Guy Fieri - charitable works in Mexico

Or to be precise, charitable works in La Manzanilla, Mexico.

Kimberley and Will own Palapa Joe's Restaurant, Bar & Bungalows in La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico. Written from their blog in March of 2008,

"We met Guy Fieri a couple years ago while he and his family were vacationing in La Manzanilla. They ate in the restaurant a couple of times and we became acquainted. At this point in time, he had entered the Food Network "The Next Food Network Star" contest but was not yet aware that he had won the competition."

This must have been early in 2006.


The Fieri family went back the following season for vacation, and at that point, Guy's Big Bite was rolling, and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives was still in the development stage. Triple D first aired in early 2007.

Guy named a drink after the restaurant, Agua de Palapa Joe's, featured in the Tamale Never Knows episode, third season of Guy's Big Bite.

Early in 2008, the the owners of Palapa Joe's got an email from Guy and his dad, suggesting that they do a benefit dinner, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the La Manzanilla school system.


The menu for the evening was:

Deep-fried Artichoke Hearts with a Red Bell Pepper Aioli
Olive-Rosemary Flatbread
Grilled Romain Lettuce with a Bacon Blue Cheese Vinaigrette
Cajun Chicken Breast with Garlic Chardonnay Alfredo Penne
Tequila Lime Tart

Guy, his dad and the Palapa Joe's kitchen crew worked all day preparing dinner for 70.

(source)

In February of 2009, for the second year in a row, Willy turned over Palapa Joe’s kitchen and staff to Guy Fieri. Guy created a multi-course Asian dining experience "worthy of multiple mouth orgasms," according to the Guadaljara Reporter. The evening raised funds for the La Manzanilla schools and Cisco’s Amigos animal spay and neuter clinic.

Guy and his family have been regular visitors to La Manzanilla for six years. They are building a house there, which Guy hopes to enjoy "more like every two or three months, instead of a couple of weeks each winter."

Will Guy Fieri eventually move to La Manzanilla and open his own restaurant? When asked, he got that trademark twinkle in his eyes, smiled, and said, "We’ll see."

(source)

Palapa Joe's Restaurant & Bar - website
Maria Asuncion # 163, La Manzanilla, Jalisco MX - Google map
[011-52] (315) 351-5348
www.palapajoes.net



Read more about the 2009 Fieri - Palapa Joe's benefit event here and here.

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Making a Federal case out of a small "dive"

The Squeeze Inn, once locally famous and thanks in part to Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, now nationally famous burger joint in Sacramento, CA is being sued in Federal Court.

A disabled Sacramento woman filed suit because she suffered "embarrassment and humiliation" when she was unable access tables nor maneuver a wheelchair during her visit last November.

According to an ABC news report, "Squeeze Inn owner Travis Hausauer said it's the second time he's been sued for access issues since his restaurant was featured on national TV."

Hausauer said he just made improvements in the unisex restroom and outside seating area as part of the settlement for the previous suit.

Here's a clip from the Burgers episode, aired in Triple D's first season.



Squeeze Inn (no website)
7918 Fruitridge Rd, Sacramento, CA, 95820 - map
(916) 386-8599

(source)

Speaking for myself, I'm a proponent of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If a building is too small to service the public, and by that I mean ALL the public, then that business should move to a new location, make changes to its facilities, or suffer the consequences.

I know business is tough these days - the restaurant business no exception. And I'm sorry for The Squeeze Inn's troubles. But they're smart people, they know their biz and they know the laws. Accommodating a wheelchair, even if it's to provide outdoor service or to make reasonable accommodations in some other way, seems not too large a thing to do.

No?

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Guy Fieri with Ed Wilson on Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I have to admit I'm not as fond of the recent episodes of Guy's Big Bite as I have been in the past. This newest season features cooks, chefs and owners of restaurants Guy has visited on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I guess the idea is to run with what works, or that Guy feels (or the network, the fans?) that a 7-minute spot isn't enough to share with the world what these places have to offer. Yet I feel as if I've already seen that food, and I'm looking for something new, innovative and different. Well, since I'm not in charge of the world ... here goes.

Today's episode, July 5, 2009, was called It's Always Finer in Carolina. It repeats on July 21, 2009. (Check the show's index page for future airings.)

Guy Fieri invited guest Ed Wilson from Wilson's Holy Smoked BBQ to the show, to roast a pork shoulder for pulled pork sandwiches with Wilson's Carolina vinegar sauce and slaw. They also made Wilson's mac 'n' cheese.

Wilson's Own Mac n' Cheese
Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Wilsons' BBQ Award Wining Eastern Carolina Vinegar Sauce

1 quart cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/8 cup red pepper flakes
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoons Worcestershire
1 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoons black pepper
1 16-ounce bottle ketchup



Wilson's debuted on February 9, 2009 in the Smokin' BBQ episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The episode also featured their Black-Eyed Pea Salad.



