'10 Things I Hate' With Scott Conant

Life is filled with wonderful things and terrible things. During interviews, however, we pretty much only get to hear about the wonderful things. Ten Things I Hate is a chance for people in the food world to get things off their chest. We ask them what they hate, they give us a list. First up: Scott Conant.

Scott Conant is the head chef and owner of the excellent Scarpetta empire, a professional television food judge and a self-proclaimed "really nice guy" (see #7). Find out what he hates so you don't wind up in his next batch of meatballs.

  1. If one more person stops me on the street to ask me where Bobby Flay is. I'm not sure why everyone thinks I know where he is!
  2. People taking credit for something you build.
  3. I travel a lot and dine out frequently. There's only one thing I can't ever forgive: thoughtless service and staff members mistreating customers. I used to work with a guy that took pride in berating customers. That just annoys me so much.
  4. There's always someone commenting on my hair ever since I've grown it out a bit. Whether it's asking me when I'm getting a haircut or if I dye my hair, I honestly don't get what the fuss is about.
  5. I've had enough of the red onion jokes for the past three years to last me a lifetime. And not a single one has been funny. [Note: Conant famously announced his hatred of raw, red onions a while back]
  6. If I had a dollar for every doctor and lawyer that tells me they're also a chef because they cook at home. It's like my claiming to be a lawyer because I read contracts all the time or that I'm a doctor because I go on WebMD. What we do in kitchens and what you do at home have NOTHING to do with each other.
  7. When random people come up to me at the airport and call me an asshole because they've seen half of a sentence of what I said about a particular dish that was filmed over a 12-hour period. It unfortunately doesn't relate to my true personality. I was at an event once and a drunk guy came up to me during a business meeting, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Hey pal, don't be such a fucking asshole on TV," as if he's known me my entire life...the irony. I'm actually a really nice guy.
  1. I'll never understand when people ask me what I think of something, but really don't care what I have to say. They really just want me to say what they want to hear. My agenda is to help people make better food. I'm not trying to be hurtful, but I have to be honest.
  1. NO! I don't have any tattoos and you can't photograph them.
  1. The following interview questions:
  • If you were stranded on a deserted island, what food would you eat for the rest of your life?
  • If you could cook or dine with anyone in history, who would it be?
  • What's your favorite/least favorite ingredient?
  • If you weren't doing this, what would you do?
  • Who have you been most star struck by in the restaurants?

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