The Food Network host of Chopped, Ted Allen, will return to his home state of Ohio this weekend to host a 3 city fundraiser for the AIDS Resource Center Ohio. In a recent phone interview with Mr Allen, he shared that “Too many peole mistakenly believe that AIDS isn’t anything to talk about anymore. We have too many young people, who didn’t see the deaths in the 80″s and 90’d and don’t know the disaster we’ve lived through.

It’s great that we have medicines and treatments and preventative options but too many of our youth need to realize that HIV is 100% preventable. Meds are expensive and have side affects, this isn’t something you just take a pill for and forget. Almost 1/2 of new infections are 13-24 years old. African American women are hugely impacted by HIV. ” He shared that it’s his honor to serve as the Chair of this statewide fundraiser.

Ted Allen first received national attention as on of the hosts of the 2003-2007 Bravo series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

We asked Ted to tell us about his times on that show:

It was the best times, filled with humor and raunchy rowdy, guys tooling all over town in that convertible. Thom Filicia is one of the funniest guys I know and the worst driver ever. I can’t even believe I’m still alive, he’d be speeding down the road, and telling a story and he’d turn around to look you directly in the eye and I was wearing this fake seatbelt, it’s a miracle we’re all still here.

What an honor it was to be a part of the first tv show ever to have 5 openly gay men being themselves. We’d get hundreds of letters from young gay kids talking about how great it was to be able to watch that show with their parents and laugh. Just getting one such letter would be an honor, but we got so many. We truly were so lucky…

Is it was a burden to be known as a gay role model?

Oh no it’s such a privilege, if we are making any difference, well just look at how times have changed. I am legally married in my state. But we’re not there yet, it’s 2 steps forward and one back – Indiana. Just last night I hosted a benefit for Baily House ( a who serve those who are homeless with HIV+, who and to be able to shine the light on a cause you believe in wholeheartedly, what an honor. And I got to meet Joel Gray and Jane Pauly, what great fringe benefits.

On Chopped we know you see tons of ingredients in those baskets. What would you like in your basket if you were a contestant?

How about just some cheese, eggs, mustard, mayo and lamb chops. I’s so sick of gummy bears and all the weird stuff. Think about it- it’s the hardest show there is. It’s set up for failure. Three of the 4 fail. Who can cook amazing things in 20 minutes when they start out as bone in 3 pound leg of lamb? It’s just hard. And the judges want you to succeed, they want to eat good food!

I asked him if there were any shows that went bad and couldn’t air:

We can’t afford not to complete a show, we work for 12 hours to get one episode. So luckily, knock on wood we haven’t had a disaster that we didn’t overcome..

As for a personal disaster, when I was writing for Chicago Magazine, I was having the Dining Editor Penny Pollack over to my house for brunch. I had made fresh cinnamon rolls and thought I’d leave them in the oven so they’d be warm and just as the doorbell rings I see a pool of butter and cinnamon pooling down the oven door onto my floor and my smoke alarm goes off. Welcome Penny….

Ted hosted another Food Network Show The Best Thing I Ever Ate, so of course we asked about those meals:

I’ve had so many, like at Minbar by Jose Andres, a tiny restaurant with 6 seats and more chefs than seats where they feed you one scrumptious morsel after another…. But I’ve also had a great burger at a neighborhood join in Brooklyn with hand ground beef and a perfectly cooked runny egg on top.

That’s the wonderful thing about food, there are so many great foods and international cuisines, you could have like 900 lifetimes of best meals …

That show was so much fun, I could be more of myself and have fun and go unscripted…

What’s your favorite pig out food?

Pepperoni Pizza= but only with good real peperoni- it it curls up and gets that puddle of grease on it it’s the good stuff – not that flat stuff that lays there

Or macaroni and cheese with kiolbassa- not so good for yo, but oh yum!

What food trend are you over?

Desserts with bacon- can we move on? Don’t get me wrong- I love bacon, but thick cut bacon is a mistake. It’s to hard to make crispy and ends up being chewy. Good bacon should be cooked slowly and served crispy

Food Trucks- it’s confusing. I don’t want to have to chase you all over town for a meal and I want to enjoy my food at a table with a bathroom nearby. I get that it’s a lower cost for some to get into than a bricks and mortar option and I respect that, so I get it.

Who is your celebrity crush?

Oh I’m too old to have one, I don’t know, maybe Neil Patrick Harris. He’s lovely and so is husband, as are their kids.

What else would you like to share?

As much as I enjoy hosting events and getting to meet people, I wish I didn’t have to.

New York City Councilmen Corey Johnson was a speaker on Gala I recently hosted and he has spent most of his life telling the story of coming out as gay in high school, as a captain of the football team. He’s spent his whole adult life talking about being out, gay rights, serving others. As long as we still need things like the Ohio AIDS Walk I’ll be there. It’s a privilege to get to talk to people about a cause I’m passionate about and we need to work together until this is conquered..

We are not done yet!!!

If you’d like to join Ted Allen Sunday, April 19th for the Dayton 5K AIDS Walk, which also has a 1K stroll and a 16 mile bikeride, you can sign up online until Saturday at 5pm, or just register at the even. On Sunday registration begins at 10am at UD River Campus (the old NCR Headquarters) at 1700 S Patterson Blvd. The Walk/Run/Ride steps off about noon. Help raise $1000 and you can join Ted Allen at a Grand Walker brunch at Coco’s Bistro. Check the AIDS Walk site for more info.

About Lisa Grigsby

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