Ted Allen

Infobox Person
name = Ted Allen


caption =
birth_name = Edward R. Allen
birth_date = Birth date and age|1965|5|20|mf=y
birth_place = Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = TV host and writer.
website = [http://www.tedallen.net TedAllen.net]

Ted Allen (born Edward R. Allen on May 20, 1965 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American writer and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the American Bravo network's Emmy-winning television program "Queer Eye." He now is host of the Food Network series "Food Detectives", which uses scientific experiments to test myths about food. He is a frequent guest on TV cooking shows and author of magazine articles and books.

Biography

Allen was born in Columbus, Ohio, but grew up in Carmel, Indiana. His Southern-born mother instilled in him a love of food and cooking.

He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with long-time partner Barry Rice, a former professor at Columbia College Chicago. [ [http://www2.colum.edu/echo/back/winspr02/contact.html :Echo Magazine ] ]

Career

Education and early years

Allen received a degree in psychology from Purdue University in 1987. Subsequently he enrolled in Purdue's Krannert Graduate School of Management, but left to accept a job as a copy editor at the Lafayette, Indiana "Journal and Courier."

He later returned to grad school, gaining an M.A. in journalism from the Science and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University. He then moved to Chicago, where he worked as a reporter for Lerner Newspapers, a now-defunct chain of community weekly newspapers. He got his start in restaurant criticism there as one quarter of a bi-weekly group-review team called "The Famished Four," along with his boyfriend, Barry Rice, then the chain's entertainment editor, who initiated the concept.

Allen then became a freelancer for "Chicago" magazine, eventually becoming a senior editor, and often writing about food, wine and luminaries of the culinary world. He joined "Esquire" in 1997 as a contributing editor. He contributed to an "Esquire" food series, profiled many celebrities and co-authored the magazine's popular "Things a Man Should Know" series. He has written for a variety of other magazines and continues as a contributing editor for "Esquire."

Television

Allen gained great visibility in 2003, when he became a cast member of the reality TV program originally titled "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Allen portrayed the "Food and Wine connoisseur." He continues to make TV appearances as a gourmet, including as a frequent guest judge on Food Network's "Iron Chef America". Allen hosted a six-part documentary, "Uncorked: Wine Made Simple," on PBS starting May 7, 2007.cite web | title=TV.com | work=UnCorked | url=http://www.tv.com/uncorked/show/30445/summary.html | accessdate=February | accessyear=2007] Beginning June 13, 2007, Allen appeared as a regular judge on seasons 3 and 4 of Bravo's reality television program "Top Chef",cite web
last =
first =
title = Bravo Announces Contestants for "Top Chef 3 Miami"
publisher = MovieWeb
date = 2007-05-09
url = http://www.movieweb.com/tv/news/76/19676.php
accessdate = 2007-05-11 ] following several guest judge appearances during the previous two seasons. His new series, "Food Detectives", debuted on Food Network on July 29, 2008.

Books

*"Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Style" (Riverhead Books, 1999) with Scott Omelianuk
*"Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Marriage" (Riverhead Books, 2000) with Scott Omelianuk
*"Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Sex" (Riverhead Books, 2001) with Scott Omelianuk
*"Esquire's Things A Man Should Know About Handshakes, White Lies and Which Fork Goes Where: Easy Business Etiquette for Complicated Times" (Riverhead Books, 2001) with Scott Omelianuk
*Co-author, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab Five's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better" (Clarkson Potter, 2004).
*"The Food You Want To Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes" (Clarkson Potter, 2005).

Awards

*In 2004 the cast and producers of "Queer Eye" won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Reality Program" from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The show was also nominated again for that category in 2005.
*In 2001 Allen was nominated for a National Magazine Award for an article on male breast cancer in "Esquire".
*He contributed to an "Esquire" food series that was a finalist in the National Magazine Award 2003 awards.

References

External links

* [http://www.tedallen.net/ Ted Allen Official Website]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1388270/ Internet Movie Database: Ted Allen]
* [http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/4/bios/index.php?cat=judge&p=ted_allen Top Chef bio]