Do we really need another television show to remind us how wonderful big-name chefs are?

Isn't it enough that we already have elevated them and their craft to near religious import? And in a nation with epidemic obesity rates, do we really need another means of glorifying eating?

The premise of "Chef's Story," a new PBS food show to begin airing in April, seems to suggest a resounding yes.

Here's the gist — Dorothy Hamilton, the founder and CEO of New York's French Culinary Institute, hosts the 27-part series, each 30-minute episode of which focuses on a different culinary luminary.

This is a case of "Inside the Actors Studio" going all Food Networky. Or as Hamilton sums up the series: "What does it take to get to the top of the cooking world, and how do the great ones stay there?"

Which means viewers get to hear Hamilton probe the depths of the likes of Bobby Flay, Charlie Palmer, Todd English, Rick Bayless, Jacques Torres and Lidia Bastianich (and yes, the guest list is overwhelmingly male).

The first half of the show is given to the probing. This is followed by your more traditional chef-at-island-cooktop format.

The press was given two episodes for review, covering Flay and Daniel Boulud. I wasn't expecting much when the opener of the Flay episode had Hamilton introducing him as "probably the most famous grill meister since Satan."

So I was prepared for a 30-minute self-congratulatory food orgy. And there was some of that. Flay was one of the first students through Hamilton's school, and they gave each other all sorts of knowing thanks throughout the episode.

Despite my skepticism, I found myself drawn to the program. It was genuinely interesting to hear Flay tell his nothing-to-something tale and discuss his philosophy of food — "If you like bland food, you can't eat at my restaurants."

And because Flay was one of the Food Network's early stars, he offered some humorous stories about the network's somewhat creaky start, including the time he had to shoot 42 half-hour episodes in about a week.

The Boulud episode is equally fascinating. Though rife with the dropping of French restaurant and chef names of which most viewers will be blissfully ignorant, Boulud's story of going from farm boy to one of the world's top chefs is fascinating.

The cooking segments are a bit choppier. Unlike traditional cooking shows — the whole point of which is to teach the viewer something — "Chef's Story" seems less concerned with that.

Flay's recipe for chicken rubbed with 16 spices would be pretty easy to replicate at home if the viewer were taking notes. Boulud's braised scorpion fish stuffed with crab, however, would prove challenging.

Hamilton obviously is well-versed in her subject matter (she also has food writer Peter Kaminsky fielding so-called pre-interviews), and her clout in the food world no doubt helps pull in some of the bigger guests.

But at times she verges on starry-eyed; and there is the occasional urge to shake her and beg her to ask something a bit deeper than which dish Flay regards most fondly.

With most new food shows, I'm comfortable giving thumbs up or down based on the sample episodes (usually two or three) provided in advance to the media. This time I'm not.

And maybe that's symptomatic of a show that centers each episode on a new personality. At the very least, I can say I have dismissed my initial doubt whether a show such as this is merited. I just can't decided whether I want Hamilton giving it to me.

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asap columnist J.M. Hirsch covers food, diet and nutrition for the AP. E-mail him at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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