Guy Fieri: Rockin’ Out the Road Show
Win 2 tickets to see The Guy Fieri Ultimate Road Show at Horseshoe Casino - Southern Indiana on December 5th!
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(No Purchase Necessary - Must register by November 30th, 2009)
Guy Fieri — accomplished cook, restaurant owner, Food Network star and author — is best known for combining a rock ’n’ roll attitude with everyday cooking. With his bleached blond hair, earrings and goatee, Fieri (pronounced Fee-ed-ee) has injected his personality into his wildly successful shows on Food Network, including “Guy’s Big Bite,” “Guy Off the Hook,” “Ultimate Recipe Showdown” and “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives,” revolutionizing the cooking and entertainment industry forever.
With all of his recent success, Fieri has recently announced a high-energy culinary road show stopping in 21 cities in just 30 days, including a stop at Horseshoe Casino & Hotel in Southern Indiana on Dec. 5, 2009. The show features cooking stations, cooking demonstrations, a live DJ spinning tunes, a rolling 6-foot blender, behind-the-scenes stories from the road and much more.
Southern Gaming recently caught up with Fieri to talk about the upcoming tour, passion for culinary creations and his energetic personality. He shared his own personal tips and suggestions, like his casual “quick fix” meal, the secret to a great cheeseburger, and his favorite types of food to cook. It is obvious that Fieri brings passion, style and energy into his cooking.
Southern Gaming: Since you premiered on the Food Network in 2006, it seems like everything you’ve touched has turned to gold. What has the ride been like for you, and what do you attribute that success to?
Guy Fieri: Attributing is probably the biggest factor. I use the analogy to being a pro quarterback. I think you have to be a great athlete, you have to be good. But if you don’t have a great front line or don’t have a good team surrounding you, then you’re going to taste the dirt a lot more often. I got to be honest with you, I am a very blessed man. I’ve been blessed to be around great people and great producers. The Food Network has treated me incredibly well.
I staffed my team with all kind of pros, a great manager, great attorney and great agent who can likely change a tire while the car is still rolling. I think the overall success is a culmination of things. I was a chef and owned my restaurants long before I was with Food Network, so I was in the zone of doing business and handling opportunities inside and out. So I think that was really one of the biggest parts. I do what I’ve always been doing, but now it just so happens to be that I am on a mega ride.
It’s far greater, bigger and more outrageous than I ever thought it would be. At first I was just happy to be on the Food Network. I thought, “That’s cool, I can meet Emeril, Paula, Bobby and Rachael!” Then I would go back and do my restaurant thing. When I went on my trip to New York, it was like I got onto a little single-engine plane, and it turned into the space shuttle.
SG: What have been some of the highlights since you started with Food Network?
GF: When I was young, I was lucky to be a kid with dreams about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was an exchange student in France when I was 16, and I remember writing my mom and dad and saying, “OK, I know what I’m going to be — I’m going to be a chef and I’m going to open a restaurant.”
I had already been into cooking and doing the whole thing, but when I went to France and tried the food … it was a 180-degree change from what I ate in the United States. It wasn’t like the food in the United States wasn’t good, but it was just like, “Wow!” That was the beginning of it … I was so blessed that my parents understood my passion, and everything I did worked into that.
I also think one of the reasons I rose to a point where I’d be able to open my first restaurant at 26 was because I’d always been channeling everything in that direction. So when the Food Network opportunity came about, I was as capable as anybody could be. Now we are in it to win it — these shows and opportunities and developments are mind-blowing to me. Every once in a while, I sit back and look around and think, “Wow, who dropped the throttle on this thing?”
SG: Do you have input on the concepts and places you visit on the shows?
GF: I have a lot of influence. Because I’m a hands-on person, I’m not OK with being involved in a show that is just going to point-and-click, and then I’m just going to walk on and say whatever. I’m me, I’m Guy. I am a chef, a dad, an owner … and all of these different things. There is just no way I’m going to lend myself to something that I really don’t feel I have creative influence over or participation in. Not because I have the “I’m the greatest star in the world” kind of attitude. If I’m going to do it and I am going to put my name on it, I am going to be involved in it.
When it comes to “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives,” we have a research team who looks at thousands of locations, and they narrow it down, and then it comes to me and we have a discussion about how it’s going to go, where it’s going to go, what we’re going to eat and what we’re going to try. But I have a really good team that knows what I like and how I like it. Probably 80 percent of the joints we go to have come from recommendations from people, from our viewers.
I just got finished shooting a show called “Ultimate Recipe Showdown,” and I gave my input on just about every facet of the show. It is important that I have creative opportunity. If I’m going to be responsible to speak about it, I’m going to be responsible to teach it, I am going to be responsible to portray it. I worked with some awesome production companies, but sometimes it does make me nervous to think that everything I’ve touched has done so well. I am sure there will be a time when things don’t, but for the time being, we’re still going straight up.
SG: You recently announced “The Guy Fieri Road Show” touring 21 cities in 30 days, including a stop at Horseshoe Casino in Southern Indiana. Can you tell us how you came up with this concept of a high-energy cooking show and what fans can expect to see?
