Honking horns were audible from outside the limo as Santa Rosa's Guy Fieri headed back to Manhattan after a day of shooting promotional spots in New Jersey.
His next stop would be the third-season launch party for "The Next Food Network Star," the show that rocketed him to celebrity a year ago.
A day earlier, he had been in Tampa, Fla., with TV host/chef Robert Irvine, of "Dinner: Impossible."
Twenty-four hours later, he would be cooking at Disneyland for a $145-a-plate celebrity chef dinner.
After some quality time enjoying the amusement park with his wife and two boys, it's back to Santa Rosa today to prepare for his starring role as grand marshal in Saturday's 113th Luther Burbank Rose Parade.
A year ago, he described his life as the newest face on television as "off the hook," to use the celebrity chef's signature line.
And today?
"It's so much more out of control," Fieri, 39, said by cell phone on his ride into New York City.
After sewing up the second season of "Guy's Big Bite" -- the Food Network series for which he won an initial six episodes when he was named "next star" -- he learned it had been renewed for an additional 52 shows through 2008, and earned a more visible 1:30 p.m. Saturday time slot to go with its 10 a.m. Sunday showings.
His second show, "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," was shot in 17 states during production of the first 10 episodes, including at Hank's Creekside Cafe in Santa Rosa. It has rated well since its April premiere, and a new season is being scheduled.
Closer to home, Fieri and Marcy Smothers launch a syndicated radio program, "Guido and Marcy," a "food and wine lifestyle" show, May 26.
A cookbook in the works with the Food Network is scheduled for publication in 10 months, and there's talk of a signature clothing line, too, Fieri said.
All this, and Fieri still keeps his hand in the four restaurants he and partner Steve Gruber run in Santa Rosa and Sacramento, including Tex Wasabi's Rock-n-Roll Sushi-BBQ downtown and the newly opened Johnny Garlic's in its original Farmers Lane location.
"His schedule is unbelievable. Unbelievable," said manager Jack Levar, who first met the future star when Fieri was waiting tables down the street from what's now Tex Wasabi's.
Levar credits Fieri's success not just to his unique charisma, but also his unflagging energy and ability "to roll with the punches," despite 16-hour work days, travel and tapings.
David Page, who produces "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," and whose 38-year career includes credits on show such as "Good Morning, America" and "20/20," calls Fieri "the real deal."
"I've worked with a lot of talent over the years, and Guy is the single most naturally talented individual I have ever run across," Page said. "He was built to honestly communicate with people on television -- the key being honestly."
Page, who had never met Fieri, said his association with the new star was born after he made an off-hand suggestion about a diner show during a pitch meeting with a producer at the Food Network.
The network, meanwhile, had been looking for a vehicle "that would maximize Guy's personality. They wanted to find a place where Guy could be Guy to the best of his Guyness," Page said.
His "Guyness" was in force at Hank's Creekside Cafe, where the star returned to film one of his "Diners" episodes. During a break in filming, Fieri said only having each puzzle piece in place makes his life possible.
He said he's away from home about two-thirds of the time. That means the new goal is to leverage some of his success to build more breathing room into his schedule for family -- maybe multi-day shoots for which they can come along -- and time at the restaurants, where he still loves greeting guests.
He credits partner Gruber and his overall team with enabling him to do it all, as well as wife Lori, his parents, and his friends, who look after his family, including sons Hunter, 10, and Ryder, 1.
"We have a tight crew. It's a really tight-knit crew, and he always tells us, 'If my head ever gets too big, tell me, 'cause I don't want to be that guy,' " said his friend, Paul "Dirty P" Thompson, who joined Fieri at Hank's Creekside Cafe during the shoot.
Levar remembers asking one of Fieri's "Next Food Network Star" competitors what she thought of him on their first meeting. She replied: "A cross between a punk rocker and Billy Idol."
But after getting to know him, she changed her mind.
"She said, 'If I get married, I'd like him to walk me down the aisle,' and I think that kind of sums it up," Levar said. "What you see is what you get."
The 113th annual Luther Burbank Rose Parade is Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. The parade begins at Juilliard Park and ends at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.
com.
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