Surely the chef has spent a few days in Curseville himself, but Tom Colicchio comes across as Saint Tom in a NYT article about the bad language in the current season of Top Chef: "You don't see rock stars curse like this." True, the season is more bleep-heavy than ever, and even Bravo's Andy Cohen says they were shocked to see it in the first cut, but they went with it, obviously not telling the cheftestants to tone it down for TV. Cursing's edgy! Look at Hell's Kitchen: We bet the majority of viewers watch just to see Gordon Ramsay's 45-second bleep-riddled tirades. So is TV dispensing kitchen truths to the masses or just giving the audience what they want? Probably a little of both.

Get a table full of chefs talking shop, and you'll get your fill of bleep-worthy words. Anthony Bourdain says now, after the success of exposé books like Kitchen Confidential, he's almost expected to curse at his signings. Top Chef's Spike and Andrew both say there's polite in the kitchen, and then there's getting your point across. And, yes, sometimes that takes a fuck or two. (Obviously.) Women chefs are not immune: On TC, Antonia, Stephanie and Lisa have all been bleeped. But that's who these chefs are, and chefs curse in every kitchen, TV or otherwise. This is "reality TV," no?
· Too Much Heat in the TV Kitchen? [NYT]

Filed under Buzz: Chefs on TV, Celebrity Chefs, Chefs On TV, Top Chef

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