‘Hot Dish’ Franco Noriega on What’s Cooking With New Food Network Show

Things are heating up as Food Network serves up a helping of Franco Noriega with his new series Hot Dish with Franco. The chef and restaurateur recounts his Peruvian and Italian heritage while preparing dishes. This retired swimmer first turned heads by showing off his ripped physique on daytime appearances cooking on Ellen and The Wendy Williams Show.

From there, the model was able to parlay the success into being more than just the “Naked Peruvian Chef”. Noriega is an entrepreneur with a number of successful businesses including restaurants throughout New York City. For the 34-year-old, Hot Dish is the culmination of years of work.

“We had this idea to do a mix of the recipes I do in my restaurants in New York. We started compiling the crowd-pleasers that our patrons love the most. We came up with this combination of Peruvian, and Latin American recipes from Baby Brasa with Tivoli, the Italian restaurant. So it’s a mashup.”

Here Noriega sits down to tell us what’s cooking and what his new show brings to the table.

What does having this show mean to you? 

Franco Noriega: It’s amazing to be able to represent a community of people. The Latin community in New York, America. I moved to New York 16 years ago as an immigrant. To have this kind of space, to showcase recipes and show people we can be scared of things we don’t know. Ingredients we might not know or know how to use them. I’m hoping this show will show people it’s super easy to make these recipes and incorporate different types of peppers, and Latin American ingredients. Their audience’s profiles will be elevated by just adding these ingredients.

Where did your passion for food come from? 

I grew up in a family of restauranteurs. Being Peruvian means we were always about food. At the same time, growing up in the industrial kitchen I was always surrounded by the business of food. At the end of the day, it’s about making people happy when you have a restaurant. The experience starts the moment they come in. I’m hoping the show will provide this experience for the viewers. Cooking dishes they may not have been able to cook in the past.

What have you learned about business in recent years?  

It’s about looking for opportunities and taking advantage of the opportunities when they come. I am a firm believer in taking a risk. Failure is a big part of success. I love to do new things. Some people are afraid of change, but I look for it and embrace it. Whenever an opportunity comes that is challenging, I get excited about it. I always leave with a very gratifying feeling that I conquered a fear and at the same time came out with a great experience that I’m going to take to my next endeavor.

My career has evolved over the last 10 years from being a model to a chef to being a restauranteur. I’m excited about what’s new and what’s coming. When the show came about, I was excited to take on the challenge. Hopefully, it will be the beginning of a couple more shows to come.

How do you find the balance of eating this delicious food with health and fitness? 

Before being anything, I was a professional swimmer. I swam for the Peruvian national team and lived in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico training with other national teams for the world championship. The way I grew up was in a very athlete mentality. It was always important to me what I put in my body, and what I eat. Exercise has always been part of my daily routine. I think it’s more of a lifestyle choice to be healthy. It has to do with everything.

For me, sports exercising, and fitness have been part of my life. Living in New York, it’s a very stressful city. It’s nonstop and you’re always on the go. So I think it’s important for me to take that time to exercise at the gym, run, play tennis, whatever it is. It almost disconnects me from the crazy pace of the city and gives me a moment for myself. It helps my sanity in a way.

Have you taken inspiration from a television personality who built a career similar to yours? 

For sure Martha Stewart is somebody I admire her. I admire how smart she is. I was lucky in that we filmed a Super Bowl commercial a few years back. We were sent together for a segment. We were able to share different points of view. Listening to her talk and manage people and teams and at the same time be on TV was very inspirational. To see someone do all these things at such a high level. I am very much a business person, so I admire business people like Robert Kiyosaki. One of my favorite books is “Rich Dad Poor Dad”.

I love the advice and the little things you find. He has a book “[Why ‘A’ Students Work For ‘C’ Students” I was a C student and always thought about that growing up. Are the straight-A students owning businesses and challenging points of view and risking everything? I think sometimes when you are a straight A student you may not be challenging the system or challenging it. You’re following it. I was browsing the book and found a connection. I find inspiration in everything as anyone can be inspiring in their own ways.

Frank Noriega

What are some dishes you’re excited for viewers to check out? 

We’re going to have a lot of fun because it was fun to film. You can feel that. There is a mix of half-Peruvian and half-Italian. There is a contrast between the two. Peruvian has more and more ingredients. Italy is the opposite with less is more, simple ingredients. We do a mix of these cultures and cuisines. We go back and forth, and it becomes a very eclectic mix. One of my favorites is the deconstructed tiramisu. My favorite dessert. It takes forever to cook, and I don’t like to spend hours in the kitchen. I like quick and easy. By doing a deconstruction you get every single flavor profile but in a beautiful easy way. Also, there is a  crunch to it. That’s one of my favorite recipes.

We’re going into the fall season, so we have a good roasted chicken that could be a great roasted turkey for Thanksgiving with all these Peruvian profiles. Some soy sauce, and eel sauce. We use Asian sauces because Peru was the first country in Latin America to open Asian immigration. We have a lot of Asian profiles in Peruvian cuisine. There is so much. All delicious.

When you’re cooking and the TV is on, is there a show you watch for comfort food? Or is there a show you particularly enjoy right now? 

Lately, I’ve gone into Succession. I went crazy for the show. Living in New York, I recognize a lot of places they film. I think that’s such a cool thing you see places you’ve been. That also happened with And Just Like That last season. That’s New York. Those two are the ones I’ve been watching lately. When I cook, I actually don’t watch a lot of TV. I put music on. It really depends on if I’m cooking for friends it will be a more fun party and if I’m cooking for myself, it might be more chill. There is something so meditative about cooking with music and no interruption I love.

Hot Dish with Franco premiere, September 30, 12/11c, Food Network