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Photo: Food Network.
Not 24 hours later, a "Saturday Night Live" skit portrayed the "Next Food Network Star" winner being pecked to death by birds.
So why are the cool kids picking on Guy?
I want to go to a party at Food TV superstar Guy Fieri's house. I imagine pyramids of glistening pork ribs and snow shovels full of hush puppies. I dream of patiently standing in line by the pool waiting for margaritas to be blasted into my open mouth by a fire hose while AC/DC blares over the loudspeaker.
You know what you're going to get with this dude. He's fun, entertaining and totally lacking in subtlety -- a one-man tailgate upon which nary a Michelin star shines. His contribution to the tired fusion trend was to awkwardly pair barbecue with sushi. He is who he is; now buy a book.
Yet plenty of critics despise him, and I'll admit, he's easy to hate on. A little too easy. Fieri is a loud, garish frat man who shills a cuisine based on five simple tastes: salty, crunchy, meaty, spicy and chocolatey. As a television personality, he's a cross between Billy Mays and Emeril Lagasse, drenched in nacho cheese. Oh and the hair bleach. The hair bleach! How it burns.
A recent Daily Beast essay likened Fieri to Glenn Beck, the partisan political talk show host famous for his divisive ranting. The epicurean world seems, according to this article, to be split into two camps: armchair gourmets against Guy and for gastronomic purity, and boorish gluttons. Foodies just love to beat up the poor galoot. The only people who give Guy any respect are his accountants.
To many, food is escapist entertainment. Guy Fieri is not Jean-Luc Godard; he's Michael Bay. His dishes explode with brash flavors and fill the belly. On "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," he interviews hometown cooks who sling grub designed to immediately tickle the brain's pleasure centers. To his television viewers and visitors to his restaurant chain, Johnny Garlic's Pasta Grill, he sells a style of food that's the equivalent of the Fourth of July: nosh meant to draw a crowd, burst with colors and inspire applause.
For some self-proclaimed "foodies," though, dinner is a basis of self-definition -- and this sheds some light on their revulsion to Guy and all he represents. These gastro-groupies revere serious chefs who aren't satisfied with just stuffing faces, but who use haute techniques and obscure ingredients to transcend culinary expectations.
And like many lovers of high arts, these people are frequently humorless. At worst, they deride that which they fear. In Guy Fieri's case, the fear is that the vast majority of the population just doesn't think their sophisticated passion is really that important. Fieri is the living representation of the uber-American appetite, and sadly, it is not interested in molecular gastronomy or subversive deconstructions of classic dishes. Look on the bright side: more nitrogen ice cream, sous-vide quail and foams for fans.
I have never believed that high and low cuisine are mutually exclusive. Years ago, a close friend of mine, the very first foodie I ever met, introduced me to two things he loved dearly. The first was sushi, specifically, toro or tuna belly. I had never been particularly adventurous with food, and my Texas-born self resisted the whole notion of "raw fish." He patiently explained to me why I should love it and what I was supposed to expect. He counseled me to I focus on the buttery texture of the fish. I was hooked.
A few weeks later, he took me to have the sloppiest cheeseburger I had ever eaten. The disparity surprised me, as I had assumed that my friend was a connoisseur of fancy eats. It was possible to love dainty little slivers of expensive fish and a greasy beef puck? Here was a valuable lesson: never eat sushi when your heart's set on a cheeseburger. And vice versa.
I love Guy Fieri on his terms -- his deep-fried, calorie-laden, party-boy terms. I know what to expect from him, so I'm not disappointed. Nor am I angry that he has like, eleventy gazillion recipes for chicken wings. I mean, look at the guy.
John DeVore has written for Maxim Magazine, The New York Sun, Cracked.com, Comedycentral.com, Esquire.com, Playboy.com and for the award winning political parody Whitehouse.org. Follow him at twitter.com/johndevore and read his previous articles about The Top 10 Food Mascots of All Time and 10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate.
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11-20-2009 @4:16PM elky999 said... Guy has one of the best shows on Food Network with "DD&D"
He's a lot easier to tolerate than the guy on Man vs Food.
