Kelseyville High School receives Guy Fieri Foundation culinary arts grant

]

Photo caption, from left to right, The Guy Fieri Foundation Executive Director Brian Daly, Kelseyville High School culinary teacher and grant program manager Tami Cramer, Kelseyville High School Principal Mike Jones and Kelseyville Unified School District Superintendent Dave McQueen. Courtesy photo.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — A $7,270 grant from the Guy Fieri Foundation has paved the way for Kelseyville High School culinary arts students to fully participate in a newly formed local chapter of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, a national career and technical student organization.The grant will be used to incorporate Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, or FCCLA , into the KHS Culinary Arts Program.KHS Culinary Teacher Tami Cramer explained, “FCCLA is to culinary arts as FFA is to agricultural sciences.”According to its website, FCCLA helps students develop real-world skills, explore career pathways and become college- and career-ready through participation in competitive events, becoming involved in community service opportunities, student leadership, and attending leadership conferences.”In 2018, Kelseyville Unified used Career Technical Education funds to help in the Culinary Arts program including upgrades to facilities such as a new demonstration kitchen, new stoves, commercial refrigerator and freezer, three compartment sinks, an ice machine, a dishwasher, a bar refrigerator, new countertops, electrical and plumbing work, and the refacing of all culinary cabinets.These upgrades also included a handicap-accessible kitchen and technology that allows all students equal access to learning.In 2019, Cramer worked with a FCCLA program adviser to research and develop a program at KHS. Students were registered, officers were selected, and members attended a regional conference. Then COVID-19 put a halt in their efforts to expand on the work they started.“Without being fully established, it was hard to expand and grow during online learning,” Cramer said.When Cramer learned of the grant opportunity to support KHS’s participation in FCCLA through the Guy Fieri Foundation, she quickly received encouragement from KHS Career Tech Coordinator Donelle McCallister and KHS Principal Mike Jones to apply.Jones said, “Membership in this leadership organization provides students the opportunity to develop both leadership and culinary skills.”Without the grant, it would have been difficult for KHS to afford FCCLA registration fees, the red blazers required for students to attend FCCLA meetings and conventions, and travel expenses for students to attend events out-of-town competitions and leadership conferences, including the California State FCCLA Leadership Conference scheduled for April 23 to 26 in Riverside.“The Guy Fieri grant enables our students to have opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise,” McCallister said.The Guy Fieri Foundation is a nonprofit charity based in Petaluma with a mission to help local culinary arts programs in the middle schools, high schools, and community colleges. The Guy Fieri Foundation is committed to helping youth through nutrition education, exploring careers in hospitality, and encouraging goals for their future.“I am thrilled Guy has given support to our culinary students and future community leaders. I’m ready to put this grant to good use,” said Cramer.

For small restaurants, Guy Fieri and ‘Triple D’ are ‘the gift that keeps on giving’

]

Indeed, Fieri would rave about that dish (“That’s good fried chicken like your mom would make!”) during a whirlwind, multiday shoot that would culminate with the restaurant appearing on the popular show, which is referred to by fans and Fieri himself as “Triple D.” But as the teams at Trina’s and the several other Boston-area restaurants would discover, it’s what comes after the camera crew packs up and leaves that’s most interesting.

A candy-apple red 1968 Chevrolet Camaro roars down Beacon Street in Somerville on a sunny day in 2014. The door swings open, and Guy Fieri , the star of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, hops out, his platinum-frosted tips glistening under the blue sky. As he crosses the street and heads into Trina’s Starlite Lounge , a neighborhood comfort-food joint, a local yells from across the street: “You gonna have those chicken and waffles?”

Since the series premiered in 2007, the show and its tried-and-true formula have become a television staple. In each episode, Fieri profiles three restaurants, typically mom-and-pop-type spots without the financial support of a major chain. Those that are actually chosen to appear — a list that includes dozens of spots in New England — often reap the benefits of Fieri’s greasy-spoon, golden touch.

“Guy’s like Santa Claus to business owners like me,” says Paul Barker, whose Boston sandwich shop, Pauli’s, appeared on an episode of Triple D.

Several owners of local restaurants recounted similar experiences with the show, all involving copious preparation for filming and Triple D fans streaming to their tables to feast on dishes approved by the mayor of Flavortown himself.

