I don’t really seek out the coolest, hippest cooks or chefs. I’ve always loved watching people cook – it relaxes me. But I just watch the Food Network or the Cooking Channel and that’s as far as I go. I don’t seek out Instagram Live cooking events or online cooking content. All of which to say, I had no idea who Alison Roman was. According to her interview with New Consumer, she’s sort of a hipster woman who airs a social media cooking show out of her Brooklyn apartment. She’s on Instagram, and she’s also written a somewhat popular cookbook (Nothing Fancy). The point is that she’s on the verge of a bigger breakthrough, and she could be the latest home-cook-turned-food-celebrity. On Friday, her name was trending because of this New Consumer interview, where she trashed Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo and Gwyneth Paltrow a little bit too (there are lots of references to a Goop-like empire). There are several pieces to this, but let’s start with Roman’s interview. Here are the “shady” parts:
Her ambitions: “I sold a TV show, but I was supposed to be filming it right now, and I’m not. So when this is over, we will start production on it. And I do sort of have ambitions to figure out how to channel everything into a site. But I’m really sensitive to oversaturation, again. And does the world need another Goop? It also requires so much money that I would have to take from people that I don’t know. I would also have to let go of so much control. I run my own social media, my own Instagram. I run my own Twitter. The idea that I would ever not do that — and that I would somehow lend my brand to someone else who’s going to approximate me — horrifies me. I’d rather stay small and always be myself. But at the same time, I do need to figure out how to turn this into money. Straight up.
On the idea of making her own line of cooking utensils/kitchen products: “I have a collaboration coming out with [the cookware startup] Material, a capsule collection. It’s limited edition, a few tools that I designed that are based on tools that I use that aren’t in production anywhere — vintage spoons and very specific things that are one-offs that I found at antique markets that they have made for me…That would have to be done in such a specific way under very intense standards. And I would not ever want to put anything out into the world that I wouldn’t be so excited to use myself.
She doesn’t want to just make sh-t for the sake of consumption: “I think that’s why I really enjoy what I do. Because you’re making something, but it goes away. Like the idea that when Marie Kondo decided to capitalize on her fame and make stuff that you can buy, that is completely antithetical to everything she’s ever taught you… I’m like, damn, bitch, you f–king just sold out immediately! Someone’s like “you should make stuff,” and she’s like, “okay, slap my name on it, I don’t give a sh-t!” That’s the thing — you don’t need a ton of equipment in your kitchen to make great food. “For the low, low price of $19.99, please to buy my cutting board!” Like, no. Find the stuff that you love and buy it. Support businesses and makers. It feels greedy. Unless something just simply didn’t exist that I wish existed, but that would make an inventor, which I’m not.
On over-consumption: “There’s just too much stuff in the world. I want so much less stuff in my life, and I don’t want to contribute to that. And maybe that’s a poor business decision, because I’m sure one day I could make money off it. But I’m more interested in finding a cool glassblower or ceramicist that I love and doing a collaboration. Like, what Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me. She had a successful cookbook. And then it was like: Boom, line at Target. Boom, now she has an Instagram page that has over a million followers where it’s just, like, people running a content farm for her. That horrifies me and it’s not something that I ever want to do. I don’t aspire to that. But like, who’s laughing now? Because she’s making a ton of f–king money.
When I first read the Marie Kondo and Chrissy Teigen quotes, I was like “shady but she has a point there.” Like, the heart of Roman’s point is solid: not every chef needs to be a brand, and not every lifestyle guru needs to come out with a line of pots, pans, stuff, etc. In Kondo’s case, how can her brand be “toss out everything” AND “buy my sh-t”? But of course nothing is that simple, and of course Alison Roman is choosing to use two women of color as examples on purpose. It’s a sort of white-woman-hipster gatekeeping: she’s saying that Teigen and Kondo don’t really “fit in” to the white hipster-aspirational lifestyle Roman WANTS to sell and would sell if she wasn’t also very concerned about selling out (a concern Teigen and Kondo apparently don’t share, according to Roman).
So, because Chrissy is extremely online (that’s her brand), she responded on Twitter with a lengthy thread, which I won’t embed. Here’s what she said (as she linked to Roman’s interview):
this is a huge bummer and hit me hard. I have made her recipes for years now, bought the cookbooks, supported her on social and praised her in interviews. I even signed on to executive produce the very show she talks about doing in this article.
I started cravings because I wanted something for myself. I wanted something John didn’t buy, I wanted something to do that calmed me, made me happy and made others happy, too. Cravings isn’t a “machine” or “farmed content” – it’s me and 2 other women. I didn’t “sell out” by making my dreams come true. To have a cookware line, to get to be a part of that process start to finish, to see something go from sketch to in my hands, I love that.
to see that thing in my hand being used by people around the world makes me so happy. Watching a company grow makes me happy. I get joy from it and lots of people do. I genuinely loved everything about Alison. Was jealous she got to have a book with food on the cover instead of a face!! I’ve made countless NYT recipes she’s created, posting along the way. I don’t think I’ve ever been so bummed out by the words of a fellow food-lover. I just had no idea I was perceived that way, by her especially. And Marie, too. Marie is awesome.
It has been crappy to deal with this all day but I couldn’t not say something. I know the actual tears I put into the work I do and it’s really hard to see someone try to completely invalidate it. Someone I really liked. there are many days I cry very hard because cravings, the site, is our baby we love to pump content onto. we do this work ourselves, and there is NO monetary gain yet. it is just work work work and the reward is you liking it. so to be called a sellout….hooooo it hurts. this “farm” you think of doesn’t exist. I am the farm. I am the cows the horses the pigs
[From Chrissy Teigen’s Twitter]
Her feelings were hurt and I appreciate the fact that she didn’t lash out at Roman personally or anything. Teigen has every right to do her own thing, to run her cooking/lifestyle empire however she wants. As I said, what Roman was doing was a bullsh-t form of gatekeeping and it sucks. Roman’s response to Chrissy’s tweets (and the general backlash online) wasn’t great either. From her Twitter:
I want to clarify, I am not coming for anyone who’s successful, especially not women. I was trying to clarify that my business model does not include a product line, which work very well for some, but I don’t see working for me.
Hi @chrissyteigen! I sent an email but also wanted to say here that I’m genuinely sorry I caused you pain with what I said. I shouldn’t have used you /your business (or Marie’s!) as an example to show what I wanted for my own career- it was flippant, careless and I’m so sorry. Being a woman who takes down other women is absolutely not my thing and don’t think it’s yours, either (I obviously failed to effectively communicate that). I hope we can meet one day, I think we’d probably get along.
“I’m sorry I caused you pain” will always be a terrible apology. Mostly, I’m struck by the fact that Alison Roman is terrible at all of this – she’s being an a–hole about a woman who was going to produce her show, she refused to acknowledge that she chose two women of color for Karen-esque reasons, and she gave a terrible apology when she was appropriately called out. Mess. Maybe Marie Kondo can toss her in the trash.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Instagram.
Yeah, really uncool. There are ways to do your own thing without trashing other people who do a different thing.
Plus – come on…support other women!
This!
She puts paltrow down too. I think it’s more a hipster superiority complex than racism. Does she not know tiegan is going to produce her show?! Hipsters are a$$holes to anyone who’s not also a hipster. They hate popular and trendy people. They are better than us.
