TOO HOT TO HANDLE

This is a full day of nothing but hot men.... keep it CUMing!!

The New York Times profiles former Top Chef cheftestant hottie Sam Talbot.

Talbot is the new executive chef at Imperial No.9 in the new Mondrian Hotel in Soho.

The paper reports:

And whenever his name appears in print, the words “hot,” “hottie” or “hottest” are usually not far behind.

“That’s me. It is what it is,” said Mr. Talbot who is 6-foot-5 and has dark, rugged good looks. “Everyone talks about who I’m dating or not dating or married or not married. The stigma doesn’t hurt me in any way. Does it help me? I don’t know.”

TOUCHE:  We did use the word "hot" and "hottie,"  NATCH!!

OUCH:

He is among a new breed of celebrity chefs who have coasted into culinary fame, less by grueling dues-paying, and more on their telegenic brand. The group includes the brothers Brian and Michael Voltaggio, Ludo Lefebvre, Spike Mendelsohn, Sam Mason, Fabio Vivani and Marcel Vigneron.

These new schoolers tend to have tattoos (Mr. Talbot has 10), use hair gel, wear man jewelry and sport gym-buffed physiques clad in tailored flannels, designer denim and $50 T-shirts. “You can see them walking around in herds at the food festivals in Aspen and Miami,” said Ben Leventhal, a founder of Eater, a popular food blog.

Not content with just being good cooks, they aspire to be multiplatform brands with endorsement deals, product lines, restaurant chains and television shows. They also have rock-star-grade dream teams: publicists, managers, agents, media trainers and, in some cases, stylists.

The daily adds:

“These new guys come out of the gate famous,” said Tom Colicchio, the chef and executive producer of “Top Chef.” “It pulls chefs out of the kitchen more than it should. It’s hard to say no when you’re being seduced by all these different things that are out there.”

But he has faith in Mr. Talbot. “Sam can cook,” Mr. Colicchio said. “He has a rep as being a ladies’ man and going out to parties, but he’s also very serious about what he’s doing. The people who succeed are the ones who manage to keep an edge but also understand that it’s a business.”