http%3A//www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/dining/reviews/restaurant-review-guys-american-kitchen-bar-in-times-square.html
- I really, REALLY do not want to know what "Donkey Sauce" is.
- Love this review, cannot stand Guy, fucking obnoxious .
- hilarious review. love it.
- Bitch. SLAP. Smack. Down.
- LOL. Was this written by the critic from Ratatouille?
A%20distant%20rumor%20of%20spice
- That is brutal. I like DDD. Brilliantly written.
- The tourist that will go there because of his show don't care about food anyway. I can't stand Fieri, he is such a poseur.
- Though most everyday NYers will avoid it, won't tourists flock there despite the review? His collapse is still questionable.
- New Yorkers will go. My friends loved the place.
- Mean, mean review. I loved it.
- LOVE IT but can we get a DL review? Someone from this site go there? lol it would be awesome. What a sham Fieri is. He's not a real chef and has such an annoying tv persona.
- I have read that Fieri was a raging homophobe.Anyone know about that? He used to appear frequently on the Nate Berzerkus show and they acted like they were blowing each other
- Article at the link that gets into Fieri's homophobia (and general douchiness) according to the former producer of DDD.
http://www.citypages.com/2011-10-12/restaurants/guy-fieri-in-diners-drive-ins-and-disasters/all/
- But DDD is the only show Food Network shows in the evening. Every once ion a while we get Chopped or Restaurant Impossible, but mostly just Guy.
- [quote]Why is one of the few things on your menu that can be eaten without fear or regret — a lunch-only sandwich of chopped soy-glazed pork with coleslaw and cucumbers — called a Roasted Pork Bahn Mi, when it resembles that item about as much as you resemble Emily Dickinson?
HA HA HA!!!
Thank you for posting this, OP. Hilarious read.
- You can tell just by looking at him Fieri is a dickhead but after reading that he sounds like a downright raging dickhead.
- This is only 'news' to those of you who sit at home and watch trash television.
Back to your Good Morning America now. The rest of us have to work and contribute to human society.
- Good Morning America is actually doing a story about this today. Asking if it's the worst review ever.
George Stephanopoulos said his favorite line was "Why did the toasted marshmallow taste like fish?" Ouuuch.
- Is the restauraunt, Bowlmore Bowling and The Discovery Channel all in the same old New York Times Bldg?
- [quote]SERVICE The well-meaning staff seems to realize that this is not a real restaurant.
HA!
- Oh, like the elitists at the Times could appreciate a REAL American like Guy...
The Voice of the Night
- Yet the tourists who frequent Olive Gardens will love it and go on Yelp proclaiming it the best ever.
- Donkey Sauce- worst name ever. I assume it has a kick?
- Was that sarcasm, R21 ?
I hope so, otherwise what a stupid thing to say.
Well, either way, stupid.
- [quote]Was that sarcasm, [R21] ?
Of course it was. I think I dislike him more than the Times reviewer does.
The Voice of the Night
- Popular with pre theatre crowds and actors after a show. But it's not very good.
- Guy Ferry. Google it.
- People are going there because he has *current* name recognition. Once the next-best-thing comes along, and people realize the food and service sucks, the restaurant will collapse and THEN we can say Guy Fieri's homophobic collapse is complete!
- The flyover tourists couldn't care less about the NY Times or any other reviews. They will stand in line for an hour to eat crappy overpriced bad greasy fried food so they can impress the yokels back home with their glamorous tales of the high life in NY.
- Of course Guy's a homophobe. I am sure that as a child he was called Guy Fairy and has never gotten over it.
- Very poorly written review. Although I might agree with the sentiments expressed. My question to the reviewer would be what did you expect? Just from watching DDD you could tell that Guy Fieri is a blowhard, tasteless, classless California Schlub who has the charm of cold rice. Even if I were so foolish to go to New York there would be no way in hell I would spend my money in an overpriced restaurant owned by Fieri. I would waste my money on another overpriced restaurant where hopefully the food would be much better.
- Just think free publicity! The restaurant will be full tonight.
- Even the NYPost tore this place apart, a couple of weeks ago. And the Post audience (and staff) is exactly his demographic.
Talk about smoke and mirrors. Bob Tushman and that humorless whatsername need to explain how they could choose someone like this for a network with the word "food" in its name. (And yes, I know FN hasn't been a serious food channel in some time.)
- What R28 said. He doesn't even have the name recognition of a Paula Deen. I give it two years tops before it's replaced by a Golden Corral.