Wilson's Holy Smoke BBQ - website
1851 Post Road, Fairfield, CT 06824 - map
(203) 319-7427
www.wilsons-bbq.com

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It's Always Finer in Carolina (GI0614H) with video

Guy's Big Bite - It's Always Finer in Carolina - Aired: 7/5/09

Guy Fieri and his buddy Wilson roast well-seasoned pork shoulder low and slow for tender Pulled Pork Sandwiches punched up with Wilson's Award-Winning Eastern Carolina Vinegar Sauce. Uber-cheesey mac 'n' cheese & crunchy horseradish-Dijon slaw complete the expert-approved spread.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches - recipe - with Mop Sauce, Fo Slaw and Wilsons' BBQ Award Wining Eastern Carolina Vinegar Sauce

Wilson's Own Mac n' Cheese - recipe



Keywords:
pork picnic shoulder, hickory chips, Ciabatta rolls, elbow macaroni, sharp Cheddar

Wilson's Holy Smoke BBQ - website
from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives BBQ & More

Related Guy Fieri Recipes:
Main dishes with pork
Side dishes with pasta

-> more on Guy's Big Bite <-

Guy Fieri - podcast interview with Ceslie

[*Warning* Audio player starts automatically. Sorry, but I don't know how to change the settings so it doesn't do that. ~D]

I've dug up a great podcast interview with Guy Fieri on The Ceslie Show (website). It was recorded when Guy was in Houston, Texas the week June 22 - 25, 2009. Guy's segment is first, after some 5 minutes of chatter chatter chatter by the host in her hour-long radio show. It takes about 26 minutes to get to the end of Guy's segment.

They talked about Guy's selling pretzels in the 6th grade and the history behind his father's support of Guy's entrepreneurial efforts.

As a teenager, Guy Fieri was an exchange student in France; he recalls eating Croque Monsieur and Pommes Frites, and asked himself, "Why is it this taste so incredible!" He says that was when he was bit by the (culinary) bug.


Guy also claims his parents are phenomenal cooks; they taught how food works, and Guy's dad used to play "Iron Chef" with Guy, giving him a pork chop and a cupboard of food, to see what he could do with it.

Ceslie expressed a concern that many viewers believed Guy was new to food and cooking when he won the 2nd season of Next Food Network Star. Guy replied that he's been in the restaurant business since he was 13, starting by washing dishes at Mexican Restaurant. One day someone didn't show, and he got to cook.

They also spoke about the Fieri Foundation, how it is developing and some of the inspirations behind it. The Fieri Foundation's goal is to inspire children and young adults to look to their imaginations. Guy's sister, Morgan pictured at left, is the executive director. Next year, we'll hear more. *Update - Morgan lead the Foundation until stricken with cancer in 2010. She died February 2011. More information.*

Towards attaining a life-long goal of being in the restaurant industry, Guy felt he had the culinary chops but that he needed training in the business end of things. So he got his higher education at UNLV in Hospitality Management.


Again, sorry for the auto-start on this player!

(source)

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Happy 4th of July weekend

Here's a festive drink from Guy Fieri for America's favorite summer holiday. The recipe is featured in Food Network Magazine.

Photograph by Kate Sears

Fourth of July Cocktail

1 ounce watermelon schnapps
1 big splash cranberry juice
1 very thin slice jalapeno or serrano pepper
1 slice lemon
1 slice lime
1 1/2 ounces tequila
1/4 ounce blue curacao
1/2 ounce simple syrup
Watermelon wedge, for garnish (optional)

Mix the schnapps and cranberry juice in a shaker; pour into an ice-filled glass.

Muddle the jalapeno pepper, lemon and lime slices, tequila, blue curacao and simple syrup (to make a batch, dissolve sugar in equal parts hot water and chill) in the shaker. Slowly strain into the glass over the red layer. Garnish with watermelon, if desired.

I hope you have a fun and safe holiday weekend!

The Guy Fieri - TGI Friday's connection

FoodNetworkAddict, a popular Food Network blogger, was anonymously tipped that Guy Fieri will no longer act as TGI Friday's spokesman (blog post). To date, there have been no formal announcements one way or the other, but here's the background on the story.

In March of 2009, Carlson Restaurants, the parent company of TGI Friday's, reached out to six to eight agencies in a review of creative and media duties on its brand. The current company is (was?) Interpublic Group's Deutsch/LA in Marina del Rey, CA, who held the account since 2003 and is (was?) the one behind getting Guy Fieri on board as spokesman for TGI Friday's.

(source)

Here's a video of Guy Fieri's commercial for TGI Friday, used in 2009.


The Food Network's popular show, Ultimate Recipe Showdown, receives major support from TGI Friday's - winners of the home-cook competitions are awarded $25,000 and their recipe on the restaurant's menu. In exchange for this generous support, the Food Network cross-advertised with the chain, and Fieri signed on as spokesman.

Here's a video from Ultimate Recipe Showdown.


In early May, four agencies made final presentations to Carlson Restaurants, bidding for the client's business. The finalists were Publicis Groupe's Publicis in New York, The Martin Agency in Richmond, VA, Doner in Southfield, MI, and Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago.

(source)

The selection was expected the week of May 11, 2009, but if it was announced, I didn't hear about it.

According to both articles cited above, TGI Friday's spent about $87 million in U.S. media last year (not including online spending), and $98 million in 2007.

As much as I respect FoodNetworkAddict (and I do; he does fine work), I will criticize him for conjecturing the TMZ video had anything to do with this decision. The idea is ludicrous and absurd; business is business, bad press is good press, and the video's statements are oft mis-transcribed and sensationalized anyway. The idea that any spokesman would only eat at the one restaurant for whom he speaks is unreasonable at the least.

More to the point, TGI Friday's is currently embroiled in one of the most fierce price wars with other chain restaurants in recent memory. Franchise owners are "eating their own lunch" with the current $5 sandwiches and salads campaign. And Friday's isn't alone - similar reduced-priced and hence low-profit meals are being offered at Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday and so many others.

(source)

It's tough times out there, folks!

More news later as I hear of it.

Ultimate Recipe Showdown Season 3 is due to tape late this summer or early fall. Expect it to air in November or December of 2009.

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