By David Sax
After his way through a maze of living room set with Swedish weaving unpronounceable names, Curtis Aikens was ready. "Good afternoon, Ikea shoppers," says Aikens, in an avocado green of chef coat, before a crowd of 10 or so customers listening to muzak and slim crock pot caress. Undaunted, Aikens announces with gusto, "today, we're having fun in the kitchen!" But the showroom kitchen in the Superstore Emeryville, California a humble reminder of glory days last was for the former celebrity chef who once commanded $ 450,000 per year in salary and endorsements. The previous day, Aikens under the leadership of a demo of an escalator at an Ikea Sacramento. "It's called ' making it work, '" said Richard Gore, the architect behind the Aikens comeback attempt. "We make lemonade out of lemons."
As one of the ancestors of the celebrity chef movement, Aikens, 52, once enjoyed the attributes of the borderline fame. During his mid-1990s heyday, he hosted five shows (including my garden), met three Presidents, published several cookbooks, toured the world, and was regularly flooded by culinary groupies. "It was from a strictly professional point of view, gravy," says Aikens. By the Aughts, however, a new generation of coiffed, ready for food personalities — Tyler Florence, Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri — began the industry revolution by the swinging from education to entertainment. The Food Network demanded that a drastic salary cut Aikens in 2003. Instead, he walked — effectively ending his career celebrity chef.
These days, Aikens is the newest faded celebrity chef tries to recapture culinary grandeur. Tori Ritchie (formerly of Ultimate kitchens) now stars in webisodes for Jenn-Air appliance maker; Sara Moulton (Sara's secrets, Sara Moulton Live) appears on cruises; David Rosengarten (taste, In food today) is performed for a newsletter, an online shop and culinary tours. Recently, he has a YouTube (GOOG) pilot for a show called Hava lasagna! — Although it's not gone anywhere.
Other comebacks have demonstrated little more promise. After a car accident in 1971 his hit show, the galloping Gourmet ended, Graham Kerr tried to bounce back with programs on PBS, CNN (TWX), and elsewhere — who had already petered out. "I have never been able to the galloping Gourmet thing," says the 77-year-old. But he still working. Kerr is currently promoting his new book — 29 — The galloping Gardener. Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (also hot Tamales, Tamales World Tour) run several restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and recently appeared on Bravo's Top Chef Masters. "I don't feel frustrated or unhappy everything," says Milliken. "On the other hand," she says, "I would like to do."
Many would. The first wave of celebrity chefs built the Foundation for a multibillion-dollar company that generously rewards people who sometimes not even chefs. While it is unlikely that any attempt comeback the heights of Emeril Lagasse will reach — which, in 2008, sold his brand to Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) for $ 50 million — most would settle for the following Giada De Laurentiis. The former food stylist has her own Italian cooking glory with shows, books, and a line of cookware and food sold exclusively at Target (TGT) is created. Or at least the following Katie Lee, an abnormal attractive restaurant critic who was married to Billy Joel, hosted the first season of Top Chef, and the two cookbooks. Or even Padma Lakshmi, who was married to Salman Rushdie, took about Top Chef of Lee and written two cookbooks.
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