New York Times review puts chef in hot water

Celebrity TV chef Guy Fieri was chopping mad Thursday after being sliced and diced in a scathing New York Times review of his soggy fries and "nuclear waste" drinks. The review was served up Tuesday but the fallout continued to brew Thursday with the dissed chef firing back in an interview on ABC television that the Times had "another agenda." According to the Times, Guy's American Kitchen & Bar, opened by Fieri two months ago on Times Square, is not fit for any guy. Loading its review with a menu of sarcasm-slathered questions, the Times began with: "Guy Fieri, have you eaten at your new restaurant in Times Square?" From there, things only got more sour. "What exactly about a small salad with four or five miniature croutons makes Guy's Famous Big Bite Caesar (a) big (b) famous or (c) Guy's, in any meaningful sense?" the Times wondered. "Hey, did you try that blue drink, the one that glows like nuclear waste? The watermelon margarita? Any idea why it tastes like some combination of radiator fluid and formaldehyde?" The reviewer, Pete Wells, spared Fieri on no aspect of his venture -- neither the "limp and oil-sogged" French fries, nor the "crazy vortex" of the over-the-top adjectives used to list items on the restaurant's menu. Fieri, who is well known on TV's Food Network as an enthusiast of fatty American comfort food and has five restaurants in California, did not take the criticism sitting down. "I just thought it was ridiculous," he told the Today show. Fans have taken to his defense on Facebook, accusing Wells of jealousy, but the Times man has his own online backers, one of them even proposing marriage.