Yes, this. I had some Lena Dunham-esque eyerolls while reading this. Takes a certain amount of privilege and/or insecurity to put down other people for *checks notes* making money
It’s too bad, I just discovered her buttermilk biscuits and they’re heaven. But I can’t with this Karen-ness. Not interested.
Marie Kondo isn’t even a cook so I don’t know why she was brought up. It does seem odd that of all the women who have commoditized their cooking skills she calls out two women of color. I mean what about Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Pioneer Woman .. etc?
Do hipsters ever get tired of their purity tests for authenticity?
This is what I thought too – why choose women of color as your examples of inauthentic?
That’s on top of the fact that promoting yourself by tearing down others is pretty low.
Typical white women.
It’s the same thing when women of color take their clothes off, white women like Rose Mcgowan are called out for doing nudity and the best way to defend themselves against the haters is to throw someone like Nicky Minaj under the bus. Because when Nicky Minaj taks her clothes off she’s trashy and vulgar, not feminist. But when a white women does it it’s “art”.
#givemeabreak
I mean…she also doesn’t mention that Chrissy, a woman of color, was going to executive produce her show…That’s something I’m SURE she already knew, but she doesn’t want to make it sound like she is backing her. At the very least, keep quiet and not talk sh*t about your financiers…
Exactly. Her choices to put down two Asian women to build herself up when someone like Paula Deen was available as an example and has been doing this longer are very telling.
@Frenchtoast: I didn’t know about that situation between Rose Mcgowan and Nicki Minaj, but it’s not surprising at all that she would say something like that.
It was when she released her music video for RM486 (she’s topless in it).
I can understand her point about America being infantil and only wanting to see the female body represented in a sexual way but the racist undertones of her message is what irked me. She didn’t have to throw a woman of color under the bus to get her point accross.
The Rose McGowan thing is weird because she’s been getting naked for decades. I’m talking in 90s movies like “The Doom Generation,” long before anyone knew who Nicki Minaj was, so it is quite strange that she chose her as an example. There was also, of course, the naked dress Rose wore to the MTV Music Awards many moons ago. I do believe fashion was art, but that dress was about the shock value, just as Nicki Minaj is. That said, I have never seen Nicki topless. The most I’ve seen of Nicki’s body is in the Anaconda music video, which Trent Reznor also said was vulgar and got called out for due to his own explicit “Closer” video. I think these white celebs see hypersexualized black female rappers like Minaj as low hanging fruit. That said, I am concerned that so many female rappers are so sexual today when, besides people like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown in the 90s, most female rappers were not sexual at all. I’m talking Yoyo, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Roxane Shante, Salt-N-Pepa, etc. I think Salt-N-Pepa had the best balance of showing their feminity/sexuality in a way that the average woman did.
She also apparently mocked Marie Kondos accent. And as some pointed out, a lot of her recipes are basically versions of popular food from other cultures made more “accessible” for white people by being made by a white pretty woman and she is constantly not giving credit to those cultures and traditions. For example, her most famous recipe, the “stew” is very similar to south Asian curries , but she calls it a stew and doesn’t reference or credit any of the similar recipes being made by non-white people for decades/centuries. https://www.pajiba.com/celebrities_are_better_than_you/alison-roman-and-the-exhausting-prevalence-of-ethnic-erasure-in-popular-food-culture.php
I personally don’t think the word “pretty” applies to her.
She’s no Giada di Laurentiis or even Katie Lee in the looks department. Also, regarding this issue with Chrissie again, people were saying she is using her status of being married to a famous man to get a leg up on real, hardworking cooks and chefs. Giada is from the famous Italian filmmaker family and Katie Lee was married to Billy Joel. So interesting who she chose to call out and trash as selling out. This is a business with many different models to succeed.
That Pajiba article is so good and delves into so much.
Great article, thanks for sharing. To be clear, I’m not defending this lady in general because she seems like a tool, but my sister lived in India for awhile and learned a recipe from her Indian neighbor that we all still make, called Chickpea Stew. So I would grudgingly concede that maybe she didn’t call it a stew to whitewash it…but who knows. She probably shouldn’t get the benefit of the doubt considering her most recent comments.
If it was just that she called it a stew but gave reference to what inspired her the nobody would criticise for using the word stew. But it’s a pattern of her that she never honours the inspirations behind her recipes and even when asked says that it’s all just her own. Some mentioned that she got almost offended when Jon Lovett from pod save America/crooked media asked her about where she got her ideas as a recent example.
Lena, Good points. So strange to not want to give credit where credit is due. Her ignorance is pretty astonishing, but I guess not surprising considering how much ignorance in general is revealing itself in this era.
Thing is though, the Indian neighbour story is a good example of how things get Westernised. It’s unlikely an actual Indian person would refer to chana as “chickpea stew.” Most likely, either the neighbour made up a western name for the benefit of your sister, or your sister decided to call it that for your benefit, or she forgot the real name and just referred to it casually as chickpea stew. And that’s totally fine because you’re allowed to call what you cook in the privacy of your own home whatever you like.
A person earning a living from food should absolutely know the backgrounds of the food she makes, because that’s basic knowledge. It’s impossible that an experienced food writer and professional cook doesn’t know that curried chickpea stew cooked in that particular way is called chana masala. She made a deliberate choice to use a western name for it, probably because her PR company have researched and focus grouped their target demographic and have come to the conclusion “ethnic” names could frighten off her key audience market. That’s not okay, because it’s othering and sanitising something that doesn’t need to be sanitised. And it’s something that tends to only happen to foods from non-white cuisines. No one would ever attempt to profit from a recipe for croissants but re-name them “Buttery Bread Crescents”.
Thank you for sharing. That was a great article and for anyone reading it the comment section is very worthwhile as well.
I had read that Pajiba article yesterday – well written and informative.
I was going to post this article here! I didn’t know much about Allison Roman, except for those chocolate chunk shortbread cookies. And now, I don’t need to know much more.
She also had a really problematic response to getting called out, where she basically pulled the poor little old white me. Weaponization of a white woman’s tears bullshit.
That was a good read
Her original quote was “please to buy my cutting board.” And then she said that it was an “inside joke” based on a Polish cookbook.
Yet Chrissy didn’t respond to Courtney Stodden last week when she revealed tweets of Chrissy bullying when she was still a teenager.
Oh remember how she agreed with The Onion calling Quvenzhané Wallis a C**t.
She’s also a horrible person like this Alison Roman woman.
This. Chrissy Teigen is terrible – i was shocked by what she said about a child (!!!).
ETA that yes, this other woman is also horrible and I’ve never heard of her before (so maybe she got what she wanted). Thanks for calling out the racialized aspect, too.
+1000. This Alison person deserves the calling out she’s getting, and that pajiba article perfectly sums up why her comments are so gross. I don’t really buy the excuse she made when called out for mocking Marie Kondo’s accent either.
Chrissy Teigan’s abusive behavior and lack of apology for it is also unacceptable, and dangerous, and supporting women and girls means taking that seriously, just like we do when young boys and even grown men in the LGBT community are treated that way by adults.
