Guy Fieri
FT: Caleb
GF: First, please tell Caleb Guy said
“What’s up?” Here’s the thing, I have
parents come to me all the time asking about healthy, kid friendly recipe
ideas. I will ask them “Well what
does your kid like to eat? If they like
chicken fingers, make them chicken
fingers. There are great recipes out
there where you do not have to fry the
chicken fingers. You can bake them!”
3 Sisters Café
The best way to get kids cooking is to
get them involved. Don’t give them the
tedious projects. Kids will not want
to peel 20 potatoes. They want the
glory jobs. Get kids involved with the
things they love about food. Take time
to nurture them and try not to make
cooking into a real labor intensive job.
Let them put the cheese on the pizza.
Let them slice the pizza. My son, Ryder
who is seven will say “I want pizza for
dinner.” Pizza is his favorite. He thinks
86 FOOD TRAVELER | WINTER 2013
the world revolves around pizza. So I
will say “Okay” and he knows what that
means. He knows “okay” means he is
now responsible to help make the pizzas. At seven years old he can throw a
pizza dough, and that is a big deal. So
get them involved, it will change their
lives and make them healthier. We have
a responsibility to get kids off the processed food program. It is not doing
anything for them.
FT: From all your experiences from
the show, visiting all different types
of restaurants and foods, have any
of those inspired you to create your
own recipes?
GF: Absolutely! It is impossible to
walk through the world today without
having influence from others regardIndianapolis, IN
It’s a madefor-TV
movie. Waitress meets
line cook, they fall in
love, buy a restaurant .
. . oh yeah, here comes
the spin, it’s a vegetarian place, and now
they’re going to serve
meat. Moira Sommers
and her partner, Alex
Munroe, dove in and
never looked back.
They cater to everybody with this menu,
from vegan chili to
barbecued chicken
with bacon— and a
juicy au jus pork and
kale sandwich.
(My mouth just went
in to full Niagara.)
ing what you eat, what you see, and
how you interpret food. For example,
I never had a huge repertoire of Lebanese food. I was never a big hamburger fan because I had been inundated
with them. Then I travel the country
and my mind changes. I appreciate the
accolades I get for the show, but the
reality of it is, we are without question
the greatest country in terms of how
fortified we are with unique places to
eat. “Slow down,” the tagline on the
show is not meant to be a tag line, it is
a reality. Slow down, look around, you
will find some of the greatest places
to eat in the world. It will take a little
more planning and organization, a
little more legwork but it is amazing
at what is out there. I think we are all
influenced by this food revolution.
FT: When you are not filming, what
are some of your favorite places to go?
GF: One of my favorite places,
which is not too far from where I live
in Northern California is called Hollister Hills. I spend a lot of time outdoors with my family and it is a really
neat outdoors area to go ride dirt bikes
and camp. I love going to Miami, we
go quite a bit for the festivals. I love
the weather, the water, and the ethnic food. I am opening a restaurant
in Las Vegas and I went to college
there so I am a big Vegas fan. I go to
Kansas City for the American Royal
Barbeque competition. Chicago is
one of my favorite food towns. There
is such an amazing melting pot of food
in Chicago. Tampa, I love Tampa. It
is outrageous, with very cool people.
I love being close to the water, I love
the bridges and the seashore, and it
is a great place for food. People may
think “Well that is a resort town.” Do
not count out your resort areas. I am
not saying go eat at your hotel each
day but venture out a little bit to areas
off the beaten path, cruise the roads
and talk to some people! Do not go
on the internet, go talk to people. Say
“Where is a good place to eat?” It will
be worth it. You will find some funky
little joints that yo ԁ