Sadly, science has mostly debunked the myth of foods as powerful aphrodisiacs. That’s right — oysters won’t rouse your nether regions, cherries won’t get your date hot and bothered, and chocolate will only get your pants off quicker if you eat enough of it to pop a button. But that’s not to say that the right food can’t set the mood — or the right chef.

And while many kitchen-types stay firmly out of the public eye, we can’t deny that a few have caught our attention — grand chefs are more in the spotlight than ever, especially this week with the release of Julie and Julia and next week’s finale of Top Chef Masters. You may have one impressive dish you whip up on a date when you really want to seal the deal, but the culinary titans listed below would eat you for breakfast, with a side of apricot pancakes covered in a nice gooseberry marmalade. You can shuck all the shellfish you want, but the sad truth is that any of these chefs could serve you rocks and still make you swoon. — James Brady Ryan

10) Eric Ripert

If we said to you, “Eric Ripert is so sexy,” you might not know who we were talking about. But what if we said, “The Top Chef guest host who looks like a stock European super-villain is so sexy?” Now you know who we mean — that white-blond hair, that smooth accent. We wouldn’t blame you if you thought he was a bad guy from Die Hard, but no — you’ve seen him on Top Chef, not reruns on USA. And while we may have first heard about him on TV, you have to be impressed by his restaurant’s three-star Michelin rating — the highest possible.

9) Alice Waters

You have to love a woman who stands firmly behind her beliefs, and there is perhaps no better example on this list than Alice Waters. Charmed by a meal in France in which the raspberries had come right from the garden and into a tart, Waters embraced the superiority of local and sustainable food wholeheartedly, and her Bay-Area restaurant, Chez Pannise, still operates on those principles. Having been lucky enough to have eaten ourselves into a coma at the renowned Panisse, let us assure you — Waters did well to stick to her guns.

8 ) Cat Cora

The only woman on Iron Chef America, Cat Cora stands tall as the most hard-core female chef to appear on TV. The first person to coin the term “Hellasian,” to refer to her Greek and Asian fusion creations, Cora runs her team on Iron Chef with an iron will: she may make you wet yourself out of fear, but in the end she’ll get you to braise that lamb shank perfectly. And then she’ll get everyone a round of shots (ouzo is her preferred liquor). Sadly for us, she’s already settled down; her lucky wife Jennifer gets to enjoy her cooking for life.

7) Tom Colicchio

We imagine that Tom Colicchio expected Top Chef to make him into many things: household name, Bravo semi-celebrity, much richer man. He probably did not expect to find himself that which so many toil for hours at the gym to become: a gay sex symbol. The bald head, the gruff manner, the broad frame — Colicchio turned out to be the perfect bait for certain portions of the gay community, and has a good share of female devotees as well. He set himself up as the anti-Tim Gunn — no hand-holding here — but we love him all the same.

6) Anne-Sophie Pic

You may not know who Anne-Sophie Pic is, but you should. Owner of La Maison Pic in Valence, France, she is one of only four French women — ever — to be awarded three Michelin stars. At the time of the rating, the news sent some serious waves through France’s culinary world. And if breaking down some gender barriers wasn’t enough, she’s gorgeous to boot, in that serious, Gallic fashion you’d expect to find in old art cinema. Since she’s never been on a cooking show in the U.S. (give it time), she’s probably the least recognizable name on this list, but Ms. Pic, don’t worry — we think you’re fantastic.

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