Food show raves about another Duluth-area eatery

Carla Blumberg said she knew her restaurant would come across well on Monday night’s episode of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

How did she know? Because, she says, she steered clear of the Food Network cameras when the show visited At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Cafe this summer.

“A lot of other businesses have the owner on there — blah, blah, blah — but I didn’t want to see my old face the size of a bus on TV,” she said.

She cajoled her chef, Jillian Forte, into doing the honor of representing the restaurant on camera

“She’s very talented,” Blumberg said.

Of course, the show is about food more than anything else, and during the celebration of the show’s premiere, a full house of people munched on free appetizers and listened to live music before watching the segment in which Forte and host Guy Fieri make two of Chester Creek’s creative dishes.

The first was Cranberry Wild Rice Bread French Toast with powdered sugar and beer syrup. Fieri raved about the bread, which was created by the restaurant’s baker, Diane Bailey.

“This bread is out of bounds,” he told customers during the episode.

The show also featured the restaurant’s Red Sea Fish Sandwich, consisting of whitefish dusted with a Hawaiian seasoning topped with red cabbage slaw and served on toasted ciabatta.

“It’s got a little sparkle,” Fieri quipped before commenting something to the effect that he couldn’t believe he just said that.

Customer Eric Ament, who was at the premiere, also appeared on the segment, talking about the same sandwich.

“I didn’t know if I was going to be in it,” he said. “But I was talking like crazy that day because I love this place.”

He also said he thought the show portrayed the importance of local and sustainable foods and practices at Chester Creek.

“I feel like that’s the heart of this establishment.”

As the segment ended, cheers went up all around the restaurant and Forte said she was pleased.

“None of my embarrassing moments made it,” she said, referring to lighting the kitchen on fire and doing a silly little dance during the filming.

“I enjoyed Jillian’s cool attitude through the whole thing,” Ament added.

Lynda Dietrich, who visits Chester Creek almost daily, was at the restaurant Monday only to witness herself taking a big bite of a sandwich on the show.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “Did you see that?”

Blumberg said she thought the show was great, just as she predicted.

She also added that they’ve planned ahead so if people want to come in and order the dishes seen on the show, they’ll be ready.

Fieri is also responsible for a new menu item now offered at the restaurant: a turkey sandwich made with the cranberry wild rice bread.

“He’s a smart guy,” Blumberg said.