giddy as a school girl

Chelsea Market, 4:00pm.

I paused as I approached the entrance of the building to make sure that I looked presentable. Through the glass doors in front of me, the infamous logo caught my eye amidst a sea of others. Despite my attempt to refrain from smiling, a grin escaped anyhow. I opened the doors and made my way towards the back of the building, just as directed—pass the waterfall, the café, and then turn left down a hallway, take the elevator. I had arrived…The Food Network!

One of the perks to my job is that I get to meet a lot of amazing people who work at some really great corporations. Someone from Scripps Network (parent company of The Food Network) approached me about hosting a Career Day for some of our youth. While discussing details I was invited to take a tour of the studios (the same one that the kids would take) and then further discuss the upcoming event. Naturally, I had to go…I mean, walk-throughs are standard in this business. ☺

But there couldn’t have been a happier girl alive.

As I waited in the lobby the Tyler Florence show was airing on a large plasma screen TV mounted on the wall. The end tables were stocked with cooking magazines and books and I was envious of even the receptionist as she was surrounded by so much wonderful! A few minutes later, my contact came out to greet me. We chatted for a bit and then started the glorious tour. I was literally giddy as we went from room to room as I recognized Bobby Flay’s Throwdown test kitchen, as I watched them edit a Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals episode, and was privy to a preview of an upcoming promo commercial for Food Network Challenge. I wanted to quit my job and run away to culinary school. But I about flipped my lid when I walked into the main studio and realized that I was in Iron Chef America’s Kitchen Stadium!!!!!

I know, I know, big deal, right? YES, it was a BIG DEAL! Iron Chef is my FAVORITE show in the whole world! I could watch that show for hours and hours and be perfectly content. And if it’s Iron Chef Bobby Flay?...Be still my beating heart. (It’s probably the #1 reason that I wish I had a TV.) As embarrassing as it was, I could barely contain my excitement. I stood where Alton Brown gives his commentary, I saw where the judges sit during the show, and where the competitor enters bathed in glowing lights. I saw the two fully stocked kitchens, the 20+ cameras overhead that capture every angle, and I saw the gigantic secret ingredient box marked with its signature knives that form an X. It took everything I had to not whip out my camera and have my “tour guide” take my picture. But I refrained as the place was bustling with producers, technicians, and other stage crew.

We concluded the tour shortly thereafter. I asked my questions “for the kids” and I got in a lot of my own. But after it was all said and done, I couldn’t stop smiling and was giddy for the rest of the day. The only thing that could have made it better would have been to attend a live taping (not a possibility for Iron Chef)…or running into Bobby Flay, of course.