'Guy's Big Bite' is worth watching

MOVE OVER, Martin Yan. The Bay Area is about to have a new cooking star.

The guy's name is Guy -- Guy Fieri. He's a youthful-looking Bay Area
restaurateur who won the Next Food Network Star contest this spring. And
watching his show, "Guy's Big Bite," you can see why. This guy looks
like he could be the next big food TV star.

Fieri owns three restaurants in Sonoma County -- that wine country
locale is arguably the foodie capital of the world -- and will soon open
a fourth in Sacramento. With his spiky, bleached hair and beefy build,
Fieri, a father of two boys, looks younger than his 38 years.

"Guy's Big Bite," which airs Sunday mornings at 7 (on satellite) and 10
(cable), is becoming a ratings powerhouse.

I asked KTVU exec Carolyn Chang to pull the Nielsen numbers on "Big
Bite" recently, and they were amazing: Only NBC's Wimbledon coverage on
KNTV was getting higher ratings in the Bay Area in its time slot. And
this on a mid-size cable network, no less. It's also further proof that
the Bay Area is food-centric. Nowhere else do so many food and
restaurant shows appear on TV.

(Ever watched Channel 9's self-indulgent, silly "Check, Please" on
Thursday nights?)

When I called Fieri in New York, where he's just finished six half-hour
"Bite" shows and is taping two-hour specials for later air, I told him I
would categorize his approach to cooking as "muscular." (He's always
saying things like, "Let's get those jalapenos workin'" or "I can smell
that bacon workin.'"). "I like that description," he laughed.

Fieri says the Food Network has told him the ratings for his new show
are good but was short on specifics. "They said they'd also take e-mail
response into account, and we're getting plenty of that," Fieri added.
When I gave him the Bay Area numbers I got from KTVU's Chang, Fieri
passed them along to his producer. "His eyes just got really wide,"
Fieri chuckled.

The mesomorphic Fieri looks like he could be a butcher or a furniture
mover. Add his unpretentious, blue-collar approach to cooking -- his
cornbread-stuffed meatloaf looked amazing -- and Fieri could be the

Default User...

What did Pepin ever do for us? He spent his time transfering years of
cooking experience in a calm, thorough and interesting manner, while
displaying a good sense of humor. Who needs that?

Brian (Pepin, what a hack)

anti-Pepin.

My favorite moment -- the one that sealed the deal for me with Guy --
came when Fieri, who is festooned with gold, was about to reach into a
bowl of raw beef and pork while preparing the meatloaf.

"It's time to de-bling," he said, removing the large gold ring on his

Nick...

These are all reasons that I do not watch the show.

left hand. That cracked me up. It also underscored his infectious
personality. Guy is lifting and constantly moving heavy pots and pans.
He does so much lifting in this "muscular" show, in fact, that you
occasionally hear him breathing heavily.

"We're on a tight shooting schedule," Fieri says. "I've had my director
do a countdown on me: '5-4-3-2...' and if that puppy isn't in the oven
by zero, we have to re-shoot the segment."

Which brings up another reason the Food Network must love Fieri: As a
businessman himself, he understands budgets -- and the importance of
staying within them. "I don't want to burn through too much money by
re-shooting segments," he says.

Reason number two the network, which will almost certainly renew "Big
Bite," must love Fieri: He brings in male viewers, a rarity for food
shows. Guy explains: "I've been getting lots of e-mail from women who
have made their boyfriends watch the show. And they say the guys
actually like it."

The women do, too -- thus the big ratings.