On the 20th anniversary of the inception of Dining Out For Life I had the opportunity to interview their spokesperson The Food
Network’s James Beard award winning host of Chopped,
Ted Allen. Ted Allen shared time
to chat with Examiner.com about his commitment to Dining Out for Life, how Queer
Eye for the Straight Guy evolved, Top Chef, Iron Chef
America and more.
There are 50 restaurants
giving varying percentage of this one day fundraiser to Moveable Feast – Donating 50% of their
proceeds are three very special and unique Baltimore restaurants – 13.5%
Wine Bar + Food – Chef Cyrus Keefer, Gertrude’s - Chef John Shields and Woodberry
Kitchen – Chef Spike Gjerde. Chefs and restaurateurs are the backbone
to fundraising for so many charities – I am in awe of their generosity.
Moveable Feast, a non-profit which offers meal delivery
programs to homebound people living with HIV/AIDS and breast cancer,
transportation and in addition, a culinary training program. See how your one
meal on Thursday, September 17thcan feed many. Feed people, Fight disease and Foster hope.
Dara Bunjon: When you look back at your early days as a
journalist in Chicago what were your aspirations? Any dreams of what the future
would hold for you?
Ted Allen: I had no aspirations of television. The contract to
write for Esquire Magazine was my dream comes true. I wanted to
write for a quality magazine; stylish, experimental and one with flair. I had
to hustle for the Esquire job, they weren’t found on Craigslist.
DB: How did Queer Eye for the
Straight Guy come about? It was pretty brave even for 2003 to ‘come
out’ nationally. It wasn’t that long before that Ellen DeGeneres’s career
suffered a blow when she came ‘out’ in 1997.
TA: No one took it more seriously being ‘out’ on
television. Many didn’t like having it shoved in their faces. It opened a door
for the LGBT community. It allowed me to come out to many but a few relatives
learned when the show aired.
Since 1933 Esquire Magazine has set the
standard for men to be modern world travelers, how to dress, where to dine –
numerous service articles, an orientation to being a well rounded male. The
folks from Queer Eye were huge fans of Esquire
Magazine; it was almost a template for the show.
DB: Thank you for doing your part as Dining Out for
Life’s spokesperson for the past six years. In fact, it is DOFL’s 20th
anniversary this year. What have been the accomplishments and what do we still
need to do?
TA: Over 4 million dollars has been raised
annually for DOFL in 50 cities for local AIDS service charities. The money
raised in each city stays in that city.
HIV/AIDS has promising therapies and is no longer the
automatic death sentence. It initially hit the gay community first but with
precautions the incidents of the disease in gays were down. The disease then
seemed to spread to women of color and now with young gay men the numbers are
increasing. The fight continues.
The real heroes are the activist, health care workers,
volunteers. Dining Out for Life is a simple opportunity that by dining out on a
specific day at designated restaurants, patrons are making a meaningful
contribution. Restaurateurs donate a portion of the proceeds of that evening
(and/or lunch) to DOFL. Everyone wins; the restaurateurs fill their seats with
new patrons.
DB: How did being a judge on Top Chef and Iron
Chef America prepare you for hosting Chopped?
TA: When Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was
at its peak (Emmy Award winner), I was on two television networks, Bravo
and The Food Network. That was pretty unheard of at that time. It was important
to talk about food in a way anyone could understand. Both Iron Chef
America
and Top Chef refined that talent, improved my
skills to communicate on how food tastes.
It was Alton Brown and Tom Colicchio who influenced me to
focus on the food and not who cooked it. They are both scrupulously fair in
their judging.
Baltimore, dine out on Thursday,
September 17th and help Moveable Feast continue to provide
numerous services, free, to people with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening
illnesses. Fifty local restaurants are committed to donating a percentage of
the lunch, or lunch and dinner proceeds to this amazing charity. Everyone wins – you enjoy great food, the
restaurants fill their seats and most importantly the needy clients of Moveable
Feast continue to have meals delivered, receive needed transportation and more.
Dining Out For Life - www.diningoutforlife.com/baltimore
Thursday, September 17th #DOFLBMORE
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