Cotton CANDY!
- R33, let me repeat what I posted on the "fire Donald Trump" threads...networks ONLY care about ratings (as long as he doesn't use the n word in public). Gus is the only golden goose left on the Food Network now that Paula is fading fast. So Guy's job is secure. He and Iron Chef are the entire prime time schedule for that lame channel now.
- Gus=Guy
r35
- Although I agree with a friend who thinks that Paula Deen's cooking is a crime against humanity for how horribly bad it is for your health, at least it appears to be quite tasty. From reading this article, Guy's dishes appear to be absolutely revolting.
- What is the appeal? He's the nastiest turd on TV, as appealing as watching Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck slide their greased holes onto a double-headed dildo.
And to watch him in occasional guest judge duty on some Food Network show, he's somehow of a mind that he not only belongs there, but is a supreme expert.
[quote]Has anyone ever told you that your high-wattage passion for no-collar American food makes you television’s answer to Calvin Trillin, if Mr. Trillin bleached his hair, drove a Camaro and drank Boozy Creamsicles? When you cruise around the country for your show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” rasping out slangy odes to the unfancy places where Americans like to get down and greasy, do you really mean it?
[quote]Or is it all an act? Is that why the kind of cooking you celebrate on television is treated with so little respect at Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar?
[quote]When you hung that sign by the entrance that says, WELCOME TO FLAVOR TOWN!, were you just messing with our heads?
- Ha! Thank you, OP! I posted this in the other Fieri thread, but it truly deserves its own.
Delicious, delectible and as another poster commented, "truly resplendent in its cuntiness"!
Finger-Lickin' GOOD!
- Regarding Paula Deen's cooking. Sounds wonderful, however I have chosen to live instead
- Wwhat an ugly ass place, especially since it was built from scratch.
- I have no interest in Paula Deen or her cooking. Her closeted son Bobby, however, is a different story.
- R7, Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah is the same. Lines around the corner. I went once, completely underwhelmed. Not a single person in my party was impressed and no one would go back. It's just one of those things to do I guess.
- Sometimes you can judge a book by its ugly douchebaggerish cover.
- [quote]Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah is the same. Lines around the corner. I went once, completely underwhelmed. Not a single person in my party was impressed and no one would go back. It's just one of those things to do I guess.
In selecting their "on air talent," the Food Network aims squarely for an audience that doesn't travel much, doesn't eat out much, and doesn't know much. They succeed, and so, as a result, do Paula Deen and Guy Fieri.
- We waited in line for Paulas restaurant, got to the head of the line and was told no more openings until the next day. Got in a cab and told the cab driver what happened. He said, be glad, the place sucks.
- Even GMA was laughing over this review this morning.
- Forget about the food, the restaurant's telephone number is atrocious. (646) 532-4897, really? I realize the last four digit translates to GUYS on the keypad, but it is your telephone number, not your telephone word. For a business, have the easiest telephone number possible. Double or triple zero ending is preferable but repeating digits is also acceptable.
411
- [quote]Even GMA was laughing over this review this morning.
Yeah, the reporter never said anything good about the food she tried either. "Not horrible" is not exactly a rave.
- The Observer's review from last month was pretty brutal too.
http://observer.com/2012/10/the-crispy-crimes-of-guy-fieri/
- The Observer review reads like DL:
[quote]You are led by a cheery hostess...past giant television screens showing an endless loop of Mr. Fieri opening his goatee-framed sphincter-mouth to welcome a panoply of fried matter
[quote]To deride Mr. Fieri for opening his restaurant there as if he’d taken a dump in the Louvre is silly. He pooped on a pile of bright shiny poop, Jeff Koonsian poop, Guy Debordian poop. But public defecation is still a crime in New York City (Health Code Section 153.09), and his offenses rest not in their location but in their very nature.
[quote]Mr. Fieri not only serves truly horrible-tasting food, an awkward origami of clashing aleatory flavors, but he serves this punishing food emulsified with a bombastic recasting of deep-fried American myth. Mr. Fieri’s most egregious transgression isn’t what he puts into his fellow citizens’ stomachs, it’s how the cynical slop interfaces with what he puts into their minds.
- He's in the restaurant business and he doesn't like gays? Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time!
- What I hate about homophobic shitheads like him is they're homophobic because they fear having some gay guy hit on them or something. It's always the ugly trolls who are like this, too. I mean, seriously, look in a fucking mirror. You don't know the gays very well if you think you have to protect your cock from us.
