Food Network

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Guy Fieri raves about Cleveland, win tickets to Atlantic City

Joe Crea from Cleveland.com caught up with Guy Fieri to get his thoughts on the recent "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" visit in Cleveland, Ohio last week. Fieri will go back to Cleveland in November for the 2009 Fabulous Food Show. Funny article - Crea describes Guy as a mega-madman. :-)

"Man, it was off-the-hook," Fieri said, on a break from filming two shows -- simultaneously -- at his home in California's Sonoma Valley. "It's not that often that after I leave a place, with all the stuff running through my life and through my head, that a week later great things still come to mind."

"The Parmageddon [sandwich] you get at Melt [Bar and Grilled] is incredible -- I still think about it, one of the best sandwiches ever, and Matt [owner Matt Fish] is truly crazed!

"You've got some history there -- so when we went to Sterle's [Slovenian Country House], come on! That place is a fortress, and there's so much nostalgia behind it as well. Good food in a neat old building.

"Momocho! Wonderful! I also like that it's atypical -- outside-of-the-box Mexican, 'mod Mex' he [chef-owner Eric Williams] calls it.

"And down-home, homemade food at Lucky [Lucky's Cafe]. There's so much real energy behind it!" (Dig: Fieri talks in exclamation points, at a pace so exuberant his tempo can't be captured by anyone shy of a jazz percussionist.)

Guy Fieri was born in Columbus, Ohio and occasionally visits his aunt, Polly Barrett, and cousins, the Langermeiers, who live in the Rocky River-Westlake area. "Every time I go to Cleveland, I've had a nice time," he says. ... It's just an awesome, awesome city. You guys have killer restaurants. I know you're known for the Indians, the Browns and the Cavs and the Rock and Roll Hall -- but you've got to be known for fantastic eateries."

(source)

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You can win passes to the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival.

Dara Bunjon of the Examiner.com has five passes, each good for two guests, giving you access to the Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival’s Grand Market for Saturday, August 1st or Sunday, August 2nd. The Food and Wine Festival starts Thursday, July 30th.

Here are the contest rules:

1. Find the story she wrote previously about Atlantic City.(not the contest announcement) [here ~D]
2. Send her an e-mail at ACFood&Wine@diningdish.otherinbox.com naming her friend in the story and the title of the story.
3. Put your complete mailing address in your entry.

"I will draw the five winners on July 24th and the passes will be mailed to you via the event organizers."

(source)

Photos and video from the golf tourney at Tahoe

For more photographs from the 2009 American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course, including Michael Jordan and a majority of the celebrity golfers, click here.

Wife Lori and Guy Fieri maneuver his monster cart, which has a stereo, lift kit, big tires and is equipped with nitro.

Right-hand man Kleetus Cox and Guy Fieri make Pork En Fuego Saturday during the 2009 American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament.

(source)

Monday, July 20, 2009

More on the set of Guy's Big Bite

The FN Dish has a lengthy post about the set of Guy's Big Bite - a Behind the Scenes look at Guy's Big Set.

Guy Fieri tapes episodes for Guy's Big Bite twice a year at the Food Network studios at Chelsea Market in New York City. It takes three days to install the set props in the studio, ten days to shoot twenty episodes and another three days to tear everything down, pack it up neatly and put it away in storage.

"Food Network’s prime shooting space, Studio A, is home to more than just Guy’s Big Bite. Other shows, including 30 Minute Meals and Iron Chef America, are taped here, too." - FN Dish

Mark Dissin, vice president of production and the show’s executive producer, asked Guy what he wanted on his set. “I sat there and rattled off all this stuff – a pool table, a pinball machine, a big-screen TV – and I showed up and it was all there!” Guy says. Production designer Amelia Battaglio took cues from real-life bachelor pads to pull the whole look together.

“You gotta say something about Fender! For my birthday, they got me a sick $12,000 guitar,” a custom Presidential Select Stratocaster.

"While he’s not bad on the keyboard and drums, he’s going to stick to cooking for a living." - FN Dish

The sixth season of GBB was taped in late March, 2009, when a few changes were made, requested by Guy: pullout recycling bins and an extra-deep sink to hide dirty pans while he’s cooking, a built-in storage for squeeze bottles (for oils, vinegars and other cooking liquids), knives, salt, pepper and garlic. And, “I told them: ‘I want one big-@$$ cutting board!’ ” And he got one: The 4 1/2-foot-long board sits flush with the counter.

Design director Wendy Waxman hits flea markets and eBay to hunt down any dishes she thinks are “gutsy and weird.” That means skulls, snakeskin, spiders or any big, bold prints. “There’s a fine line between flashy and too flashy,” she says. “With Guy, you want to be right on that line.” Due to bright studio lights, Wendy has to find dishes that don't give off a glare.

