He has been dishing it out on TV and radio for more than a decade. But Ken Kostick is probably best known for the TV series What's for Dinner?
Kostick and Mary Jo Eustace hosted the award-winning show for five years, appearing in 600 episodes. The cooking duo has teamed up for another series, He Said, She Said with Ken & Mary Jo, which started its second season this week on the Viva network.
While Kostick is a whiz in the kitchen, he has a slight complex on the streets. That's probably why he drives a 2002 Land Rover Range Rover SUV.
"I know I'm not the most macho-looking guy. ... It looks ridiculous. Do you know how tall I am? I look like a dwarf coming out of that thing," exclaims the 5-foot-7 celebrity chef.
"But just because it's a Land Rover I don't want people to think that I'm pompous or arrogant. I'm really not, as you can tell.
"Mary Jo said to me 'It suits your ego.' I said, 'What do you mean by that?' 'Oh come on, Ken.' I just laugh. I don't take it too seriously."
Kostick bought the Range Rover used a few years ago. "I needed an SUV because I'm always travelling with gear and animals. I have two chihuahuas - Napoleon and Josephine. They're small animals, but they take up a lot of room.
"I had always wanted a Land Rover. Do you know it's the only car the Queen actually drives? Since I have a crush on the Queen, I thought I would buy her car," he laughs.
The Range Rover attracts a lot of attention, but not all of it is good. "I was in the parking lot about a year ago and these two girls saw me get out of it and wanted me to hear them say, 'Its guys like him that drive these big things and pollute the earth!'
"Let me tell you, I wasn't having a good day and I had some choice words for those two - that rich statement sent me right over the edge. I just turned around and I told them to shut up. I screamed it, 'Shut up!
"They both looked like, Oh my God! Then, I had to face them in the supermarket. They avoided me going down each aisle like the plague," says the author of more than a dozen best-selling cookbooks. His latest, called $10 Gourmet, hits bookstores this fall.
"Even though it's a big SUV and it's not politically correct to be driving one now, I like to drive it. The engine is pretty powerful. That thing can get through anything.
"I'm not one of those people who tuck away my automobile when there's a snowstorm. I come from Winnipeg and I'm used to travelling through that. It's durable, it's got the power behind it and it's got the space inside," says Kostick, who also has his own line of cookware and food products.
But there's a big downside to the Land Rover - the repair bills. "It's a great car, but when something goes, it goes. And the parts - I don't know if they're coming from Buckingham Palace or whether the Queen herself is hoarding them, or what is going on, but it takes ages to get stuff over here.
"So anything that goes takes a while to get repaired. ... I virtually put Lakeshore Land Rover - the guy in the service department's kids - through college with this car. Seriously. It's almost humorous how much money I've spent on this thing."
He has fixed the electrical system, the engine and the air conditioning, to name just a few problems.
Kostick doesn't drink alcohol so he's always the designated driver, but his passengers are often critical of his road manners.
"Everybody complains about my driving. ... They say I drive like I'm 90 years old. I'm very slow.
"They call me a gummy. 'Come on, pick it up! We want to get there before next Christmas.' I always say, 'You're damn lucky I'm picking you up' "
Kostick's first car was a gift from his parents. "I came from Winnipeg from a very poor family and the one thing they wanted me to go to university in was a car because the University of Manitoba was on the other side of town. Even though they couldn't afford it, they pooled all their money and bought me a brand new 1970 Chevy Nova."
"The first day I got it, I took it to A&W in the north end of Winnipeg - that was when it was a drive-in. I know I'm aging myself.
"That was the best memory for me: driving with my family to the A&W and having a teen burger. Everything relates around food," Kostick laughs.
"I remember the smell of a brand-new car. That's why I keep this one I have immaculately clean and the leather treated so it has that new-car smell all the time.
"I don't allow anyone to smoke or eat in my car," says Kostick, who is launching a pet care line, called Bark, this spring. A portion of sales will go to charity. To mark its debut, his dogs will tie the knot in a marriage ceremony this June.
"When I bought this car, it was something I wanted; it suited my purposes at the time.
"I've fixed it up so much I'm not getting rid of it. ...When this one finally dies, I'm going to pack off the parts and send them to Buckingham Palace for the Queen, but, beyond that, I probably will buy something ecological.
"I will get on the bandwagon - not because of those two girls in the parking lot, but because it's correct."
