New York is home to some of the greatest ballers to ever grace the basketball court. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bernard King, Julius Erving are living legends in their own right, but we have to give the King of New York crown to Michael Jordan. We understand that the Jumpman might have spent his adolescent years in North Carolina and considers himself a Carolinian, but the truth is Sir Airness was actually born in Brooklyn. Not to mention, he's also the greatest professional basketball player to walk the planet.
Many can attempt to disprove MJ's GOAT status using stats and numbers, but if you weren't around to witness Michael Jordan single-handedly take over a basketball and berate his opposition into submission, you might want to sit this one out. In his fifteen-year playing career, Mike racked up a total of six championships (both in the form of three-peats), six NBA Finals MVPs, five regular-season MVPs, fourteen NBA All-Star selections, and an endless list of additional accolades that have inspired every generation after him to pick up a basketball. During Michael Jordan's prime, there wasn't a kid alive who didn't want to like Mike.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.