Guy owns eight cars. Designers incorporated the car theme into the set with old hubcaps, license plates and grilles, and Guy’s now-famous Viking fridge with a racing stripe, a vinyl sticker. No word on what the number 05 represents, if anything. However, The Next Food Network Star, Season 2, the show that shot Guy Fieri to fame, was taped late in 2005. So could the 05 possibly stand for '05?

The area next to Guy’s kitchen is what you might picture for a Fieri-family rec room, with bumper pool table, Ron Jon surfboard and 42-inch TV.

"And the best toy of all is the 1970s Drop-A-Card pinball machine, which still works. Some crew members went a few rounds between takes, but no one was able to top Guy’s high score: 8,408 (out of a possible 9,999)." - FN Dish

Guy's Big Bite - Tune in Sundays at 11am/10c

Sources -
(The FN Dish)
(FoodNetwork.com)

More from the FN Dish on Guy Fieri:
Guy’s Set Tour - September '08
Off the Hook Sighting - October '08
Backstage with Guy - December '08
Guy Gives the Scoop on URS - January '09
Guy Fieri’s 3lb Burger - January '09 (video from David Letterman show)
“Starr” Lessons - February '09
Ready, Set? GO! - April '09
Guy’s Big Set - April '09
Behind the Scenes with Feimster - May '09

Related Posts:
Inside information on Guy's Big Bite set
Guy's Big Bite nominated for a Daytime Emmy
Guy's Big Bite season six premiers on Sunday

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The BourbonBlog interviews Guy Fieri, about ... bourbon!

Click the link below to listen to a podcast intervew from The BourbonBlog.

There Will Be BBQ (GI0612H) with video

Guy's Big Bite - There Will Be BBQ - Aired: 7/19/09

Guy Fieri gives grilled chicken a flavor upgrade with his sweet-spicy mango barbecue sauce. Custardy corn pudding packs in fresh kernels and roasted poblanos, and is baked til bubbly under a blanket of flaky breadcrumbs. Plus a Mango Elixir.

Chipotle-Mango BBQ Chicken - recipe

Poblano Corn Pudding - recipe

Fresh Mango Elixir - cocktail recipe

Keywords:
mango, chipotle peppers in adobo, chicken thighs and drumsticks, poblano peppers, sharp white Cheddar, corn, Panko breadcrumbs, vodka, mango juice or mango nectar

Related Guy Fieri Recipes:
Main dishes with chicken
Side dishes with vegetables
Cocktails with vodka

-> more on Guy's Big Bite <-

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Guy Fieri at the Tahoe Golf Tourney

Guy Fieri was interviewed by Phil Weidinger at the American Century Championship golf tourney in Stateline (near Lake Tahoe), Nevada, July 18, 2009.

PHIL WEIDINGER: I don't know that we need to introduce you.
GUY FIERI: I'm telling you, I sometimes question who I am.

PHIL WEIDINGER: When is the last golf tournament you've worked at?
GUY FIERI: I was at the PGA tournament in Mississippi for the Viking Classic, and I cooked with the chairman of PGA and the governor of Mississippi.

Got a free round of golf and a pardon. So it's not often that you get that in the same day.

PHIL WEIDINGER: Good day. We're not going to have the heavies with you out there today, we'll have the people out there with you cooking on No. 17. What will you be cooking out there?
GUY FIERI: We had to make a real decision about what we're going to be doing. We're out here, in some heat, in Tahoe, a lot of factors. People need to eat on the fly, no pun intended. People need to be able to do it.

We were thinking of a pasta dish. We had to look at the elements, what we had to cook with. My buddy Irvine was here last year. He has done some cooking, had a preview about what was coming up.

We'll do a dish called Pork el Fuego, pork on fire. We take a pork tenderloin with some garlic and onions and peppers and tomatoes, deglaze it with some tequila and lime juice, serve it on a ciabatta roll. It will melt in your mouth. Humongous flavor. It was a dish I made actually for Jay Leno when I was on the Tonight Show. (Dirty P, at right. ~D)

They said this is going to be one of the last cooking segments that Jay has. Can you bring the heat? Can I bring the heat? So I brought the heat. And I think this stage, I think they've repaired the stage now-- just kidding.

PHIL WEIDINGER: Out on 17. I'll understand you'll cook for some of the players. As they come by they'll have some bite-sized shots.
GUY FIERI: We're going to be taking care of -- being that we're on the 17th, we're almost at the end. Those that are in the real competitive streak at that point I imagine will probably blow by. But those that are playing their game like I play, oh, they'll probably be looking for cold beer as well.

