Art Ginsberg, better known as Mr. Food, paid Kitchen Kettle Village a return visit yesterday.  Art was visiting Pennsylvania Dutch Country  in order to showcase our delicious food and simple lifestyle just like he did back in 2002.  Mr. Food is a syndicated chef who can be seen via 125 different television stations on local news and lifestyle shows.  He particularly liked our shoofly pie, whoopie pies and chow chow – can you think of anything more Lancaster County than those three things?  He even took a ride with Caleb at AAA Buggy Rides in the Village just to round out his time with us.

Mr. Ginsberg’s story is much like ours.  His father was a butcher in Troy, New York who sold wholesale and retail meats.  Art learned his trade and later opened a catering business with his wife Ethel.  They worked hard and grew a successful catering business for 20 years.  Art’s avocation was theater.  A friend asked him to do a commercial for her local grocery store.  That commercial grew to another angle of Art and food – a guest spot on a local entertainment show as a chef.  It all morphed into Art taking on the persona of Mr. Food, finding other people who were interested in his passion toward simple food and finally a syndicated show that is picked up all over the country.  Yesterday, lots of our guests recognized him instantly and told him how much they enjoy seeing him on TV.  Maybe his tagline “Ooh.  It’s so good” gave him away.

We enjoyed our visit with Mr. Food as well.  He and producer  Howard Rosenthal were professional, relatively unnoticed while they took pictures and delivered lines in the middle of a busy morning in the Jam & Relish Kitchen, and a whole lot of fun.  If you’re familiar with Mr. Food, check out his program the 19th and 20th of September.  It’s all about Kitchen Kettle Village.  So after you join us for the Tailgate Festival, you can go home and re-live all those memories you just made!  Or better yet, stay long enough to watch the show in the comfort of your room at the Inn at Kitchen Kettle  - what a relaxing week that would be, huh?