Celebrity chef and Chicken Guy! founder Guy Fieri has a way of bonding with people over the food he creates.
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Fieri explained that he was invited to watch a sports fight at Sylvester Stallone’s house and insisted he cook for the group, which included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jay Glazer and Michael Strahan.
Prior to the day at Sly’s house, Glazer, Fieri’s friend, made it clear that there would be some “heavy hitters” in attendance, also known as A-list stars.
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“There’s going to be a couple of heavy-hitters there. I’m like, great make it even more difficult, as if I don’t already have Sly and Michael Strahan and Jay, you know who else is going to be there? So, you know Schwarzenegger is going to be there. Well, that was the big thing when I got to meet Al Pacino,” Fieri said.
“Cooking with these guys, and, you know, Sugar Ray Leonard was there, we’re all sitting there talking about food, and we might not all agree on the same sports, agree on the same team, agree on the same politics or music. You know what? Everybody agrees on food,” he continued. “So it’s really the common denominator.”
During the Food Network star’s visit to Stallone’s house, Fieri told Fox News Digital that he was mistaken by staff as the hired bartender for the day.
Fieri explained the situation as “one of the funniest things ever” after he insisted he needed to cook for all the guys instead of allowing Stallone to order-in “sandwiches.” Prior to getting busy in the kitchen, Fieri took a look at the kitchen and went behind the bar to gaze at Stallone’s alcohol collection.
WATCH: Guy Fieri bonded with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger over cooking
“So, I’m standing behind the bar because I, as a restaurant owner, chef and past bartender, I go and look at what’s in somebody’s well,” he began. “So, the girl walks in and says, ‘Hey, you know, lose the jacket.’ I thought she said, ‘Do you want me to take your jacket?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m fine. I’m cold’ and the greatest part, she was really super nice. She didn’t have any idea.”
Once she saw Fieri cooking in the kitchen, the woman who told him to take off his jacket understood she had made a mistake. Fieri noted that the woman asked him “not to tell Sly,” but he had to. “I’ve got to tell. It’s the funniest story in the world!” Fieri said.
During his interview with Fox News Digital, Fieri also discussed his relationship with his two sons: Hunter, 28, and Ryder, 18. Fieri noted he only had one “rule” required of them.
“I want my kids to do what my kids want to do. I’m going to back them up. They just have to do something. That was the rule, but you’re going to go somewhere,” Fieri said.
Fieri and his wife of nearly 30 years, Lori, share their two sons. Fieri explained that he is making sure his youngest son eats well while he is in college.
He explained that Ryder “only has a microwave” in his small space, so he tries to find ways to get his cooking down from Northern California to San Diego State University for his son to enjoy, specifically one of his family’s favorite autumn dishes – chili.
“We do make a bunch of chili. We’re trying to figure out how to get the chili down to a Ryder. Because that’s what he’s having his biggest problem with is food,” Fieri explained. “He says, you know, ‘thanks for the meal program’, but so we’re trying to figure out how to get it to him because he’s only got a microwave in the dorm.”
Since Fieri is a UNLV alum, he recognizes he has some rivalry with his youngest son. Despite the in-family rivalry, the celebrity chef went on to praise Ryder’s university and is happy for his son.
“What a great school. They’re super involved with their students,” Fieri explained. “It’s going to be a great time for him, and he really likes it.”
Aside from making sure his son is eating well in college, Fieri recently opened a brand-new location for the Chicken Guy! in Hollywood with his business partner, kingpin of Planet Hollywood, Robert Earl.
WATCH: Guy Fieri talks about opening the ‘Chicken Guy!’
“We were talking, and he said, ‘You know, the future’ and this is years ago, ‘The future’s chicken’ [and] says, ‘What kind of chicken can you make?’” Fieri began. And I said, ‘Well, I probably had more fried chicken than anybody.’”
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“Never in a million years” did Fieri believe he would open a restaurant in Hollywood, let alone a location steps away from his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Due to Fieri’s experience with traveling the country and trying different cuisines, he was confident that he could make “bomb fried chicken.” He also created a variety of special sauces, exclusive to the Chicken Guy!
WATCH: Guy Fieri made John Travolta’s daughter ‘question’ his cooking
Before bringing anything to his customers, Fieri uses his family as his “guinea pigs” to try and test out new menu items. Others have thoughts about his food as well.
John Travolta’s vegetarian daughter, Ella, once questioned Fieri’s cooking because she “could not believe” what she was eating did not include meat.
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“I made some vegetarian Bolognese and I literally had to go and show them all the ingredients because she’s like, ‘There is no way this is not meat,'” Fieri explained of the time he cooked for Travolta and his daughter.