- R53 I have heard that so many times from the fugliest things on the planet. Uhh, don't worry Guy, you are not even on my top 10 list.
- Has Tom Colicchio commented on this?
- homophobes are homophobic because they are latent. it's scientific fact.
- Andy Cohen loved his pretzel chicken things .
- He was extremely close to his younger sister (and only sibling). She died last year from melanoma. She was also a lesbian. The charges of homophobia came from a disgruntled former producer of Guy's and may be, if not outright lies, grossly exaggerated.
- Good thing Andrew Zimmern doesn't have a restaurant.
Anonymous
- Good I hope this brings that god awful show down a notch. I don't need to see on tv 12 times every Sat. and Sun.
The Food Network is going the way of MTV. Can we please return to it's original intent- cooking?
- I saw the restaurant owner/ "artist" / proprietor "Stretch" on his show more than once. That guy is egotistical and misogynist douchebag also. He once told friend of mine that she was a "waste" because she was a lesbian and she wouldn't date him.
Guy hangs out with douchebags.
- I have no love for that fat white trash guy they're dissing, but let's face it: If the restaurant were the same, only owned by a Jewish and/or New Yorker who was big in the Manhattan social scene and/or catered to a theater crowd, the review would have been four stars and praised as 'edgy' and 'whimsical'.
The Times takes a cheap shot at an easy target. Let's seem 'em get that rough on any eatery with a more local bent.
- [quote]It's just one of those things to do I guess.
Only by people with no taste.
- R62 must be Mel Gibson, certain that a confederation of Jews and the Theatre Set has set out to ruin him.
- Anti-semitic troll at r62.
Why was the inclusion of "Jewish" necessary? Particularly given the fact that the biggest celebrity chefs right now aren't even Jewish? Miserable Jew-hater.
- Restaurants like this remind me how worldly and cosmopolitan Manhattan is! What it must be like to live there among such exclusivity.
- R62, the Times was brutal on Warner LeRoy when he re-opened The Russian Tea Room. He was as big a New York Jew and maven of the city's theater-and-restaurant scene as they come.
- Sorry to say, but one can be close to a lesbian sister and still not want "faggots" (ie, openly gay men or men who appear to be gay) to exist.
- Have you actually eaten there r62?
No?
The STFU
- " Uh oh, somebody's typed "Jew" in a less than flattering sentence. Must be a death-wishing anti-semite!! "
DL%20PC%20Troll%20Brigade
- [quote]Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah is the same. Lines around the corner.
We were in Savannah a year ago and there was no line at all at Paula's eatery. We had heard only negative things about it so we decided to go to Mrs. Wilkes instead and had to wait almost 90 minutes. But damn, that fried chicken was wonderful. My Savannah friends said they heard that "no one" goes to Paula's anymore.
- I went to Paula Deen's Lady and Sons before her TV show when nobody knew her, and it still wasn't really that great. I don't think it ever was.
- No, stupid troll-enabler at r70--someone's an anti-Semite when they drag Jewishness into a conversation as some kind of evidence of conspiracy, or as exemplary of some inherent, terrible Jewish trait.
You are as stupid as the anti-Semitic troll.
- [quote] I went to Paula Deen's Lady and Sons before her TV show when nobody knew her, and it still wasn't really that great. I don't think it ever was.
Do you think it's easy to come up with that many variations of deep fried butter sticks??
Paula%20Deen%20and%20her%20fat%20offspring
- R73, get some rest hon or gallop back to your mommy blog. Apparently the Datalounge is much too coarse for your delicate soft skin.
- [quote] He was extremely close to his younger sister (and only sibling). She died last year from melanoma. She was also a lesbian.
In days gone by I believe that she also used to post on DL occasionally.
- R62 = Guy Ferry
- R58, having a beloved, deceased sister who happened to be a lesbian does not preclude one from being homophobic in general, especially as a male towards male homosexuals.
Don't be so naïve. You sound simple.
- Back in the late 1990s, we lived in Sonoma county and once went to his "signature" restaurant, Johnny Garlic's. It was a shithole. We didn't eat there because the fucking flies and gnats were so thick we were afraid that was the meat they were using. The floors were dirty, waitstaff slatternly, and the place just sucked.
- [quote]Apparently the Datalounge is much too coarse for your delicate soft skin.
