Published: Monday, July 11, 2011
TV foodie to dish pizza here
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Food Network
Vic "Vegas" Moea, brother of Don Evola and a finalist on "The Next Food Network Star," will be at Evola's Brooklyn Bros. Pizzeria in Everett tonight.
Vic "Vegas" Moea is coming to town.
The Las Vegas executive chef with a tough-and-tattooed yet gregarious personality is a contestant on "The Next Food Network Star," now in its seventh season on the Food Network.
He's also the brother of Everett's own Don Evola, a culinary star in his own right as the owner of Brooklyn Bros. Pizzeria on Hewitt Avenue in downtown Everett.
Monday night, Moea, who is in the running to get his own show, will cook side by side with Evola and meet and greet people from 5 to 8 p.m. at the pizzeria, 1919 Hewitt Ave., Everett.
Evola, who opened his restaurant in 2007 with his wife, Vicki, teamed up with Moea at the 2009 International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas, where the pizza parlor entrepreneur competed unsuccessfully for a $10,000 world prize.
This will be the first time, however, that Moea has seen his big brother's New York-style pizzeria, which serves Italian thin-crust pies as well as thick-crust Sicilian pan pizzas.
Evola thinks his brother, a dishwasher turned self-taught chef, has a good chance to win the reality competition, which requires contestants to make great food as well as charm TV audiences.
"He makes people laugh. If you watch the episodes, you start to go, 'I really like this guy.' He's just kind of a natural," Evola said. "He's got this outer-shell look like he is going to wrestle you, but he's a big softie. He's a sweetheart."
Indeed, food bloggers and critics have pegged the mighty and muscular Moea as a top contender, including the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy bloggers who said: "Vic 'Vegas' is the showman, charmer and all-around culinary pro who's our odds-on favorite to win."
Evola, who grew up in Brooklyn with Moea, always wanted to open a restaurant. They both learned home cooking early on from their Italian mother and their grandmothers.
They were invited into the kitchen as kids to roll meatballs and to learn family cooking techniques and recipes.
Monday night, Moea will make his hit pizza from the reality TV show, a white pizza pie made with ricotta, portabella mushrooms, prosciutto, garlic and fresh mozzarella.
Patrons can try it by the slice for $3.75 or pay $28 for a whole pizza.
If Moea wins the reality show, he would be following in the footsteps of numerous TV personalities, including bleached-blond, spiky-haired Guy Fieri, the host of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," who won the second season of the show in 2006.
Call 425-258-6900 or see www.bbpmenu.com for more details. You can also see www.foodnetwork.com for videos and bios of Moea and other contestants.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
The Las Vegas executive chef with a tough-and-tattooed yet gregarious personality is a contestant on "The Next Food Network Star," now in its seventh season on the Food Network.
He's also the brother of Everett's own Don Evola, a culinary star in his own right as the owner of Brooklyn Bros. Pizzeria on Hewitt Avenue in downtown Everett.
Monday night, Moea, who is in the running to get his own show, will cook side by side with Evola and meet and greet people from 5 to 8 p.m. at the pizzeria, 1919 Hewitt Ave., Everett.
Evola, who opened his restaurant in 2007 with his wife, Vicki, teamed up with Moea at the 2009 International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas, where the pizza parlor entrepreneur competed unsuccessfully for a $10,000 world prize.
This will be the first time, however, that Moea has seen his big brother's New York-style pizzeria, which serves Italian thin-crust pies as well as thick-crust Sicilian pan pizzas.
Evola thinks his brother, a dishwasher turned self-taught chef, has a good chance to win the reality competition, which requires contestants to make great food as well as charm TV audiences.
"He makes people laugh. If you watch the episodes, you start to go, 'I really like this guy.' He's just kind of a natural," Evola said. "He's got this outer-shell look like he is going to wrestle you, but he's a big softie. He's a sweetheart."
Indeed, food bloggers and critics have pegged the mighty and muscular Moea as a top contender, including the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy bloggers who said: "Vic 'Vegas' is the showman, charmer and all-around culinary pro who's our odds-on favorite to win."
Evola, who grew up in Brooklyn with Moea, always wanted to open a restaurant. They both learned home cooking early on from their Italian mother and their grandmothers.
They were invited into the kitchen as kids to roll meatballs and to learn family cooking techniques and recipes.
Monday night, Moea will make his hit pizza from the reality TV show, a white pizza pie made with ricotta, portabella mushrooms, prosciutto, garlic and fresh mozzarella.
Patrons can try it by the slice for $3.75 or pay $28 for a whole pizza.
If Moea wins the reality show, he would be following in the footsteps of numerous TV personalities, including bleached-blond, spiky-haired Guy Fieri, the host of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," who won the second season of the show in 2006.
Call 425-258-6900 or see www.bbpmenu.com for more details. You can also see www.foodnetwork.com for videos and bios of Moea and other contestants.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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