'Chef Tell' Erhardt, 63, early TV chef

Friedman Paul Erhardt, the ebullient German-born cook known as "Chef Tell" who was one of Philadelphia's - and America's - first- and best-known television chefs, died of heart failure Friday at his home in Upper Black Eddy, Bucks County.

The mustachioed Mr. Erhardt, who was 63, was a colorful fixture on the local dining scene in the '70s and '80s, when he owned restaurants in Chestnut Hill, Wayne, Ottsville, and Upper Black Eddy. He was also a culinary educator, cookbook author, and spokesman for major cookware and food product lines.

But it was his persona as the jolly chef with an impenetrable German accent, sharp knifework, cutting wit and easy recipes that made him an indelible fixture of TV pop culture, from regular appearances on Regis and Kathie Lee to comedy spots on Saturday Night Live. He was also the inspiration for the Muppet Show's gibberish-spouting Swedish chef.

"Tell was able to incorporate humor and the entertainment factor into his cooking," said Victoria Lang, who regularly produced Mr. Erhardt's segments for Regis and Kathie Lee. "It was so funny: 'You do like this! You do like that!' But unlike other TV chefs I've known, his food actually tasted great."

Born in Stuttgart, the son of a newspaper owner, Mr. Erhardt (who earned the nickname "Tell" after playing William Tell in a school play) trained in restaurants and hotels throughout Europe, where at 27, he earned a gold medal in the Cooking Olympics as captain of the West German team.

His future across the Atlantic, though, was sealed on a rainy night in Germany's Black Forest in 1972, when he pulled over his sports car to aid a woman with a flat tire. It was Janet Louise Nicoletti, a former Miss Philadelphia on vacation. Mr. Erhardt changed her tire and fell in love. Three months later, he came to Philadelphia, married Nicoletti (the second of his three wives), and launched an American career.

His rise to TV fame began in 1974 when, as a chef at the Marriott on City Line Avenue, he made his first appearance on the local show Dialing for Dollars. This was followed by a nationally syndicated show on KYW's Evening Magazine, appearances on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, specials for the QVC network, and a PBS program, In the Kitchen With Chef Tell, produced in Allentown.

"He was the first of the great showman chefs," said former Inquirer restaurant critic Elaine Tait. "He was kind of our local Paul Bocuse. A good, classically trained chef who presented himself with a lot of personality. Up until his era, chefs stayed in the kitchen."

Mr. Erhardt left the Marriott to become executive chef at the Barclay Hotel, and eventually opened a series of his own restaurants that have since closed: International Cuisine at the Chestnut Hill Hotel, Chef Tell's in Wayne, the Harrow Inne in Ottsville, the Manor House in Upper Black Eddy, and Chef Tell's Grand Old House in Grand Cayman, where the scuba aficionado lived for several years.

Mr. Erhardt's fortunes rose and fell throughout his career. In his glory days, he thundered around town on his trademark motorcycle, boasted of his elaborate silk wardrobe ("I'm vain when it comes to that"), and schmoozed with the likes of Peter Ustinov, Princess Margaret, Henry Fonda, and Richard Nixon, who personally filed Mr. Erhardt's application for American citizenship in 1984.

In leaner, more recent times, he told The Inquirer in 2002, "I'm just trying to make a buck, but it's getting harder and harder all the time."

That life experience, though, made him an invaluable asset to students at the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, where he taught for the last 21/2 years.

"To me, Tell Erhardt seemed to be a constant success," said Restaurant School president Daniel Liberatoscioli. "He was truly a dynamic, outgoing, vivacious character, and he grabbed every opportunity with two hands. He was a great role model for our students."

Mr. Erhardt, who was diabetic, had also just completed a new book about cooking for diabetics based on his own experience of weaning himself off insulin naturally by altering his recipes. It's yet to find a publisher.

Bunny Erhardt, the chef's wife and companion of 25 years, said there would be a memorial service at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Ferndale next Monday at 11 a.m. It will be followed by a "big Oktoberfest buffet" at their home, at 448 Center Hill Rd., in Upper Black Eddy.

"Nov. 5 would have been his 64th birthday," she said. "And [Mr. Erhardt] loved birthday parties, so we're going to celebrate him with some good food and beer. It won't be from his diet book."

Mr. Erhardt is also survived by a son, Torsten Erhardt; daughter-in-law, Angelica, and grandson, Max, who live in Germany. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Philabundance and the SPCA.