Chef Tell : The Biography of America's Pioneer TV Showman Chef

The incredible story of food television pioneer Friedemann Paul Erhardt—who brought cooking into forty million homes long before The Food Network existed. Culinary television programming has become a mainstay in the American home—from the reality competition of Top Chef to how-to style shows of The Food Network, and everything in between. But before big names like Gordon Ramsay and Bobby Flay ruled prime time, one young German American chef became America's biggest food TV celebrity, boasting numbers that matched the legendary Julia Child's. Friedemann Paul Erhardt, also known as Chef Tell, went from Philadelphia bad-boy restaurateur to nationally renowned superstar. Now, for the first time, Chef Tell offers a glimpse of his inspiring and turbulent life story. Here we not only meet the man who charmed and educated audiences across America, but also the quick-witted perfectionist who experienced professional highs and lows, won admirers and enemies, and challenged the industry as a whole. Filled with personal accounts from friends and colleagues, color photographs, and a seven-course dinner menu for home cooks to try, this is a must-read biography for fans of food, cooking, television, and believers in the American dream. With forewords by Regis Philbin and Chef Walter Staib. "Tell started all this television madness about chefs." --Regis Philbin Before The Food Network, there was Chef Tell-- the TV persona of Friedemann Paul Erhardt, America's first TV showman chef. Big on personality and flavor, Chef Tell was once described by Philadelphia magazine as the "affably roguish Bad Boy of the Philadelphia restaurant world." Chef Tell explores how a young German American chef became America's biggest TV celebrity chef of his time. Most of Chef Tell's forty million baby boomer viewers--a number comparable to Julia Child's--never knew his fascinating, hardscrabble life story. Until now. This winning biography puts us "behind the line" inside his kitchen and inside his, at times, turbulent personal life. Tell not only charmed, worked, entertained and taught audiences how to cook on live television shows, but, a quick-witted perfectionist, he also demanded only the freshest ingredients for his life of food, fame, fortune, and women. Chef Tell's life--his colleagues would agree--was a managed, complicated and mercurial affair, which changed two industries and the taste buds of millions of home cooks. An absorbing account of an extraordinary man, Chef Tell brings us through his personal and professional highs and lows, and his glorious successes, explaining why so many loved or hated him then, and miss him dearly now. The day Chef Tell passed on, messages of surprise and shock flooded the Internet and media airwaves. "Chef Tell has died? Stick a fork in him, he's done," one wrote. Chef Tell would have loved that. Readers are beginning to find out why and they agree. 454 pages, 70 color photographs, and a seven-course dinner menu of recipes that Tell left behind for all of us! Before the heyday of the Food Network, there was Chef Tell—nickname of Friedemann Paul Erhardt, America's first TV showman chef. Big on personality and flavor, Chef Tell was once called by Philadelphia magazine the "affably roguish Bad Boy of the Philadelphia restaurant world." Chef Tell explores how a young German American chef became America's biggest TV celebrity chef of his time. Most of Chef Tell's forty million baby boomer viewers—a number comparable to Julia Child's—never knew his fascinating, hardscrabble life story. Until now. This winning biography brings us "behind the line" into his kitchen and into his, at times, turbulent personal life. Tell was known as a charmer, as he worked the audience for live television shows, but also a quick-witted perfectionist, who demanded only the freshest ingredients for his life of food, fame, fortune, and women. Chef Tell's life—his colleagues would agree—was a managed, complicated, and mercurial affair, which changed two industries and millions of home cooks. An absorbing account of an extraordinary man, Chef Tell takes us through his personal and professional highs and lows; and his glorious successes that explain why so many loved, or hated, him then and miss him now. The day Chef Tell died messages of surprise and shock flooded the media, including "Chef Tell has died? Stick a fork in him, he's done." Chef Tell would have loved that. Readers will know why and agree. Before the heyday of the Food Network, there was Chef Tell--nickname of Friedmann Paul Erhardt, America's first TV showman chef. This biography explores how a young German American chef became America's biggest TV celebrity chef of his time