Heat.

I read Heat, by Bill Buford, this summer while I was on jury duty, and I really loved it. I've always been a fan of food writing and I really loved this particular take on the "behind the scenes" view of the kitchen. While the book was originally a profile of Mario Batali, Buford ends up becoming entranced by cooking and extends his apprenticeship into a stint in Italy making fresh pasta and butchering pigs.
The Batali part of Heat, however, is fascinating. He's really a larger-than-life character, well-connected and quite the celebrity in the cooking world. I started DVRing his show on the food network and it quickly became one of my favorites. I really like the structure--he has three guests at the counter, and he talks to them (and encouranges questions) while he cooks the meal. He frequently employs the guests to help in the making of ravioli or the mixing of ingredients. And also? These guests are usually famous people.
However, you will never see a commercial that says, "And next time on Molto Mario..." and have famous people rattled off. In fact, when Mario introduces his guests, he says, "And these are my friends 'Jake' and 'Maggie'." It's like a secret present--if you watch the show, you might get to see Maggie and Jake Gyllanhaal fumbling to make tortelli and ask cute questions.

For some reason, I think this is really, really cool. I think it's cool that Maggie and Jake must have chatted with each other and been like, "Yeah, let's go on Mario's show." I think it's cool that no promotion whatsoever is involved (in fact, so little fanfare is given that it's taken me half the show to recognize some very noticable people). It's not a publicity stunt, like appearing on Leno, or some stint a publicist arranged. And I think it's cool that Mario makes them work for their food. They have to participate, help with the food, ask questions.

Basically, I just love Mario. I learn a lot from his show, he knows cool people, and he wears Crocs. What more could a girl want?
Nothing, my friends. Nothing.
(But an introduction to this "Jake" guy wouldn't hurt...)