How A Single Steak Dinner Changed Guy Fieri's Life

Every chef has an origin story, and while some are more divine than others, it's hard to say that one is better than any other. For someone like Anthony Bourdain, the host of the absolutely remarkable TV show "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" on CNN, it was tasting oysters in France as a teenager that led to his long-winding culinary journey. For Guy Fieri, all it took was him cooking a steak dinner for the very first time at 8 years old to get hooked on being a chef.

Fieri explained how important his first time cooking a steak for his family was to him in an interview on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," where he explained that contrary to what you might expect, his parents were sticklers about cooking healthy food, leaving Guy to desire more from his dinner. "My mom's point was, 'If you don't like the way we cook, then you cook,'" Fieri explained. So, the eventual host of the chaotic Flavortown Tailgate went to the store, bought ribeyes and pasta, and made his first steak dinner for his mom and dad. "He cuts into it, takes a bite, sets down his fork and knife ... and he goes, 'You know what, Guy? This might be the best steak I've ever had,'" Guy recalled. "That's when I wanted to be a chef."

It took Fieri about 30 years from when he made his first steak dinner at age 8 to star in the TV special known as "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" in 2006 and the eventual TV show of the same name that it spawned a year later. However, he only got to that point by way of years of hard work in the kitchen and his eventual victory in the second season of "Food Network Star" in 2006.

While Fieri hasn't had a spotless career in the years since becoming a celebrity chef — the failed Guy's American Kitchen and Bar in Times Square, for example, is a very large and noticeable stain — you'd likely have a hard time finding a chef quite as recognizable, beloved, and captivating as the California native. As for the "Mayor of Flavortown" moniker, Fieri also recalled its origins while talking to Colbert. "The first time I think it started was when I had this gigantic pizza," Fieri explained, "I held it up and said, 'Look at this thing! It's like a steering wheel on the bus going to Flavortown!' That's all I said ... Then someone yelled at me and called me the mayor of Flavortown."