Cult TV sensation ‘The Food Dude’ has paid a visit to the New England, filming for the hit Channel 7 show which aims to highlight local food businesses across Australia.
In the latest season, which is set to air from December 2024, they will be featuring some well-known locations in Deepwater and Glen Innes.
Alo Baker, The Food Dude himself, says, “The whole point of the show is to showcase awesome food and local talent – it’s feel-good TV.”
Mr Baker said that the idea for The Food Dude was something he stumbled into.
“The Food Dude was born out of COVID, I had worked with the 7 Network previously on the show Aussie Dreamlivers and I was working in radio on the Gold Coast,” he said.
“And one day someone told me about this place that sold 15c chicken wings and I thought awesome I’ll try that – I filmed it, put it on Facebook and it went crazy. So, then I tried again with a burger place and got similar results.”
“I pitched the idea of this becoming a show to Channel 7 and they said OK and here we are now 4 seasons later.”
Mr Baker says he gets most of his inspiration now from recommendations made by viewers.
“I’ve got such a huge list of places to visit,” he said.
The first episode of season four will air on December 7 and will feature the Longhorn Bar and Grill and the Deepwater Bakery.
Mr Baker says the formula for the show is simple.
“I give businesses about a month’s notice that I’m planning on coming out and then while I’m there I’ll usually do a little bit of a bio on the town and then go visit the recommended local establishments.”
“I usually interview the staff and a couple of customers if they’re happy to chat to me and then it’s up to the business to serve up whatever they want to showcase food or drink wise.”
The show has acquired quite the following over it’s three seasons so far, and with Channel 7 rerunning older episodes throughout the year, the positive flow on effect for featured businesses can be quite lucrative.
“I always know when the shows are re-running because I’ll quite often hear from the businesses, I’ve been to that they’re having a sudden influx of customers again – especially Fudge Addiction in Huskisson, he does online orders and he’ll tell me that he always wakes up to a heap of orders after the show with him on it has aired,” said Mr Baker.
When asked what he thinks makes the show a success, Mr Baker says, “I think it’s because we just keep it low key and simple, it’s not at all polished, it’s not fake, but it’s local and really sharable content and it creates a great buzz in town.”
Later in Season Four another well-known local business, Sweetie Pies Bake Shop in Glen Innes, will also feature.
Sweetie Pie owner Nicole Hyde says she’s excited to see the final product.
“This is our first national TV experience.”
“Filming with Alo was a great experience and we were beyond flattered that we were one of the lucky stores he stopped by at.”
And just what did Sweetie Pies serve The Food Dude?
“We gave him some sweet and some savoury but we made sure they were our products that are very different from any other little bake shop,” said Ms Hyde.
“We gave him a little wow factor.”
To tune in and see what the three locations dished up tune into The Food Dude on 7Mate Saturdays from December 7, or you can watch episodes on catch up TV via 7Plus.
For more information or to nominate a business to feature on future episodes, visit The Food Dude website.
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