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Phil’s Oyster Bar & Seafood Restaurant will be featured on the American food reality TV series “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” on Food Network next month.
Anthony Piazza, owner of the Baton Rouge restaurant, tells Daily Report that a customer who is friends with TV show host and culinary entrepreneur Guy Fieri had visited the restaurant a few times before recommending Fieri feature it on his show.
Producers called the restaurant in early January, inviting it to be included on the national show, Piazza says. Hesitant to believe the producers, it wasn’t until the third call that Piazza and his team realized it was a legitimate inquiry.
Phil’s closed its doors to customers for two days in early February while Fieri and his TV crew came to the Perkins Road restaurant to film. The restaurant was asked to cook two signature dishes—charbroiled oysters and crawfish cheesecake—on camera, step-by-step.
“My dad took over [Phil’s Oyster Bar & Seafood Restaurant] in the 1970s and we’ve tried to continue his legacy and commitment to Baton Rouge,” Piazza says. “I can tell you that if he were alive, he would be shocked that we were picked for it. It was a big honor, because in your wildest dreams you never think you’d be picked for nationwide TV in this, as he would call it, little sawdust joint in Baton Rouge. I think he would be excited for what this place is becoming.”
The show is scheduled to air on Food Network at 7 p.m. on April 4 and replay throughout the weekend.
