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Going Inside the Food Network: Guy Fieri's Live Taping

partysugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:00:33 -0700

Last Sunday afternoon, I went to the Chelsea market, home of the Food Network Studios in New York City, to watch a live taping of a new Guy Fieri show. The one-hour long special, Guy's Family Feast, focuses on Guy's family and will air sometime in December or January. To find out what it was like to view the taping, read more.

Upon arrival in the studio the atmosphere is intense. The seating director looked me up and down and decided where I would sit in the audience.
Before the show started, a comedian named Q trained the audience how to clap, when to cheer, and told us not to look directly into the cameras.
Everything is incredibly scripted. Several TV monitors list instructions so Guy knows when to "chop bell peppers" or "place the meat in marinade."
There are some fun videos including the intro to the special: Guy, clad in a black leather jacket, runs through the streets on New York, sliding over taxi cabs, jumping over mailboxes, before he bursts into the studio to cook.

His entire family participated in the shoot. His son chopped onions, his wife and father cracked crab, his mother went to the market to purchase shrimp, and his sister helped make granola.
Although Guy made four dishes (pork with bok choy pasta, cioppino, granola, and a banana malt shake), there was minimal cooking involved in the taping. He probably only spent about 10 minutes actually cooking.
The shoot was broken into six segments with five commercial breaks in between the segments. During each break a team of five to six Food Network chefs would totally change the kitchen. The raw pork Guy placed in the oven was replaced with a perfectly cooked piece of pork. The trash was emptied, the counters were whipped clean, the floor was swept, etc.
The audience was given a mini pork sandwich at the third commercial break and a bag of cookies at the fourth.
After the show was finished filming, the audience had to stay seated for extra camera shots.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed the experience. The show sort of felt like a test of Guy Fieri's skills. The network is obviously looking for someone to fill Emeril Lagasse's live-cooking-show shoes. Still, I'm excited to see the finished product. What do you think of my observations? Will you tune into Guy's Family Feast?

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Guy Fieri: Love Him or Leave Him?

partysugar — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:00:11 -0700

It seems as if Guy Fieri is everywhere these days. Not only does he host three popular shows on the Food Network, but starting next month, Fieri is going on tour with a culinary demo that he describes as "food, rock n' roll, and everything they won't let me do on TV." There's talks of a reality show documenting the 21-city tour, and Fieri is also launching a line of kitchen knives - one of which is called The Dragon Dagger. While Fieri is certainly an overwhelming personality, when I met him, I was surprised at how nice and down-to-earth he seemed. How do you feel about him?

Celebrities and Chefs Converge at New York Food Festival

YumSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:40:43 -0700

This past weekend, Food Network's famous hosts, New York's foremost chefs, and other celebrated figures came together to attend the New York City Wine and Food Festival.

The four-day event was chock-full of demos, discussions, and, of course, parties. Food Network favorite Giada De Laurentiis and actress Alicia Silverstone signed copies of their books. Former President Bill Clinton, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Rachael Ray talked about tackling childhood obesity. Everyone, including fellow network stars Guy Fieri and Giada De Laurentiis, turned out for the biggest event of the festival, Rachael Ray's Burger Bash.

Want to know who else was there - and who took top honors at the Burger Bash? Find out when you keep reading.

Guy Fieri: He's Off the Hook

partysugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:20:27 -0700

Last week I had the chance to speak with Food Network's Guy Fieri. He's the host of three shows - Guy's Big Bite, Diners, Drive-ins, Dives, and Guy Off the Hook - and winner of the Next Food Network Star season two. Filming keeps him incredibly busy, but in his spare time, the celebrity chef - who prefers hot dogs to hamburgers and mustard to ketchup - continues to experiment in the kitchen. He's deeply passionate about food, especially food education for children, and encourages "people to get on the food train." Fieri and I talked about his upcoming appearance at New York City Wine and Food Festival, and I got to see a softer side of the "in it to win it" bad-boy chef.

To see what Fieri had to say when we chatted, read more.

PartySugar: Tell us about your role at the Food Festival.
Guy Fieri: I'm new to the whole food festival thing. My first one was last February in South Beach. I'll be doing a live filming of Off the Hook. It will be two one-hour taped specials featuring all kinds of good food. Anybody that's into food, chefs, cooking, partying - they should go to the festival.