Barker had been selling overstuffed sandwiches to a crowd of young professionals and tourists for eight years when Triple D producers called to tell him Pauli’s was under consideration for the show.

Barker had seen Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and sensed what it might do for business. What he didn’t know, however, was how involved the tryout would be. The process included hours-long phone interviews with producers, during which he explained every detail of preparation for a handful of dishes. Next, he had to send in a video of himself preparing the meals.

“It’s an audition,” says Barker, who believes producers scoured the restaurant’s social media accounts as well as online messaging boards to make sure Pauli’s was Triple D-worthy.

Chefs who send in videos are generally well aware the show is looking for quirky, unusual dishes that will get viewers drooling. Barker showed producers a variety of sandwiches, including the Fat Felix — a combination of shaved steak, bacon, grilled peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese fries “named for a guy that works here.”

Guy Fieri with David Vargas, chef/owner of Vida Cantina in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Martha Sullivan

David Vargas, chef/owner of Vida Cantina in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, sent a video of himself preparing his popular Maine Meat Pig Head Platter, a locally-raised pig head brined for several days, cooked in its own fat, and served with homemade tortillas. Ultimately, it was that dish that scored him a spot on a 2016 episode, which featured Guy alongside his son Hunter Fieri.

Vargas recalls feeling nervous about filming, fretfully making sure the kitchen at Vida Cantina was spotless before the film crew arrived. At the time, he hadn’t had much exposure to working on television. But Fieri, who referred to the pig head platter as “one of the most beautiful presentations of roasted pork I’ve ever seen,” quickly put him at ease.

“Guy made us feel that comfortable,” Vargas says. “Not only myself in the kitchen, but he also made my front-of-house staff and kitchen staff feel very comfortable.” Fieri later invited Vargas to join him for an event at Gillette Stadium. “Unfortunately, I was stuck in the kitchen, but he could have easily not said anything like that.”

Suzi Maitland, executive chef and co-owner of Trina’s, says to create a casual atmosphere, producers don’t want much interaction between the chefs and Fieri beforehand. “They want you to meet on camera,” Maitland says. “Right before you start rolling, he walks in and says, ‘Hi,’ and you just go.”

Before an episode airs, the show’s producers warn restaurants about the onslaught of business about to engulf them — referred to as the “Triple D effect.” Stock up on the dish that appears on the program, owners are told, and be ready for the Fieri super-fans to descend in droves.

At Trina’s, fans of the show from other countries began to come in during brunch hours and requested the house-made tater tots with garlic rosemary aioli and Parmesan featured on Triple D, even though the item wasn’t on the brunch menu — a request the restaurant obliged.

For Pauli’s, whose episode aired in November 2019, however, the Triple D effect was put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like so many restaurants, the initial lockdown period ravaged business. Realizing he would need to pivot to survive, Barker formed a second business shipping lobster roll kits across the country from his facility in Woburn. But by the time restrictions began to lift in the summer of 2020, the Triple D effect was taking hold.

Isabel Espanol for The Boston Globe

“There was such a pent-up desire,” Barker says. “There’s not a day that goes by that people aren’t coming in and saying, ‘Hey we saw you on TV, can we take a picture with you and my family?’ As things started to open up, it just got crazier.”

And it’s not just the initial airing that drives viewers to the restaurants. Triple D reruns air constantly on Food Network, and episodes are available on demand. Until your episode airs, “You don’t really understand it fully,” says Vargas, who estimated a 50-percent boost in business after his episode premiered. “I would say if I had a rough estimate, maybe it’s aired 500 times since then. It’s what I always call ‘the gift that keeps on giving.’”

Barker, more than two years after his appearance on the show, says the constant reruns have helped him take his business nationwide by driving viewers to his website, where they discover he ships across the country.

“I got a call on a Sunday at 11 a.m. from a woman who just saw the show and wanted to order lobster roll kits delivered to Alabama,” he says. “Every time the show airs, I feel a bump in sales.”

For some viewers, the show — and Fieri’s “If it’s funky, I’ll find it” mantra — are a way of life. “We get people that just tour his restaurants,” says Vargas, who frequently meets travelers who build entire New England trips around Fieri-approved joints.

