Guy Fieri, "Diners, Dives, and Drive-Ins," etc.
Tim
course there was his trip to Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing a year
or so ago.
I've never met him, but I actually watched the season where he
competed for the "Next Food Network Star." (The year earlier, some
homosexual guys won, then promptly vanished, and the year after, the
woman who won never bothered to do a show and apparently decamped to
Europe).
He was fairly skilled in the NFNS show, and I expected early on for
him to win. Spiky peroxided hair and all, he had good restaurant
skills.
Since then, several of his shows (series, actually) have been pretty
good. The one where he cooks for his "buds" is pretty bad, but the
ones where he hits the road and shmoozes with various diner owners and
chefs is good. Mostly this is "Diners, Dives, and Drive-Ins," but he
also has had shows with other names. And guest appearances on various
short--time series or specials.
Of the several greater Bay Area places he has covered, I've also been
at several:
* the Felafel Drive-In, on Stevens Creek Boulevard and/or The Alameda
at roughly Bascom Avenue (in other words, a few blocks east of Valley
Fair South Coast Shoppingtown Earl's Court Southwick, or whatever the
latest name for "Valley Fair" is).
* Phil's Fish Market, Moss Landing, between Santa Cruz and Monterey
* Duarte's, Pescadero, between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay
All of these places are good tourist spots, which is his whole shtick.
Felafel Drive-In is more of a local spot, but very tourist-worthy.
Duarte's is pricy. I left once after seeing the new prices.
About his Santa Cruz proper visit, to the "Santa Cruz Diner," I have
nothing to say. The one time I entered, I was struck by the number of
dishes listed on the main board that were $9, $11, $14, etc. I left
without being seated.
(For a much better deal, I prefer Riva Fish House on the wharf, where
I can get a platter of beer-battered calamari and fries for under $10.
Or even cheaper places around town.)
(At least he has no pretenses about visting the tres chic places like
Theo's, Oswald, etc.)
So, I expect the staff picks places that are photogenic (but not _too_
photogenic, else the Santa Cruz Wharf places would've beat out the
Santa Cruz Diner any day of the year) and that somehow epitomize the
"Off the Hook!" and "This is Money!" slogans that Guy delivers so
well.
In other words, he seems relatively competent as a chef but he likes
to ham it up, a la the phrases he likes to use.
This works OK for t.v.
--Tim May
Dan Abel
<9c5ecaac-980a-4bdf...@f18g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
Tim <timot...@gmail.com> wrote:
> So, I've seen some mentions here of Guy Fieri in Santa Cruz, and of
> course there was his trip to Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing a year
> or so ago.
>
> I've never met him,
We saw him do a demo at the SonoMarin fair, many years ago. It was
mostly a promo for his restaurant, which was a couple of miles away, and
which we ate at a couple of times (Johnny Garlic's, which since closed,
although he has three remaining in the area):
> but I actually watched the season where he
> competed for the "Next Food Network Star."
I thought he was terrible, and expected nothing.
> He was fairly skilled in the NFNS show, and I expected early on for
> him to win. Spiky peroxided hair and all, he had good restaurant
> skills.
Since that show, his "showmanship" skills have improved enormously. As
far as his restaurant skills, he has been a successful restaurant owner
for many years, so I'm not surprised at that end.
> In other words, he seems relatively competent as a chef but he likes
> to ham it up, a la the phrases he likes to use.
>
> This works OK for t.v.
It's all about the show, not about the food.
--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA
da...@sonic.net
JC Dill
>
> * the Felafel Drive-In, on Stevens Creek Boulevard and/or The Alameda
> at roughly Bascom Avenue (in other words, a few blocks east of Valley
> Fair South Coast Shoppingtown Earl's Court Southwick, or whatever the
> latest name for "Valley Fair" is).
I think you mean Stevens Creek and/or San Carlos Ave. El Camino Real
turns into Alameda. Alameda is ~ 1 mile to the north of Stevens
Creek/San Carlos.
jc