(Photo: Alen MacWeeney/Corbis)

Où Sont les Chefs?
Food Network goes all-American.
Has the Food Network been conscripted into the coalition of the willing? Restaurant-industry insiders are wondering why the channel seems to be giving such a chilly reception to French cuisine. The evidence? Stillborn talks with chef Claude Troisgros (the show was to be called Caviar & Banana, like his new restaurant), the fact that Frederic van Coppernolle, from How to Boil Water, has been replaced by all-American Tyler Florence, and that the only French chef with a series is chocolate savant Jacques Torres. Management “wants an accessible American lineup, lots of Midwesterners like Rachael Ray,’’ says a source close to one of the shows. Mais non! insists Allison Page, director of programming at the Food Network, who says that while the channel does do viewer research to judge hosts’ appeal, she doesn’t believe it’s interested in serving up only freedom fries. “Sometimes we know that viewers have trouble with heavy accents,” says Page, who had no knowledge of talks with Troisgros. “Rachael Ray inspiring you to make boeuf bourguignonne is just as effective in promoting French cuisine.” In any case, French gastronomy might not be sorely missed—the network’s ratings sweet spot is Unwrapped, about candy and snacks.
—Beth Landman