Others watching at home find ways to snag a piece of Triple D. Vargas has fielded calls from fans in France asking to buy Vida Cantina T-shirts, as has Maitland for Trina’s and its sister restaurant, the Paddle Inn in Newburyport. Others just ask for dinner to be sent long distance, which Maitland is happy to do, “If you can pay for the shipping.”

Of course, an appearance on Triple D isn’t a guarantee a business stays afloat. Several Boston-area restaurants featured on the show have shut their doors, both before and after COVID hit. But as the pandemic drags on, fans continue to inhale reruns, which Barker says has helped shore up his business.

“Having Guy Fieri in our corner has helped us get through COVID,” Barker says. “It was a very, very tough year because business was down, but we were lucky we had the [Paycheck Protection Program] loan, which allowed us to keep all of our employees. We came out of it even better, because now we have a second business.”

So what exactly is it about Triple D that inspires such a devoted following? The restaurant owners chalked it up to the show’s casual, blue-collar feel, a stark contrast to the airbrushed celebrity chefs who often make waves on television.

“People realize it’s not perfection. It’s not a perfect snippet of a perfect chef,” Barker says. “These are mom and pops, family-owned, many not chef-trained, but who know the food business, who know people, and can really deliver, and he’s trying to get that.”

Megan Johnson is a writer in Boston. Follow her on Twitter @megansarahj. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.

Celebrate Guy Fieri’s 54th Birthday With Some Of His Best Recipes!

]

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri is taking his 54th trip around the sun!

The Food Network Star was born on January 22, 1968, in Columbus, Ohio. The Emmy-award winner is also an author and restauranteur. He co-owns three restaurants in California and is known for “Diners, Driver-Ins and Dives” and “Guy’s Grocery Games.”

Believe it or not, Guy Fieri actually got his start selling pretzels from his “Awesome Pretzel” cart and washing dishes so he could afford to study in France. When he returned to the United States, he worked at the Red Lion Inn restaurant in Eureka, California. In 1996, he and his business partner Steve Gruber opened up a restaurant called “Johnny Garlic’s” which was advertised as a “California Pasta Grill” in Santa Rosa, California.

After Fieri got married to his wife Lori in 1995, he changed his surname from Ferry to Fieri in honor of his paternal grandfather, Giuseppe Fieri, an Italian immigrant whose name was changed to Ferry when he first arrived in the United States. They live in Santa Rosa, California, with their two sons Hunter and Ryder, and their nephew Jules. The couple took in the then-11-year-old Jules after Fieri’s sister passed away from metastatic melanoma in 2011.

The chef has since made a name for himself in the restaurant industry and on the Food Network, appearing in shows like “Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off,” “Best Thing I Ever Made,” “Restaurant Impossible,” and “Guy’s Big Bite.”

For his special day, fans are celebrating by trying their hand at cooking some of Guy’s signature dishes! Fans can try their hand at creating this Guy-inspired 3-course meal!

Chicken Avocado Egg Roll

Try finding this egg roll recipe at a food court! Guy makes the filling using red onions, red bell peppers, sliced bamboo shoots, chopped celery, julienned cabbage, shredded carrots, sliced avocados, and chopped chicken breast.

After sauteing the vegetables until translucent, he adds spices like garlic and ginger and deglazes the pan with soy sauce until everything is cooked through. Once everything is cooked, he creates the egg rolls and seals the edge with egg wash.

He heats rice bran oil to 350 degrees F in a medium saucepan – no fancy fryer required! – and then cooks each egg roll for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Delicious!

Killer Inside Out Burger with Worcestershire Tomato Ketchup

If you like bacon, then this recipe is for you! Guy makes his burgers extra juicy by rendering the bacon and onions in a pan and then adding a little bit of chorizo. While that cooks, he uses an 80/20 mix of chuck meat to create the patties, topping each one off with a slice of swiss.

He tops off each patty with a layer of the chorizo bacon mixture, adds another slice of cheese, then adds another patty on top to form a thick patty that is about 4 inches wide and over an inch tall once you seal in the edges!

He pan cooks each patty for a few minutes per side to get a good sear and then throws it in a preheated oven for 10 minutes until done. He likes to slide them into toasted kaiser rolls before he goes to Flavor Town!