So glad Chrissy’s comments to Courtney are being mentioned, if only in the comment section here (VERY disappointed there was no post devoted to this). Those comments were absolutely disgusting and horrific. Two things can be true at once, 1) it was sh*tty for this person to call out two WOC and has a pattern of overall crummy behavior AND 2) Chrissy Tiegan is being a peak hypocrite in speaking about her feelings being hurt until she publicly acknowledges the truly awful things she said to an emotionally unstable young woman who was clearly being exploited. Those are the kinds of comments that lead to suicide.
Chrissy was talking crap and meangirled a 9 year old on twitter but some folks seem to be ok with that.
The anti-Blackness just jumps out cause who cares about little Black girls feelings? Chrissy wants to talk about her feelings being hurt yet she won’t apologize for talking nasty on social media about a child. Not to mention her uncalled & tagged recent Courtney Stanton tweets.
I didn’t know Chrissy was like that. It was just yesterday that I mentioned here for the first time that I was a fan of Chrissy. I thought she was cute, on the ball and funny. I’m a big fan of Courtney’s in the same way I’m a fan of Britney, Amanda Bynes, and others who struggle so hard publicly with mental disease, and I think it’s ignorant of Chrissy to have gone after a clearly struggling victim like Courtney.
True. It was disappointing, but not too surprising. It’s so common, and excused.
you nailed it! hypocrisy at its finest.
I never paid attention to that Chrissy whatever, she has the face of a boxer. Had no idea she was such a HUGE asshole.
That is a terrible thing to say. Judge her words and actions all you like. I’m sure you’re a stunning supermodel!
TBH, I like Chrissy. She’s not perfect, but she is genuine. Yes, she should apologize to Courtney. She may even have done so privately.
Personally, I do criticize Marie Kondo for selling crap after making a reputation for herself by telling people to get rid of crap! “Get rid of all your crap! And then buy my crap to store the rest of your crap!” It’s ridiculous.
I even took a poke at this very site for shilling organizing products after caping for Marie. But I would never mock her accent. That is disgusting and I don’t think anyone here would do so. Do you speak Japanese? No?
Honestly the so called “feminists” on CB who criticize womens looks is so very disappointing.
@lotus LOL cry me a river
French toast, I don’t know what your issue is, but making fun of the face and appearance of an Asian woman is not only hateful toward women, but deeply racist. Who are you to criticize Chrissy for . . . having Asian features? . . . not having European stereotypical features? Really disgusting.
@frenchtoast – let’s keep looks out of this thread. It has NOTHING to do with her being a bully to Stodden.
This.
I came across the Courtney Stodden tweets on Twitter – so awful.
Plus, Chrissy isn’t even really into food. Her team said that’s what her target audience was into, so they bought a few recipes, paid a ghost writer, and suddenly she’s a food expert! I don’t feel like anything she does outside of family stuff is authentic. I do believe she’s an involved mom and wife, but not a food expert. That lady is right, though she could have said it differently.
She would literally be the only Thai person on the face of the planet who isn’t a foodie then.
Why do you think her love of food in inauthentic? She had a wordpress food blog way back in the day before she and John were even married.
That’s…a load of crap. Sorry but it is.
cite?
If she’s not into food, she should win an acting award for her IG stories, alone.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Yeah I was wondering if that would be mentioned. I don’t blame her for responding to this woman’s comments, but interesting she’s been mum on the Stodden stuff. At the very least, she should have apologized for those, they were gross and cruel (much worse than what this Alison Roman said about Chrissy).
I was disappointed to see Roman’s comments though not surprised due to her consistent struggle to acknowledge the food cultures she borrows from. I am generally a huge fan of her recipes.
I like Chrissy a lot as well(have her cookbooks) but she has also done problematic things in the past. That is not to say that either is bad people but both have shown ignorance. We are flawed and learning all the time- I wish we could see both of these women show growth. Alison’s non-apology was a lot. It was incredibly disappointing. I would have respected her way more if she could ask herself why the voices she chose to call out were Asian ones. People make mistakes but what is important is if you can learn from them not sure either of these talented ladies is able to do that.
She is also a bully. Nobody took her seriously because everyone thought she is a performative twitter troll. She wasn’t upset because she was insulted by someone she thought was a friend. She was upset because she got called out by someone (I gathered) who is critically praised in her field. Someone she thought she already bought (by producing her show) yet still thought lowly of her. If Ms. Roman didn’t describe Marie Kondo so grossly, I would have agreed with all of her comments. She she stopped with Ms. Teigen, the Internet opinion would come out differently. But she came for two most successful POCs, everything became a race issue and rightfully so.
Is failing to recognise satire unique to Americans? The Onion tweet was TOTALLY SARCASTIC, as was Chrissy’s. Dear god.
Is failing to recognise satire unique to Americans? The Onion tweet was TOTALLY SARCASTIC, as was Chrissy’s. Dear god.
I saw Chrissy’s response first and I was impressed with it – “something that John didn’t buy” really struck me.
I don’t follow her much, but, c’mon, even I know she is obssesed with food! Her growth is a combination of many things, but she clearly LOVES the food business and she is great at it (even though maybe some don’t approve), don’t knock others down!
I’ve said this before. And I’ve operated by it basically my entire life. If you prop yourself by putting others down, you’ve lost me. Period. If your business does the same, I’m out (even if you’re local). It’s a weird tic, but it’s a very real and huge pet peave.
+1
Exactly. My partner lined up a builder for us at one point when we thought we were thinking of having a house stick-built. The first time I met with the guy, his way to demonstrate his expertise was he spent ten minutes demeaning the tile and flooring choices of another couple whose house he had recently completed. wow, someone spends hundreds of thousands of dollars with your company and you are going to make fun of them behind their backs, and to top it all off we KNEW this couple and he knew we knew them. I was like, what is he going to say about US behind OUR backs to his next customer?
Good move not hiring him. I’ve been in the home design/construction business for 20 years, and I’ve found that some builders are the BIGGEST gossips.
And yes, no need to tear down to promote yourself. You can say “Chrissy’s business model works great for her, I will be trying something different” but bitching about others to sell yourself is a big turnoff. Plus LOL that Chrissy turned out to be a producer on her show. Good luck, lady.
Good philosophy, your time is worth more than picking on someone
It was such a bizarre thing to say when she was literally giving the interview to promote her own “capsule collection”. I mean…. You’d think she would at least be aware of how hypocritical she was being even if she didn’t think she was being racist. I really want to see the vintage spoons that apparently do something that no other spoons do.
Also she seems to be ok with Goop, she doesn’t want to copy her but doesnt have a problem with what the white lady sell outs.
Lol. And vintage spoons that are…new.
And the actual vintage can be found in thrift and collectibles stores. Who wants fake new vintage?
“It’s not fake anything…it’s real Dynel.”
THIS. You are working with a company that sells a $75 spoon test and hawking your book and vintage spoons-but somehow POC who have a target line are the ‘real’ sell outs.
Such a hypocrite.
AND! AND! i would argue that providing basic cookware or organizational items that Chrissy and Marie sell are less “consumerist” than selling unneccessary and expensive vintage-looking spoons or tools. I’ve been buying a lot of house stuff lately bc we just moved and have happened to like a lot of the stuff from Joanna Gaines’ line at Target. I didn’t specifically throw away all my old pillows just to go shopping for Joanna Gaines’ items, I had a need for pillows and her line provided the right sizes and colors that I wanted. It’s oversimplifying to say that just because a celebrity produces or endorses a line they are selling out or taking advantage of us poor unwitting consumers. Also as a side note, the Joanna Gaines line at Target is the only place I’ve been able to find lined non-fugly curtains that are less than $50 per panel. I know we’re not talking about her but she might as well have thrown her in there too as a successful asian woman who sells things at affordable prices.