PartySugar: At a festival so large, do any chefs make you star struck?
Guy Fieri: No, not star struck. I'm a big fan of a lot of chefs. I love what Emeril created. Bobby is a bad-ass. Rachael took this whole world and turned it into a new realm. Everyone is the King/Queen of their own kitchen, so I respect them all.

PartySugar: Out of all the seasons of the Next Food Network Star, you are the only one who actually became a FN star; why do you think that is?
Guy Fieri: If I had that answer, I would be churning out new stars for the network! I made who I wanted to become. I did things my way. I don't know really. Divine intervention, perhaps?

PartySugar: Have you ever had a bad experience at one of the diners, drive-ins, or dives?
Guy Fieri: Oh yeah. There's no reason to lie. I'm not a food critic. I usually look at the recipes and can tell what will be good and what won't be.

PartySugar: What's in your fridge?
Guy Fieri: Let me open it for you! Organic blackberry preserves, sriracha, six different jars of olives, 10 kinds of mustard, sesame oil, horseradish, fish sauce, unsalted butter, salted butter. I'm sort of a mad scientist when it comes to cooking. I love every type of condiment and sauce. The vegetable drawer is kind of empty. It's only got red pepper, onion, carrots, new potatoes, celery, and beets. The cheese drawer has three kinds of salami, six cheeses, parmesan reggiano. In the freezer I have bacon cut into small portions 'cause my son likes to have a little bacon at breakfast. Smoked elk sausages, spaetzel that I made, capers.

PartySugar: What's your advice to the everyday home cook?
Guy Fieri: Make two new things every week! Break out new recipes, try new ingredients, experiment with new things. Don't make a whole meal of new dishes for your family, but if you want to give curry a try, make your usual rice, vegetables the kids like, a salad, and then the curry. That way if no one likes the new thing, there is still other stuff they can eat. Don't be discouraged when something goes wrong. But really food is so awesome, everyone can do it. The common denominator between humankind is food. It's empowering to cook.

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The Next Food Network Star - 3.3 Recap

YumSugar — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:03:18 -0700

Last night's episode of The Next Food Network Star saw the Food Network hopefuls prepping signature chocolate dishes for NBA royalty, as well as serving up courtside food for the fans. It also took us from eight chefs down to six. That's right, in one fell swoop we lost two contestants. So who went home and who got to stick around in hopes of becoming a star? To get my full recap, read more

Everything kicks off with the chefs being greeted by last year's FNS winner, and current Food Network darling, Guy Fieri, who is quickly joined by NBA star Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins. They immediately inform the chefs that they have 45 minutes to create a chocolate dish that reflects their point of view. Once the dishes are finished, they then have 30 seconds to present it, along with a tip on chocolate, to the camera. Some of the contestants nail it, while others completely miss the mark (Michael didn't even look at the camera). Once everyone is done, it's JAG - who even snuck in an "It'll be a knock out baby!" catch phrase - who wins with his Mexican styled tempura with chocolate mole sauce.

After the chocolate challenge, they are given $300 to create a dish to serve, in hot-dog vendor style carts, at the next New Jersey Nets basketball game.

Once the food is prepped, they go about "selling" it to the customers. I'm not sure how Tommy thought anyone could eat a sandwich with a softball-sized meatball in it, but he did. Amy also thought Nets fans would be into quesadillas made with goat cheese. Paul almost poisons everyone with undercooked burgers, and I just loved how Rory specifically wore a low-cut shirt to help her sell!

In the end Adrien is declared victor with bacon wrapped mushrooms (see?! everything tastes better with bacon!) and the sadly lackluster Tommy and the spacey Colombe (who actually said, "Where might I find cinnamon? They're all alphabetized.") are asked to leave.

Right now nothing's certain, but I think I'm rooting for Adrien - he seems pretty likable and the camera loves him. Also, I feel pretty confident in saying that even if JAG turns out to be the most talented of the bunch, he's too much like Guy Fieri to win and unless Paul tones it down soon, he'll be "spinning out" sooner rather than later. What do you guys think? Who's your favorite?

Oh and my favorite part of the episode? When Colombe tells Guy the chips and sauce are store-bought and Guy asks her what she's actually cooking. Hrmmm... I'm guessing Guy and Food Network's Sandra Lee don't see eye to eye?

