Guy Fieri

Only a few short years ago, Guy competed and won the second season of The Next Food Network Star. Today this “Bad Boy” of Food Network hosts four popular shows and can barely walk down the street without being recognized. From his newest show, Guy off the Hook, where he gets up-close and personal with a live studio audience, to Guy’s Big Bite, where he teaches viewers how to make creative dishes with bold flavors and Ultimate Recipe Showdown, where he showcases home cooks' best recipes, to traveling across America to find the most unique Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Guy brings his unique personality to Food Network several times a week.

This likeable laid back California “guy” with his trademark bleached blond spiky hair began his love affair with food at the age of ten, selling soft pretzels from a three-wheeled bicycle cart he built with his father named “The Awesome Pretzel.” Through selling pretzels and washing dishes, Guy earned enough money in six years to study abroad as an exchange student in Chantilly, France. While there, he gained a true appreciation not only for international cuisine, but the culture and lifestyle associated with it.

Guy attended University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management. He began his career with Stouffers, managing their flagship restaurant in Long Beach, CA. After three years, Guy became District Manager of Louise’s Trattoria, where he oversaw six restaurants and was in charge of recruiting and training for the growing chain.

In 1996, Guy and his business partner, Steve Gruber embarked on a Sonoma County, CA- based Italian restaurant, Johnny Garlic’s. They opened their first location in Santa Rosa in the fall of 1996, a second outpost in Windsor in 1999 and a third just opened in Roseville, CA. With the success of their first restaurant concept, they developed Tex Wasabi’s, a Southern BBQ and California Sushi restaurant in 2003 in Santa Rosa, CA. They opened a second location in Sacramento in 2007. In addition to their thriving restaurants, customers can buy fun products from t-shirts, squeeze bottles and aprons to hats and more.

In October 2008, Guy released his first book based on his widely popular show, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: An All-American Road Trip…with Recipes! (William Horrow), which offers recipes and memorable stories from establishments Guy has visited around the country. In its first week, it landed on The New York Times Best Sellers List. Guy also takes his passion for food to the airwaves on his weekly syndicated radio show, Food Guy & Marcy, which he co-hosts with Marcy Smothers. Though polar opposites on paper, the co-host’s engaging banter and fervor for food and wine prove to be the perfect on-air pairing. Guy has also been a three-term President of the Restaurant Association of the Redwood Empire, serves on the Board of Directors for the Educational Foundation of the California Restaurant Association and most recently was Grand Marshall for NASCAR in Sonoma, CA. Guy believes in using his celebrity to help others, and in the fall of 2007, the Navy flew him to the Persian Gulf to entertain and cook for the troops.

Guy lives in Northern California with his wife, Lori and two boys – Hunter and Ryder. When he isn’t on the road or in-studio, he loves to spend time taking road trips with his family, cooking and restoring his classic race cars, dirt bikes, and riding his lifted monster golf cart.