Designer chefs More cooking celebrities putting names (and reputations) on kitchenware, culinary products Christina A. Stavale THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Print Run Date: Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010 // Food section centerpiece
Baseball players have their bats. Basketball players have their shoes. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri has his knives. Like professional athletes who sell sporting equipment bearing their names, celebrity chefs have done the same in recent years by creating their own food and cooking-product lines. Fieri - host of the Food Network series Diners, Drive-ins and Dives - is among the latest chefs to join the mix, launching his knives in April. "In my sport, in food," he said, "there's nothing really better than a good, sharp knife - one that feels good in your hands." Knives are far from the only chef-sponsored products available. Mario Batali, Paula Deen, Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray and many more have lines, including everything from pasta sauces to cutting boards. For chefs, the idea provides a chance to put their name in the marketplace for their fans and for people who don't watch their shows. For customers, it offers a reassuring guarantee from the pros. "Clearly, the American consumer is very interested in the concept of the celebrity chef," said Marc Halperin, chief operating officer and culinary director of the Center for Culinary Development, a food-consulting company in San Francisco. "There's already an emotional connection between the consumer and the celebrity chef even before there's a food product." Not just the emotional connection, though, sold Paula Deen fan Glyna Spillman of Orient on Deen-branded products. The association with the chef probably made Spillman look twice, she said, at the cookie sheets, casserole dish and Dutch oven with the Deen name.
Then, when she realized that cookies baked evenly every time and that nothing stuck to the casserole dish, she kept going back for more. "The name drove me to the item," she said, "but the quality of the item sold me." Chefs understand that consumers such as Spillman seek not only a name but also a high-quality product. Ingrid Hoffmann, host of the Food Network series Simply Delicioso, didn't want merely to stamp her name on something. She hoped that the line of Latino-style cookware she recently launched with the manufacturer T-Fal would reflect her. Before any items were produced, she visited the manufacturing lab. Her line, which includes calderos (used for rice and soup) and frying pans, was developed after an understanding was reached. "I've been involved in it since day one," Hoffmann said. "There's not one (offering) that I haven't been involved in getting to the end. I know the ins and outs of what works and what doesn't." Hoffmann established an identity for her products, too: She selected a bright color scheme, with her signature at the bottom of each piece of cookware. The next step: a line of organic Latin spices. She will thus join others who market actual edibles. Giada at Home host Giada De Laurentiis, for example, sells sauces and coffee, along with her cookware, exclusively at Target stores. At the stage where kitchen recipes are turned into formulas, Halperin said, what matters is that the quality doesn't diminish. "If it's just another can of onion soup, why would ... (the customer) buy it again?" he said. "Even without the chef endorsement, the food has to satisfy a need or desire." Batali unveiled a line of pasta sauces - including alla vodka, tomato basil and marinara - about two years ago, after he already had cookware on the market. The sauces are sold at Giant Eagle and Whole Foods Market stores in central Ohio.
The company Gia Russa, based near Youngstown, produces the sauces with fresh and natural ingredients, reflective of his cooking style. "Mario is all about authentic Italian cooking," said John Farber, his business partner. "He's an educator, and he's been an innovator. We've tried to tie in anything we do with those types of brand characters." Farber gets many calls, he said, from folks wanting to use the Batali name on products. Only those in line with the high quality for which Batali is known, however, are chosen. Christina Burkhart of Zanesville learned as much when she bought his Risotto Pan and Saucier. She uses the saucepan, of cast iron and enamel, about twice a week to make pasta. Before she purchased the item for about $90, Burkhart said, she was impressed with his recipes but didn't know what to expect from the pan. Because similar products sell for $250 and higher, she said, she would have been satisfied if it had lasted only a year. The pan has yet to let her down. "I probably won't ever have to replace it," she said. Her experience represents what Farber hopes all customers find in Batali merchandise. "It's not about a celebrity but having something behind it," he said. "That's what Mario's done so brilliantly." Fieri has a similar philosophy: His reasons for marketing namesake products, he said, aren't profit-related. He trusts in the knives - and in his upcoming items, including heat-resistant barbecue gloves and a line of salsas. "I don't have to do (these) things," Fieri said of his knife set.
"As a chef and restaurant owner, I have the ability to rely on that. ... Now that I get involved in other pieces, if it's something that I don't support or believe in, I don't have to do it."