The globe-trotting gourmet
'Survivor' chef brings his roadshow to Denver

Rocky Mountain News

Jay Dedrick, News Staff Write
April 3, 2002

The chef has heard them all, the wisecracks about his cooking catastrophe witnessed by tens of millions on national television: This successful restaurateur and Detroit cooking-show host hadn't seemed to master ... rice.
 
 But Keith Famie is savoring the last laugh.
 
 The former contestant on CBS' Survivor -- The Australian Outback put his exposure on the series to work, landing two cookbooks on shelves and producing his own starring vehicle for the Food Network, Keith Famie's Adventures. Famie and the crew of the travelogue-style series, which airs at 8:30 p.m. Mondays on the cable channel, traveled to Denver last week to tape an episode on Mile High cuisine. It's scheduled to air in July.
 
 "Our show's not a dump-and-stir show -- an ounce of this, an ounce of that," Famie says between bites of a panini sandwich at Cook's Fresh Market. "It allows people to live vicariously through a journey. It's people and culture. I learn so much."
 
 Famie, 42, has also learned to be an accommodating celebrity. When a customer at the upscale store approaches him for an autograph between takes, he dashes to the office at the back of the market and returns with a color photo that he personalizes for the appreciative fan.
 
 Still, the ribbing continues, even from an old friend: Ed Janos, a fellow chef who owns Cook's Fresh with his wife, Kristi. The store is at 8000 E. Belleview Ave., just east of Interstate 25.
 
 "I taught him everything he knows," says Janos, 45, placing a hand on Famie's shoulder. "Except for rice."
 
 The friendship dates back 20 years, when both were chefs at Detroit restaurants. Janos stood up at Famie's first wedding, and over the years they teamed for charity projects, tennis tournaments and a cooking video.
 
 Famie's time on Survivor proved to be the worst kind of cooking video. During the winter and spring of 2001, viewers followed the chef and 15 other contestants, roughing it in Australia. Famie had hoped to win the hearts of his rivals by way of their stomachs but instead was branded the Chef Who Can't Cook Rice.
 
 "That's the power of editing," Famie says, sighing. "Before the show aired, I knew it was gonna be ugly. But when I first watched it at home with my kids, I was just devastated. Jerri (Manthey, a fellow contestant) was saying, 'His rice just (stank).'
 
 "It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't inedible," adds Famie, who lays the blame on insufficient utensils. He had brought along a paella pan -- his "luxury item," which each contestant is allowed to choose -- but had no lid. "I had to use my coat to cover it."
 
 He may not have outwitted, outplayed and outlasted everyone in the Outback, but he did stick around longer than his harshest critic, Manthey, making it to the final three before being voted off. Though the $1 million grand prize eluded him, he's grateful for the new ventures that exposure from Survivor made possible.
 
 Famie was already a personality in the Detroit area thanks to his ownership of two restaurants and his cooking-and-travel shows on local television. His Adventures in Cooking (Sleeping Bear Press, $29.95) was in the works before Survivor, but publication was delayed to take advantage of the national media exposure. Late last year, Famie published Yes, I Can Cook Rice ... And So Can You! ($6.95) in cooperation with the USA Rice Federation. Both are sold at his Web site, www.famie.com. He's at work on You Really Haven't Been There Till You've Eaten the Food, a book tie-in for the new series.
 
 The Food Network committed to 30 episodes of Keith Famie's Adventures, which is similar in format to programs that aired in the Detroit area. The single father, who is engaged, still lives there with his two children. Since September, Famie and his crew have averaged 20 days a month on the road, venturing to Africa, Vietnam, England and France, as well as less exotic locales in America, including Milwaukee and Denver.
 
 "With Denver, we're not focusing on the mountains and skiing," says Famie, whose past visits to the state inspired the name of one of his restaurants, the Durango Grill. "I wanted to show it from the perspective of a chef. Denver people are so affluent, they travel a lot, and there are a lot of transplants from around the country, so they know what ...they're eating."
 
 His three-day shooting itinerary included a visit to the Buckhorn Exchange for a sampling of buffalo dishes; a trip to the Haystack Mountain Dairy, in Longmont, with Brown Palace chef Mark Black, who later prepared dishes with goat cheese from the farm; a tour of Fort Collins' New Belgium Brewing Co.; tennis followed by dinner at the Janoses' Highlands Ranch home; and a behind-the-scenes look at Cook's Fresh.
 
 The Janoses, both chefs, moved to Denver from Michigan two years ago with thoughts of opening a restaurant. Instead, Ed figured that what consumers needed was a high-end specialty market offering high-quality packaged items; top-grade meat, cheese and seafood; artisan breads; and prepared dishes for foodies on the go. AT $750 a pound, fresh French black winter truffles aren't the store's hottest seller when in season, but Janos is proud to offer such delicacies.
 
 "Our hardest job is to educate consumers that there are price differences based on quality," Janos says. "We have seafood sources on the North Atlantic, South Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and just flight and packaging adds $1 per pound to our cost. Why should you spend $13 a pound for salmon that's flown in, versus $3 a pound at a supermarket? The difference is in the taste."
 
 Famie and his crew spend about three hours at Cook's Fresh for a segment that will be boiled down to about seven minutes. Famie directs action on the fly, deciding to start with Janos' describing the variety at the cheese counter. The two chat on camera while surveying the goods, striving for the feel of a spontaneous walk through the store. Occasionally, though, they go through the motions more than once if a microphone cuts out or a camera is bumped.
 
 Eventually they make their way into the kitchen, where Janos shows off several specialties: turkey osso buco, a twist on the Italian veal dish; grilled salmon with chipotle barbecue sauce (of which Famie enjoys several bites); vegetable tartlets; pork loin with zucchini and mustard mashed potatoes; and sesame snow peas.
 
 "He does a pretty great thing here," Famie says of Janos, one of a select few Colorado-based chefs to earn the status of certified master chef, the highest designation awarded by the American Culinary Federation. "He's a phenomenal chef. I poke fun and joust at him like a brother, but Ed's far superior in the kitchen. On the tennis court -- that's anybody's game."
 
 Footage of their court time -- resulting in a 3-3 draw -- is expected to be included in the 30-minute program, as are glimpses of the two in the Janoses' home kitchen. The menu included braised buffalo cheek in black truffle sauce, scallops and -- to Famie's chagrin -- risotto.
 
 "Ed made me cook rice, the son of a ..."

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/food/article/0,1299,DRMN_27_1062468,00.html

2002 © The E.W. Scripps Co.

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