PHIL WEIDINGER: We'll try to help them there.
GUY FIERI: Load up a cooler on the back of the monster cart.

PHIL WEIDINGER: Tell us about the monster cart that you just drove through the front gate in. Give us the blow by blow on this one.
GUY FIERI: It's built by a place called Smitty's, Smith Carts in Rohnert Park (website). And when I started looking at different golf carts, I said: I want this in a cart. I want that in a cart and started putting the ideas together. I'm a yellow fan. I have a yellow Corvette and yellow Jeep and Lambo. All my cars are yellow.

I said: I want something yellow. And I want it lifted because I'm into monster trucks.
Can you really do all that really that fast? So I wanted to have my monster cart, and I wanted to have it that big, and wanted a big lift kit and big tires.

Did you get it all? (Laughter).

So a little ADD. I get sidetracked once in a while. Bring it back to the shiny bell. What happened, I wanted all these things. I sat there with Ed Smith and I said, "Here's the list of things I would like to have on the cart. You tell me if this is possible. Stereo, lift kit, big tires. And I want it yellow. And I want it flamed. And I want tattoo artwork in it. And I want the seats to look like baseball glove, leather, and blah, blah, blah, and went on and on. And my final thing I want on it is I want it to be board and I want it to have nitro on it.

And he looked at me and he said, "I think we can do that." With no hesitation at all. So it took him about three months to build it. The first time I used it was when I was the Grand Marshal of NASCAR at Infineon. And it's a kick. And actually here's the funny thing about it, it's licensed to be on the road. That's scary.

PHIL WEIDINGER: The sheriffs have no problem letting you through the front gate.
GUY FIERI: They weren't too interested in me hitting the nitros button and cranking the tunes. Has a big stereo and sub woofer and all that and had to dial it back for -- I don't know why people want it quiet when they golf. Me -- I call it the Happy Gilmore style, if you can make a little noise so I'm not so on edge and shaking, it would be better.

PHIL WEIDINGER: Tell us, in the last couple of years you've rocketed to stardom. How many different shows are you on with the Food Network and tell us about some of the things you're doing?
GUY FIERI: Well, I have four different shows on the Food Network. My main show which everybody knows me by "Diners Drive-ins and Dives" where we tour around the country, visit funky joints all over.

Just got back from Cleveland. Oh, my gosh, if you haven't been to Cleveland recently, go to Cleveland. Some killer, Momocho's, Melt, Lucky's Cafe, some of the bomb -- off-the-hook joints.

My cooking show is called "Guy's Big Bite" and I have a studio live cooking show called "Guy Off the Hook" and then I'm the host of the another show, culinary competition against home chefs called "The Ultimate Recipe Showdown."

Between those four, I also have five restaurants in California. Just a couple in Sacramento and a couple in the wine country. Three called "Johnny Garlic's." Two are called Tex Wasabi's. And Tex Wasabi's, if you understand the golf cart and understand me and shorts and the chef coat, you'll understand that Tex Wasabi's is southern-style barbecue and sushi together again for the first time.

I also have two great boys, Hunter and Ryder, 13 and three. They're both down here with me. I was at a big event last night. Flew on a plane this morning to be on time to do this gig.

We have about 100 pounds of pork that we're getting to ready to make about 400 sandwiches. I brought my Kulinary Krew up here. We all run together with the Kulinary Gangsters, which everybody, that's a nice name.

So my whole crew is up here. They're out at the 17th cooking it up, and we're going to go make fire. Oh, we brought our T-shirt gun. You can't go to an event like this without loud music, lifted golf carts, spiky hair, sunglasses and a T-shirt gun.

So what we will be figuring out is whether or not we can launch one of the Pork El Fuego sandwiches out of the T-shirt gun. So stand by for that.

PHIL WEIDINGER: Have you been to any of our diners or dives here in Tahoe?
GUY FIERI: I haven't been here yet. I come up here to go skiing. My son and I snowboard. We were up here last year. And we've eaten, we've eaten at quite a few places. But I traditionally like to see that the places are recommended from the viewers. That's probably about 90 percent of the locations we go to.

People go to www.foodnetwork.com/diners-drive-ins-and-dives, and there's a place that says "Tell Guy Where to Go" (DDDinfo@mac.com) meaning places to visit. That's how the majority of them come about.

If you have any, we'd love to hear about it. For me, the real tough thing is when I have to go to a place I like to go to, oh, Tahoe, maybe we can just go there in the winter and shoot the show and I could snowboard and we can do that. Please, make the restaurants open around December-ish.

PHIL WEIDINGER: Where did the concept come from?
GUY FIERI: It came from our executive producer, crazy guy named David Page, who is an award-winning producer that won Emmies from Beirut and all kinds of, Berlin Wall, the whole thing.

