Chef Chat

Food Network star Tyler Florence hits the mall

Briana Shidell and Carlie Peterson of Wausau visit with “Food Court Wars” host Tyler Florence.

'Food Court Wars' works with two teams in Wausau

A staple on the Food Network for more than 16 years, Tyler Florence has had successes and failures. Restaurants have opened and closed. He's created a line of baby food, wines, seven cookbooks and two children's books.

Through it all, he continues to push for better food.

Taking on high-fructose corn syrup, GMOs and all things processed and packaged, his most recent cookbook is simply titled "Tyler Florence: Fresh" (Clarkson Potter, 2012, $35). Nudging kids into the kitchen, the father of three and chef/owner of Wayfare Tavern and El Paseo also has written two children's books focused on cooking, including "Tyler Makes Spaghetti" (Harper Collins, 2013).

Seemingly incongruous, Florence insists that passion for fresh and unprocessed food is exactly what drives his current programs on the Food Network.

He has just finished shooting Season 4 of "The Great Food Truck Race." Empowered by the success of that program, he's hitting malls coast to coast with "Food Court Wars."

Featuring teams competing for a year of rent-free mall space, "Food Court Wars" premieres at 9 p.m. Sunday on the Food Network. Starting July 14, the show moves to 7 p.m. Sundays. On one stop, Florence spent 72 hours with two teams in Wausau. Look for that episode in mid- to late July.

Originally from Greenville, S.C., the 42-year-old chef lives in northern California with his wife, Tolan, and three kids, Miles, Hayden and Dorothy.

Q. What's the story behind the new show, "Food Court Wars"?

A. The new show is based on the success of the food truck show. The niche we've carved out for young entrepreneurs with a food truck has spawned an industry that is so exciting. I really think we've created a disruptive environment in the food court industry.

Q. What's the goal?

A. If you walk into a mall anywhere in the country, there's a homogenous food culture. We want to create a new wave of food culture that happens in a mall.

We're going to give them a restaurant, but they have to earn it. It is not so much a competition as a vetting process. We want to leave behind a great restaurant that makes a difference in the community.

Q. How did you end up in Wausau?

A. We partnered with a company called CVL. They own 120 malls coast to coast. We wanted to go to a mall with two empty spaces in their food court, or the show wouldn't work. Wausau happened to be a nice slice of American pie. It's beautiful.

Q. Your most recent cookbook, "Fresh," talks about Americans' dependence on processed and packaged food, yet you've got a show on food courts?

A. We're taking this on because I see it as really bad, homogenous food. The same energy on the food truck race, we want to create that in a mall. The American mall is so primed for a food revolution.

These guys win a lease rent-free for a year. They win $10,000 from the Food Network; the entire package is worth about $125,000.

Q. Food courts tend to rely on processed foods. How do you make that work?

A. This is what is so interesting. These are young, independent start-ups. Everything they're going to make is handmade from scratch. I made a point of that. A lot of the growth of the show is taking the food product and diving into what modern American palates want. They want healthy food choices. You have to be part of the solution.

Q. You've got three kids from teen to kindergarten. Any foods off-limits in your home?

A. My wife and I are on the same page about this. It feels like tough love. Children learn they can whine and out-cry your patience. You'll give in and they'll get the popsicle. So we got rid of dessert in our house. It is only for special occasions or when we go out to dinner.

We offer one thing for dinner, and we offer a lot of vegetables. You don't have to eat it, but if you don't you will go to bed knowing what hungry feels like. It is not for the faint of heart. We'll say, "We'd love to have you here, but if you don't want to eat, go in the other room." They'll sulk. Hayden has a tendency to slam a door... but I can almost time my watch by it, he's back in three minutes. Because he's hungry, right?

Q. You write about high-fructose corn syrup and the negatives. We were at an event with my kids recently, and all the other kids were drinking soda. How do you handle that?

A. What you don't want to do is be that holy parent. If parents aren't enlightened with how bad soda is for your body, there's not a whole lot you can do about it.

High-fructose corn syrup doesn't metabolize in your stomach as if it were pure turbinado sugar, it gets processed in your pancreas.... You see these children with the equivalent of a beer belly, but it is a soda belly.

It is what everyone should be talking about. If they open that door for a conversation, it is not so much a judgment, but letting them know. Not a lot of parents do (know) ... what kind of damage soda does to your body.

Q. Are there things you travel with you when taping your shows?

A. Absolutely. I take flaxseed oil, which is organic, vegan, healthy omega-3 fats. I'm really down with that.

I pack this Perfect Food RAW (nutritional supplement). When I travel, sometimes what is in front of me is airport food. I was basically on an airplane for three months. What's in front of you is all bad options, so I decided to take this with me. There's another one called Amazing Grass, about 30 to 40 different dehydrated rich chlorophyll grasses, sprouts and seaweed. Each scoop is about 25 calories.... Put it in a glass of water, it tastes like wheat grass juice. It is not for everybody.

Q. You've got television shows, the cookbooks and children's books, wines and a kitchen shop. What do you want to be known for?

A. I'm 42. I'm so young. I think we'll see. I don't really know yet. I don't know that I've had my best idea or had my best show or written my best book. I want to raise the national consciousness. I want everybody to feed their families, cook better and eat better.

Q. Which cookbook or show is most representative of your style?

A. I think two shows. "Tyler's Ultimate," that was pretty pure. Eight seasons, five years. We're taking about getting back in the kitchen again, it's time.

I think "Food Court Wars" is the show that is the most me, because the show is really stripped down.... It is absolutely unscripted. I didn't know anything about the teams before I got there. I get their names and their concepts an hour before I meet them.

Q. An hour?

A. Absolutely, yes. I want to keep it reactionary. When we overscript it, we lose the story line. Life is hard enough as it is, real life, not fake competition life, but real life.

© 2014, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.


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