Ted Allen

Ted Allen
Born	Edward R. Allen May 20, 1965 (1965-05-20) Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater	Purdue University New York University
Occupation	TV host and writer.
Website
TedAllen.net

Ted Allen (born Edward R. Allen; May 20, 1965) is an American writer and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the American Bravo network's Emmy-winning television program Queer Eye. He now is the host of the prime-time Food Network series Chopped, a culinary competition in which four chefs per episode attempt to cook their way through three courses to win a $10,000 prize. He previously also hosted Food Detectives, which used scientific experiments to test myths about food. He regularly appears on the Food Network's show The Best Thing I Ever Ate and other television cooking shows, and he is the author of magazine articles and books.

Early life

Allen was born in Columbus, Ohio, but grew up in Carmel, Indiana. His Southern-born mother instilled in him a love of food and cooking.

Career

Education and early years

Allen received a degree in psychology from Purdue University in 1987. Subsequently, he enrolled in Purdue’s Krannert Graduate School of Management, but left to accept a job as a copyeditor at the Lafayette, Indiana, Journal & Courier.

He later returned to grad school, gaining an M.A. in journalism from the Science and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University. He then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a reporter for Lerner Newspapers, a chain of community weekly newspapers. He got his start in restaurant criticism there as one quarter of a bi-weekly group-review team called "The Famished Four," along with Barry Rice, then the chain's entertainment editor (and today Allen's husband), who initiated the concept with Lerner food editor Leah A. Zeldes.

Allen then became a freelancer for Chicago magazine, eventually becoming a senior editor, and often writing about food, wine and luminaries of the culinary world. He joined Esquire in 1997 as a contributing editor. He contributed to an Esquire food series, profiled many celebrities and co-authored the magazine's popular "Things a Man Should Know" series. He has written for a variety of other magazines and continues as a contributing editor for Esquire.

Television

Allen gained great visibility in 2003, when he became a cast member of the reality television series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Allen was the show’s food and wine specialist. He continued to make television appearances as a gourmet, including as a frequent guest judge on Food Network's Iron Chef America. Allen hosted a six-part documentary, "Uncorked: Wine Made Simple," on PBS starting May 7, 2007. Beginning June 13, 2007, Allen appeared as a regular judge on seasons 3 and 4 of Bravo's reality television program Top Chef, following several guest judge appearances during the previous two seasons. In 2008, he left Bravo when Food Network offered him the host job on two shows: Food Detectives, which debuted on July 29, 2008, and Chopped, which launched a 13-episode series on January 13, 2009. "Detectives" returned for a second season of 13 episodes, also in January 2009. "Chopped" was renewed for 26 episodes, and went back into production in March 2009 in New York. The show took off with viewers and was renewed for another 26, which shot in January and February 2010. Solid ratings continued, and "Chopped" was signed for another season of 26, which was taped in September and October 2010. Since moving to Food Network, Allen has made appearances on many of that channel's programs, including Paula's Party and multiple episodes of The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Dear Food Network, and The Next Food Network Star. On November 16, 2008, Allen returned to Iron Chef America as co-floor reporter for the show's Thanksgiving special. Allen reprised the role as co-floor reporter for the Thanksgiving special on November 20, 2011.

Books

• Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Style (Riverhead Books, 1999) with Scott Omelianuk (ISBN 1573227633, ISBN 9781573227636, OCLC 42310518)
• Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Marriage (Riverhead Books, 2000) with Scott Omelianuk (ISBN 1573227773, ISBN 9781573227773, OCLC 42462917)
• Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Sex (Riverhead Books, 2001) with Scott Omelianuk
• Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Handshakes, White Lies and Which Fork Goes Where: Easy Business Etiquette for Complicated Times (Riverhead Books, 2001) with Scott Omelianuk (ISBN 1588160688, ISBN 9781588160683)
• Co-author, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab Five's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better (Clarkson Potter, 2004) (ISBN 140005446X, ISBN 9781400054466, ISBN 1400097843, ISBN 9781400097845)
• The Food You Want To Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes (Clarkson Potter, 2005) (ISBN 1400080908, ISBN 9781400080908)

Personal life

Allen is openly gay and currently lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, with husband Barry Rice, whom Allen met in his first reporting job at Lerner Newspapers and who is a former professor at Columbia College Chicago.

Awards

• In 2004 the cast and producers of Queer Eye won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Reality Program" from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The show was also nominated again for that category in 2005.
• In 2001 Allen was nominated for a National Magazine Award for an article on male breast cancer in Esquire.
• He contributed to an Esquire food series that was a finalist in the National Magazine Award 2003 awards.

External links

• Official site
• Internet Movie Database: Ted Allen
• Top Chef bio