Fans of Guy Fieri’s show “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” will be in for a sweet treat this Friday following the Food Network star’s recent stop at a popular northwest Gainesville bakery.
The mayor of Flavortown and his signature 1968 Chevrolet Camaro visited Uppercrust at 4118 NW 16th Blvd. The artisan bakery will be featured on “Triple D” Friday at 9 p.m. on the Food Network.
In an interview with The Sun, Uppercrust owner Ben Guzick said he received a random email from Citizen Pictures production company asking the bakery to be on the show.
“In this age of spam and scam emails, we were pretty incredulous and candidly just didn’t even think it was a real thing until we dug around and confirmed it was real, to which we said absolutely!” Guzick said.
Much like the owners of The Paper Bag and Humble Wood Bagel Shop, Guzick agreed to send six recipes with pictures and written instructions, of which Fieri would select two items to be featured on the show.
Guzick said it was a whirlwind experience and that he only remembers “snipbits” of the shooting. He commended his staff and the production company for coordinating with him to shut down the bakery for two days to complete the shoot and recalled how much the bakery had to prepare for Fieri’s visit.
“I was really just impressed and grateful for the production team, because they were like total pros and stayed with us to make sure that the show was faithful to the vision of our dishes,” Guzick said.
Guzick, who appears on the show, said Fieri selected Uppercrust’s Reine de Saba cake and the artichoke barigoule rose to be featured on the show.
The Reine de Saba cake is an almond, chocolate cake with orange liqueur which is then smothered with a layer of apricot preserves. He noted the cake is based on a Julia Child’s recipe.
Pinching himself, Guzick said he is still wondering why Uppercrust was selected since bakeries are not usually featured on the show.
“Baking is so personal,” Guzick said. “We just add our own little adaptations to it that we think, if not better, at least more personal to our vision, and was really excited that he (Fieri) picked us because he usually doesn’t feature any desserts because that’s our wheelhouse, we’re here for treats.”
Elaborating on the artichoke barigoule rose, Guzick said it is like an open-faced sandwich topped off with braised artichokes, Gruyère cheese and tomato salad.
Anticipating an influx of avid “Triple D” fans, Guzick said buzz has somewhat spread about the bakery’s upcoming appearance on the show. Business, however, had already begun to increase due to what Guzick called the best time in the city for businesses.
“You have the beautiful weather, everybody’s in town, and the Gators just won the basketball national championship,” Guzick said.
Guzick spoke to Fehrenbacher’s Meats and Eats owner Adam Fehrenbacher who told him the meat market’s business has jumped 40% since its appearance on “Triple D.”
“I don’t know that we’ll see that increase but we sure hope so,” Guzick said.
