'Chopped' Gets The Beard Treatment At Chefs & Champagne

Ted Allen is having the best summer ever.

A few months ago, the celebrity chef and host of Food Network’s “Chopped” learned that he and the show’s judges were being honored by the James Beard Foundation at its 21st annual “Chefs & Champagne New York” tasting event on Saturday, July 21, at Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack.

But he felt suspicious.

“We already knew we were nominated for two James Beard Foundation awards for ‘Chopped,’ so I figured it either meant we weren’t going to win the awards and this was a very nice consolation prize, or that we were going to win both of the awards and the James Beard Foundation was providing me with the greatest summer ever,” Mr. Allen said during a telephone interview last week. “And the right answer turned out to be ‘B.’”

In addition to winning the Beard awards, this weekend Mr. Allen and the “Chopped” judges—who include Maneet Chauhan, Scott Conant, Amanda Freitag, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marc Murphy, Marcus Samuelsson, Aarón Sanches, Chris Santos and Geoffrey Zakarian—will join the ranks of Emeril Lagasse, Martha Stewart and Wolfgang Puck, all of whom have been honored in years past.

And just like during the past two decades of “Chefs & Champagne,” hundreds of foodies will turn out to taste the creations of 30 master chefs who will be whipping up their specialties under an expansive white tent and pairing them with wines from Wölffer Estate and Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte.

Mr. Allen said that in addition to just enjoying the event that combines his passions, he’s got an agenda come Saturday.

“Two of my favorite things in the world, chefs and champagne,” Mr. Allen said. “What isn’t there to like? I particularly hope to run into Ina Garten. She’s been

a favorite for ages. It seems like a good opportunity to bump into Martha Stewart, whom I’ve learned more from than anyone else on the planet.”

The man who gained a national audience as the food and wine connoisseur on Bravo’s hit show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” received his introduction to cooking in his mother’s kitchen in Ohio. Always called the first Yankee of the family because all of his relatives are from the South, Mr. Allen lived off “classical Americana,” he said. He became a master of pizza, elaborate hamburgers and cake-from-the-box—nothing too ambitious, he said.

After earning a master’s degree in journalism from New York University, he jumped into restaurant criticism, which eventually led him to Chicago magazine, where he wrote about food and wine.

He fell in love with restaurants—their chefs and their culture, he said. Not long after, he broke into the television industry.

“I used to say when we were shooting ‘Queer Eye’ on Bravo that I was the luckiest of the five guys,” he said. “My category was food and wine. Food and wine is absolutely limitless. You could live 20,000 lifetimes and you’ll never taste everything, but it sure is fun trying.”

These days, Mr. Allen is constantly exploring, and judging, new foods on the set of “Chopped,” he said. And it’s a job he doesn’t take lightly.

“I find it endlessly fun and interesting to talk about and think about and debate about which chefs did the better job,” he said. “Some reviewers do it because they want free food or they’re just jerks and like to trash other people. I’ve never been either a critic or a judge who uses snappy catch phrases to sound like Simon Cowell. I’ve always tried to open the door to people to fine cooking and to wine, as opposed to showing off how brilliant I think I am.”

With every dish placed in front of him, Mr. Allen evaluates whether it’s balanced. Personally, he looks for a combination of sweet and savory, and hot and cold, particularly with desserts, he said.

He’s more apt to forgive when a dish is over-salted, rather than under, he said, and appreciates the simple food in life. His guilty pleasures—though he said he doesn’t feel any guilt toward them—are potato chips and beer.

“A lot of chefs get all excited about foie gras and caviar. For me, the greatest culinary moment of the year has just arrived, and that is when my home-grown tomatoes are ripe and sweet,” he said. “It’s just happened. I just got my first one. I grow them on the roof of my house in Brooklyn.”

In his part of town, there’s no better time to be a cook and food lover, he said, especially when it comes to meat. He’s been famously roasting pork shoulder for years.

“In the Hamptons, you’re blessed with incredible produce from Long Island and seafood from the sound, and great butchers,” Mr. Allen said. “Here in Brooklyn, that trend is just kind of landing, and so the butcher is back. And best of all, he’s, like, 27 and really cute and has tattoos. It’s hip to be a butcher again.”

There is almost no other place Mr. Allen would rather be than his kitchen, he said, and while he has some understanding of how difficult it is to run a restaurant, he has enough knowledge to never do it himself. Instead, he’s taken on a new Food Network project, “Chopped Grill Masters,” which premieres on Sunday, July 22, and recently released his latest cookbook, “In My Kitchen.”

But at “Chefs & Champagne,” Mr. Allen won’t be cooking a thing, as some honored guests have done in years past. The self-proclaimed “Hamptons newbie” will be spending his time taking in the sights and his company—particularly the cast of “Chopped” judges. He never sees more than three at a time, he said.

And while he won’t be able to keep himself from judging the chefs’ dishes as he tastes, he’ll be keeping his mouth shut. It’s a party, after all, he said.

“I’m not doing any work,” Mr. Allen said, and then laughed, “I’m not Emeril, what do you want from me? The foundation gave us all the option of either cooking a dish or just having fun. To be able to spend the evening with the gang and just have fun? I mean, we have a lot of fun. We have fun at eight in the morning, so with a bunch of champagne and food in the Hamptons, we’re really going to have fun.”

He let out a satisfied sigh, and before hanging up the phone added, “Yes, best summer ever. Thank you, James Beard Foundation.”

The 21st annual “Chefs & Champagne New York” will be held on Saturday, July 21, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. A VIP after party will follow from 8:30 to 10 p.m. General admission tickets are $275, or $200 for James Beard Foundation members. VIP premium admission begins at 5 p.m. and costs $375. VIP tables for 10 are available for $4,000. For tickets or more information, call (212) 627-2308 or visit jamesbeard.org/chefsandchampagne.