashioned cheeseburger. Daily Meal got a number of chefs as well as restaurateurs, food critics, and other VIPs in the food world, to admit to their secret food vices. A sampling:

• Mario Batali: "Three things: Really well-made ice cream; really well-made Mexican food—like chips and salsa; and raw shellfish. I could live for weeks on nothing but oysters."
• Bobby Flay: "A cheeseburger with two slices of American, potato chips, and chipotle ketchup." (Another chef even admitted to loving McDonald's cheeseburgers; a third said he likes burgers "if I'm drunk.")

Reviewers not so fond of latest fast-food monstrosity

(NEWSER) - Congratulations, KFC, your Double Down stunt has gotten more publicity than a Nazi-themed romp with Jesse James. So here's a little more, in the form of what the reviewers are saying:

• The Double Down "arrives at a new low," writes Sam Sifton of the New York Times . Even the chain's signature chicken is "a slimy and unnaturally moist thing, with flavor ginned up in a lab. It is, in all, a disgusting meal, a must-to-avoid."

'Wise ancestors' Pollan advises emulating would have loved a Whopper

(NEWSER) - Food industry critic Michael Pollan is compiling a book of "Rules to Eat By"—like "If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, you're not hungry"—but his advice that you rely on your ancestors' wisdom for your eating decisions tastes a little off to Patrick Cooke. Cooke's grandfather grew up in the Depression when fresh fruit and vegetables were scarce, he writes, and "to him a Filet-O-Fish was a kind of miracle." More»

And it involves pet donkeys, lots of cashmere

(NEWSER) - Alain Ducasse cooks up elaborate dishes at his ritzy restaurants. But at home, for an outdoor dinner party, he believes “less is definitely more,” he tells the Wall Street Journal. Which begs the question: What passes for “simple” tips for the average party-thrower from Ducasse? Read on:

• If you want to copy the backyard garden at his country home, you’ll need two wandering pet donkeys. Because, really, nothing says “simple” like donkeys with French names.