Chef Confessions: Celebrity Chefs Dish At Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival
The Daily Meal traveled to this year's Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival to get the latest scoop from some of the industry's top celebrity chefs and culinary personalities. We've rounded up our list of the most compelling and crazy quotes and quips The Daily Meal heard from the likes of Anne Burrell, Paula Deen, Tyler Florence, Robert Irvine, Buddy Valastro, and Andrew Zimmern.
From the foods they hate the most to whether or not they would ever eat human flesh, even we were shocked at some of the things these chefs had to say.
- "I'm sweatin' like a whore in church!" — Paula Deen, commenting on the hot weather at the Blues, Brews, and BBQ event, which was held outdoors at the Main Lot of the Showboat Atlantic City on Saturday.
- "I got a town car from New York City and I spent $173 to go out to Di Fara's to have a slice and come back. It was worth every penny." — Tyler Florence on the lengths he has gone to travel to his favorite pizza joint in Brooklyn.
- "I planned the wedding. I planned everything and she had no idea. It's like I was groom-zilla." — Robert Irvine on his recent May 10 nuptials to wrestler Gail Kim.
- "I'm 208 pounds, Gail is 120-something and she eats three times as much as me. And let me tell you, she hurts when she hits." — Robert Irvine on his wife's eating habits and strength.
- "In terms of my cards for the future, we'll definitely have something in Atlantic City. Some sort of bakery. It's definitely on my plan of expansions." — Buddy Valastro on his future career plans.
- "The only thing that really sucks is when people follow me into the ladies' room. It's surprising how often that happens. I'm like, 'Really? I'm coming back out again. What do you think I'm doing in here? And what I'm doing in here you don't need to know about. And if you want to know, I don't want to know you.'" — Anne Burrell on her least favorite part of being a celebrity.
- "People always say to me, 'Would you eat human flesh?' To be honest with you, I'd never see myself doing that, but knowing the kind of person I am and under the right situation..." — Andrew Zimmern when asked if there is anything he wouldn't eat besides walnuts. "In Madagascar, a guy almost handed me the cut foreskin of his grandchild to eat. I was dripping cold sweat down the back of my neck, like 'Oh my god, what do I do?' Had he passed it to me, I probably would have eaten it."
- "When I first saw Tyler Florence, I couldn't take my eyes off him. It's because he looks like my oldest son." — Paula Deen on her friendship with Tyler Florence.
- "When we shot the first original series of Tyler's Ultimate it was just a dream come true. I was milking a water buffalo outside of Naples and the camera guys were like 'This sucks!' and I was like 'Dude, I'm getting paid for this. This is awesome!'" — Tyler Florence on his experiences traveling for work.
- "You have to find the balance between maintaining your femininity, doing a good job, and getting your job done. Girls always think, 'I have to be tougher, I have to talk dirtier,' and a lot of girls do. Eventually, you find your way and find your space." — Anne Burrell on working in the kitchen.
- "The five or six strangest things I've eaten, from palolo in Samoa to little tiny fried sparrows in Vietnam, are all things we never knew until we got there and someone said, 'You want some of these?' It's the stuff you never see coming." — Andrew Zimmern on how he chooses what bizarre foods to feature on his show.
- "I was at the casino until 5 a.m. this morning." — Paula Deen on her gambling hobby. "I'm a Southern slot machine slut!"