Who is the best chef/cook/food innovator?
 

Poll to be posted ASAP.

None of the above.

The correct answer is Ferran Adria.

weak poll is weak...

Gordon Ramsay

Where's the choice for Ollie Gates???

I'm looking for well-known chefs, etc.. I can take you to a KC restaurant that kills it with an award winning chef. Not the point.

The title of your thread is: Who is the best chef/cook/food innovator?

And by all accounts the answer is Ferran Adria. It's not about awards. This man reinvented food. His restaurant El Bulli (until it closed this past year) was universally considered the best restaurant in the world.

If you want to talk about who the most well-known chef/cook is, or who is your favorite celebrity chef, we can do that too.

the guy who made the first cheeseburger
or smoked the first butt

The best chefs are well known. I don't know Ferran Adria. He might have been great, but his restaurant closed?

Food innovation is all about chefs and cooks. New combinations, flavors, textures. One day it's sauerkraut and bread and the next day it's a Reuben.

I heard that Rachel Ray has no formal training in the kitchen and that critics have demonized her because she never does the prep work or even knows how to cook anything that you and I couldn't do. Her only claim to the food industry is that her family owned restaurants.

If those rumors are true, I don't think Ms. Perky should be included in the poll. It's like adding Milli Vanilli to the list of the greatest singer-songwriters ever.

Exactly!

I highly suggest doing some research on Ferran Adria. He is THE food innovator. He made just about every chef on the planet look at food in a completely different way.

You may never have heard of him. But all those people listed in your poll have sure as shit heard of him. And they all probably worship the guy. Believe me.

Pop culture celebrity status has nothing to do with being "the best" anything.

And Ferran closed El Bulli himself. He was tired of the format and he's currently working on changing things around. He's constantly challenging himself. El Bulli didn't close because it wasn't any good. People literally cried when Ferran decided to close up shop.

I don't see Chef Boyardee on the list.

A dubious error, indeed. This thread becomes more and more suspicious by the minute!

That dude is ridiculous. Bourdain's visit there for No Reservations is one of the best episodes ever.

Thomas Keller also belongs on the list.