Biography of Ted Allen

Ted Allen is the food and wine specialist on the 2004 Emmy-winning and 2005 Emmy-nominated NBC/Bravo groundbreaking hit "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," which also is the first show ever to win two consecutive GLAAD Media Awards, and is author of "The Food You Want to Eat, "(Clarkson-Potter, October 2005), an original cookbook featuring easy, all-natural recipes for everything from steak to risotto to cocktails. He also appears frequently as a judge on TV Food Network's top-rated Iron Chef America. In addition to his food work, Ted has been a contributing editor to Esquire magazine since 1997, where he writes on a broad range of subjects, from celebrity profiles to medicine to Champagne. He is also the co-author of the magazine's "Things a Man Should Know" column - an irreverent guide on such topics as fashion, business etiquette, and money - and co-author of four books that grew out of that series. Along with his castmates, he co-wrote the New York Times bestselling book "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab Five's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better." He was a finalist for a 2001 National Magazine Award for his Esquire feature on the little-known phenomenon of male breast cancer.

Before joining Esquire, Ted was a senior editor and restaurant critic at Chicago magazine, where he won two writing awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. He also has written for Bon Appetit, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Epicurious.com, GQ, National Geographic Adventure, Men's Journal, and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Ted holds an M.A. in Journalism from New York University, a certificate from NYU's Science and Environmental Reporting Program, and a B.A. in psychology from Purdue University. He lives in New York with his partner, the interior designer Barry Rice.