Am I a terrible person for wanting to buy the vagina candle? Gwyneth really is villain laughing all the way to the bank. Meanwhile, the girls are fighting over spoons. Good lord.
Just what the world needs a hipster budget Goop.
She’s got the snooty bit down.
Yikes. I haven’t heard of this lady either and I have no desire to check out her stuff now. Her apology was trash, especially the where she throws it back at Chrissy for her response! I guessing she’s panicking that she wronged the wrong person in Chrissy, with her huge following.
Chrissy produces (d?) her show.
Maybe that’s why she apologize to Chrissy but not to Marie? Cause sure, insulting Marie doesn’t cost her financially.
Oh, that’s definitely why she “apologized” to Chrissy but not Marie. No doubt about it.
Peak Karen behavior the way she apologized by putting Chrissy on the spot like that.
Did she forget that Teigen is executive producing her show?
The things she said were problematic and apparently she’s been dodging questions about the origins of her “own” recipes for some time now, but attacking your own executive producer is just stupid.
How is she concerned about selling out when she has a capsule collection and sells fake antique spoons? She’s just jealous of two successful Asian women.
“In Kondo’s case, how can her brand be “toss out everything” AND “buy my sh-t”? ”
Marie Kondo isn’t about tossing out everything. She encourages people to be mindful about their possessions (toss the things that mean nothing to you, the things that aren’t useful to you).
It’s obvious to me that this hipster mean girl is jealous two WOC are in a space she considers a white women space.
Yeah, I agree.
She could have named a lot of other white women or even men like Jamie Oliver, but no, she chose two WOC. It’s very telling.
So many there examples. Rachel Ray made dog food! Chip and Joanna took over a chunk of target before starting their own NETWORK. Yeah, people monetize themselves and their brand. It’s how capitalism works. Don’t play the game, whatever, but don’t be shocked that plenty of people do.
Oh god, that Chip and Joanna stuff is EVERYWHERE. And it’s made everyone want to decorate in the same way.
I agree Marie Kondo isn’t about tossing everything, and I think she’d have a great case for selling organizational products, but she is selling a LOT of stuff, including and $80+ candle, so she’s inching into Goop territory. But I do like her and her method worked great for me with clothing.
Yes, I guess she just feels like her “ capsule collection” won’t be sold in plebian stores like Chrissy’s stuff or Marie Kondo. I’m sure each piece will be displayed at an appropriate hipster venue in Brooklyn…in a shadow box on a gallery white wall. Look, I do get there’s a disconnect w Marie Kondos line ( I had the same thought when it came out) but obviously someone wanted it. And the woman still toted over used shoeboxes in her show for storage so whatever. But WTF with Chrissy?
Don’t forget the collabs with J Crew and Madewell.
Happy Mother’s Day!
In one of her apologies to Chrissy, she wrote “LOL” and then deleted it, guess she was doing a fake apology and thought people would skip over it.
Marie is going to keep on doing Marie.
I’ve never heard of her but it seems like she’s also monetizing her cooking for profit—social media, tv show, cookbook, cookware line however limited and vintage-y it may be 🙄 so what’s her gripe exactly?! Building a business and shilling things is only ok when she does it in her white hipster way? Ok got it.
I’m not a big Chrissy fan, by any means, but c’mon this stunk! It felt super targeted and mean spirited to name check her. Lately I’ve been thinking Chrissy seems very fragile, she has been open about her anxiety, depression and postpartum struggles coupled with the stay at home order and she seems a bit, idk unsettled? And this surely doesn’t help. Yikes. She seems to use her social media for validation, which can’t be healthy because she gets a lot of hate (some of it well deserved; so just mean and unnecessary) and her response to this lady felt very vulnerable and sad right?
Alison, also went full Karen by posting these tweets playing the victim before her non apology apology Kaiser—“Just wishing I had someone to hold my hand during baby’s first internet backlash 😪,” or this gem “when women bully other women for being honest about money and how much they do or do not make, well, thats amore.” What a bish!
I’m not from the Taylor Swift school of feminism where you can’t criticize other women or you aren’t a feminist, but there’s a meanness and superiority to this that I find very gross. I don’t know her and I would never support any of her ventures if this is how she feels about other women, actually let’s call it what it is, feels about women of color.
I totally agree with everything you said.
Chrissy Teigen has been an asshole for YEARS. Her bullying people (children!) and calling people names online is nothing new.
Having said that, Alison Roman shouldn’t have named checked Chrissy or Marie Kondo (who has ZERO to do with cooking, cookbooks, cookware etc) if she also wasn’t going to name check Martha Stewart, Paula Deen or Rachael Ray.
Both of them are problematic and both of them need to simmer down.
but one is a bully and one is promoting subtle racism and cultural appropriation. Like, Pajiba article has many good points….
@Hoya-chick, agree Teigen often does come across as insecure and have had some weird tweets during this lockdown, before this whole thing. Apparently Teigen has locked her Twitter account and deleted that old tweet on Quevenzhané Wallis. It seems she did get a lot of backlash and personal attacks to this Roman backlash. She handles Trump calling her foul mouthed but this hit her harder than expected. What Roman did was not cool so hope that she doesn’t feel like she gets the last word on this.
This person dreams to be the next Goop or Teigen or Kondo . Think what you want about them but they are their own brand
So unnecessary and Chrissy Teigen’s response was very good.
I actually love Tiegen’s cookbook and at least she knows how to wear a dress unlike that tinfoil monstrosity that heifer is wearing. My god. The sleeves.
This is…unnecessary
I think these two women are meant for each other.
yup. chrissy thrives on external attention and validation, this public brawl is right up her alley.
Are Mom jeans back?
Yes! Unfortunately
Just kill me now!
o.m.g….
Yes, they are. My 20 year old daughter is tall and slender and she loves them because the waists are high enough. She looks cute in them actually.
Same, I’m tall and stick thin. The only time I have curves is in mom jeans. I love them.
I didn’t know who this person was until Jon Lovett of Pod Save America was talking about trying to do one of her recipes on one of his IG Live programs. He is not a cook and is still learning how to cook. As an example on one episode he was wondering what a shallot was. Anyway she ends up as a guest a few weeks ago and she was so condescending to him that it was unpleasant. Lovett was trying to keep things light but she would say stuff like criticize his utensils and then when he asked her where she got her ideas for recipes, she gave some bs answer and had a tone of “[how dare you ask this”. I also found her cooking instructions kind of useless. Other than thinking this woman was a bitch during that show, I didn’t think of her again so when this story came out, I have to say I am not surprised she would say stuff like this.
OMG I felt so defensive of Lovett! He was super earnest and willing to try and it was like she wasn’t there for it! I saw her that first time because I watch all his cooking lives (very funny and oddly anxiety inducing). They did a joined live and I don’t know how many followers she has but Lovett has like a thousand every Friday live so she also profited from his audience. Her first posts after the debacle were TERRIBLE!!! She « apologized » after a while. Peak Karen and, yes, racist. I will defend Marie Kondo as well because besides the show (sooo cute) I don’t know much but apparently she’s not peddling minimalism. That’s a common misconception. She doesn’t tell people to throw everything out but only keep things that spark joy.