GF: Well, the idea came about, and it was kind of a development. Everything just rolled into the next thing and grew, and it’s now just out of control. Now, I’m not throwing watermelons at people or going crazy on stage or anything. I’m just doing what’s natural while I’m up there. The more wild the crowd gets, the more wild I usually end up getting. I try to think about what I like to see when I go to a cooking demo. I say, “Well, I like to hear stories. I like to understand what the food is about. I like to understand the person who’s conducting the demo.”
So basically, I put all of these components together, and as I started to do that, I said, “I’ll change it around, morph it,” and that was it. I was just doing it because there was the opportunity to do it. Then some of my agents saw me doing the show and said, “That show is pretty wild, what do you think about taking it on the road?” And I said, “What do you mean, get out of town?” And they said, “No, seriously, like show people. You can be heavily involved, let’s take this to the next step. We’re going build you a stage, we’re going to get you two tour buses, we’re going to bring 15 people on the road — this is going to be a full-blown, off-the-hook adventure.” So we developed the show and tested it out, and people went nuts.
What can they expect? Culinary is the main part of it, but if I don’t laugh once every five minutes, something is wrong. We talk about some different culinary styles and share a lot of stories about being on the road doing Triple D (Diner’s, Drive-ins & Dives) and shooting “Guy’s Big Bite” and all that kind of stuff. Then there is the audience. We’ve got this 25-gallon blender — a big monster, 6-foot-high rolling blender of thunder that is out of this world. There’s all kinds of stuff going on.
If you love music and are into the party environment and want to have a good time and entertain yourself in all the capacities or things that I’m involved in, that is how it comes together. I tell folks this: There are no two shows alike. Every crowd is different, and the energy is different, but people are showing up to these venues, showing up to these gigs with poster boards, “We love Guy!” I mean, they’re lining up at 6 in the morning for a 4 p.m. show, I don’t know what to say about it, but it is just getting off the hook. And so we feel the responsibility the show has to deliver. No, we don’t have pyrotechnics, and we don’t have any stage-diving, although I did try that once. It’s just a really good time cooking food, hanging out, telling stories, having some food and throwing a party.
SG: When you are away from the television and from your own restaurants, what meals do you like to cook?
GF: I’m big on Italian, so I always tend to revert to pastas and olive oils, but my style of cooking is so eclectic. When asked to describe my cooking show, there are no boundaries. My parents started me on sushi at 9 years old, back before there were sushi bars on every corner. I had a pretty diversified taste. I love it all.
SG: What makes the perfect cheeseburger?
GF: Well, you start by going to your butcher and asking him to grind out the meat right then and there so it is as fresh as can be. Then, get a really good sharp cheddar cheese or high-grade Swiss. A good cheeseburger depends on quality. I’m not an over-do-it-on-flavor kind of guy. If you’re looking to make a great cheeseburger, it starts with great meat and the sauce you cook it with. I like to cook over wood or good charcoal bouquets with salt and pepper and let the natural fat and juices come together. Melt the cheese appropriately, serve it medium rare with a nice bun that’s not too heavy, with crisp lettuce, a slice of heirloom tomato and even some good, thick hickory-smoked bacon.
SG: We noticed you made a big splash when you were in Louisville for the Derby this year. Do you plan on coming back?
GF: Let me tell you this, and this is no joke, I love all the events we’ve been to. I love going to the Super Bowl. I love going to all of the big NASCAR races. I’m a huge sports fan. But if you want me to tell you about one of the weekends in my years that I definitely want to go back to, hands down, it is the Kentucky Derby. It was so outrageous. It was full of pride and history. I love the Derby! You can tell about my enthusiasm — I love the Derby and certainly want to go back.
SG: Did you get a chance to have a Kentucky Hot Brown or Mint Julep while you were there? Would you change either of the two if you made them?
GF: I thought the Mint Julep was great — very refreshing, especially when I was drinking out of some gold, thousand-dollar cup! (Referring to the Woodford Reserve Gold Cup that was sold for charity.) I am also a big fan of the Hot Brown. I have had Hot Browns that I like and Hot Browns that I love. I think the more savory the Hot Brown is, those the ones I am the biggest fan of. I’ve tried to explain to people what a Hot Brown is, and they are like, “Hot who?” But when anybody tries one, they become a fan.
Fast Facts on Guy Fieri
Hobbies: dirt bikes, hot rods, snow boards, rock concerts
Sports teams: Oakland Raiders
Favorite bands: Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Lindell, Cowboy Mouth
Ultimate dream vacation: Going to Europe with the family. I would like to start in France and go all the way down to Switzerland. A big tour with the family would be great.
Pet peeves: I’m not into negative energy. Negative energy is probably the one thing I’m not down with.
Ticket Info:
For more special hotel & dinner packages for Guy Fieri’s Ultimate Roadshow at Horseshoe Casino Hotel on December 5th, visit HorseshoeIndiana.com or call 1-866-676-SHOE. Tickets are also available at Ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000.