Better yet, r75, why don't you head back to freerepublic and spare us your racist shit?
- The restaurant is in Times Square and has his name on it. So, it's basically a theme restaurant. He should have worked out a deal with Food Network to features dishes he's reviewed on his show and done them properly. The American tourists would flock to that.
- [quote]Mr. Fieri not only serves truly horrible-tasting food, an awkward origami of clashing aleatory flavors, but he serves this punishing food emulsified with a bombastic recasting of deep-fried American myth. Mr. Fieri’s most egregious transgression isn’t what he puts into his fellow citizens’ stomachs, it’s how the cynical slop interfaces with what he puts into their minds.
Change this up a bit with key substitutions and it could be a critique about the writer and his writing.
-
I'm with r20 on the best line in the whole review:
[quote]SERVICE The well-meaning staff seems to realize that this is not a real restaurant.
- I thought the Times was cut throat but the Observer is downright cruel, but I loved it.
- R17 yet you found the time in your very important, busy day to post in this thread.
Fieri is a sham...he's made his money...I hope his time's up soon to make room for a real chef.
- R62, your bigotry exceeds your capacity both for understanding and communication. Your disgusting premise holds no water. The point of course is that a marketing phenomenon sailing on the wings of faux celebrity has failed to deliver responsibly and professionally in a venue obviously aimed at the tourist market. How many Manhattan eateries do you grace, that swastika on your shoulder well hidden, that have 500 seats, that are run by the Zionist-"New Yorker" Conspiracy. I'll tell you - zero to none.
That failure is substantial, based on the review. Easy shot? SO you're saying that the review is correct but OF COURSE a review that exists in your mind sings praises for a crap shop run by urban Jews?
Fuck you, you despicable piece of shit. Rub yourself on a toast point and eat it.
Sick%20of%20the%20Asshole%20Seepage%20Omnipresent%20Here
- I kind of want to eat there just to see if it's really that bad.
- You can tell from the wall of merch that this is all about branding and nothing about food.
- Fieri must have really pissed off a lot of people for GMA to diss him on air like they did this morning. They are the biggest celebrity ass kissers on tv next to Whoppi and Barbara.
- I'm sorry but surely he knows if he wants to be a celebrity he's going to have to work on his body.
- "Aleatory"? How was that not in my Word-of-the-Day calendar?
- I bet it's better than Paula Deen's Savannah restaurant/tourist trap.
- This is a thing of BEAUTY. I wish more restaurants were held to these standards and publicly flogged when they try to pass off their shit as 'edible' at the prices they do.
- To think, this place makes the former occupant, the serviceable but idea-less OLLIE'S chinese restaurant, seem like Union Square Cafe.
Jews%20during%20Christmas
- As much as he deserves his inevitable collapse of this place, and probably his other endeavors, I have a feeling he's making a mint and he's going to walk away with a ton of cash. I doubt the risk is on him.
- Guy Fieri: The Douchebag's Douchebag
- Lighten up, r86. Holy Mary prisspot!
- I'm not one of those people who watches cooking channels and their reality shows all that much, so can somebody tell me what his claim to fame was, beyond his in-your-face obnoxious personality? Why is he considered a culinary authority?
- I'm with R98. But I also want to know how is "collapse" is complete. Has he been in a state of collapse for a while now?
- r98: Because straight men like him.
- I think it was under Bruni's tenure that a scathing review was written of a restaurant that was so terrible that his business started booming from people wanting to see if it was really that bad.
I used to post on TWoP back when his show first started and all of us were appalled by his grossness. Someone, Guy or maybe his sister was our guess, showed up and was completely unhinged about it. S/he actually listed his so-called accomplishments and wanted to know what we had done with our lives. It was hysterical.
When I was in culinary school all the straight guys loved him. I guess 18 year old guys are his market and that's who the FN wants.
- Whenever I read here that some homophobe is really a closet case, I generally don't believe it.
I totally believe this guy is a closet case.
- Lord, he named his sons Hunter and Ryder. With those names, one or both have to be gay. Preferably both.
Karma's a bitch.
- This is all a plot to have Gordon Ramsey swoop in and shout "OH MY GOD!" at things and then fix it in between commercial breaks.
- Compare this review to this New Yorker take on Cheesecake Factory (which makes it sound a marvel of efficiency). There's no reason why a chain or a big Times Sq. tourist spot has to totally suck. I've never been to a Cheesecake Factory but it sounds here like what you'd hope it'd be: somewhat tasty, not bank-breaking and accessible. I hope other chain/theme/etc restaurateurs take note of this review on some level. If you did find yourself at one of these places...who needs food that's just poorly assembled and expensive industrial crap?
