Guy Fieri In Parade: 'We Ate A Lot Of Macrobiotic Cuisine'

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Food Network star and Flavortown mayor Guy Fieri recently graced the cover of Parade magazine's summer grilling issue, "Welcome to Guyville."

Fieri, who just released his new summer cookbook Guy on Fire, talks about why people like him ("I think what translates to most people is just, 'I could live next door to that dude'"), the acquisition of his signature look ("One day the girl who cut my hair said, 'You should change your hairstyle.'"), and Bobby Moynihan's impressive impersonation of him on SNL ("My goal is to go on SNL doing Bobby doing me, alongside Bobby doing me. Wouldn't that be nuts?")

Fieri is also fairly accustomed to the polarizing effect he has on the public, and has found that the easiest way to deal with criticism is to ignore it altogether.

"If someone has a concern with what I eat, or how I dress, brother, take all that energy and go focus on something for yourself," says the Guy on Fire author.

The most intriguing tidbit from Fieri's interview, however, is the revelation that he didn't grow up in Flavortown, but was raised on "a lot of macrobiotic cuisine, and I hated it."

 A young Guy, then 10 years old, took matters into his own hands and cooked steak for his parents. "That's when the bell went off—ding, ding, ding!"

Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.