Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Dave Lieberman is Dreamy

As you know, I'd never really gotten the whole Dave Lieberman-as-sex-symbol thing. Sure, he's sorta cute, but listening to his lazy permutations of the English language (for instance, "umgonna" instead of "I'm going to") and watching him bounce on his toes for 30 minutes kind of put me on edge. Everything about him screams jumpy and twitchy and nervous to me.

His food seems pretty good, although I think his estimated costs per person are on the low side. I do agree with his philosophy that you should learn how to cut corners on certain ingredients while splurging on others1. Jeez, that felt very Barefoot Contessa, didn't it: "Be sure to use GOOD QUALITY vanilla/salmon/soy sauce/etc."



Also, his web show is decent, even if it is just another variation on $40 a Day, Tasty Travels, etc.

As you probably know, Dave was inspired to become a cook by his stay-at-home dad (check out this webcast which features Dave talking about his show and his dad). He hosted a cooking show while at Yale (majoring in poli-sci) and when the New York Times featured him in a piece about campus cooking, he was contacted by the Food Network.

Also, Dave has designed the menu for Song Airlines, a low cost subsidiary of Delta. This reviewer finds the results to be mixed, and also riffs on his desire to hang out with Ina Garten2.

Last week I speculated about Michael Chiarello's sexuality and several people brought up Dave Lieberman in the comments. The last thing I want to do is to hijack this blog with endless speculation about people's sexuality, but I will say that after extensive research I've found absolutely nothing about Dave Lieberman's dating habits: gay, straight or otherwise.

Anyway, I've discovered that the secret to appreciating Dave is to make him hold still. As in, I can't watch his show but I'll damn sure ogle the boy in still photos. In fact, this is the photo that made me realize that Dave is, in fact, a sexy cat. He looks relaxed and a little bit nerdy (yes, this is a requirement for me), but he also looks like a totally normal guy.

More eye candy:









And my personal favorite:




For more Dave yumminess, visit his site. For a big assortment of Dave Lieberman icons, check out this page.



1It also could be that I'm just enormously jealous of anyone who is able to shop at a Whole Foods. Yes, I live in one of the only areas in the country that does not have Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or Wild Oats. The health food store in my neck of the woods has enormously inflated prices and is run by a surly 50 year old former stripper with permanent makeup.

2Who would you rather hang out with? Ina or Dave? Ina's house is just so freakin' nice that I'd like to say I've been there at least once, but I'd also be worried that it would be too stuffy. Dave has a lot of cute guy friends, but they all seem kind of bland. Who am I kidding? I'd end up standing in the kitchen drinking with Sandra Lee.



Random: Dave's Stuart Weitzman Bid for a Cure Shoe is truly bizarre:

14 comments:

Cori said...

Well, person wise I'd like to hang out with Dave much more than Ina. She seems a bit, not fake but...hard to think of the correct word...maybe dull, repetitive? Her house is nice, but I would rather be in a normal kind of home or even a little hut with warm company instead of high-class women who cook for their husbands all day.

But she does seem nice!

Lieberman is okay looking, but my top choice is Alton Brown. I would marry him in a matter of seconds. I love his dork qualities and humor.

PS - Whole Foods is nice, but they are so expensive and sometimes a store known for it's health benifits suprises me when it sells "organic, all natural..." things from high calories, high sodium mac and cheese, brownies, baked goods etc. that are still no good for you but cost about 7003483 dollars.

Meg McG said...

You know, if you want organic food you can usually buy a share of a local farm (usually organic though they may not be certified). You pay a couple hundred bucks and you get fresh produce every week from June to October.
Some pleaces even let you work on the farm to cover some of the costs.
Not a bad deal.
This is my first post by the way and I love your blog!

andrea said...

Dave is hilarious. I don't know if any of you are into Tyler Florence, but Dave was on his radio show a few days ago along with Todd English. They were having an omelet making competition. It was so funny. Dave kept yelling out the craziest things, including things you aren't allowed to say on the radio. You can listen to it here: http://www.wor710.com/podcast/Food_Talk/Tyler01-24.mp3

JordanBaker said...

Ina's parties always seem kind of forced and awkward to me. Plus I'll never forget when she was making dinner for her friends' children, and actually said "What child doesn't love truffles?" Umm . . .what child knows what truffles are, even?

Darcey said...

I am way jealous of those girls in the picture you linked to. Love. Or maybe lust. Either way, yummy.
And while I like the picture of Dave that you posted as your favorite, I dislike the popped collar look - the way his jeans fit, however, again, yummy.

And hanging out with Ina - she has a gorgeous house, yes, but I feel like she would be the type to constantly want to talk about her husband to me. Or that I would be walking through the house and she would pop out from behind a closed door with more goodies. Or I would be washing my face in the morning and discover that she's been standing in the doorway behind me for the last 15 minutes with an uber creepy look on her face while she plies me with fresh coffee and scones that she had been making for the last 6 hours. Creepy.

Bloghungry said...

Dave is cute. I don't think he's gay. It took me a couple of shows to come to this conclusion, but I've decided that he's just a cute and educated metrosexual.

Armchair Cook said...

cori - I hear ya on the Alton Brown worship. He is the sexiest geek ever!

meg mcg - Thanks for the tip! I'll look into doing that at the farms in my area.

Armchair Cook said...

andrea: Thanks so much for the link to the radio show! They're having so much fun and Dave sounds like a funny guy, even if I think they're guilty of drinking and cooking (but who among us isn't?).

As an aside, I love observing men when there aren't any women around. I love the energy and conversational cadences when it's just the boys (I love Jon Favreau's Dinner for Five for this very reason).

jordanbaker: Ina lives in a totally different world, doesn't she? Hell, I didn't even know what truffles were until I took a wine tasting class a few years ago when everyone claimed that every wine tasted of truffles.

Armchair Cook said...

the muse - Agreed about the popped collar, but I dig his relaxed-yet-cocky body language in that photo.

LOL! I hear ya on Ina being an overbearing and potentially creppy hostess. I have a feeling she would let me know all about Jeffrey's bowel movements by the end of my stay.

bloghungry - Alright, your vote for metrosexuality has been duly recorded!

William said...

Having a high school girlfriend doesn't make you straight -- we all had those ... but cooking rabbit for her, well, that sorta make you suspect ... plus, check out those fingernails! Besides that, a friend's current boyfriend claims to have fooled around with Dave at Yale ... God I hope so ... so much hotter if he's gay ...

Rudy said...

well guys... i don't really care if he's gay or straight. All i can say is he's reaaalllly hottt!!!sooooo cuteeee!!!! :)

altajava said...

Check out Dave's new show:

http://food.yahoo.com/realfood/

Presley said...

I realize I'm way late to the party here, but at the beginning of this year, Dave tweeted a "Happy New Year" wish "from Dave and Anahad" meaning NYT writer Anahad O'Connor, with whom Dave co-authored a book. Viewing both Dave's and Anahad's Facebook profiles, you see they each appear in their profile photos with the same dog.... Coincidence? I think not.

Kitchen Bounty said...

WHAT? Now I'm totally confused. I thought Jeffery was gay!