Post by ۞Quaalude™۞ on Oct 30, 2007 7:02:31 GMT -5
Before chefs were as celebrated as rock stars, there was Chef Tell.
The well-known local chef, who gained national fame in the late 1970s on the syndicated television program “Evening Magazine,” has died at the age of 63.
Chef Tell Erhardt’s wife, Bunny, said Monday that he died Friday of an apparent heart attack.
Services will be Monday, Nov. 5, which would have been Chef Tell’s 64th birthday, at 11 a.m. at St. Luke’s Church in Ferndale, according to his wife.
Though the chef did suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure, his wife said his death was unexpected.
“It was nothing that I ever would have expected my husband to have died from so suddenly,” she said.
After the memorial service, Bunny said she plans to hold a “big tent memorial/birthday party at our house, with an Oktoberfest buffet. My husband loved parties.”
Bunny said she had spoken with her husband Friday morning from Long Beach Island, where she was working on a house they had bought there. When she couldn’t reach him later that afternoon at their Nockamixon home near Upper Black Eddy, she became concerned. He never showed up at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, where he was supposed to be teaching.
“When I didn’t hear from him, I thought maybe he was ill or had left his cell phone at home,” Bunny said. “I had a friend check on the house. He was found in the house, just sitting on the chair and looked peaceful.”
His wife for nearly 19 years, Bunny said Chef Tell really was as entertaining and friendly as he seemed on television. He always had a joke to tell or a smile to share, she said. He also loved dogs, especially those that he could rescue from shelters. The couple has a rottweiler that Chef Tell named Fifi the Rottweiler, Bunny said.He had just finished a book about cooking for diabetics, Bunny said. She still hopes to publish the book, which focuses on eating whole grains and non-processed foods.
A native of Stuttgart, Germany, Tell Erhardt came to the United States when he was 28. The European-trained chef would eventually open two restaurants in Bucks County, the short-lived Harrow Inne in Ottsville, and Chef Tell’s Manor House in Upper Black Eddy. More recently, he was affiliated with the Buck Hotel in Feasterville.
But it was his appearance decades ago on the syndicated television program “Evening Magazine” that made him a household name in the region. Chef Tell was using television to inspire cooks at home way before Emeril or Rachel Ray.
“Back in his day, he was a celebrity chef,” said Christine Hess, a friend of the family who also managed his restaurants. “As a culinary mentor, he had the patience of a father. He was so patient with everyone he taught.”
At the height of his popularity, he appeared on such shows as “Saturday Night Live,” “The John Davidson Show” and “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.” He is also said to have been the inspiration for the character “The Swedish Chef” on The Muppet Show.
He taught at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia and wrote several cookbooks.
In a 2004 profile in this newspaper, food writer Betty Cichy wrote that Erhardt was “content with his quieter life, though he takes satisfaction in knowing that he played a role in the culinary revolution that turned chefs into TV stars.”
"I was part of it. I had my run," he said then. "It was a good life."
October 29, 2007 7:15 PM R.I.P QC
www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-10292007-1431987.html
The well-known local chef, who gained national fame in the late 1970s on the syndicated television program “Evening Magazine,” has died at the age of 63.
Chef Tell Erhardt’s wife, Bunny, said Monday that he died Friday of an apparent heart attack.
Services will be Monday, Nov. 5, which would have been Chef Tell’s 64th birthday, at 11 a.m. at St. Luke’s Church in Ferndale, according to his wife.
Though the chef did suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure, his wife said his death was unexpected.
“It was nothing that I ever would have expected my husband to have died from so suddenly,” she said.
After the memorial service, Bunny said she plans to hold a “big tent memorial/birthday party at our house, with an Oktoberfest buffet. My husband loved parties.”
Bunny said she had spoken with her husband Friday morning from Long Beach Island, where she was working on a house they had bought there. When she couldn’t reach him later that afternoon at their Nockamixon home near Upper Black Eddy, she became concerned. He never showed up at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, where he was supposed to be teaching.
“When I didn’t hear from him, I thought maybe he was ill or had left his cell phone at home,” Bunny said. “I had a friend check on the house. He was found in the house, just sitting on the chair and looked peaceful.”
His wife for nearly 19 years, Bunny said Chef Tell really was as entertaining and friendly as he seemed on television. He always had a joke to tell or a smile to share, she said. He also loved dogs, especially those that he could rescue from shelters. The couple has a rottweiler that Chef Tell named Fifi the Rottweiler, Bunny said.He had just finished a book about cooking for diabetics, Bunny said. She still hopes to publish the book, which focuses on eating whole grains and non-processed foods.
A native of Stuttgart, Germany, Tell Erhardt came to the United States when he was 28. The European-trained chef would eventually open two restaurants in Bucks County, the short-lived Harrow Inne in Ottsville, and Chef Tell’s Manor House in Upper Black Eddy. More recently, he was affiliated with the Buck Hotel in Feasterville.
But it was his appearance decades ago on the syndicated television program “Evening Magazine” that made him a household name in the region. Chef Tell was using television to inspire cooks at home way before Emeril or Rachel Ray.
“Back in his day, he was a celebrity chef,” said Christine Hess, a friend of the family who also managed his restaurants. “As a culinary mentor, he had the patience of a father. He was so patient with everyone he taught.”
At the height of his popularity, he appeared on such shows as “Saturday Night Live,” “The John Davidson Show” and “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee.” He is also said to have been the inspiration for the character “The Swedish Chef” on The Muppet Show.
He taught at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia and wrote several cookbooks.
In a 2004 profile in this newspaper, food writer Betty Cichy wrote that Erhardt was “content with his quieter life, though he takes satisfaction in knowing that he played a role in the culinary revolution that turned chefs into TV stars.”
"I was part of it. I had my run," he said then. "It was a good life."
October 29, 2007 7:15 PM R.I.P QC
www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-10292007-1431987.html