No Baton Rouge eatery has had a faster rise to fame in recent years than the City Pork family.
Since opening their first location, the Deli & Charcuterie, in 2014, owner Stephen Hightower and his team have launched two more locations: the Brasserie & Bar in 2014 and Kitchen & Pie in 2015. With each grand opening, beer dinner and pork-themed confection, the City Pork brand has generated more buzz, and now the restaurant is poised to make its national television debut.
After being scouted by Food Network’s cross-country restaurant hunt Burgers, Brew & ‘Cue, City Pork was approached in late 2015 to appear on the show. The episode will kick off Burgers, Brew & ‘Cue’s new season Jan. 15 at 9:30 p.m.
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“It was just fascinating,” Hightower says of the filming process. “You can’t imagine how much goes into it. They brought 20 people on their crew, then we brought in two chefs … They filmed for five and a half hours, and it’ll end up being 10 minutes of the show.”
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Food Network chef and host of the show Michael Symon visited the restaurant for filming in December, along with Ace of Cakes star Duff Goldman, a special guest for the season premiere. The pair sampled City Pork Brasserie & Bar’s pork belly hoagie and wild boar flautas.
“It’s a genuine celebration—a celebration of what Chef Ryan André has accomplished in that restaurant. To be able to be on Food Network, you work a long time to be honored like that,” Hightower says. “And it’s a celebration for the Baton Rouge culinary scene turning a corner. There’s just no question that the level of [chefs] in our town now and the level of food that so many independent restaurateurs are working hard to accomplish is really great.”
City Pork Brasserie & Bar, 7327 Jefferson Highway, will host a viewing party Jan. 15, 9 p.m.-midnight.