'Foodapalooza' loudly rolls into Rosemont
When Guy Fieri thinks about Chicago food, deep dish pizza and hot dogs don't immediately come to mind.
Instead, he thinks of big steaks and Italian beef sandwiches.
"I love Chicago. Every time I've been (to Chicago), I've had fantastic food," he said. "But for me, it's not the Chicago hot dog."
Fieri's visited dozens of restaurants around the U.S. on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," his hit show on the Food Network, but still can remember many of the Chicago-area restaurants he's dined at, including Paradise Pup in Des Plaines, The Shanty in Wadsworth and Dell Rhea's Chicken in Willowbrook.
"Vito & Nick's on the south side (of Chicago) is one of my favorites," he said.
Perhaps Fieri will dine there this week, when he pops into town for the "Guy Fieri Roadshow" Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Rosemont Theatre.
The show mixes cooking with rock 'n' roll, complete with an on-stage kitchen, a mixologist tending to a 6-foot-tall cocktail and a DJ spinning tunes in a 7-foot-high orange booth. He'll jam to music, tell stories and, of course, cook, providing samples to people in the first few rows. His guest chef will be Doug Sohn from Hot Dougs in Chicago.
"It's not a KISS concert, with them coming out and playing while I make filet mignon," Fieri said. "Rock 'n' roll, to me, is a term that means a lot of energy. Whenever I cook food, I need to have 85 things going at one time. I want to listen to music. I want my friends to be around. I want to talk ... so we take all the energy and enthusiasm around food, add music, and it becomes a foodapalooza."
Fieri, 46, has loved the food business since he was a kid. At age 10, he started his own business called The Awesome Pretzel where he sold soft pretzels from a three-wheeled bicycle cart. After college, he started managing restaurants and then, in 2006, landed a gig on the Food Network hosting "Guy's Big Bite." He's appeared on several shows since then, with his trademark spiky, bleach blond hair, bowling shirts, sunglasses (he's reported to own more than 80 pairs) and upbeat, California dude personality making him a standout.
"Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" was his breakout show, spawning two books (one just released a few weeks ago), a line of products and now this nationwide tour.
More restaurants are in Fieri's future, as is more merchandise, he said. Plans are in the works to put his name on several products, including barbecue cooking tools and - believe it or not - his own fragrance.
"I said, 'Let's make it (smell like) smokey bacon!'" he said, laughing. "I'm much more interested in hot sauces and barbecue sauces than stuff like that."
Sampling great food, traveling the U.S., meeting interesting people and cruising around in a red convertible? He might just have the greatest job ever.
He doesn't disagree, though being away from his sons (Hunter, 12, and Ryder, 3) can be tough.
"Being away from them, without question, is the most difficult part," Fieri said. "If I do what I can do, and create what I can create, it can be best for them in the long run."