While known for his boisterous personality and bleach-blonde spikes, many people know very little about the life or actual person of Guy Fieri. Fieri’s success is easily measured — his Food Network show “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” is in its 33rd season, he has restaurants in Vegas, Colombia, and Dubai, and he’s undeniably a household name thanks to his wild personality. What’s lesser known about Fieri is his heart and his charity work.
Fieri is a longtime booster of Cal Fire and recently prepared 2,000 meals for California firefighters, along with several local nonprofits. He hosts a cooking competition show called “Guy’s Grocery Games,” where contestants frequently play to raise money for their favorite causes. In 2020, Fieri has vocally supported, encouraged, and raised money for the restaurant industry.
To aid the restaurant industry during the pandemic, Fieri partnered with the National Restaurant Association Educational Fund to launch the Restaurant Employee Relief Fund, which distributes $500 grants to laid-off restaurant workers. For a project titled “Restaurant Hustle 2020: All on the Line,” Fieri gave GoPro cameras to four restaurateurs as a way to record their struggles in a personal way, which resulted in a moving documentary that has already debuted online and will air on the Food Network after Christmas.
With an undoubtedly big heart, how did Guy Fieri become known only by his rowdy personality? By accident.
It all started when he allowed one of his employees — an aspiring hairdresser — to practice on his hair, resulting in his iconic his bleached-blonde spikes. These bleached spikes happened to be his look when he competed in and won The Next Food Network Star in 2006. Other memes and catch phrases attributed to Fieri also came about by accident. The name of his popular show, “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives,” became hard for him to say, so he shortened it to “Triple D.” When he was demonstrating a sauce for Carnival Cruise Line chefs, he blurted out the name “Donkey Sauce,” and the chefs put that name on the menu the next day. Even his title, the Mayor of Flavortown, was something that Fieri blurted out during filming one day that just stuck.
With some more careful (but just as genuine) words, Fieri encourages people to know that the COVID crisis will pass, but the power of a good meal will never disappear. He calls food the great amalgamator, meaning that food can connect people together despite their differences.
We think people should know the real Guy Fieri, just like they should get to know the real chef behind any restaurant. That’s why you’ll find us designing hundreds of cut and color options for chefs like you who want to show off a bit of your personality. Whether you’re rowdy and active like Fieri in bold colors, or more subdued and calm in some pastels, show the world who you are.
