Behind The Scenes Of Guy's Ranch Kitchen With Food Network Chef Rocco DiSpirito
You may remember celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito from the short-lived reality show, "The Restaurant," which ran from 2003 to 2004. The reality show followed DiSpirito's efforts to open and run an Italian eatery in New York City. Since then, he's appeared on "Dancing with the Stars," "Rocco's Dinner Party," "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," and as both a competitor and judge on "Chopped" (via IMDB).
In recent years, DiSpirito has become a fixture on Guy Fieri-hosted programs, appearing on "Guy's Ranch Kitchen," "Guy's Grocery Games," "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives," and "Tournament of Champions." And coming up on February 4, DiSpirito will return to "Guy's Ranch Kitchen" (per Instagram), where contestants will cook up some Super Bowl recipes you need in your life for the big game. DiSpirito sat down with the Food Network Obsessed podcast to spill the tea on what his experience was like behind the scenes on the popular cook-off show.
Home-style hospitality at Guy's Ranch Kitchen
If you've ever wondered if the set of "Guy's Ranch Kitchen" is Guy Fieri's real house, we now have expert testimony that it is, in fact, shot in the star's home (per Spotify). Not only is the show shot there, contestants actually stay at Fieri's house during the shooting of episodes. "Sometimes I stay in Hunter's bedroom, sometimes in Ryder's bedroom, sometimes in the library in the front," Rocco DiSpirito told the Food Network Obsessed about the home-style hospitality of being put-up in Fieri's kids' rooms. "We're not just clocking in, clocking out like a regular TV show." Another big difference between this and traditional shows: no craft services. Instead, the contestants cook breakfast and dinner for each other and Fieri. "We hang out with Guy and his friends a lot," DiSpirito added (via Spotify).
As for what the contestants get up to when the cameras aren't filming, DiSpirito shared a story from his first appearance on the show in 2017 (per IMDB). He and fellow contestant Marc Murphy arrived a day early and found a pig's head in the fridge, "[w]ith tusks and hair and everything!" Instead of being disgusted by the gruesome sight, without skipping a beat, the two got elbow deep in the laborious process of making head cheese — one of the 40 bizarre foods you need to try before you die. They even served it during the shoot. "That would never happen anywhere else," DiSpirito said.