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11-20-2009 @4:24PM LinC said... I like the guy. I don't know about his cooking, but 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' is a fun show to watch. I could see hanging out with him. That's a lot more than I can say for most of the Food Network "stars." (Except Alton Brown. I worship him.)
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11-20-2009 @5:36PM Eating The Road said... ...I've heard a lot of other TV chefs/personalities knock Guy but I've never heard him retaliate...I respect him for that.
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11-20-2009 @5:45PM Barry said... He used to bug me too. But after seeing that Chefography (which, really doesn't apply to him so they should change the name to "Food Network Starology") I came to realize he's just a guy who loves food and loves talking to people. He relishes the food and interactions on DD&D. So much better than watching Flay's dicketry as mubled his way across America trying to do essentially the same thing.
I also like Bourdain, a lot. But lately he's seems to have gone off the rails. He called Alice Waters "Pol Pot in a mumu". Really? Alice Waters is like the Cambodian homicidal dictator? Really?
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11-20-2009 @5:49PM whataboob said... The author seems confused about what the "foodie" movement is about-- it's not "haute techniques and obscure ingredients," it's about quality food that is prepared to be the best it can be-- even cheeseburgers. As his foodie friend demonstrated, a foodie can be enamored of something as down home as chicharones (pork rinds) as much as by coq au vin (which is also a provincial dish, btw). Guy Fieri does not put the thought, care, or quality into his dishes that haute cuisine demands. If you loves you some BBQ, that's great, but it's not "cuisine" and preparing it does not make you a chef. On top of this, Fieri embraces that douchy frat persona that drives intellectuals away from football and hot rods and leaves us safely in the province of a passtime that requires a modicum of critical thinking skills (or at least the ability to follow directions). "Real" America has stolen patriotism from intellectuals, and now the likes of Rachel Ray and Fieri are encroaching on food. It's not about elitism, it's about appreciation and quality, characteristics Fieri lacks.
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11-20-2009 @6:24PM Jesse said... no, no, no, and no.
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11-20-2009 @8:01PM Bernie B said... Just to reiterate, a "Chef" is the person that runs the kitchen and has no relation as to his/her ability to cook. I'm not much interested in the food he cooks (south western Tex Mex) but really do like DD&D as it's a celebration of Americana which is slowly disappearing to the likes of McDonalds, Applebee's, etc..
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11-20-2009 @8:59PM Sarah said... I love Triple D! It is refreshing to watch.
I'd hedge that the same folks who hate him also hate Sandra Lee - who in her own way is addictive trash TV. For me at least, when I do watch a little TV, I want to enjoy my time - and Guy's shows are my guilty pleasures (as are Sandra Lee's). They are not high brow but they are entertaining.
And I can bet Guy would be the hot choice for a date over a stick in the mud such as Bobby Flay. The fact that he is loud, outgoing and brassy is why I like watching him!
Or else they all all hate on him for his car collection and large paychecks ;-) I am sure those big paychecks make ignoring the naysayers much easier.
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11-21-2009 @2:02AM Daniel F. said... I for one never had a second thought about Guy Fieri style and was surprised by all of the criticism. I enjoy the eye-rolling cynicism of Bourdain's "the other show" as much as the next perpetually hungry person, but nothing truly satisfies my desire for food-centic infotainment like friendly and fun indulgence of Triple D.
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11-21-2009 @7:26AM dave said... It's irrelevant whether or not you like Guy's persona - at the end of the day he's promoting local, independent restaurants and is an absolutely positive force. I'm fortunate to know one of the restauranteurs he's showcased and their business is BOOMING as a result of his one visit.
The guy does far more good than bad. In fact he's probably more responsible for driving business to restaurants across the US than anyone in the world? You seriously want to argue against that, in this day and time?
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11-21-2009 @7:28AM Hagan said... Hey John, You're missing the boat on the word "foodie."
http://wanderingfoodie.com/2009/the-final-word-on-foodies/
and here's our recent chown.com discussion on the subject:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/667742
Hope that lays everything straight for you.
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11-21-2009 @10:09AM WK said... I like Bourdain, but he's a pompous ass. Fieri is great!
