First came the photo of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host Guy Fieri back at Blue Ash Chili on Kenwood Road on Facebook.
Next came this message on the restaurant's Facebook page: "Our Blue Ash location will be closed during the day on Wednesday, Feb 23. We will OPEN AT 5PM for dinner, after our friends from Triple D Nation have left!"
Fieri, born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1968, first featured Blue Ash Chili in 2010 on his hugely popular series, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, also known as Triple D.
Why come back? Four years ago, the Food Network announced that Fieri would revisit some restaurants previously featured on the show for Triple D Nation episodes. One thing that has changed since 2010 is that Blue Ash Chili moved last April a half block south on Kenwood Road, into a shopping center next to CVS.
"Triple D has had an incredible impact on so many of the businesses featured on the show, and for years restaurant owners have invited Guy back to see all the incredible and delicious changes they’ve made," said Allison Page, Food Network president, in a media release in July 2018.
“Now, Guy is taking viewers back for a second serving to catch up with old friends and to experience all the new things they are offering," Page said in the release, according to Gael Fashingbauer Cooper of The Daily Meal.
The Original Blue Ash Chili Facebook page posted a photo of Fieri with owners Nick and Charlene Insco Thursday, Feb. 17, with the comment, "Look who we ran into today!! Thank you so much Guy Fieri!" On Friday, Feb. 18, the restaurant announced it would be closed until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
Fieri — born Guy Ramsay Ferry on Jan. 22, 1968 — premiered Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in 2006.
He has visited here at least twice in his trademark 1968 red Camaro with California FLVRTWN plates for his trips to "Flavortown."
In 2010, I spent a day with him at Terry's Turf Club, before he went to Blue Ash Chili. In July 2014, he returned to shoot at three Over-the Rhine restaurants (Senate, Bakersfield OTR, Taste of Belgium) for an episode called "One Street Wonders" which aired in October that year.
He also spent a day at Correyville's Island Frydays that July for a feature which aired in September 2018.
Fieri is the Food Network's biggest star, hosting Guy's Big Bite, Guy's Grocery Games, Tournament of Champions and Guy's Ranch Kitchen in addition to Triple D.
He's also owned several restaurants and written three books: Guy on Fire: 130 Recipes for Adventures in Outdoor Cooking; Guy Fieri Food: Cookin' It, Livin' It, Lovin' It; and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: The Funky Finds in Flavortown: America's Classic Joints and Killer Comfort Food.
Blue Ash Chili owners said on Facebook that they will publicize the broadcast premiere for their episode, when a date is set. The Island Frydays feature aired about 12 weeks after Fieri filmed there in 2014.
