Will Emeril really be worth the detour?

The Sunday restaurant column in the local daily paper today brought the breathless news that Emeril Lagasse, the so-called celebrity chef, will be opening his first Northeast restaurant on Friday, LESS THAN TWO HOURS by car from North Jersey.

Did I run out to the garage to check my hybrid's gas gauge and tires? The column said Emeril's Chop House (I guess it's a steakhouse) in a new Bethlehem, Pa., casino will have a menu of local mushrooms and other farm produce, but is silent on the quality of the meat that will be served. 

Every time I read about a celebrity chef such as Emeril, I'm reminded of what one of them said: "People pay us to buy food and cook it for them." That puts it into perspective. I'm more interested in whether a restaurant serves wild fish and chicken that is drug-free and fed a vegetarian diet than I am in whose name is on it.

I did have a great seafood meal once at Nola, one of Lagasse's restaurants in New Orleans, when I was visiting the city for a music festival a couple of years ago. And in the early 1970s, in Europe to see a Formula One race, me and two friends drove from Paris to Monte Carlo, but took a few hours out to stop for a memorable lunch at Troigros, a restaurant in Roanne, France, with three Michelin stars, the top rating.

Thanks, but no thanks. Don't bust my chops. I won't be driving to Pennsylvania to eat in a celebrity chef's chophouse.  (This post was revised.)

Hear the sizzle, smell the hype

On Sunday, the local newspaper had another long article, complete with color photos, glorifying a "celebrity chef." On the occasion of Bobby Flay opening a burger restaurant in Paramus, the paper went all out, providing even more detail about the food, cooking methods and service than I have seen for upscale places that get four stars.

We know Flay is wealthy, but even he wouldn't have paid for all this glorious publicity. He didn't have to. The newspaper treats him royally, seemingly grateful that he's taken pity on we poor, food-deprived North Jerseyans and opened a restaurant here. We learn about his actress wife, their children, his TV shows and books, and even that his mom lives in New Jersey. How does this serve you and me?

One thing the article is silent on is the quality of the meat in his burgers. The headline and article use words such as "high-quality cooking," "fresh" ingredients, and meat of "chef's quality." These are meaningless. However, we're told the meat hasn't been frozen and that it's chuck, with a 20% fat content. But there is nothing about the grade of beef used, where it came from, and whether the animals were raised with growth hormones and antibiotics, what they were fed and whether they were confined in feed lots before slaughter.

The article ends by mentioning that Flay hasn't yet eaten at White Manna in Hackensack, but "wants to visit soon." I happened to drive by Sunday afternoon and saw a line out the door of this tiny burger restaurant, probably the smallest eatery in the city. Those customers likely have one thing in common with people going to Flay's new place: They don't really know what they are eating.

Hear me, Oprah!

Did you see the Oprah Winfrey show the other day, when three celebrity chefs visited families that basically threw money at the problem of cooking meals at home? One family bought virtually everything from the frozen food aisle in the supermarket. Another spent lavishly to have meals delivered -- more than $51 on dinner for two.

The celebrity chefs, including Cat Cora and Tyler Perry, showed the families how to buy food for far less and prepare delicious meals at home. But there was no mention of the quality of the ingredients or how the chicken, pork and so forth had been raised; of whether the poultry and meats were filled with antibiotics or growth hormones.

Of course, the pan-roasted, jerk-flavored pork chops looked and tasted great, but did the family eating them know pigs received more antibiotics than any other animal raised for human consumption? The problem with eating animals raised on antibiotics is the growing human resistance to antibiotics prescribed by doctors. The silence on this subject by the celebrity chefs and Oprah -- and the general silence of most food writing -- is why I started this blog.