WEST VIEW — Lifelong resident and Guy Fieri lookalike Griff Ferrani has reportedly started a new YouTube series mimicking “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” in which he forgoes eateries to visit exclusively local dive bars.
“Pittsburgh don’t care about no fancy food,” said Ferrani from a stool at Wiegand’s on Center Avenue, which he said serves as the featured location for episodes 1-37. “They care about still being able to smoke cigarettes while watching KDKA and shouting opinions at nobody in particular. That’s why I’ve made it my mission to seek out all the places where they can get tuned up and a bag of Hot Fries for under $20, which my colleague Mr. Fieri would no doubt describe as ‘gangster.'”
The 52-year-old also noted that his series would considerably limit its geographical reach compared to the famed Food Network program.
“Obviously I’m not going to drive around the country,” he said. “Or really leave the county, for that matter. And I’ll be damned if somebody expects me to cross two rivers or go through another tunnel just to see some jag bar out 51. Go your damned self if it’s that important to you. Those restrictions aside, we’re making real progress and I think by episode 160 we will have reached most of the spots within a mile radius of my house.”
Ryan Hartman, a bartender at Lefty’s in the Strip, has been working with Ferrani on the series’ latest shoot. He wished the passionate drinker luck, but shared some doubts regarding his chances at success.
“[Ferrani] claimed it was supposed to be a full-length TV program,” he said, “but it took two and a half hours alone to shoot the 30 seconds where I show him how to make a Strong Island. By the time he was happy with a take of him saying, ‘Oh boy, that’s straight fire’ after a sip, he had already finished six of them and had forgotten my name. In fact, I think he’s still sleeping in a hatchback outside on Penn.”
Sources close to Ferrani report he has also discussed a yinzer version of “Intervention,” where he challenges strangers who look sober to “please help [him] finish all these goddamn Strong Islands” or at least give him a ride back home.