I meant protective…geez…
Big Jon Lovett fan here, and yes she was insufferable! He went into it being humble and wanting to learn and she was caustic at every step. She immediately needed him to throw out his utensils. The best part was when she dropped her phone into the pot. I think her phone just wanted to commit suicide to get away from her.
I laughed at that part too. I felt it was karma biting her in the ass for the bad attitude she was giving Lovett.
I read a lot of cookbooks, and I thought hers had some good recipes, but her tone in the cookbook was so off putting! If you come across as a dick on fb how bad must you be in person?
I guess her comments answer that question, lol!
She’s awful in her youtube videos too. I randomly came across one once and I was done.
It was the first time I ever used the don’t ever show me this again, I don’t like it tab.
She sounds bitter she isn’t getting rich doing her thing on Instagram and is going to “have to” be a “sell out” too.
Which is a very unsympathetic position to then take shots at wildly successful women in the same space she wants to occupy.
Weird way to present herself.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” The interview itself was terrible. She chose two WOC to attack when the same business model has been used by so many women before them ( I wish she namecheked Martha Stewart!). She also made fun of the way Marie spoke (“please to buy my cutting board” – what the f%#k is that?!). The publishers of the interview went and changed it on the website after the backlash, so they are complicit in this. Then in that abhorrent apology this woman once again, showed her ass. Please save me your white woman tears. Why is is that these Karens are so quick to make themselves the victim when they are being called out?!? I’m tired of this.
PS. Can people stop saying that Kondo is telling people to “throw everything you own away”? Her method is about telling people to be mindful of what they own. Really look at your stuff and think about whether your 100 T-shirts really bring you joy or are you just hoarding? If you read her book, she tells you that if after you do your inventory, and you’re honest with yourself, and you found there was nothing you can throw away because everything has value to you, then you’ve done the work.
I don’t think the website is complicit by reporting what Roman said. That is what journalism is. Now, they could’ve asked a follow-up question about her mocking Kondo’s accent or put an asterisk where she did this and explained that these views don’t reflect the website. But simply dictating what she said does not make them complicit. It is not a journalist’s job to clean up the language of a source who is being offensive. A wise journalist would’ve pushed back, though. Would’ve asked why Roman was targeting Kondo and Teigen. It’s not the first time white women have criticized Kondo, so Roman’s remarks definitely deserved follow-up questions.
They are complicit because they went back and changed a quote after she got pushback for mocking Kondo’s English. They changed-“please to buy my cookbook” to “would you please buy my cookbook”
Of course they rightly got called out that, put it back and added a BS apology of their own about why they removed it and put it back.
It’s the books. Marie isn’t saying to throw away everything, but she thinks books are inessential. Many disagree.
To quote Tim Gunn, “Roget’s Thesaurus does not spark joy. But I am not getting rid of it.”
Let’s be real: selling accessories based on your minimalist concept IS hypocritical!
I was never going to get rid of all my books. But I wouldn’t purchase a Kondo item at Goodwill. You can’t have it both ways. I buy from thrift stores (or did, before everything closed) because I think there is too much stuff, and too much environmental impact from making more stuff. Most of us have ENOUGH.
I disagree about the books. If the book is useful (thesaurus) or “brings you joy”, then keep it. Her method is about clearing out stuff that you will not use or don’t love, so if there’s a bunch of books you’ve already read, don’t want to re-read, and don’t need to keep, they can go.
I have a TON of books. I love them, keep my favorites, and collect antique books. When I moved a few years ago, I sorted all of them, kept most, and donated or sold the rest because I didn’t need to keep them.
Marie Kondo never said that books were inessential. Please read her book again. From the start, I found the backlash to Marie Kondo’s book, at best a misunderstanding because of the language translation (the nearest they could translate was the phrase “spark joy”) and at worst veiled racism at deliberately misunderstanding her point just to put her in her place. Remember, some even mentioned her thanking objects as “woowoo” stuff when it was influenced by Shinto. Of course, to westerners, Asian religion and beliefs are “woowoo”.
Again, as some posters said above, the bottomline of Marie Kondo is if something – a book in general, or a Thesaurus in particular means something to you (means = important, useful, valuable, etc.) then keep it. She never advocated for minimalism, she advocates for organization. If you want to keep a 100 books, by all means do so – but organize it to avoid clutter. Let us stop being close minded and try to understand other cultures that is different from ours and language barriers.
When you (or Tim) finds the exact eight words, I hope some joy is felt too.
In my mind, she is clear in her book what she means by feeling joy. Do US Eng thesauruses only explain it as some exuberant extrovert jumping in the couch thing? This word seems to trigger so many people.
Anyway, good to know that should not spend any time or money on Alison Romani.
Alison Roman never would’ve checked Martha Stewart because Martha Stewart would’ve clapped back and checked HER.
Just want to make a quick correction – Alisons not a home cook, she’s a chef – she worked in restaurants, for Bon Appetit and writes recipes for NYT.
Now that being said, she’s made a bad choice here. Just say “I don’t want to do a product line because I don’t feel like I have anything to new to offer” and move on. No need to bring anyone else into it.
So she has skills and an impressive resumé, but crying poor and attacking other women, because they are making money. Sounds like she’s not as marketable as she thinks she is.
I don’t know who she’s kidding about “crying poor,” either. Brooklyn apartments start around $3K for anything decent, and I highly doubt any on the low end have kitchens that size – I’ve seen *houses* with smaller kitchens than hers. That ain’t no tiny, cheap hovel she’s living in.
Oh no! She’s one of the NYT writers? I use that app all of the time – I would have thought the New York Times would have hired people with better sense.
Sooo, this woman who bashed other women for putting their names on items is doing that same thing but we’re not suppose to notice??
Here is a super cringe-y video. To be fair, it is the other woman who is much more awful, but Alison is her protege, so it doesn’t bode well. Check the comments to the video. They are brutal: https://youtu.be/8EuESxt1gPE
When they bite into the cake they giggle and say, “Fat girl moment” and refer to being “gangsta.” Awful. But then again, the chef also invented something they called “crack pie” for many years, so….
Just watched and…cringey is being nice. I’m white and I was blinded by the whiteness! All I could think was « Regina George is a baker now, how nice! »
I can’t believe she comes from Bon Appétit.
I love the test kitchen!
The Bon Appetit team is Awesome. Their videos have been keeping me entertained.
“I’m like a totally authentic person who runs a cooking show out of my apartment in Brooklyn, using antique spoons I found at the vintage shop.”
Good God I was exhausted just reading this. She sounds like a hipster vampire, just sucking the joy out of anything “mainstream” because it’s all bull$*it. So of course she has to target CT and Marie Kondo, who has absolutely nothing to do with her brand in the least. Like, a minority woman becoming somewhat of a lifestyle guru and being successful and SEEN is such a bad thing? It has to be torn down??? What Effing Ever with this whitey pants hipster try hard. Go back to sitting in a coffee shop all day working on your blog and talking about hands no one else is cool enough to have heard of.
The mocking of Marie Kondo’s accent sums up all I need to know about her. Also, Marie’s brand isn’t throw everything away, it’s get rid of things that don’t spark joy. She also promotes organization so… branding products like tubs to help organize makes sense.
