Being a culinary producer and working in television certainly has its advantages—I get to cook with top-notch chefs, travel the country, and eat in the best restaurants to name a few. I recently wrapped production of a new series called Bar Rescue—premiering this Sunday 7/17 @ 10pm on Spike—which was an amazing experience. A crew of 50 of us traveled all over the country saving bars, during a grueling 9-week shoot schedule. The bonus was we shot in a few delicious dining cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. The 3-Ball crew is one of the best I’ve worked with in my 12 year career: professional, intelligent, fun to work with, and total foodies. This dream team made living out of a suitcase and working 15 hour days a lot more tolerable.
When I go out to eat, I usually do what most food people do—order as many different dishes as I think I just might possibly be able to put away. This is part because I relish the experience of dining in restaurants, particularly when I’m out of LA. The other part is that I love good food. My Italian grandmother used to call me a “good eater”—thankfully I’ve turned my hunger into a successful career. Compounded with long shooting hours, craft service, little exercise, not enough water, and too much wine, comes more than a few extra pounds and an overall sluggish, polluted, unhealthy being.
Just for giggles, here’s a list of some of the places I ate; I want to reflect on my utter unabashed gluttony:
Chicago
The Gage
Gino’s East
Portillo’s
Greek Isles
The Purple Pig —Twice!
David Burke’s Primehouse
Graham Elliot
Frontera
Rockit
Sweetwater Tavern
Scotch Eggs @ The Gage in Chicago
Philly
Pietros Pizza
Fergies Pub
Pho Saigon
Amada—Twice!
Village Whiskey
Tinto
Garces Trading Co.
Cuba Libre
Amis
Campo’s Deli
9th Street Italian Market Festival (still bummed they didn’t have zeppolis)
Lamb Chops @ Amada in Philadelphia
Boston Area
Nebo
Modern Pastry
Harvest
Samba Steak & Sushi
Oishii Sushi
J&M Diner
Lumiere
Deluxe Town Diner
Allium
Baba Louie’s
Fiori
Salmon Tartare @ Oishii in Newton
When I returned home to LA a couple of week’s ago, I was faced with the hard fat truth that the size 2 clothes hanging in my closet no longer fit—my sweats were even tight! I didn’t dare step on a scale for fear of going into a deep depression. My stomach was constantly bloated and I just looked awful! No matter how well I was eating now in my own kitchen or spinning in my neighborhood gym, I just felt like crap and was not operating anywhere near optimum capacity. I’m pretty health conscious and I’ve always practiced fasting or going on a veg only diet when I feel my body is in toxic overload. But this time I felt like I couldn’t cleanse at home, I was too far-gone and needed to commit to a more stringent program. I found The Spring Resort and Spa in Palm Springs that has a 7 day retreat with detoxing through juice fasting and colonics. Now, I know the latter is not for everyone, and trust me; I have been the “butt” of jokes by guys on the crew more than a few times. To each his own but for me, this is the right move to get my body and mind clear, and eliminate waste. When I make up my mind to do something, I jump in and do it with power and determination.
There will be a group of us at the spa, all there for the same reason—to eliminate all the crap (pun intended) in our bodies, as well as our minds. I believe that when you cleanse and detoxify physically you also do mentally, purging negativity takes you to a happier level. 7 days of no solid food may sound severe but I know the result will be beyond worth it. My 7 day fast will be supported with sauna, mineral springs, pool, Jacuzzi, yoga, breathwork, and of course colonics. I may treat myself to a massage too while I’m there—hey, I work hard!
It’s too jolting on the body to just jump into a program this drastic, so I have gone on a Precleanse, to ease my body into fasting. Ahh…more on that next time.
