Kansas City Food Blog

​You can imagine the title -- "When Good Chefs Go Bad" -- when Esquire recently asked well-known chefs to sample fast food, uncover the secrets of chains, reveal their guilty pleasures and talk about burger joints. 

Top chefs actually loved several chains, including In-N-Out and Dairy queen, but spewed their wrath on others. Some of the best quotes:

On Taco Bell:

"Utter bastardization of one of the finest cuisines in the world. What the fuck is a chalupa?" -- Joey Campanaro, The Little Owl, New York City

On White Castle:

"I like White Castle, but White Castle does not like me." -- Craig Hopson, Le Cirque, New York City

Esquire also asked chefs when they had last visited the drive-thru, leading to the delightful imagery of Thomas Keller (chef at The French Laundry) at In-N-Out Burger and a pledge by Masahuru Morimoto (of Iron Chef fame) to try to avoid fast food restaurants and a "weight rebound."

On the other end of the spectrum, Fancy Fast Food is a blog that transforms items from fast food restaurants and convenience stores into gourmet meals. Consider the Kreme brulee and fruit tart made from a dozen doughnuts and a cappuccino from Dunkin' Donuts or the Wendy's Napoleon from the Baconator Combo. The site apparently started as a knock on "foodies," and the premise does border on the ridiculous.