Host Ted Allen is one of Food Network’s best-known experts. The Emmy-winning host of Chopped and a television food and wine specialist since 2003, he's also a best-selling author, a celebrated magazine writer and an all-around arbiter of the very best things to eat, drink and prepare. Read on to learn all about Ted, his personal life, his pioneering work in food journalism and more.

History and Background

Raised in Carmel, Indiana, Ted traces his love of food back to his mother’s cooking. He holds a master's in journalism from New York University, with an advanced certificate from the school’s Science, Health & Environmental Reporting program, and a bachelor's in psychology from Indiana's Purdue University. Ted began his career in food writing as a restaurant critic and senior editor at Chicago magazine, then became a contributing editor for Esquire magazine in 1997. At Esquire, he wrote about food, wine, style and everything else the American man needs to know. Ted has also written for such publications as Bon Appétit and Food Network Magazine.

Ted's Television Shows

Ted is the host of the hit prime-time competition series Chopped and a frequent contributor to The Best Thing I Ever Ate. He was a judge on the first four seasons of Bravo’s Top Chef and Food Network’s Iron Chef America, and was the food and wine specialist on the groundbreaking Bravo series Queer Eye.

Ted's Books

Ted is the author of The Food You Want to Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes — a collection of vibrant, all-natural dishes — and In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks. He also co-wrote the New York Times best-seller Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab Five’s Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better.

Is Ted a Chef?

Ted is not a chef! “I like to call it the hoax that passes for my career,” he joked to Eater. “The culture of city magazines for years revolved heavily around restaurants,” he explained. “I wrote feature stories [for Chicago magazine] about anything, not just food. But I found myself getting sent out to interview chefs and include chefs in my section and getting invited to, you know, seasonal menu tastings at restaurants, and I just fell in love with it.”

What Ted Loves to Cook

Though Ted hosts and judges competitions that prioritize speed, his own approach to food has a far slower pace. “Ironically, considering where I work — where I force people to cook very quickly — I’m a slow food person,” he told the New York Post. “I like to cook foods that take a long time to develop flavor, low and slow, like barbecue. I like to put a pork shoulder in a smoker, turn it down to 250 and cook it for eight hours. I don’t do a lot of delicate, fancy, fussy stuff. I do a little bit of Asian, Thai-inflected, for the most part.” Tour his home kitchen here.

In 2020, Ted spoke to BuzzFeed about preparing meals at home during the COVID lockdown. "My husband's favorite is North Carolina-style pulled pork, so that’s a frequent play," he said. "I’ve also found that the best lettuce to buy is romaine, because it’s delicious and it keeps a long time."

Who Is Ted’s Husband, Barry Rice?

Formerly a journalist and journalism professor in Chicago, Ted’s husband, Barry Rice, is an interior designer who opened Full Circle Modern, a furniture and lighting shop in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, in 2013. He helmed the renovation and redecoration of the 1879 townhouse he and Ted share in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Ted proposed to Barry in June 2013, after the Defense of Marriage Act was deemed unconstitutional. “Not all that dramatic, coming from a couple that had already notched two decades,” he told People. “But it means soooo much to us and to millions of LGBT Americans — and, I should note, their children, who have seen the legitimacy of their parents’ relationship demeaned for so many years.”

Fun Facts About Ted

• Birthday: May 20
• Zodiac sign: Taurus
• Floofy-cat lover: Ted and Barry have shared their home with multiple pet Maine Coons, including Rufus, seen below.
• David Bowie super fan: The otherworldly musician pops up in Ted’s social media mentions nearly as often as floofy cats do. (His all-time favorite Bowie tracks include “Ashes to Ashes,” “Teenage Wildlife,” “Starman” and “Queen Bitch.”)
• Fave funny Chopped ingredient: Chicken in a can — not gastronomically, mind you, but acoustically. “Nothing says tasty like the sound of that bad boy oozing out of the can,” he’s said.

Ted’s Writing on Male Breast Cancer

Ted was a 2001 finalist for a National Magazine Award for “This Man Survived Breast Cancer,” a service feature he reported for the June 2000 issue of Esquire. The article told the story of Dave Lyons, an Oregon man who was diagnosed with male breast cancer in 1997, and raised awareness for the little-known phenomenon.

Ted's Partnerships

Ted is a dedicated supporter of several national and local charities. Since 2008, he’s been a spokesperson for Dining Out for Life, an annual fundraiser held on the last Thursday in April in which more than 2,400 restaurants donate a portion of the day’s proceeds to local AIDS service organizations. Each year, Dining Out for Life raises over $4.5 million for more than 50 groups in the United States and Canada. He also serves on the Food Council for City Harvest, an organization that redirects New York City restaurants’ unused food to needy local families, and supports World Central Kitchen, Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry and Food Bank for New York City.

What’s Ted Doing Now?

Ted is currently the host of Food Network’s Chopped, which has become one of the most successful projects in the network’s history (and has earned two James Beard Foundation awards, both as an in-studio television program and for Ted’s work as host). “Without question, the highlight [of hosting the show] is having the opportunity to spend long days talking food with culinary greats: Mark Bittman, Nancy Silverton, Mike Symon, Bobby Flay," he’s said. "And our team of regular judges have been close personal friends for years now — friendships that I treasure."

Keep Up With Ted

Watch Ted on Food Network's competition series Chopped. Follow him on Instagram @thetedallen. For updates on all of Ted's recent happenings, check out his website.