The Wegmans Tomato Sauce Guy Fieri Can't Resist
Guy Fieri's culinary interest was piqued when he was just ten years old. According to the Food Network, the spark was set when he began selling soft pretzels from a bicycle cart. By the age of 16, he'd saved up money from his pretzel business (and from dishwashing) to study in France, where he fell in love with international foods and lifestyles.
Fieri opened his first restaurant in 1996, and his first show, "Guy's Big Bite," premiered 10 years later. Now, he hosts "Guy's Grocery Games," and "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" where he travels to different restaurants, tasting different dishes and letting viewers know about the best of the best at each restaurant he highlights.
At one restaurant Fieri visited in New York, he tasted a spicy appetizer dip that he loved — and you can grab a jar of it to enjoy at home, too, no matter where you are in the United States.
Fieri tried it at a New York restaurant
During an episode of the 16th season of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," Guy Fieri visited Pastabilities in Syracuse, New York. While he was there, Fieri tried the restaurant's signature Spicy Hot Tomato Oil & Stretch Bread appetizer, which is only $6 on the menu. According to Food & Wine, the sauce is made from a blend of garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, honey, salt, chili peppers, and spiced oil.
If you're not near enough to Syracuse to justify a dinner trip, the restaurant has fortunately made it easy to enjoy the sauce anywhere. If you live nearby a Wegmans grocery store, check the pasta aisle for a pre-jarred version. Food & Wine reports that it has been found in Maryland, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, but other locations are likely to have it.
If you aren't near a Wegmans, you're not out of luck. The restaurant also has a website dedicated to the sauce. Though the site is currently only set up to ship to the United States and Canada, it recommends sending an email to customer service to arrange worldwide shipping.
The creators were inspired by Italian flavors
While Pastabilities recommends dipping some bread in the sauce, Food & Wine states that the restaurant advertises it as a "put-on-anything" sauce, so you could also use it in some pasta, or over eggs in the morning. Pastabilities shared its recipe for Wicked Chicken Riggies with Food Network, where it combines chili oil, peppers, and tomato sauce with chicken, rigatoni noodles, and cheese to make a delicious, spicy dinner.
The website states that the sauce's creators were inspired to make it after a 1989 trip to Italy, where they found a sweet and spicy tomato olive oil sauce paired with crusty bread at a cafe. They fell in love with the flavor and set about recreating it in their restaurant when they returned to America.
Wegmans is a grocery store chain founded in 1916. The chain is primarily found in the Northeastern United States and has 109 stores across the region.