Born | Guy Ramsay Ferry [1]) January 22, 1968 Columbus, Ohio, U.S.[2] |
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Education | University of Nevada, Las Vegas (BS) |
Current restaurant(s)
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Guy Fieri ( /ˈɡaɪ fiːˈɛri/; born January 22, 1968 as Guy Ferry[3]) is an American restaurateur, author, television personality, and game show host. He co-owns five restaurants in California[4] and is widely known for his television series on the Food Network.
By mid-2010, the Food Network had made Fieri the "face of the network."[5] 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."[5]
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Although Fieri has no training as a chef, he worked at various restaurants during high school, and then went on to manage and own restaurants.[6] After graduation in 1987, he went to work for Stouffer's, developing restaurant concepts in Southern California [5] and managing their flagship restaurant in Long Beach, California. After three years, 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, an Italian restaurant 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.
After winning the second season of The Next Food Network Star [7] on April 23, 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 was renewed for a second season that began airing in early 2007. The show 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."[5] Ultimate Recipe Showdown, co-hosted with Marc Summers, debuted on February 17, 2008 and aired for three seasons. On September 14, 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 Friday, November 28, 2008.
Fieri has also 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.[8]
In January 2012, Guy will be one of the two team captains (along with Rachael Ray) in the Food Network reality series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.[9]
Fieri has appeared in promotions for Flowmaster, a California-based auto exhaust parts manufacturer. In 2008 and 2009, he was the spokesperson for T.G.I. Friday's.[10] In 2010, he appeared in a commercial for Aflac named "Spicy."[11]
In 2009, Fieri began touring with the Guy Fieri Roadshow, a multi-state food tour that featured some of his fellow Food Network personalities.[12][13] He also appears in regional Food Network events, such as the Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival[14] and the South Beach Food and Wine Festival.[15]
Fieri has two children: Sons: Hunter, 15, and Ryder 5.
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