The comments about Chrissy were completely uncalled for and unprovoked. Also peak white feminism to talk shit about the EP of your new tv show and calling her a sellout… while promoting your capsule collection
Her reply about women bullying women are hypocritical and prove she has zero self awareness.
Martha Stewart was not coy about her ambitions and I respect her for it.
This pretentious hipster would do a lot better crediting the women who came before her and with whose brands hers would have to coexist and compete with in the open market. If she doesn’t have anything better to sell than insults and magical spoons, there won’t be much of a business.
I don’t know her.
What was the purpose of this? Promoting yourself while sh*tting on other women is so passé, just work hard and show us what you got. This is also just terrible marketing, maybe having a small team wouldn’t hurt. Being authentic is not the same as being a d*ck.
Wtf is with Alison Roman making a weak copy of Indian food and calling it The Stew? And in the NY Times? How has she not been called out on this? The Goop loving white women and their daughters who love this crap need to take a seat.
Karen is not enough to encompass this and neither is Becky. There’s an entire culture of meanspirited, smug, privileged white women that I am sick of seeing in mainstream media. Grownup sorority culture that is insipid and empty and almost entirely about marketing a lifestyle to women who want to look like part of that group.
Can we call them Gwenyths?
They would take it as a compliment.
Thank you for sharing this. I won’t support a woman who tears down others in order to raise herself up. Those comments were totally uncalled for.
She has a popular NYTimes food column and is a former editor at Bon Appetit. You should also include her tweets leading up to her “apology” because they are really horrible. Flippant, Gas Lighting BS
The fact that so many of us (me included) never heard of Roman until now, and her interview was in “The New Consumer” which I also never heard of until yesterday, it seems that Roman did this on purpose because she knew it would get her attention.
Marie Kondo never said “throw all your stuff out”. Her approach is to sort through your things and ONLY GET RID OF THINGS YOU DON’T USE or DON’T HAVE A LOT OF MEANING TO YOU. Which in America adds up to a lot because we’re consumer whores. So her selling stuff isn’t a her being a ‘sell out’. She’s advocating to keep only the things you use and really love and offering some stuff she likes for people to buy if they really like them too. It’s not like she’s turned into an online Walmart hawking everything under the sun.
Totally agree with your take. People get so defensive about Kondo. The way Roman talked about her was so crass and of course she’s not apologizing because she knows Kondo won’t clap back.
Yes I agree, and going on saying Marie Kondo is telling people something she isn’t and never has, is getting old. Marie Kondo hasn’t done anything horrible or even rude, she’s just existing while Japanese and female in the US and I am sick of the fake outrage and backlash at her success.
Chrissy Teigen is a lot to take because she’s often very over the top and, as others have pointed out, can be rude and horrible, even to a Black child. Plus she is already super, super rich herself (she linked everyone to the Forbes mention) and didn’t need her husband to buy her anything, so talking about that now is odd. Something John didn’t buy? You have not needed him to buy you anything for years, and have been vocal about your gigantic personal wealth. You joked about your mom buying new Apple earbuds every few days and didn’t realize that was going to come off as out of touch for most people. So, whatever, those I think are more than fair criticisms — and having a successful Target line, that is indeed bad in the sense that much of it is probably made by exploiting foreign labor, which is probably, incidentally, mostly done by exploiting women of color. We all know there ARE human rights issues involved. Right? Even if we don’t like to acknowledge it. This is why I avoid Target and Walmart as much as possible (I either bought it at a thrift store or not at all, it’s not that I’m rich lol), though it’s not always possible in our society.
But Alison Roman just seems to resent those two woman for reasons she didn’t really clarify. Mocking Marie’s accent was vicious and that’s really all we need to know about her motivations. I hope Roman fades away into deserved obscurity and reflects on not being racist and horrible.
I don’t know who this person is but her whole tone of self-importance is really off putting. It’s also incredibly insecure to be like “I don’t want their kind of success. I’m too legit.” Translation “I crave their success, and I’ve always gotten what I want so I don’t have appropriate coping mechanisms for feeling jealous.”
She wasn’t mocking Kondo’s accent. She was mocking her English in a classic stereotypical racist way. Then the publication edited what she said to make it disappear…very unethical.
Alison’s arrogance on Twitter after the story came out and she got backlash told me all I need to know about her.
I know who Alison is and have enjoyed some of her recipes. She’s not a home cook, but part of NYT Cooking and used to be with Bon Appetit. She’s actually popular in the food world.That said, I will not be supporting or following her after this. Coming for WOC who are doing the same thing she is (she’s selling her own lines of kitchen utensils, among other things) is hypocritical and beyond problematic. Her apology was bs and insinuated that Chrissy had attacked her as well. You can’t talk about being against women tearing down other women, when that’s exactly what you did. Also, I’m going to need ppl to know what Marie Kondo’s actual method is. It’s not about getting rid of all your stuff! I don’t know why that’s so hard to understand.
I want to like Alison Roman so much (and I make her shallot pasta at least 2 times a month) but something about her has always rubbed me the wrong way. She seems to take “ethnic” foods and white-ify them for her audience and call them something pretentious like ‘The Stew” and gets praised to the heavens. This incident highlights the issues I see with her. I really did not like how she tore two Asian women down Chrissy Teigen down and Marie Kondo (wtf??) just because they chose to do something different than she is choosing to do.
She appropriates other cultures’ foods and whitewashes them. Slaps on that white woman seal of approval and a higher price tag and pretends she’s not the very “sell-out” she says these women are. She’s a total hypocrite who doesn’t acknowledge her privilege, and probably just “apologized” because she found out Chrissy was part of the team funding the next step in her career.
This. and I find that most disgusting of all of her problematic things..
Yes! this! Thank you for articulating it! Her fetishizing of labneh and yuzukosho always bugged me!
I’d been following Alison Roman for a while on Instagram and have even cooked a few of her recipes. She’s a good chef but her personality is grating and the more popular she gets (and she’s received a lot of coverage during this lockdown) the more fame seems to get to her head. I’ve unfollowed her. No need to support someone like her.
I don’t know her.
Oh Lord,, I forgot the silly twit existed! At the start of this lockdown, I was looking for stuff to do with my spaghetti noodle supply. I saw one of her videos on YouTube. She was so repellent, I just went to the link for the recipe and never watched any other NYT videos featuring her. The sauce recipe, which is good, was definitely very similar to others I’ve seen. She claimed her recipe was special because it had a backstory. The only backstory she provided was that she made it for a dinner party because it fit in with the other dishes. Nothing about how the recipe was developed or what inspired her. Not even “this was all I had in the fridge”. Delusional self centered twit!
I find it extra abusive and racist when the (fake) apology includes “let’s meet to talk it over.” How about “no b*tch, we aren’t getting together and you have a chance to insult me in person and then spin it afterwards, because it was in person.” I’ve experienced that too many times and then I’m an extra b*tch when I refuse. My ancestors did lots of meetings on treaties that were never honored – lesson learned.
So true.
She’s as bad as Emily Giffin. Women like her who make their names by dissing women of colour as being phony or capitalizing on their connections or having the nerve to join a white woman’s world by running a successful business boosting their brands make me sick. I refuse to call them “Karens” BTW, I call them what they are – supercilious, racist white b*tches.
