Ben Starr

The Ultimate Food Geek

Category: Blog

  • MasterChef Recap: Southern Queens and Sushi Teams

    We’re down to only 7.  And the mystery box on the stage is big enough to house an entire cow or side of beef.  And had the commercials not spoiled it, I’d have NO clue that it was a mere human standing inside.  I’m conflicted about the spoiling of the mystery box surprise…I’d have been…

  • The Elizabeth Experience

    For the next four days, I am supporting a local Lewisville charity project called The Elizabeth Experience.  Jody and Natasha Trompler, who live right here in my city, lost their daughter Elizabeth at only 24 days old to a fatal disease called Trisomy 13.  During these incredibly tense 24 days, an nonprofit organization called Now…

  • The Ethics of Eating Meat

    This great debate about meat just keeps on coming, and I couldn’t be more pleased.  I received a remarkable email from a fan who has been vegetarian since age 10, and I’d like to share a portion of it: “The ethics of meat eating have been on my mind since I spent five weeks in…

  • MasterChef: Rancheros and Huevos

    Today’s blog is brought to you by WalMart, which can figure out how to sell a dozen organic eggs for $3, but not how to make a commercial with decent actors. (That’s a joke, my blog is not endorsed by Walmart, though the link above will lead you to a fascinating article that talks about…

  • Animals are Meat: A Follow Up

    It’s now been about 24 hours since I posted the photo on Facebook of a free-ranging rooster from a chicken farm near Dallas that I was about to dispatch to become part of the menu at FRANK this weekend.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined what a magical 24 hours it would…

  • NEWS FLASH: Once upon a time…meat was ALIVE!!!

    As you all know, I run an underground restaurant here in Dallas with the stunning Jennie Kelley.  We met on the set of MasterChef and have become incredibly close friends.  FRANK is a celebration of fresh, local, sustainable food.  And for our upcoming French-themed Bastille day dinners, our main course is coq au vin, a…

  • MasterChef Recap: Urchins and Master-Baiting

    (This blog is not endorsed or approved by MasterChef and consists entirely of my own uneducated opinions.  I have no inside knowledge about how eliminations are made, or how judging takes place, for either last season or this season.  My opinions should not be treated as fact, or as any more valid than your own!)…

  • MasterChef: Bunnies and Pizza Stones

    (Please note that the following blog entry reflects my own opinions and is NOT endorsed or approved by MasterChef.  I have no inside knowledge of how eliminations are made or how food is judged, either for my season or the current one.  My opinions should not be treated as fact.) So we’re down to 11,…

  • MasterChef 3: Food Trucks and Tortellini

    All throughout my season, we kept waiting for the food truck challenge.  Food trucks were all the rage throughout the country last year, and we just KNEW we’d have a food truck challenge.  But they saved it for this season. A few short years ago, most American’s wouldn’t be caught dead eating at a food…

  • MasterChef 3: Don’t Trifle with Walmart

    Today’s blog entry is brought to you by Walmart, a proud sponsor of MasterChef. (Just kidding!  Ha ha ha…  But please note that my blog is in no way endorsed or approved by either MasterChef OR Walmart, and my opinions expressed herein are ONLY OPINIONS.  I have no inside knowledge of the production of MasterChef,…