All Your Coffees are Belong to Us

If you're a fan of the Food Network, catch the special "Food Network Unwrapped." It's a behind the scenes look at what it take to make Rachael Ray, Mario Battali, Marc Summers, Giada De Laurentiis, and Emeril Lagassee look good. They talk with the food buyers, the production assistants, food stylists, and graphic artists.

I learned that all the labels on the food in Rachael Ray's kitchen are fake. To avoid showing logos, they have a designer whose job it is to invent labels for the jars, bottles, cartons and boxes.

What I found most interesting, however, is the chefs' affinity for Starbucks. While she's going through the walk through and reviewing her notes, we see Rachael Ray with a big Starbucks cup in her hand. Of course the logo was mostly covered by that insulating cardboard band, but enough of it showed through to be recognizable.

I would have thought there would be a good coffee or espresso machine somewhere at the Food Network studios. Or that downstairs from the studios, in the gourmet shopping center of Chelsea Market, there would be a coffee alternative -- an independent specialist better than anyone else in the city. And maybe there is. But Rachael must love her Starbucks, and I appreciate that.

Later in the show, they take us out to the west coast to see Giada's kitchen. They film the show in an actual residence. The garage is the prep kitchen. They took us on a tour of the garage and showed us the wide variety of stove top and other espresso machines -- essential tools for any italian kitchen, as Giada said. Of course, a few moments later, we see her meeting with her staff, with a nice big Starbucks cup in her hand.

West coast or East, Giada or Rachael, Food Network Chefs love their Starbucks.