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/08/13/120813fa_fact_gawande
- "Although I might agree with the sentiments expressed, my question to the reviewer would be what did you expect?"
So, you think that because the reviewer should have expected the restaurant to be awful, he shouldn't have written a very negative review? That "logic" is even more idiotic than most of the idiotic idiocies posted by the biggest idiots on DL, a group to which you obviously belong.
- He was one of the first men I saw who wore his sunglasses on the back of his neck, which is possibly the worst fashion idea since the blackberry holder.
It did cover the back of his red neck, which is literally red because he drives a convertible and is permanently sunburn or because he is one egg roll away from an aneurysm.
Rachel%20Ray
- I had the displeasure of eating at his palace of shit before the review hit.
My visiting cousin drug me there, she is a huge fan.
She worked on her enthusiasm...when the food finally came 'Oh boy it looks good'. (it didn't) but after a few bites from each of our plates she just could not pretend any longer.
Because she loves this man and his shows she was profoundly disappointed, and even more so when the bill for two was over 100 bucks.
- As far as the lesbian sister goes,homophobic straight men are often far more tolerant of lesbians than they are of gay men,especially if they're family.
- The article is currently the most viewed and most e-mailed at the times. I hope the readers take it as a consumer advocacy piece.
- [quote]To think, this place makes the former occupant, the serviceable but idea-less OLLIE'S chinese restaurant, seem like Union Square Cafe.
Wasn't Ollies more up the street towards Broadway? I like this location better than the one they moved to on 42nd St. They moved out because Apple was supposed to come to Times Square. I thought this was built from scratch. Fieri said they had to build a balcony to fit the kitchen between floors. Ollies would have had a kitchen space already.
- [quote]as appealing as watching Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck slide their greased holes onto a double-headed dildo.
That comment should also have been in the review.
I saw Guy on Today this morning and they showed a clip of someone spooning macaroni and cheese onto their plate...so I thought. The gooey slop was actually his "crispy" calamari.
- The Today show segment was filmed at his restaurant. Even though there were plates of food in front of them, no one took a bite. LOL.
- Ironically, the New York Times was hosting an ad agency event at Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar last night. I bet that was a comfortable night.
- How many straight men dye their hair blonde and wear earrings? I can picture him getting it on with trannies. Is he Italian? Most "straight" Italian men will hook up with trannies.
- Planet Hollywood still lives.
- "visiting cousin drug me there"
Drug?
- r115: I think he is Irish and his real last name is "Ferry".
- [quote]How many straight men dye their hair blonde and wear earrings?
In 2012? Mary, please--get out of the house.
- R115, R118 -
He is Italian; he legally changed his last name back to his grandfather's last name to what it was before it was anglicized.
- R97: Dig in, dear. Happy you're so comfortable with the "Jew" slamming. No one here is surprised.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bp78v3IdeCQ/Teo_LQhg0JI/AAAAAAAABWg/O8I_h1E6TZA/s1600/P1050276.JPG
R86
- To those who think American tourists flock to these gawd awful places, some of us do not. I'm from NM and I visit NY every year. We avoid TimesSquare as much as we can. The only time I find myself in TS is when I use the subway. So not all Americans are "touristy".
The only thing close to Food Network I get to is Chelsea Market.
I would like to try Aaron Sanchez's Centrico though.
- He was on the Today show this morning and the panel was making all kinds of excuses about why the review was bad: mostly saying the reviewer had an 'agenda' and wanted to show off and be above a simple restaurant with simple American cuisine. They kept harping on the idea that this was AMERICAN cuisine, as if a reviewer would never appreciate American food. I was hoping somebody would pipe up and just say "I thought the review was HILARIOUS!" But nobody did. They were all really badmouthing the reviewer saying he was mean, etc.
- Letterman:
DISCONTINUED GUY FIERI MENU ITEMS
10. Inappropriately rubbed brisket
9. Sampler of entrees sent back to the kitchen
8. Pushed pork
7. Guy's famous grilled shirt sleeve
6. Jumbo shrimp, tattooed and pierced
5. Teriyak glazed napkin
4. Seared halibut with intestinal parasite reduction
3. Crust-crusted crust
2. Suspiciously damp toast
1. Duck a l'Ahmadinejad
- [quote]I have no love for that fat white trash guy they're dissing, but let's face it: If the restaurant were the same, only owned by a Jewish and/or New Yorker who was big in the Manhattan social scene and/or catered to a theater crowd, the review would have been four stars and praised as 'edgy' and 'whimsical'.
