TORONTO — As he traversed Canada to profile diners and their dishes — from deep-fried eggs benedict to pizza pie to deep-fried mac and cheese — comic John Catucci came to the sad realization that he couldn’t gorge.
“I would die. It would be one season and then it would be like: ‘Sad news in Canadian television,”’ said the host of You Gotta Eat Here, debuting Jan. 6 (at 9 p.m. ET) on Food Network Canada.
“There’s no doubt I’ve gained a few pounds, but I learned early on that I don’t have to eat the whole dish, I can do a couple of bites and talk about how delicious it is.
“But there are some times when it’s just so good, my elbows go up and people can’t get near me.”
Like the hit American series Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, You Gotta Eat Here seeks out greasy spoons and various eateries serving exceptional comfort food.
“Those are the best places, where the taste is familiar but they’re doing something new and they’re twisting it a bit,” said the Toronto-born Catucci, a founding member of the musical comedy duo The Doo Wops.
“I think there’s a lot of restaurants that are doing that now.”
The debut season visits bistros in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Catucci also goes into the kitchens to learn how the cooks make their signature recipes.
“There are times when we’re plating stuff and my mouth is just watering,” the actor-singer said in a recent telephone interview from Calgary, where he was shooting new episodes.
“I know I’m about to eat it and I’m just like, ‘Oh my God, that’s fantastic.”’
Even talking about the food gets Catucci worked up.
As he discussed the first episode, in which he visits a gourmet poutine place in Stratford, Ont., he declared: “It is killer.”
“Sweet potato fries and then she makes a marinara sauce and puts it on and it’s just, like, incredible,” Catucci added excitedly.
Then there’s the Toronto restaurant known for a hangover-cure dish named the Remedy: deep-fried poached eggs on top of pulled pork, beans, smoked cheese and potato hash.
“It’s just ridiculous,” said Catucci. “It’s so good!”
In Saint John, N.B., cameras went into a diner that serves a lobster roll with a homemade roe aioli.
“They used an entire lobster and then they had this fresh bread and then they make a lobster oil from the shells of the lobster and you’re almost, like, frying the bread in the oil — and the oil sucks into the bread,” Catucci said breathlessly.
“Jesus, it was killer.”
Catucci’s other favourite meals on the show include a lasagna at a family-run Italian restaurant in Huntsville, Ont.
“That’s still one of the best lasagnas I’ve ever had and when my aunt hears about that I think she’s going to be very upset,” said Catucci, who’s Italian.
And don’t get him started on the grill in Lunenburg, N.S., that serves a lobster linguini in a cream sauce.
“It had spice to it as well and fresh pieces of lobster and it was creamy with cheese and butter and it was just one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had.”
What’s more — the meals are made from scratch, largely with fresh ingredients.
“I think that’s one of the main pushes in the show is making sure that everything’s made in-house as much as possible,” said Catucci.
“You can see it in the pride that the owners and the chefs have in their food and you can taste it in the food.”