About[]
Guy Fieri, born Guy Ferry on 22 January 1968, is an American restaurateur, author, television personality, and game show host. He co-owns five restaurants in California and is known for his television series on the Food Network.
By mid-2010, the Food Network had made Fieri the "face of the network." In 2010, the New York Times reported that Fieri brought an "element of rowdy, mass-market culture to American food television," and that his "prime-time shows attract more male viewers than any others on the network."
Career[]
Although Fieri has no formal training as a chef, he worked at restaurants during high school and then managed and owned restaurants. Fieri attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management in 1990. After graduation, he went to work for Stouffer's, developing restaurant concepts in Southern California and managing their flagship restaurant in Long Beach, California. After three years in southern California, he became District Manager of Louise's Trattoria, managing six locations along with recruiting and training for the restaurants.
In the fall of 1996, Fieri and business partner Steve Gruber opened Johnny Garlic's, a California Pasta Grill in Santa Rosa, California. A second location opened in Windsor in 1999, a third in Petaluma in 2000 or 2001 (since closed), and a fourth in Roseville in late 2008. Subsequently they developed Tex Wasabi's (barbecue and sushi) in 2003 in Santa Rosa, adding a second location in Sacramento's Arden-Arcade area in 2007. An additional Johnny Garlic's was opened in Dublin, California, in 2011. His first New York City restaurant, Guy's American Kitchen and Bar, opened to a scathing New York Times review in 2012.
Television[]
After winning the second season of The Next Food Network Star on 23 April 2006, Fieri was awarded a six-episode commitment for his own cooking show on Food Network. Guy's Big Bite premiered on June 25, 2006 and continues.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, his second series, premiered in April 2007 (a one-hour special aired in November 2006), with Fieri traveling the country visiting local eateries. The New York Times called the series "not a cooking show as much as a carefully engineered reality show." Ultimate Recipe Showdown, co-hosted with Marc Summers, debuted on 17 February 2008 and aired for three seasons. On 14 September 2008, Guy Off the Hook debuted on Food Network. This special studio audience show aired through the end of 2008, but the extra cost of staging an audience show did not result in a ratings bump and the concept was discontinued. For Thanksgiving 2008, Fieri hosted a one-hour special titled Guy's Family Feast. He used the "Guy Off the Hook" set for the special, which was broadcast live, on 28 November 2008. Fieri appeared on other Food Network programs such as Dinner: Impossible in 2007 and 2009, Paula's Party, Ace of Cakes, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate.
In December 2009, NBC named Fieri as the host of the game show Minute to Win It, which premiered in March 2010 and aired for two seasons. On 13 May 2012, NBC announced that the game show will not be renewed for a third season, citing high production costs and low ratings.
In 2011, Fieri partnered with Carnival Cruise lines to create Guy’s Burger Joint to sell Fieri's burgers fleet-wide.
In January 2012, Fieri was one of the two team captains (along with Rachael Ray) in the Food Network reality series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off. A second season of Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off was in production and began airing on Food Network on January 6, 2013.
Books[]
Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: An All-American Road Trip…with Recipes! (October 2008)
More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: Another Drop-Top Culinary Cruise Through America's Finest and Funkiest (November 2009)
Guy Fieri Food: Cookin' It, Livin' It, Lovin' It (May 2011)