Yes, 12 years ago. First season.

Food not as good as it was then IMHO.

I agree that Guy is a really good person and has helped so many people. His food is…well…it appeals to a lot of people and conceptually I like the fearlessness he has always shown. I don’t accepting hating on anyone this generous and good to the community. Unless you know him personally, please keep uninformed and baseless comments to yourself.

Something a lot of people don’t know is that he moved Guy’s Grocery Games to Sonoma County (specifically Santa Rosa) to support our local businesses. He buys almost all of the food in the “grocery store” (it’s a special set) from Oliver’s. My non-profit has received hundreds of pounds of food that the show donates each week while they’re filming. There are many others — Redwood Gospel, Redwood Empire Food Bank and many others — that feed our community with food his show has paid for.

Guy is frequently on set, and is always friendly and kind to us all.

I can say personally, that Guy has a huge heart. It’s easy to hate when someone is such an easy target, but realize that without Guy, our community wouldn’t be as wonderful as it is.

Also talking to some chefs that worked with him and a previous partner he’s not exactly the greatest of chefs or businessmen… but definitely has what it takes to be a celebrity. And some of them don’t realize (or do but don’t like the fact) that being a celebrity chef has way more to do with being a celebrity than a good chef. Generally most people I know that have seen him and from the couple of interactions me and my coworkers have had is a pretty great and very personable human being.

Guy Fieri gave a ton of time, money and effort to help fire victims in the last few years. More than most have done. So, STFU.

Yeah, I’ve heard that, too. Lots of jealous folks in the restaurant biz around here. A lot of them are snobs, too. I don’t know Guy personally, but I know a few people who do and some that have worked with him. They all say he knows food and that he’s an incredible chef. And there’s certainly no debate regarding his charitable and philanthropic efforts.

As they say, to each his own. Some people love wrestling, some would rather watch chess match. Like I said, I was just reporting what I hear through the gravevine.