He came up with the idea. He pitched it to Food Network. Food Network says, "Great, we'll take it." He said, "Okay, I've got my host ready and everything, we're ready to shoot." They said, "No, no, no. You're not going to use your guy. We have the guy we want you to use."

He said, "Oh, great is it Bobby Flay?" "No." "Is it Emeril?" "Not so much." "Rachel Ray?" "No, I don't think so. It's the guy that won the contest."

And he said he just saw all his hopes and dreams go down when it was me. Because I had won the show called "The Next Food Network Star." Kind of like American Idol for Food. Four years ago.

I was doing "Guy's Big Bite." I was cooking. Food Network knew they wanted me to do some other stuff, but they didn't know what. This dude calls me up and said, "What days are you free in August?"

I sent him my schedule. Sends me back an e-mail. I'll take them all. He took like 17 days, 12 days, whatever it was; who's counting. I don't like getting the facts right in the middle of a good story.

So anyhow, we go to New Jersey. I roll out of the car service, taking the red eye from California. I come out. I've got a tank top on and board shorts and flip-flops, and he looks at me and he says: "Is Guy with you?"

And I said, "I am Guy." And he goes, "Oh, okay. Do you have anything else you could wear?"

So I reach in my bag, and I pull out a bowling shirt. And I throw it on. It's all wrinkled. I go, "How's this?"

"Okay." He said, "Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go inside this diner here," the Bayway Diner in Linden, New Jersey. "Go interview this guy. Here's the questions I want you to ask."

And I'm just (snoring), "Uh-huh, I'll do all that."

I walk in. Next thing you know I'm serving coffee, flipping eggs, talking to the customers, talking to Mike the owner, going back and forth. It's crazy.

And he walks in finally after about 10 minutes. He goes, "Cut!" Jumps in front of the camera. He goes, "Come here." Takes me outside. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"The thing in there, the talking and the cooking and the moving and laughing and everything. I wanted you to interview the people. What was that part?"

I said, "I'm a restaurant dude. Restaurants, that's how we handle things. And that's what I think I'm doing."

He goes, "Can you do that again?"

"Can I do that again?" I said, "Oh, dude, I do that all day long."

He goes, "We have a winner!" And that was it, man. And then the show blew up. It's been the number one show on Food Network for about a year and a half, two years.

PHIL WEIDINGER: Where does the jewelry come from?
GUY FIERI: The bling. I get this at Blings R Us. Easy payment plan. I also got a blender with it.

No, the rings are my sons'. This is my son Hunter's ring. My son Ryder's ring. So my deal is I'll wear these rings until they're old enough to receive them, mature enough, mature enough to receive them.

And this is my wedding ring piston. There is a jeweler called 101, Room 101 down in Los Angeles (no website), makes jewelry for rockers. I said, "I'm a culinary rocker. Got any jewelry?" So this right here is kind of my logo, the skull chef. And that's about it. And a bunch of tattoos.

PHIL WEIDINGER: This is the 20th anniversary of the Celebrity Championship --
GUY FIERI: Fitting I should be here.

PHIL WEIDINGER: -- and I can guarantee you we've entered a new edge with Guy Fieri. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it.

(source)

Tickets on sale Monday for Fabulous Food Show, OH

Guy Fieri will be joined by Sandra Lee, Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence and Michael Symon at the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland, Ohio, Friday through Sunday, Nov. 13-15, 2009 the International Exposition Center. Tickets go on sale Monday, July 20th

Fab Food 2009 will include three major stages: the Main Kitchen Theatre, Taste of the Neighborhood (spotlighting Northeast Ohio culinary talent) and the 400-seat Culinary Celebration Stage. There will also be a Grand Tasting Pavilion, live demonstrations by chocolatiers and candy makers, demonstrations and 200 exhibitors.

One-day tickets are $25. Two- and three-day general admission tickets, which include entry to the show plus one celebrity chef performance, are $45 and $65, respectively.

Guy Fieri performs on Saturday, November 14 at 11:00 am, 1:45 pm and again at 5:45 pm. The 1:45 show has a VIP meet & greet immediately following the demonstration. Each exclusive VIP gourmet package includes:
- Guaranteed seat front and center within first two rows for selected chef performance in the Main Kitchen Theatre.
- 'Behind the scenes' meet & greet autograph reception with celebrity chef post performance.
- and more. Click here for more on the VIP package.

More information at www.fabulousfoodshow.com.

Related Posts:
Guy Fieri appearance in Tahoe, July 18, 2009
Food & Wine Fest in Atlantic City July 30 - Aug 2
Celebrity Food Show, Anaheim CA