{"id":121796,"date":"2026-02-21T07:44:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T12:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/guy-fieri-once-had-nothing-else-to-sign-on-the-beach-but-postcards-now-hes-built-a-food-tv-empire-121796"},"modified":"2026-02-21T07:44:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T12:44:53","slug":"guy-fieri-once-had-nothing-else-to-sign-on-the-beach-but-postcards-now-hes-built-a-food-tv-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/guy-fieri-once-had-nothing-else-to-sign-on-the-beach-but-postcards-now-hes-built-a-food-tv-empire-121796","title":{"rendered":"Guy Fieri once had ‘nothing else to sign’ on the beach but postcards \u2014 now he’s built a food TV empire"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Twenty years ago, a contestant named Guy Fieri<\/a> on the second season of what was then called “The Next Food Network Star” showed up at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival with little more than spiked hair and ambition.<\/p>\n

“He came to that festival that year and was walking around signing postcards because he had nothing else to sign,” recalled Lee Brian Schrager, founder of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and its New York City counterpart.<\/p>\n

Today, Fieri is one of the most recognizable faces in food<\/a> on television. But in 2006, he was just another up-and-comer working a crowd on the sand.<\/p>\n

6 FOODS EVEN GUY FIERI REFUSES TO EAT \u2014 SOME COMMON, SOME BIZARRE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to “Fox & Friends”<\/a> from Miami Beach, Florida, Friday morning, Fieri said he wasn’t chasing TV fame.<\/p>\n

“I was doing what I wanted to do,” Fieri told Steve Doocy while walking the beach. “I wanted to be a great dad. I wanted to be a great husband. I wanted to be a chef. I wanted to own my own restaurant<\/a>. So, I had accomplished the things I wanted in life and never really saw the other side of it.”<\/p>\n

Two decades later, Fieri has never stopped coming back.<\/p>\n

“He’s been part of our festival every year since he won ‘Food Network Star,'” Schrager told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

That knack for spotting \u2014 and elevating \u2014 talent is part of the festival’s legacy as it marks its 25th year in Miami Beach.<\/p>\n

GORDON RAMSAY SLAMS ‘STUPID’ OZEMPIC-INSPIRED RESTAURANT MENU TREND<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Schrager recalls a similar instinct with Giada De Laurentiis<\/a>. When her agent suggested she might be ready the following year, Schrager pushed back.<\/p>\n

“I said, ‘I don’t want her next year. I want her this year, so she’ll remember where she got her big start,'” Schrager said.<\/p>\n

Still, the festival doesn’t claim to have created celebrity chefs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We don’t take responsibility for turning anyone into a superstar,” Schrager told Fox News Digital. “We do take some credit for giving them a platform and putting them in front of their fans.”<\/p>\n

Over the past 20 years, the platform has grown alongside the broader transformation of food culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Rock stars became chefs and chefs became rock stars,” Schrager said.<\/p>\n

OZEMPIC BOOM COLLIDES WITH AMERICA’S EATING HABITS AS RESTAURANTS SHRINK PORTIONS<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

What began as a one-day wine event on the campus of Florida International University (FIU) evolved after Schrager was tasked with reimagining it. His directive was to “make it better \u2014 not bigger, but better.”<\/p>\n

Schrager had a simple solution.<\/p>\n

“Move it to the beach, partner with the Food Network, get all their celebrities and make it more than just local,” Schrager said.<\/p>\n

Today, the festival draws marquee names from the culinary world as well as from music and entertainment<\/a>. Among those who showed up for Thursday night’s Burger Bash event were comedian Bert Kreischer and Cloud 23 hot sauce founder Brooklyn Peltz Beckham.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Chefs don’t get paid for their appearance at the festival.<\/p>\n

“If it’s somebody new, the first question out of their agent’s mouth is, ‘Oh, what’s the honorarium? What’s the fee?’ I’m like, ‘Zero,'” Schrager said.<\/p>\n

The model works, Schrager said, as the festival operates as a nonprofit benefiting FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.<\/p>\n

“Everyone’s doing it to support the cause, or they’re doing it because they want to do it,” Schrager said. “It’s not a bad place to be in the middle of winter.<\/a>“<\/p>\n

The festival has raised more than $50 million for student scholarships.<\/p>\n

“To me, that’s why we do it,” Schrager said.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Along the way, the festival has outlasted many imitators and weathered shifting food trends<\/a> by staying nimble.<\/p>\n

“We listened to the consumers,” Schrager said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There was never any ego involved in this festival.”<\/p>\n

He added, “Our goal was never to be the biggest.”<\/p>\n

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“It happens that we turned out to be the biggest \u2014 but being the best, or at least doing our best, has always been the most important to me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/food-drink\/guy-fieri-once-had-nothing-else-sign-beach-built-food-tv-empire <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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