You are an ugly, ignorant piece of work.
P.S. We don't know who owns Fieri's restaurant. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some Jews and/or New Yorkers among the owners.
- Would the demographics (Midwestern tourists, etc) this restaurant is geared towards really pay $30 for an entree?
- R126, talk to any server near the Theater District about tourists.
- [quote]My visiting cousin drug me there, she is a huge fan.
The past tense of "to drag" is "dragged." Now if she actually DRUGGED you in order to get you to eat at Chez Fieri, I would be more sympathetic.
- There are a lot of crap restaurants that tourists flock to in Midtown.
- Thanks for that, r120.
I have to admit, that's a cool thing to do.
r118
- The reviews at Yelp are very negative.
I'd love to go there just to see how bad it is.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/guys-american-kitchen-and-bar-new-york-2
- A LOL read
LMFAO
- L.A.'s CBS affiliate just did a piece on the negative reviews. This could be a massive take down.
- MMMM...mmmmm.....MMMMMMMMMMM!!!!
Guy%20%22Ferry%22%20Fieri
- Guy fires back:
Guy Fieri fired back at New York Times food critic Pete Wells on Thursday, a day after the paper published a scathing review of Fieri's new restaurant in Times Square.
"I wholeheartedly disagree with The New York Times' review of Guy's American Kitchen & Bar," Fieri said in a statement provided to Yahoo News. "My philosophy on life is what drives my attitude towards food. As a kid, I used to make four-course sushi meals for my parents and our family friends. I got hooked on food because I saw the way people reacted; the atmosphere around a family dinner, dining out with friends and family—it was contagious.
"At my restaurants, we always try to live by a very simple notion: that food brings people together," Fieri continued. "I've learned that not everyone agrees with my style. The Times' critic, Pete Wells, clearly did not enjoy his experience. I normally do not respond to reviews or critics, however, given the tone of Pete's piece, it's clear to me that he went into my restaurant with his mind already made up. That's unfortunate. I take comments from patrons, fans and visitors very seriously, and if there is ever a problem with our service, I'll fix it."
[Related: New York Times' scathing review of new Guy Fieri restaurant goes viral]
Wells' review took the form of an open letter to Fieri, the host of Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."
"Have you eaten at your new restaurant in Times Square?" Wells' review begins. "Did panic grip your soul as you stared into the whirling hypno wheel of the menu, where adjectives and nouns spin in a crazy vortex? When you saw the burger described as 'Guy's Pat LaFrieda custom blend, all-natural Creekstone Farm Black Angus beef patty, LTOP (lettuce, tomato, onion + pickle), SMC (super-melty-cheese) and a slathering of Donkey Sauce on garlic-buttered brioche,' did your mind touch the void for a minute?"
The biting review quickly jumped to the top spot on the Times' "Most Viewed" and "Most E-Mailed" lists—and racked up hundreds of thousands of page views.
Fieri, though, said he's unfazed by the critical skewering.
"We've only been open a short while, but I've seen countless people come to my restaurant—families, fans, tourists, and yes, even New Yorkers—looking to get away for an hour or two, and they've had a great experience and a meal that they enjoyed," he added. "Like the hundreds of diners, drive-ins and dives I've featured on my show, I've incorporated my passion and love for food into my restaurants. I'm proud of the food we put out, and always will be."
It's worth noting that Wells' scorching didn't stop the Times ad sales staff from hosting a 150-person party at Fieri's restaurant on Wednesday night. According to paper, the party was planned two months in advance.
Marilyn Hagerty, whose earnest review of a new Olive Garden for the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald went viral earlier this year, says she's not sure she agrees with Wells' approach.
"I don't do negative reviews," Hagerty, 85, wrote in an email to Yahoo News. "I do mention the good and the bad. If it's all negative I wonder, 'What is the point?'"
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/fieri-responds-times-review-170703337.html
- If his first name were non-Anglicized it could be GAETANO, in which case he might've been GAY Ferry.
- LIAR
- Sometimes it's fun to see a movie, TV show or play that's "so bad it's good." This is rarely true of restaurants, however.