This has been quite the week for the Karen lifestyle police. I get that Teigen is a bit of an asshole, and I feel she has some inadequacy issues with her husband( who is way out of her league imho). She can be both funny and cringe on Twitter. That said, I strongly defended her regarding this issue. These are two women who know each other professionally and operate in a similar space. Chrissy seemed to really admire and respect Romans work. Roman was attacking Teigen based on her work ethic and imposing her values. It seemed very personal and was just both vulgar and rambling. She needs a handler or PR help, because you don’t say stupid shit like this when you are on the verge of getting a tv show and being more visible. It seems her and Teigen have met face to face and Roman has been trashing her both privately and now, publicly. It’s a bad look. Same for Marie Kondo. As some have pointed out, she misrepresented Kondo’s viewpoint, and once again, undermines an Asian woman’s ability to make their own business decisions. By the way, her site is very well curated and reflects her aesthetic. It’s not a sellout or slapping her name on junk. What Roman said is both disgusting and blatantly untrue. Kondo brings out a lot of crazies and xenophobes too. Champion of the working class Barbara Ehrenreich said some rally nasty racist things about her. Anyway, there seemed to be a lot of white resentment in that post. It’s like she blames them for why she can’t make more money or buy a house upstate. How dare these women make money or sell products when she clearly thinks she’s is more worthy and qualified. As others pointed out, she didn’t come for any men, who do this all the time, and she was soft on Goop. Roman has a column in the NYTimes, a few books and a show in development. She is doing very very well, and has the recognition of cultural gatekeepers. It appears she isn’t satisfied with that and needs to take away from others. Also the word sellout is almost always used for people of color. It dismisses their hard work, experience and passion, and makes it seem like a bad thing when they make money. Meanwhile, when a white person does the same thing, it is a realization of their vision or the hard work paying off. This was so unnecessary and once again, a white women, who you hope would be smarter about these things, trying to police and denigrate the work and success of women of color. Gotta tell them how to live their lives, earn their money, read to their children, who to associate with. Just shut up and mind your own goddamn business, and focus on yourself. This does not spark joy.
Thank you for the comment! Much better than my outraged scream at the bottom. The only thing I disagree with is that JL is out of Chrissy’s league. I think it takes away from people’s value as humans. But, I also know she grates some people’s nerves and if you like John, she’s the thorn that comes with him lol
Yeah it’s not fair to discuss or denigrate someone’s choice of life partner and they seem happy together, have a good life, so it’s my problem, not hers. Like I said, she’s not my favorite person but totally side with her on this.I’m a huge Kondo fan as well and fold my clothes using her method. Not organized at all but aspire to be.
I don’t recognize her name, but apparently she has a times food column and is/was a senior food editor. For a Senior food edition, she really doesn’t know her food history. She refuses to acknowledge the cultures that she rips her recipes from. She does a channa masala and refuses to call it curry because that isn’t her culture. She does a pork katsu and again doesn’t call it katsu. She targets two woc for having product lines whilst promoting her own product line. Other commentators have already mentioned that Marie kondo’s method isn’t about throwing everything out, it’s about being mindful consumers. It’s something she notes in her book and her website. Chrissy is annoying, but her love for food isn’t inauthentic. She had a wordpress food blog way back in the day. It’s not like everything just started with her cravings cookbook. Alison doesn’t call out white women, but she also doesn’t call out men. And when that was pointed out, she said there aren’t any men who monetize…I guess she never heard of wolfgang or emeril. She only apologized to Chrissy and not Marie, probably because Chrissy is on twitter and is an executive producer on her show. But her apology was flippant and one commenter pointed out that she also trashed Chrissy in a podcast, so her hate for Chrissy isn’t a one off.
very well said!
Marie Kondo was never telling people to “get rid of everything.” This woman is an obtuse hipster gatekeeper.
It takes a lot of privilege to not need to monetize what you do for a living. I was priced out of the “hip” area in Chicago when it gentrified and heard so many white people trashing “corporations” while working at big firms on the Mag Mile. Money is dope AF when you can get it and it’s PEAK PRIVILEGE to have it and pretend you don’t need it.
Food celebrity is a very crowded space and getting more crowded by the second. Methinks this woman feels she was in the forefront of food as trend but hidden behind the Scenes and has become jealous as those she feels with far less credentials and effort have surpassed her in (perceived) public and financial success. Whose fault is that? She gets no points for blaming the people who have achieved that success she seems to covet, It comes off as hypocrisy.
I think Roman will discover that notoriety is a double edged sword. She may think she had street cred hard-earned that may allow her to sing her own praises and give her the success ($$) she feels she’s owed. But there are armies of people that labour diligently behind the scenes to make this industry what it is. Perhaps she needs a reminder that she’s not as special as she thinks. A little humility will serve her much better than sheer ambition and unseemly envy. One of the most compelling reasons food is so enduring as a trend and business is that we believe at its most base level we all love food and would make it no matter if riches were attached to its creation or not.
And for what it’s worth I have always loved food. Went to culinary school in my 40s, worked in the industry for about 6 years before I ran out of steam. I have a hard time with this person who had a decent career all the while with incredible organizations now say she’s gotta be shown the money ASAP. There are hundreds of thousands of people who toil in this industry that does not fairly compensate its workers. Many people deserve to be celebrated and all need more money and would kill for a fraction of the success that she now seems to be just fine pointing out is not enough.
@Teebee, what was it like to be in culinary school in your 40s? I’m in my late 30s now and have been telling myself “it’s too late” for the last several years. But I wonder…
I’m in a completely unrelated field right now so it would be a complete switch, but I just love everything about food and cooking and have done informal things like supper clubs. I just feel like it might be a bit late for me to be starting in such a competitive as well as physically demanding field. Would love to hear more about your experiences!
It’s not too late Romi, go for it! Things will change drastically now anyway, for most of us. Time for new kind of restaurants.
How cool you’re considering studying the culinary arts. I will add that I am in Edmonton AB and we have a fabulous culinary arts program in a local technical institute. It cost about 20k all in for a two year diploma. I feel that is very affordable, I had the luxury of the money to do this, not expecting to make it back, especially since I graduated at 47.
I think some of the tuitions for culinary schools in the US are astronomical, and therefore prohibitive IMO. 60k or more? I couldn’t advocate that kind of debt knowing the compensation is quite low for such physical and emotional sacrifice unless you love love the idea of giving yourself completely over to the industry out of passion and love for food.
That being said I loved the program and I learned so much. I am all about lifelong learning. And food can be a science, an academic and intellectual pursuit. I know many argue that you can learn on the job, but I argue that few jobs and kitchens give you exposure to the breadth of topics and experiences that a full credible program can. I made amazing food, pastry, connections and memories while learning just how much you must give to be the best employee you can.
In the end it was unsustainable for me. I simply didn’t have the gumption to continue. My last job was in the kitchen of the best restaurant in my city. An honour and pleasure right to the end. I met incredible people who made me realize just what it takes to make it in this industry, who had a passion and will I simply could not match. I left with my head held high, and many friendships I’ll treasure forever. The restaurant industry is tight, I met so many owners, executive chefs, front and back of house people, I am welcomed in so many establishments (which I hope to return to some day). It’s worth every tired night, weekend, holiday I gave up.
