Guy Fieri's career sizzles as chef next-door

By Richard Leong

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Since winning a television cooking competition three years ago chef Guy Fieri has forged a career both in and out of the kitchen.

The 41-year-old chef has hosted several TV series including "Guy's Big Bite," and when he is not in front of the cameras he tends to his five restaurants in California, including his Tex-Wasabi's "Rock-N-Roll Sushi-BBQ" eateries where guests can eat sashimi and chipotle pork tacos in the same meal.

He spoke to Reuters about his passion for food, eating out and the perils of being a celebrity chef.

Q: How would you describe your cooking?

A: "I'm a pretty spicy guy. I like forward, bold flavors. I don't care if it's a $5 dollar burger from a truck."

Q: Why do you have such a passionate fan base?

A: "I'm not pretentious. What you see is what you get. People feel really comfortable to come up everywhere to talk to me about everything."

Q: What is one of the stranger incidents that happened to you with a fan?

A: "A guy asked me to sign his arm. The dude showed up the next day with tattoos."

Q: You are on the road a lot. What do you order when you eat out?

A: "My rule is that no one can order the same thing when I go out with my friends. There's nothing I don't eat usually. I'm a guy who can eat sushi, barbecue, Italian, Mexican and Greek all in the same meal all at the same time."

Q: What do you cook for yourself?

A: "I have a tendency to go into excess when I cook. I like to cook 10 things. I like to get three cutting boards and four knives out and pull as much out of refrigerator as I can. I love stir-fries. I love Italian and French. I love making things hot and fast in a saute pan with fresh ingredients."

Recipe

Cuban Pork Chops with Mojo (Serves four)