Latest news with #andDives
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Guy Fieri on His Favorite Food Destinations—and the Surprising Restaurant He Says Is Always Worth a Detour: Exclusive
Even when the cameras aren't rolling, Guy Fieri will go the distance for a good meal. Whether he's in the Boston area for work or stopping by his Connecticut restaurant at Foxwoods, he prioritizes a visit to Olneyville NY System in Providence, Rhode Island, for its hot dogs topped with meat sauce, onions, and celery salt. 'My mouth waters just thinking about it,' the restaurateur and host of Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives since 2007 told Travel + Leisure at a Waterloo Sparkling Water event in New York City earlier this month. 'If I'm anytime within distance of it, we divert. We will go and get a dozen of these dogs, no problem.' Mileage is a non-factor when it comes to scouring the world for the most flavorful eats. 'It's funny because on Triple D [the show's nickname], all the time, I'll take a bite of something and say that it's worth an hour drive to come get this meal,' he said. Now the 57-year-old has taken his flavor-driven love of travel to the next level by launching a trio of sparkling water flavors with Waterloo, each capturing a destination dear to his heart. The Columbus, Ohio-born, Northern California-raised television personality has spent an abundance of time throughout his life in the Mexican town of Colima, which he says is best known for its 'big volcano.' In his 20s, his mom, who is a retired dental hygienist, and his dad would head there with a huge shipping container full of dental equipment. 'They were going and working at an orphanage that had 500 kids,' he explained. 'They would bring down their dentist friends and do free dental work on these orphans.' While helping the local community, the family started to explore the Mexican coastal cities in the states of Colima and Jalisco, vacationing on their beaches and eventually getting a home in the area. 'We spent a lot of time in Mexico—love it there!' he said. On one visit nearly two decades ago, his son Hunter, now 28, came back with a cup of mixed fruit, which Fieri was absolutely taken by. 'He's got pineapple, watermelon, mango, and gosh, you can taste the difference in the fruit in Mexico,' the food expert then the key ingredient came out when Hunter revealed a little container of Tajin, a Mexican seasoning powder made of chili peppers, lime, and sea salt. 'I was like, 'What are you doing? Don't put seasoned salt on that.' He remembered of his shock, 'I take a bite and am like, 'Whoa! You've got to be kidding me!' It accentuates it!' Likening it to adding salt to a flat cream sauce, he couldn't believe what a difference a sprinkle of the Tajin made. 'That little bit of that seasoned spice mixture on top of the fruit brings it up to the next level,' he said. That core memory sparked the idea for one of his three sparkling water flavors, with a version of that kicked-up fruit sensation in Spiced Mango or aisle? destination for cheap eats? destination for fine dining? underrated food city?I'm a big Chicago food city restaurant there?La Scarola. It's a great little Italian restaurant. It feels like you're walking into a mob flavor was sparked by his wife growing up not far from his beloved hot dog joint in North Providence. 'If you ever have a chance to go down to Narragansett Beach, it's just an amazing place,' he said. 'Coming from the West Coast, I'd never seen the East Coast beaches, so we'd go there, and Del's Lemonade is the big thing that everybody has.' His goal was to capture that throwback feeling of aimless summer days strolling down the boardwalk with the frozen snack in hand in his Lemon Italian Ice flavor. To do so, he honed in on the most flavorful part of the fruit, 'the peel of the lemon where the essence of the oil of the lemon comes from,' to create a sensation so 'far beyond what anybody has ever done with citrus-enhanced soda water.' For the final flavor in the Waterloo line, it was less about a single place, and more about chasing a particular tarty taste. 'As a chef, you go to regions that have huckleberry, and you can find huckleberry everywhere, but then you go around the rest of the country, you're not going to find it as prolifically,' Fieri admitted. He thinks he first came across the berry in West Virginia, where his dad is from. 'It just reminds me of every time I would come back to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the whole Appalachian area,' he said, adding that he often stumbled upon them during his travels through Amish Country, where they grow the best. 'It's one of those things that when it's available, you find it everywhere—huckleberry jam in huckleberry restaurants that have it on their huckleberry pies.' With that idea, he started thinking about the best way to enjoy the tart berry, and came up with the Huckleberry Cobbler flavor. 'The whole reason that Waterloo is dominating is because they have a really big imagination, and they were able to take it and figure it out,' the host said. All three flavors bring up happy travel memories, but Fieri admits if he had to choose a favorite, it would be the Spiced Mango Sorbet because of how he learned to spice the tropical fruit for his family. With the 51st season of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives airing now—and its season finale scheduled for May 23—Fieri is still searching for the best eats around the U.S. But when he's back in his NorCal home in Santa Rosa, he's quick to say his favorite place to eat is 'my house!' While he doesn't eat out often back home, he says one of his favorites is Tomi Thai in nearby Windsor. 'That's what I had last night,' he said during our April 10 interview. 'A great family runs it, and they're busy as can be. We couldn't even get them on Triple D!' Despite scouring the world for the best eats, there are still places Fieri has yet to flavor-hunt through, with Turkey at the top of his list. But anywhere he goes in the world, he has the right chef pal to show him the way. 'If I was going to go to Thailand, it would be Jet Tila,' he said. 'If I was going to go to China, it would be Ming Tsai. If I was going to go to Japan, it would be Shota Nakajima. If I was going to go to Italy, it would probably be Antonio La Fauci. I could take you around the world!' No matter where he goes, a good meal leaves a deep impression. When I commented that his face is painted all over the mural at one of my favorites in my hometown of San Jose, California, he beats me to the punch, enthusiastically shouting: 'Falafel's Drive In!' and adding that 'it was one of the neatest falafel joints I'd ever been to!' Related: Chef Emeril Lagasse on His Favorite Food City—and What He Never Eats on a Plane: Exclusive Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fehrenbacher's owner: Gainesville "business booming" since appearance on popular food show