- It's turning into one of those "blue state/red state" debates on Yelp and elsewhere. Those who like the place (and Fieri) are calling those that don't snobs for not like American food. Sounds like an overpriced TGIF to me.
- Lots of people defending Fieri today. The line seems to be that the critic is a snob.
- [quote]As a kid, I used to make four-course sushi meals for my parents and our family friends
He's 44, was Sushi even mainstream when he was a kid?
- Weren't his parents hippies that raised his sister and he off the grid, though?
The Voice of the Night
- Sushi was certainly known and growing in popularity in the US when he was a kid, R141. Making sushi at home is certainly something a precocious foodie teen might have done then.
55%20year%20old.
- Sushi bars were not mainstream until the early 1980s. Maybe Guy considered himself a "kid" at age 22.
Ever seen his cooking show? He piles the kitchen sink into everything he makes - 30 ingredients. He's barely a cook, certainly not a chef.
- N. California has a sizable Japanese population so it wouldn't be at all surprising if he did this as a teen. When I was a teen, we had Japanese neighbors who made sushi at home (v. simple rolls - crab, avocado, cucumber) and would share when they did. This was '80-'82.
- Yeah, r145, 1980-82. Can't read? And I'm from NYC.
R144
- WTF? When sushi bars became mainstream has nothing to do with anything here. And Guy was 15 in 1983, at the time you say sushi bars became mainstream.
The fact that he comes across as a total douche is enough reason to dislike him. No need to reach for such thin straws.
- R146 - Guy Feiri grew up in N. California. Perhaps I should have made it more clear for you.
- R143 & R144: I can't stand this fool, but he was raised in Humboldt County, north of San Francisco. I grew up in the SF Bay Area & remember sushi being served at Japanese restaurants there in the 1960s.
-
Well yes, R148, he grew up in N. California. But he did it in Ferndale, Humboldt County, a tiny dairy village where the milk isn't the only thing that's homogenized.
Even today, the asian population in Humboldt county is just over 2%, and it's lower than that in Ferndale. I can promise you that Guy had no Japanese neighbors. Ferndale is one of the whitest white places you'll find.
- [quote]Sushi bars were not mainstream until the early 1980s. Maybe Guy considered himself a "kid" at age 22.
He's 44, believe it or not. In the early 80s he was just entering his teens.
- The amount of publicity this review is getting is insane. Talk about a slow news day.
- We can dislike him for being a douche. His restaurant should be judged on its merits. I have no doubt that the Times critic was sincere about his experience. It is not in his interest to give a restaurant this bad of a review if it wasn't true. Maybe Fieri is a good chef (I doubt it though), but I'm sure he doesn't actually cook. My guess is that he's busy raking in the bucks traveling around to do his shows to pay attention to his restaurant.
- Does Guy own the building this monstrosity is housed in?
The Voice of the Night
- [quote]He is Italian; he legally changed his last name back to his grandfather's last name to wht i before it was anglicizd.
Kids are cruel. Guy Ferry probably was called Gay Fairy in school. Thus the desperate desire to appear cool now. But that's no excuse for homophobia or general douchiness. And it it's not only one disgruntled ex-colleague making the claims.
Frankly after watching many episodes of DDD, I think he's an obvious asshole. No shock with any of the allegations.
Now I'm not the biggest cunt on the Food Network!
A%20thankful%20Ina%20Garten
- WHO EVER IS WRITING ALL THESE MEAN THINGS, NEEDS TO STOP!!!! HOW DARE YOU CALL SOMEONE GAY! AND THEY ARE NOT!! BUNCH OF IGNORANT IDIOTS THAT TALK SHIT BEHIND A COMPUTER AND CANNOT REVEAL WHO THEY ARE. COWARDS AND HAVE NOTHING BETTER ELSE TO DO BUT TO TALK LIES ABOUT POOR INNOCENT PEOPLE. GO
TO CHURCH AND CONFESS YOUR SINS INSTEAD.
- WHO EVER IS WRITING ALL THESE MEAN THINGS, NEEDS TO STOP!!!! HOW DARE YOU CALL SOMEONE GAY! AND THEY ARE NOT!! BUNCH OF IGNORANT IDIOTS THAT TALK SHIT BEHIND A COMPUTER AND CANNOT REVEAL WHO THEY ARE. COWARDS AND HAVE NOTHING BETTER ELSE TO DO BUT TO TALK LIES ABOUT POOR INNOCENT PEOPLE. GO
TO CHURCH AND CONFESS YOUR SINS INSTEAD.