Not sure if it helps or not. I am so lucky to be able to say I am a trained professional cook. I will carry these skills for the rest of my life. The experience informs everything I do, eat and make. I will never not be a cook. So, if you want that lifelong connection, then go for it. I believe the industry will rise again. There will always be opportunities for go-getters and the motivated. And you’ll eat well for the rest of your life!
Thank you @Teebee, it’s beautiful to hear from someone with such an evident passion for it! You’ve given me a lot to think about, although of course I still need to make the decision.
@Allergy, thank you for the encouragement!
I wrote and edited a few cookbooks years ago — nothing in the past 10 years and I pretty much guarantee you’ve never heard of me. Even in the late 1980s when I started out, I could see that in order to make it in that part of the industry, you had to market yourself as a concept, not just as a cook, and that I had neither the skill set nor the interest in doing that. Once the Internet exploded, of course that celebrity chef trend accelerated.
I had a recipe for home-made salt preserved lemons in my first book in 1990 — just saying. Back then that flavor and technique was news, at least to most of my fellow white people. Now I can look up dozens of iterations online in seconds, so we don’t need Alison Roman to tell us about them. Therefore I guess she has to wave her red fingernails, strut her jeans and market her vintage spoons to get attention. Maybe that’s not her fault, just the generation she grew up in, but I think all this detracts from the actual joy of cooking (to coin a phrase) and the meaning of food beyond just sustenance.
I ended up reading her whole New Consumer interview and found it pretty appalling on all sorts of levels beyond the gratuitous insults. I don’t make my living in food but I care about it — how to grow it sustainably, buy it frugally, get it to people who need it, feed my friends and family with love. I got the impression that if Roman could have gotten rich and famous detailing cars instead, she’d be just as happy doing that.
i think we have lost our ability to give and receive criticism and now everything is blown out of proportion and women aren’t allowed to disagree. i’m not a fan of either of these women but allison had a point about consumerism and i’m sure the bummed chrissy out but come on. calling her a racist aint it. and chrissy herself has a solid history of attacking women and children so she is hugely problematic as well.
Oh God. Say you’re racist it’s easier.
Oh God. Say you’re racist it’s easier.
I mean, even ignoring the racial elements, I don’t know how anyone could take her “point” about consumerism seriously when she literally uses the interview as a place to advertise the line she collaborated on. That is straight up one of the funniest juxtapositions I’ve seen in a piece of journalistic writing to date. Whoever did that interview has an amazing sense of humor.
Strip the chirping at two POC aside, strip the cultural referencing of her food. She literally said “please to buy my cutting board”, then walked it back as referencing an inside joke “please to the table” an Eastern European cookbook. But she is making fun of ESL either way, which is not necessary.
I think you and many others have lost their ability to see things as they are – smug, racist- based, self-aggrandizing, competitive bullshit.
@eavan I think it’s more about white people not having the ability to receive criticism from POC, or about POC perspectives.
What they actual fuck! So women of color aren’t allowed to expand their businesses, sell products and make money… but white women like Roman are? What a garbage human being, I will never buy anything from her.
Ugh never heard of this chick before and hope she goes away! Chrissy clearly is problematic as well. I’ve found Chrissy entertaining and sympathetic from over the years (fights with Trump, openness about fertility struggles, etc) but I’ve always heard she is a big online bully and apparently she is keeping it up. Honestly as an American we are so over saturated with consumerism crap and most of it it made in China sweatshop crap that will be in a landfill in a few years which really bothers me. For once I would love for celebs to encourage people to buy used or make do with what they have instead of buying more more more, but there isn’t any money in that. They all kind of suck.
This is hands down the funniest thing I’ve read all day, thank you. I mean – holy sh*t, the total lack of self-awareness, right?? Like, this is satire levels of self-righteous nonsense. Really, if you’re building a career off of Instagram or any sort of social media platform, you absolutely have a brand and a persona you sell. There is nothing perfectly authentic about performance industry – it’s inherently anathema to the entire concept! Moreover, you can’t engage in capitalism and be a critic of consumerism, especially when you just spent the previous part of the interview basically shilling a product you collaborated on!
10/10 performance art right here. I have to believe she was taking the piss because I certainly could not get through an article like this and come out the other side taking her seriously.
Cool she’s making those money moves but she also is giving me some strong mean girl vibes. It’s hard to vibe with people who seem “too sure” of themselves and life in general. Plus being that she looks like the most cliche yuppee Brooklyn white girl, I have to wonder what constitutes as a sell-out.
ugh I don’t know her and now will never want to know her, she sounds disgusting.
however, i had the same reaction to MK shilling ‘stuff’ when her whole thing is getting rid of stuff. But like why would I talk about that in an article and put her down?
I get a LOT of people don’t like Chrissy, i am not one of them. i DO like her a lot. Jamie oliver has been shilling pots and pans for like 20 years. So do most cooks. if she wants to find some artisan whatever and sell like 10 blown glass things that will be WAY too expensive for most of us once she and the artist take their cut, plus all the marketing and distribution, well good luck to her. Target is my price point.
Again, MK’s thing is not as simple as getting rid of stuff. Please read her book. It has been said by other posters above frequently enough. I have read her book and I assure you it was not about just simply getting rid of things. Her thing is more of decluttering and organization.
I’ve never heard of this woman, but her attempt to degrade other women’s ability to monetize their business is ridiculous.
That being said, Chrissy Teigen is vile. Some other posters upthread mentioned her tweets to Courtney Stodden. When I checked them out, I was horrified.
Chrissy Teigen does not deserve to be defended by anyone.
The things she said to a teenage girl, the hate she spewed……….wow.
agreed. she said evil evil hateful things so i have zero sympathy for her.
First off… she really could’ve just attacked capitalism instead of naming names. At the core, that is supposedly what she’s grappling with.
SECONDLY… Why she assigned such lazy and uncaring attitudes to Chrissy and Marie is beyond reproach… does she know these women personally? Clearly not… She purports to be a hard working woman herself but apparently doesn’t allow the room for others to ALSO be hard working women? And in her mind, the OBVIOUSLY thoughtful Marie Kondo (whose philosophy tells you to touch fucking everything you own in order to TRULY REFLECT ON EACH AND EVERY ITEM) is someone who would say, “Okay, slap my name on it, I don’t give a shit!”
Like, for real? Damn. That’s telling. She doesn’t respect them enough to look into how they got their success at all.
Also, her reply to why she didn’t include men: “I didn’t mention any men because there aren’t any doing anything I find comparable, so”. What the what??? There are so many men who are household names and have branded products! Jamie Oliver literally had his own brand of lasagne pasta sheets. If that ain’t slapping your name on stuff, I don’t fucking know what is.
So basically, she’s the Lena Dunham of culinary arts.
What exactly is a content farm? What does that even mean?
Lowly paid writers churning out multiple copies of the same article for different sites.
Well, I didn’t know who she was before this thread, and now I do. It gives me the “there is no such thing as bad press” vibe. Is Kris Jenner her manager?
I do not know who Alison Roman is and now that she spewed her garbage I’m not interested in finding out. She only apologized under duress because Chrissy produces her show. Again how clueless is this person? She doesn’t know who butters the bread?
Honey if you don’t want to be “overexposed” don’t sign on to do a show or write a book. You could keep on with your blog. Plenty of cooks and crafters do that.