For an extra kick, Guy likes to create his own Worcestershire Tomato Ketchup using skinned Roma tomatoes, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, fresh dill, and, of course, Worcestershire sauce!

Cin-Ful Peach Cobbler

We’ve had an appetizer and dinner, so the next stop on the culinary journey is, of course, dessert! Fans love Guy’s recipe for Cin-Ful Peach Cobbler!

Guy uses 10 cups of thawed frozen peaches – about 3 pounds – to create this delicious treat!

Once he sets the oven to 450 degrees F, he stirs together white sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl before adding peaches. Once he gets a slurry going with cornstarch and lemon juice, he adds that to the bowl and puts it into a buttered 12 x 8-inch oval dish after the mixture has been thoroughly combined.

To make a crumb topping, he mixes brown sugar, sugar, flour, oats, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt together with butter and uses his hands to work it into a crumbly topping.

He tops the peaches with half of the crumbly topping and reduces the temperature to 350 degrees F right away. He bakes it uncovered for 30 minutes, then adds the rest of the crumb topping, reduces the heat a bit more, and cooks the cobbler until it’s golden and bubbling, which usually takes about 45 minutes!

Once it has cooled, Guy loves to enjoy this sweet treat with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream! Delicious!

Guy Fieri Just Shared A Moving Tribute To Louie Anderson

]

Guy Fieri Just Shared A Moving Tribute To Louie Anderson

Stand-up comedian, actor, and game show host Louie Anderson died on Friday of complications from cancer at age 68. According to those who knew him, he was a kind, loving, and hilarious friend. To the rest of the world, he was a comedy legend, with a nearly 40-year career that included countless stand-up bits and quotable characters (via The New York Times). From his appearances on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” to his Emmy-winning role as “Christine,” the mother to a rodeo clown on the television series “Baskets,” Anderson captured the admiration of millions as well as many accolades.

Following the news of his death, both fans and friends of Anderson have taken to the internet to grieve the loss of the “Search Party” star. Fellow actor-comedian Pauly Shore wrote of how much he will miss the actor and said, “We will keep your name alive down here” (via Twitter). Henry Winkler also honored Anderson in a tweet, writing that “we are so lucky you were on earth for a moment, spreading your humor all over like bars of living gold .. Good Bye.”

And it’s not just fellow actors showing their love for Anderson. Celebrities across the entertainment industry have taken the time to express their heartbreak over his death, including Food Network star Guy Fieri. On Twitter, the “Guy’s Grocery Games” host posted a photo of himself and the comedian together, captioning it, “RIP Louie One funny dude! Loved him in Coming to America RIP!”

Made famous by Food Network’s Guy Fieri, an Arlington burger shop moves home

]

The Original Chop House Burgers in Arlington is coming home.

The restaurant reopened in its original location, 1700 W. Park Row Drive, earlier this month.

Chef and owner Kenny Mills opened Chop House more than a decade ago in Arlington. Almost immediately, his signature item — a brisket-blended burger topped with bacon, cheese and steak sauce — drew fans.

Then Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-ins and Dives featured the burger shop in 2012, bringing long lines and big crowds practically overnight.

Mills expanded the space, but eventually decided to move to a larger spot, then bounced around to a couple other locations. But the restaurant was never able to attract the same buzz as its original location.

Recently, Mills and the property’s new landlord were talking, and the two reached an agreement to return.

“Everyone has been supportive,” Mills said. “Our old neighbors have come back in and told us how much they missed smelling our burgers.”

The signature burger remains the top-seller, and the second-best seller is the Ten Pepper Burger, a cheeseburger blended with poblanos, jalapeños, habaneros, bell peppers and others.

Mills also makes gumbo, but with Earl Campbell’s smoked sausage rather than andouille.

Meanwhile, the restaurant’s previous spot, at 2502 Little Road in Arlington, is staying in the family. Mills’ son, Travis Mills, a former pit master at Heim Barbecue in Fort Worth, recently opened Mills Made BBQ.

Mills now sources the brisket for his burgers from his son, and they would eventually like to collaborate on specials.

Mills also plans to expand the Chop House menu with a few salads and starters, as well as apply for a license to sell beer and wine.

“It feels good being home,” Mills said. “Everything feels so familiar, sort of like déjà vu.”