Gainesville got a taste of Flavortown when Guy Fieri brought his iconic Food Network show to some of the town's local eateries. One of the Flavortown mayor's stops in Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives was Fehrenbacher's Meats & Eats on the episode "African, Sicilian and Sausage" that aired on March 14. The business has been booming since its appearance and Fieri warned him of a Flavortown wave. A day after the episode premiered, an out-of-town couple drove an hour and a half to eat his food, said Adam Fehrenbacher, owner of the eatery located in the 4th Ave Food Park in the Porters neighborhood. "This has had a positive impact and that kind of publicity for a small business is fantastic and to have that kind of exposure is great," Fehrenbacher said. Food Park: Restaurant news: Feliz Flavors brings ice cream and happiness to food park Fieri was genuine and offered advice on how to grow an up-and-coming small business, Fehrenbacher said The next Gainesville eateries featured in Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives' latest season include Bingo Deli & Pub, Germain's Chicken Sandwiches, Humble Wood Fire Bagel Shop, The Paper Bag Deli and Uppercrust Bakery. The appearance of the business on the popular show was sparked when Fehrenbacher received and email one afternoon from Citizen Productions that led to a producer conducting a four-hour interview with Fehrenbacher about the meat market and deli. "They interviewed several places around town and picked the best businesses that best fit their show with the most marketability and what's exciting," Fehrenbacher said. "I got an email six weeks later that said hey, welcome to Triple D family!" How the show found out about his business is still a mystery to him, but he is delighted they chose to feature his business, Fehrenbacher said. He added the "showrunners" asked him for six menu items in which Fieri ultimately selected two items to feature - "The Intimidator", a sausage sandwich with hot pepper relish, and a weekly special sandwich called the "Lamb Mediterranean", a merguez with barley tabouleh, chickpeas, buttermilk dressing, and red cabbage. "We make all of our sausages here by hand in house, all original, proprietary recipes," Fehrenbacher said. "We went through the process of making the sausages, the hot pepper relish, the hot sauce and assembling the dish." This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Guy Fieri visits Gainesville Florida to feature local eateries
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gainesville restaurants to be featured on Guy Fieri's 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives'
Food Network star Guy Fieri's visit to Gainesville in mid-December was more than just a promotional stop for his and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar's tequila brand, Santo Spirits. The "Mayor of Flavortown," as he is known, also stopped at several Gainesville restaurants for the filming of his signature show, "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." According to an Alachua County press release, the first episode to include a Gainesville eatery is titled "African, Sicilian & Sausage," and will feature Fehrenbacher's Meats & Eats, a butcher shop, retail store and deli located in the 4th Ave Foot Park. The show will air Friday at 9 p.m. on the Food Network. According to the release, filming for the show also took place at Bingo Deli & Pub, Germain's Chicken Sandwiches, Humble Wood Fire Bagel Shop, The Paper Bag Deli and Uppercrust Bakery. Local news: Gainesville dining scene expands with new Indian, Mexican restaurants serving up bold flavors Visit Gainesville, Alachua County partnered with Working Food Kitchens, a local nonprofit whose mission is to "cultivate and sustain a resilient local food community" to introduce the "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" production team to local culinary entrepreneurs, the release said. The production team was provided with gift bags, which included food samples and local information. The release notes that the county in recent years has served as the backdrop for "dozens of diverse projects, including a major streaming series, documentaries, and commercial shoots for local, national, and international brands." "Our county's unique blend of scenic beauty, rich culture, and supportive infrastructure makes it an ideal location for filmmakers," said Tourism and Economic Development Director Jessica Hurov in the release. "We are committed to fostering a welcoming environment for the film industry." This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville restaurants to be featured on Food Network series
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gene Hackman fans turn his favourite restaurants into memorial
Gene Hackman's fans have turned his favourite restaurants in Santa Fe, New Mexico, into a memorial ground for the late actor. The 95-year-old star, who died in February alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, was a regular at Jinja Bar Bistro, where admirers are now filling the spot with flowers and notes in his memory. Gene, known for roles in 'The French Connection' and 'Unforgiven', was found dead in his Santa Fe home on 26 February. Authorities believe he died on 17 February, based on the last recorded activity of his pacemaker. His wife was discovered in a separate room, near a space heater and an open bottle of prescription pills, including medication for thyroid issues, Tylenol, and blood pressure tablets. Doug Lanham, the owner of Jinja Bar and Bistro and a former business partner of Gene's, told TMZ: 'He was a dear friend and would sometimes drop in for a bite or to pay patrons' tabs.' He added Gene was also a talented painter, and many of his artworks remain displayed on the walls of the restaurant. Another of the actor's favourite spots was Harry's Roadhouse. Its owner, Kathleen O'Brien, 61, told 'I've known Gene and his wife for over 30 years. He was a beloved, beloved regular of ours.' She said Gene was 'never presumptuous' and was 'always kind and very generous, always quick to smile and make a wry joke'. Kathleen went on: 'We were always giving them the space to be very private people.' She recalled an encounter in 2008 when Gene visited Harry's Roadhouse as Guy Fieri was filming an episode of 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives'. Kathleen added: 'That was crazy. They were taping, and Gene happened to be coming in for a business meeting for a book he was writing. 'One of Guy's assistants came running into the kitchen as they were shooting, and said, 'Guy, Gene Hackman is here!' 'Guy Fieri ran right out of the kitchen and grabbed Gene, and they sat down at the counter and had a conversation for 45 minutes.'
