Who the Hell Is Marco Pierre White?
Marco Pierre White is taking the helm of NBC’s upcoming Top Chef ripoff, Chopping Block, a curious choice to head up a reality show. White is known at least as much for his aggressive chain smoking, his three tumultuous marriages, and his extraordinarily abusive personality as he is for his cooking. That is, when he’s known at all. White is a rare contradiction: A bona fide celebrity chef, about whom hardly anyone has heard. Most of that ignorance, to be fair, is American. White, 48, is a superstar in his native Britain, where he deployed his considerable culinary talent to become both the first British chef and the youngest chef ever to land three Michelin stars. He’s mentored (or at least employed) Mario Batali, Gordon Ramsay, and Heston Blumenthal, all of whom seem to have looked past White’s tendencies to violently eject unpleasant patrons, or take a knife to a mouthy line cook’s whites, in order to inherit White’s unswerving dedication to food above all else. That is, most of them