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11-21-2009 @8:11PM Dave said... The thing I find most interesting about this is that everyone is talking about Guy, but no one is talking about what a jerk David Chang comes across as. Whatever you think about Fieri, trashing someone publicly like that is just plain tacky, never mind rude and mean.
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11-22-2009 @3:31PM TexasSage said... What is happening with all of this old "celebrities"? Are they feeling threatened by the new tallents out there? I believe there is room for everybody to be successfull, unless for those there are bitter and old and maybe need to retire for a life of loneliness, yep! that's how mad I am about old bag Martha and foul mouth Bourdain (and old). Maybe, a long time ago those young chefs and celebrities, used to watch TV and think how cool would it be, to be like Martha and Bourdain, and how terribly disappointed they are right now with such disrespectfull behavior of their fellow chefs. I am very sorry that people cannot keep their mouths such, and learn not be so jealous, sharing the admiration and love of the public.
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11-22-2009 @12:20PM ali said... I hate to compare Sandra Lee and Guy Fieri because they are in two different leagues. Sandra Lee promotes... well bad cooking. I like the idea behind Semi Homemade but the woman routinely uses frozen limeade concentrate in place of fresh lime juice, as if those are any where close to being equal.
I think Sandra Lee's version of Diners, Drive Ins and Dives would feature places that use mostly brought in food that's doctored up (at least that's the idea I have based on her current shoes).
Guy Fieri focuses on locally owned business that do good cooking with good ingredients. The places he's featured have done things like : smoked prime rib, an Italian place that brings over fresh olive oil from the family business in Italy, a guy that makes hash using duck and rabbit, places making their own corned beef.
It's diner food and comfort food but it's food done well and to a high degree. Places where you can tell the owners and staff love what they are doing and you can tell that Guy loves what he's doing.
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11-22-2009 @7:49PM patti shock said... Guy was one of my students in the Hotel College at UNLV in the early 90s. He has a good solid education in restaurant management. He is a restauranteur, not a chef. He was always a big personality and fun to be around. He always had that big smile and joked around a lot. Of course, he did not have the blond spiky hair back then. He had shoulder length brown hair.
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11-23-2009 @2:52AM Julie said... You can relate to Guy, he's like the cool cousin or uncle in the family. There is nothing worse than a "Stuffy" Chef a.k.a the types that knock people like Guy Fieri down!
http://www.noshtalgia.blogspot.com/
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11-23-2009 @7:39AM Mike Pelosi said... I love Guy. You get what you get with him and he doesn't try to play it off like he's a Michelin Star Winner. He loves food, people, music, and attitude. And he doesn't have any false pretenses. It would be stupid if the Network tried to put him in such a prim-propper-formal position. The reason why he gets so much attention is because they let him have his own kitchen with a full band set up in the background.
Is it annoying that the Food Network does this? No, because the Food Network isn't the "Highest Award Winning Chef" Channel. It's meant to hit different target audiences and, by judging Fieri's popularity, I think he's doing a fine job.
Here is to Guy Fieri
-Mike Pelosi
P.S. Julie is totally right. All these highly critical chefs are just a little too much for me. Food is meant to be fun and, while it can be critical, Guy has never thrown himself out there like that.
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11-24-2009 @11:37AM Mike C. said... I agree with so many comments. I enjoy "Triple D" very much and watch it as often as I can. Guy does showcase local restaurants and their cuisine, which is generally "comfort food." Even though the food may not be the absolute best from a health standpoint, it always is freshly prepared, generally from scratch. How many "high class" chefs can boast that their dishes are prepared from scratch? When I go out to eat, I want to leave the restaurant feeling full.
Guy's show showcases Americana, the family restaurants. He brings business to businesses which is a very good thing. I love his show and will continue to watch it as long as it is on the air.
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11-25-2009 @5:19PM mredwebb said... They can keep Guy and Duff and Alton and get rid of all of the rest of them. I like Chopped, but I wouldn't invite any of them over for dinner. Alton's a genius and I could listen to his teaching for hours. But I'd much rather have Guy and Duff over for some BBQ, cake and ice cream, and some Rock Band 2 afterward.
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