STOP%20IGNORANCE%20NOW
- ...and a double posting from Mr. Fairy at R157
- Am i wrong? I could swear i read ....right before this restaurant opened...that a corporation just paid to use his name...he was not actually involved...not true?
- Not sure R159 but if you sell your name be prepared for the consequence.
- I do wish the "trashy Midwestern fraus" would stop visiting NYC. Then we'd get to watch as the hipster, urban super-sophisticates and more cooler than you types like R126, R127 and R129 become unemployed and the city around them hurdles towards bankruptcy.
The rest of America to NYC: Drop dead!
- Donald Trump allowed (allows) his name to be used for developments in FL. The NYT reported that a man bought into one of them based on the Trump name. Then the builder ran out of money and credit, and the guy lost his life savings.
Could be that Guy sold his name for the NYC restaurant. I don't think so - I think he just left the details to other people, like the food. I'll bet he isn't sophisticated enough with food or restaurants to be a major player in this or any other one.
- Fieri was scared by that review. He flew to NY overnight to do damage control on the Today show. He'd clearly read the review more that once. The guy's a hack.. His defense was lame including how the place has only been open 2 months. That's lame...the business grows into itself, but you open with the drill down esp. with a restaurant. Excuse my Top Chef fandom, but there's Richard on Life After Top Chef sweating to get the food for his restaurant just right for the opening day.
- I think the story is that he had not sold his name.
- And you are who, Mr r156 / r157?
Please leave name and address...
You NUT...
- [uote]Could be that Guy sold his name for the NYC restaurant.
In the Today show clip he mentions his business partner by name. Business Partner = Financier. Not his money.
- The thing I don't get is what were his culinary credentials before his all-around douchebaggery made him a TV star? Did he own a highly rated restaurant? Did he have a line of culinary products? Did he write cookbooks? Was he a food critic? Why the fuck would anyone consider him some kind of authority when it comes to food and cooking?
- The restaurant's first victim: watermelon margarita
"After a failed attempt to order the suspiciously blue watermelon margarita, we learned that Wells’ claims had killed the item. It had been dramatically stricken from the menu. "
http://www.hollywood.com/news/Guy_Fieri_American_Kitchen_Restaurant_Review_Taste_test_Bad_food/44340881
- R156/R157 stinks of carbuncled cunt. Someone lance it with a crucifix, please.
- [quote]His defense was lame including how the place has only been open 2 months.
I don't know about NYC, but new restaurants in N. Calif (Marin County, SF Bay Area, Monterey/Carmel) are expected to pull themselves together pronto. Some bumps are expected on opening night -- maybe even the first week for mid-level priced places. But no shakedown cruise lasts 2 months!
- [quote]Forget about the food, the restaurant's telephone number is atrocious. (646) 532-4897, really?
OMG, that is atrocious. The only thing worse is if the number was (646) 472-4715. LOL!
- [quote]I don't know about NYC, but new restaurants in N. Calif (Marin County, SF Bay Area, Monterey/Carmel) are expected to pull themselves together pronto. Some bumps are expected on opening night -- maybe even the first week for mid-level priced places. But no shakedown cruise lasts 2 months!
Exactly they should be at the top of their game, even going overboard, great food, huge portions, to gain a following.
- So has Robert Irvine scheduled a visit from "Restaurant Impossible" yet?
- I found a toenail in my salad
Paula%20Dean
- [quote]I'm not one of those people who watches cooking channels and their reality shows all that much, so can somebody tell me what his claim to fame was, beyond his in-your-face obnoxious personality?
He was a contestant on The Next Food Network Star's first season and won. It's like winning Top Chef or America's Next Top Model. The prize was his own show. The Next Food Network Star has had many seasons but they were never able to produce another breakout star like Guy Fieri.
- [quote]: Guy "Ferry" Fieri
But where was he on 11/22/63?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ferrie
- [quote]I'm not one of those people who watches cooking channels and their reality shows all that much, so can somebody tell me what his claim to fame was, beyond his in-your-face obnoxious personality?
For a more complete answer, here's a blurb from Wiki on his earlier career:
[quote]Although Fieri has no training as a chef, he worked at restaurants during high school and then managed and owned restaurants. Fieri attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Management in 1990.
[quote]After graduation, 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.
Sooo ... more experience in management and development than practical chef-ing, it seems.