7 Things You Didn't Know About Chopped Host Ted Allen

Learn some things you didn't know about Chopped host Ted Allen.
Show: Chopped

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Ted Allen

Photo by: Susan Magano

Susan Magano

We all know Ted Allen as the stern host of Chopped, and now Chopped Junior, and as a veritable wealth of culinary knowledge. But there's another side to the man. Did you know he likes gardening in his spare time or that he's big into rock music? Find out more about the host behind the scenes and at home.

1. "Ironically, when you consider where I work, I'm very much a slow-food guy. … I don't even want to cook food that's fast. I like to watch flavor develop. I spend hours in the kitchen any chance I get."

2. "I like grocery shopping. Some people don't; they think of it as a chore. I don't think of it as a chore at all; I think it's inspiring. I have to shop kind of like a Parisian. … I actually go to, like, six different places when I go grocery shopping, so I strap on a backpack and I start walking, and that's how I do that, and I love it."

3. "I love gardening. … I grow tomatoes on my rooftop, in herb boxes with a little simple irrigation system. Nothing I love more than a fresh homegrown tomato, when they're actually ripe, in August or September. I won't ever buy tomatoes, except for when they're in season."

4. "I live in a 140-year-old house that my partner and I painstakingly renovated. We're very lucky to have it. It’s a great place to live. We live in Brooklyn. We love our neighborhood."

5. "We live in a Victorian brownstone, but our furniture looks like it came out of Rod Stewart's apartment circa 1974, and I love that. … It's very much an acquired taste. … Some of it's sort of brutalist and heavy, and some of it's shiny and glassy and has mirrors in it."

6. "We have three Maine coon cats. We were the first Food Network people to have Maine coon cats, and now since that time Bobby Flay has copied us, and Anne Burrell has copied us. … I've always been fascinated by those cats. They're big and friendly and doglike."

7. "I collect tons and tons of music. … I'm way cooler than I look on television. I've been really, deeply into good music since I was in junior high school. … I love Zeppelin … and I love a lot of new bands, and in-between bands. … I love Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah … ."

Watch Ted host Chopped on Tuesdays at 10|9c and Chopped Junior on Tuesdays at 8|7c.

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