Friedman Paul Erhardt (November 5, 1943 – October 26, 2007) was a German American pioneering early television chef.
Following his apprenticeship and further study and work in several hotels and restaurants in Europe, in 1970, he graduated at the age of 27 as Germany's youngest master chef up to that time.
[1] He often used the phrase, with his thick accent, "very simple, very easy" while cooking during his PM Magazine spots.
His career led to guest appearances on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and earned Chef Tell time on QVC.
"He was the first of the great showman chefs," commented Elaine Tait, the former restaurant critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon, who often visited his daughter Julie Eisenhower in Pennsylvania, sometimes dined at another of Chef Tell's restaurants in Wayne.
[3] Senator Arlen Specter sent to Tell the US flag that flew over the US Congress building that day, at Nixon's request.
Tell spent the last two and half years of his life teaching culinary skills at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia.