'Most Hated Chef' coming to Delaware
Now, this is going to be really interesting. And the foodie event of the spring you might not want to miss.
John Tesar, once called “The Most Hated Chef in Dallas,” will be one of the 27 guest cooks at the April 17 Meals on Wheels Delaware Celebrity Chefs’ Brunch in Wilmington.
Whoa. Talk about spicing things up for the 19th annual event that raises money to provide nearly 635,000 meals to about 4,000 homebound Delaware seniors.
Tesar was tagged with the “most hated” moniker in 2011 by Dallas-based D Magazine when it chronicled his sometimes controversial career as well as a willingness to always speak his mind.
Tesar, an owner/executive chef of Knife in Dallas and a three-time James Beard Award semifinalist, also was a contestant during the 2012-13 season of “Top Chef: Seattle,” the popular Bravo TV culinary competition program. He was eliminated in the ninth round.
Regina Dodds, director of events for Meals on Wheels Delaware, says Tesar was not invited to the Sunday brunch to “stir things up.”
“He’s won lots of awards,” she says. “He’s been great to work with. We’re excited to have him.”
Dodds says several Meals on Wheels committee members suggested extending an invitation to the Texas chef, including one member who met him on a cruise.
Tesar plans on making King Crab Eggs Benedict for the Wilmington brunch.
Anthony Bourdain, a former chef who is now an author and host of the CNN travel series “Parts Unknown,” has written about Tesar in his books “Kitchen Confidential” and “Medium Raw.”
In “Medium Raw,” Bourdain called Tesar “the most single most talented chef I ever worked with.”
Bourdain also told D magazine he once aimed a steel pan at Tesar’s head during an apparent fit of rage in a New York kitchen. He missed his target.
Bourdain said Tesar provided “a lot of great drama, a lot of great food, a lot of great stories.”
“He’s never going to be Person of the Year, but what chef is?”
In recent years, Tesar has waged a war against Dallas restaurant critic Leslie Brenner.
During a December 2015 interview with Playboy, Tesar touched upon many topics, including his feud with Brenner. He also called Bourdain “probably one of the sh-----t chefs that ever lived. The guy can’t cook his way out of paper bag.”
Dull, he is not. One of the first tables I want to visit at the brunch is definitely Tesar’s. Oh, and let me repeat, he's making King. Crab. Eggs. Benedict.
There are at least two major changes this year for the Celebrity Chefs’ Brunch, which will be held again at Wilmington’s Hercules Plaza.
Dodds says this year marks the return of Delaware chefs from all over the state. In recent years, only Delaware chefs who had James Beard nominations were invited to the brunch.
She says more local chefs were invited after the Meals on Wheels organization reviewed feedback from brunch guests who said Delaware chefs “were missed.”
Delaware chefs this year include Daniel Butler of Piccolina Toscana; Hari Cameron of a(MUSE.); Patrick D’Amico of Metro Pub & Grill; William Hoffman of The House of William & Merry; Eric Huntley of the Platinum Dining Group’s RedFire Grill & Steakhouse; Dwain Kalup of Domaine Hudson; Jeff Matyger of the Platinum Dining Group’s Capers & Lemons; and Bryan Sikora of La Fia.
Also new this year is a lower-cost, $75 admission for “Young Professionals” between the ages of 21-40. The cost for others at the walk-around April 17 event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is $125 per person. Visit mealsonwheelsde.org/celebrity-chefs-brunch/
Beside Tesar, guest chefs coming from out-of-state include Justin Baade of Waterbar in San Francisco; Paul Bachand of Recipe – A Neighborhood Kitchen in Newberg, Oregon; Michael Blackie of NeXT in Stittsville, Ontario; Joy Crump of FOODE of Fredericksburg, Virginia; Thomas J. Delle Donne of Johnson & Wales University, Providence, Rhode Island; Donald Drake of Magnolias, Charleston, South Carolina; Lee Gregory of The Roosevelt in Richmond, Virginia; Mark Levy of Magdalena at The Ivy Hotel, Baltimore; Clifford Lyness of Perspectives Restaurant at Brookstreet Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario; Harold Marmulstein of the Salty Sow in Austin, Texas; Bruce Moffett of Barrington’s Restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina; Lamar Moore of Hotel Chicago in Chicago; Deb Paquette of Etch in Nashville; Larry Schreiber of Good Food on Montford in Charlotte, North Carolina; Joe Sparatta of Heritage & Southbound in Richmond, Virginia; Parke Ulrich of Waterbar & EPIC Steak in San Francisco; Thomas Van Lente of Chicago’s White Oak Tavern & Inn; and Cassy Vires of Companion Baking Co. in St. Louis, Missouri.
Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico