Todd English: Pitching After Puck

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Todd English has another new gig. His boyhood dream of playing professional ball haunts him still, so he is doing the next-best thing: cooking for the pre-game show on NESN (New England Sports Network). Todd has signed up for a weekly broadcast on the Red Sox's pre-game report. He started a few weeks ago, showing fans how to make flat bread chili dogs and jalapeno popcorn. This week he was featured at his newest restaurant, English is Italian, making mozzarella salad from homemade mozzarella, not something most sports fans will make at home... but it isn't that hard to find fresh mozzarella at better markets, especially in Boston's Italian neighborhoods, so Todd is on safe ground here. There is something about sports and chefs. Most of the chefs I profiled in Super Chef are avid athletes since they were in high school. Charlie Palmer played into football, Todd played baseball, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger were on school teams, and Tom Colicchio played baseball and now plays basketball and also fly-fishes. Many chefs take up golf once they are well established -- no doubt in part for the contacts they make on the courses. Most chefs I have interviewed believe that teamwork, camaraderie and leadership skills they developed from team sports helped them in the kitchen. Wolfgang Puck has never talked about sports per se -- other than to jog and get in shape for his Food Network TV shows. Yet Wolf is Todd's West Coast model, in the form of a deal with Levy Restaurants and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) to provide food for their sporting and music venues (see previous article). Still, can Food lure sports fans and non-sports fans to watch games on TV? The point is to lure Todd's kind of fans -- women. The Boston Globe, which is one of the owners of NESN, reports that the: Cable sports channel is offering viewers a glimpse of player lifestyles and off-the-field interests through features, such as pitcher Bronson Arroyo hanging out with rock bands and David Wells talking about "being Boomer."' Johnny Damon's wife Michelle also has a weekly spot in the pre-game show. The effort is partly aimed at female viewers. "I think (fans) are interested in other things,'' English said. "We'll go find the best lobster rolls. We'll go see what the best produce markets are. We'll see what Little Leaguers eat.'' The only chef involved in this new cooking spot is Todd, according to Karen Verzone, promotions coordinator for NESN. What about involving some of Boston's great female chefs? Why not have Barbara Lynch, Jody Adams, Lydia Shire and the rest show us how its done? Previous articles: English Is Italian: No Stars Todd English's Foodie Hotel Todd English Dishes Out Charity Todd English: Pots and Pans Pucked? Todd English: Childrens Oscars (Update) Ming Tsai TV Todd English Winner Gets "English is Italian"? Todd English Cooks for the Governors Ball? Todd English Slums With Jeffrey Chodorow Todd English: Trip Over Table? Todd English Flipflops Between Bush & Kerry? Super Chef vs. Governator: Todd English Fights For Foie Gras Rights Todd English: American Chef Gone Wild Euro Puck Technorati Tags: chefs food restaurants cooking branding baseball television --> back to superchefblog