Don’t we all have a television fantasy? You know the one, where you deliver a confident, polished – even witty – performance, and the director, producers, and your fellow ‘talent’ beg you to come back for more?
Pastry Chef David Guas is living the dream, fresh from his eleventh appearance on The Today Show, which coincided, remarkably, with the 11th of November. David explains that after all this time, while he’ll never deny that he takes each appearance very seriously, and that, yes, there are still butterflies, he’s now able to relax on air.
It’s a good thing, because on live television, anything could happen – and often does. Like the time David was demonstrating a kid-friendly Pumpkin Seed Oat Crunch recipe and turned an induction burner on at the far end of the set to start caramelizing his honey. A minute later, Al was yelling “We got a fire over here!” as co-host, Natalie Morales, ran on from backstage brandishing a fire extinguisher. Once you can roll with that kind of punch, you can handle anything.
Which is why he got back on the horse, so to speak, torching a crème brûlée on a later appearance. He offered to change his plans when the producer mentioned they’ve have a licensed fire marshall on-set for the entire segment, but they said “no, no; this is just the way we do things here.” And sure enough, the New York City safety official checked the blow-torch [provided by The Today Show,] and stood at alert while David demonstrated his poise under fire – literally.
And yet his most memorable show has nothing to do with fire, but rather, the time when Hoda and Kathie Lee were ‘helping’ him make his signature beignets. “The dough was pretty sticky – ok, I hadn’t floured it, so you could call it a set up. I handed the rolling pin to Hoda, who saw what was coming and passed it right along to Kathie Lee, who dove right in, finger bling and all. People kept telling me it was like an I Love Lucy episode – too funny, and the kind of thing that can only be improvised by good natured people with a knack for slapstick. It was a riot, and it would have been, had it happened in my own kitchen or on national television.”
David typically shows up at the studio for an hour-long rehearsal the afternoon before each appearance. He doesn’t know for sure who his host will be until the next morning, and probably won’t even speak to him, her, or them until a minute or so before he’s on. So the rehearsal is all about getting the cooking demo down pat – all the ingredients, all the equipment, and the order of operations. Luckily, Bianca, the behind-the-scenes chef/stylist, is there to take care of everything, adding her television skills to David’s culinary prowess. “Having Bianca there in the wings makes it seem homey and comfortable, even under the glaring lights,” says David, “and now I feel pretty much at home, sneaking in to the kitchen for coffee when I arrive in the morning, instead of waiting in the Green Room.”
Other aspects of television took some getting used to. “I’m sure I still don’t understand all the union rules,” he laughs, “there’s a different union handler for every kind of equipment – someone let me have it when I picked up a spatula in the equipment room; apparently there’s someone in charge of the spatulas, and that’s that.” The props are chosen before the show in the morning, from what David calls “a giant room of goodies – every imaginable kind of cake stand or platter.” Ed, the set designer, will pop in to make sure everything looks all right, and between him and Bianca, all David has to worry about is his own performance. Which, watching him live, seems like a piece of cake!
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