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WATCH: Guy Fieri Responds To New York Times Review On Today

TV
by Mariella Mosthof 8:45 am, November 15th
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Savannah Guthrie made the pilgrimage from 30 Rock to Times Square this morning to speak with Guy Fieri from right inside Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar. He took a red-eye from Los Angeles just for the exclusive Today Show interview, in which he officially responded to Pete Wells’ review of his restaurant. Here’s a snippet of Guy’s retort:

“I just thought it was ridiculous. I’ve read reviews. There’s good and there’s bad in the restaurant business. But that to me went so overboard, it really seemed like there was another agenda…The tone? The sarcasm? The questions style? I think we all know what’s going on here. He came in with a different agenda. He came in four times to a restaurant that’s been open two months. That’s tough times, especially for this size of a restaurant.”

He also acknowledges that, like all restaurateurs, he’s not pleased with absolutely every single aspect of his food, but, he assured us, he’s totally hands-on, unlike all those other chefs present at their restaurants in-name-only.

For Guy’s full response, plus Joe Bastianich’s two cents (he’s the segment’s “expert consultant”), check out the whole interview below.

UPDATE: An awkward addendum to this tale — the day that the review was printed, The New York Times hosted a party at Guy’s American Bar and Grill.

Tags:

Guy Fieri guy's american kitchen and bar New York Times Pete Wells savannah guthrie The Today Show

6 thoughts on “WATCH: Guy Fieri Responds To New York Times Review On Today

  1. spacer jozersky on said:

    Wow, they make the mashed potatoes for every service?

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  2. spacer myshadow on said:

    he is pathetic, and this interview did him no favors.

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  3. spacer NYER333 on said:

    I don’t think Wells did himself any favors choosing to review the place or choosing to write it in the tone he did, but it just gives more reason to DINE DOWNTOWN!

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  4. spacer WardMD on said:

    Yet ANOTHER reason to IGNORE the rantings of self-proclaimed “Critics”!

    Not EVERYONE is going to be pleased with the food/service at EVERY restaurant (there’s NOTHING any chef can do to make seafood pleasing to me, but I don’t go around bad-mouthing Red Lobster or McCormicks and Schmicks because they feature seafood).

    Personally, I don’t give a Rat’s Rear End what ANY “professional critic” says about food (or “entertainment”).

    Frankly, I find MOST of them are more interested in simply SEEING their words in print, than in what they SAY.

    Good Luck Guy!

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  5. spacer helenahandbasket on said:

    I am sure it is not haute cuisine, but I also think it’s pretty clear that the reviewer had an agenda of sort sort. He either broke up with his girlfriend/boyfriend and was in a pissy mood or just wanted to write something outrageous and be the most emailed article. (I know a NY Times writer and that is considered to be a big deal.) Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very “NY Times” type of review.

    I read something where someone said “For a place like this, the real question is ‘Is it better than Bubba Gump’s?’” Totally true!

    The review was savage. I mean, I once ate at the world’s scariest Denny’s (my husband and I still crack up talking about it because it was SO BAD), but it still didn’t warrant THAT review.

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  6. spacer tisha on said:

    Well, the name “chef” has been further degraded. The Today show’s package piece called Fieri a “chef,” which he is not. He’s a restaurateur, yes, but he is decidedly not a chef.

    If I were a chef–a Ripert or a Blumenthal or someone like that, or even a Michael Symon–I’d want to punch my TV every time people like Fieri and Deen are called “chef.”

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