Should TV Chefs Be Responsible For Promoting Eco-Friendly Cooking?

YumSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:00:26 -0700

When we recently disagreed with the assertion that cooking shows are too unrealistic, many of you seemed to share our opinion that food TV can actually be rather inspiring. Well, here's another question for you to ponder: Should TV chefs serve as role models?

In a Huffington Post article titled "Nasty Habits of Food Network Celebrities," columnist Isabel Cowles criticizes Food Network chefs like Giada De Laurentiis, Sandra Lee, and Guy Fieri for "encouraging wasteful, unhealthy behavior."Cowles derides De Laurentiis for using (and not recycling) nearly 1,000 square inches of aluminum foil on an episode of Everyday Italian. She frowns on Sandra Lee's use of packaged foods that come in more bags, bottles, and packaging. She doesn't approve of a chili recipe by Guy Fieri that calls for four pounds of meat from three animals, which, she maintains, encourages the reckless consumption of big-agriculture meat. Cowles argues:

The image these chefs are creating of our country's food ethos and practices wreaks of wastefulness, over-indulgence, and laziness. The Food Network and its celebrity chefs should inspire Americans to savor quality food and the entire process of making a meal . . . It's a shame that these chefs don't use their popularity to truly help improve how Americans cook and eat.

I'm curious to hear what you think. Are television chefs being wasteful? Is it their responsibility to serve as an example for the rest of us? Should cooking shows lead the way in encouraging America to reduce its kitchen carbon footprint - or is society expecting a little too much?

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Who Had The Hardest Commercial?

partysugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:45:57 -0700

Last night on the Next Food Network Star the final three had to make a promotional commercial for their show and create an over the top buffet for Las Vegas performers. Former NFNS winner, Guy Fieri, coached the contestants and acted as the guest judge.

While each finalist ran into certain obstacles (Lisa burned her pork, Aaron bombed his introduction, and Adam went smoking crazy), I felt like the promos were totally unfair. Lisa flew through a huge wine cellar and Adam learned a choreographed dance, but Aaron simply walked around a casino.

Did you watch? Whose commercial was the most difficult to shoot?

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Guy Fieri, Other Food Personalities Face Identity Theft

YumSugar — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:00:24 -0700

The fashion world may claim that fakes are never in style, but lately, the food world sure has seen a lot of them. Take Food Network star Guy Fieri, who's living the good life - in three short years, he went from unassuming restaurateur to TV star and TGI Friday's spokesperson. But apparently, his life is looking so good that somebody actually wants to be him. "So check this out," Fieri recently twittered. "Some cat is playin me in KC. Crazy, just for da record. I am home."

Indeed, a Fieri fake was passing himself off as the real Guy at a Kansas City Royals game on Monday night. Sporting the trademark spiky platinum hairdo and Ray-Ban sunglasses, the faux Fieri even managed to get interviewed by a Fox Sports Net reporter. Check out the footage when you read more.

Fieri's identity is not the only one to be highly sought-after. The online food world has seen several cases of stolen Twitter accounts - or what food blog Eater has dubbed "twidentity theft." New York Times food critic Frank Bruni (@frankbruni) and New York Daily News reviewer Danyelle Freeman (@restaurantgirl) have both fallen victim to twidentity theft. Freeman is taking legal measures claiming trademark infringement.

Do you find this new wave of identity theft to be as bizarre as I do? What are your thoughts on this issue?

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Food Network's Cooking Up a Magazine

YumSugar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:12:39 -0700

In case its around-the-clock food shows aren't enough for you, Food Network has announced it will test-launch a new cooking magazine.

The 160-page debut issue of the aptly titled Food Network Magazine will hit shelves on Oct. 14 with a rather limited distribution of 300,000 copies. In the glossy, television personalities Ina Garten, Paula Deen, Tyler Florence, Alton Brown, and Guy Fieri will offer readers tips, tricks, and recipes not demonstrated on their shows, plus behind-the-scenes looks at the network's sets and kitchens.

Should the periodical prove successful, a follow-up issue is slated for January 2009. Let's just hope the magazine is more creative than its title.

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Photo Gallery: 2009 New York City Wine and Food Festival

YumSugar — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:19:52 -0700

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