[Originally appeared in YRB, Winter 2008]
On North Fairfax Avenue, in Los Angeles, a couple doors from Cantor’s, sits a nondescript storefront that suggests an establishment hovering somewhere between a low profile and being out of business. I’m summoned here on a sunny morning in early September to interview two rising young chefs, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo. The two-man team is currently being positioned via the Food Network as Food Dudes [and, ultimately, 2 Dudes Catering], a snicker-inducing brand that suggests irreverence, easy cleverness and a whiff of stoner aesthetics. The moniker the chefs share informs the name of their television show, which is being carried this fall by Food Network. The docu-drama follows the upward spiral of two hip, clever, talented chefs as as they make a name for themselves in Los Angeles cuisine though their catering and consulting business (already established and thriving) and their new restaurant (low-profile and not yet in business). Of course, it’s also about a couple of slackers who, as Shook puts it, “got into being chefs so we could sleep late, stay up late and party.” Watching these guys succeed, watching them fail and, most importantly, watching the balance of the two ever-present eventualities is the show’s infectious hook. Because who doesn’t want to watch two cool, creative, chance-taking talents served up in a weekly dose of will they or won’t they blow it?
