"We actually just came up with a name for this place," says Shook. "Animal."
"It's not a steak house," Dotolo quickly clarifies.
Courtesy Food Network
Food Dudes Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook
Matthew Fleischer
Caged but not cowed: Dotolo (left), chef de cuisine Frank Anderson and Shook at their soon-to-open restaurant, Animal
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"No, definitely not that," Shook agrees. "We will have a lot of protein, though."
Though the restaurant's concept still sounds a little vague, the Dudes will have plenty of free time to think it through. The Food Network recently informed them that it won't be renewing their contract for the next season — effectively ending the show after only five episodes. "They said we were 'too wild' for them," says Shook. "I guess that was kind of obvious, though."
For their part, the Dudes don't seem too disappointed by the decision — perhaps even a little relieved. "I definitely don't think the show captured our personalities," Shook says.
"You'd need to put us on Showtime to really see what we do," Dotolo weighs in. "I mean, you obviously can't show Lou whipping out his dick on the Food Network. And we knew that going in. But we were psyched to do a show with them, because we're approachable guys and we thought we'd be able to teach people about food and show them, in a way everyone can understand, how to make really great food. Food is what we care about most."
Shook nods in agreement. "Vinny and I spent 150,000 bucks last year going out to eat. We are definitely into food. I don't think that came through as much as it should have."
For a personality-driven program limited in the scope of what it could show, Dotolo suggests, the producers tried to find "edge" in ways that simply didn't exist.
"They were all about having me and Jon fight over the price of fish," he says, referring to a scene in the show he implies was largely manufactured. "But we're not really like that."
"You don't work with someone for almost nine years if you fight all the time," says Shook. "That's not reality — you can't run a business that way. We'd love to do a show of just us being us. Not some corporation's idea of how we're supposed to be."
That isn't outside the realm of possibility. Both Shook and Dotolo feel their days in the entertainment business are just beginning. The Dudes have already parlayed their brief Food Network stint into a semiregular gig giving cooking demonstrations on Carson Daly's late-night show.
"Those guys over at Carson are totally cool," says Shook. "I was dropping f-bombs all over the place, and they were laughing their asses off. They just bleep everything out."
For now, though, the Food Dudes are focusing on getting their restaurant going. Animal is on track for a soft opening in May, and the Dudes' first cookbook is due out this summer.
"No matter what happens with all this stuff, we'll be good," says Shook. "Vinny and I built this thing from scratch, and we can do it again if we have to. We know how to cook."
