Last week, New York Times food critic Pete Wells served up a searing review of Guy Fieri’s new midtown restaurant, laden with rhetorical questions wondering if the celebrity chef had even tried his own food. But Fieri, host of the Food Network’s Diner, Drive Ins and Dives, had answers. He went on the Today show to fire back as strong as the flames on his shirt, claiming that Wells “had an agenda” while penning his scathing critique of the restaurant. After the drama, it was only a matter of time before it was lampooned on Saturday Night Live. Or so we’d have thought.
(MORE: Guy Fieri’s Not the First: Restaurant Critic Pete Wells’ Most Scathing Reviews)
Last weekend the writers cobbled together three minutes of Bobby Moynihan’s impeccable Guy Fieri impression to skewer both Fieri and the Times during the sketch show’s Weekend Update news segment. Sadly, the sketch never made it to the final broadcast, but SNL made sure the pre-recorded dress rehearsal version wasn’t lost forever in the archives. NBC put the unaired sketch on its website to showcase the gem-like comments that Fieri only wishes he could have tossed back at Wells. Moynihan’s version of the frosted-tip chef was simply surprised that the Times would take his eatery with such gravity, proclaiming: “My restaurant’s not in New York, Seth, it’s in Times Square!” and “If you come in to my restaurant expecting Le Cirque, then you’re a Le Jerk!”
It’s not surprising that Weekend Update host Seth Meyers could barely keep a straight face during the skit, though it was eventually preempted by another fiery, larger-than-life character: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
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