Guy Fieri has been making rounds in Central Oregon filming episodes of ”Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” In order of most recent, episodes have aired featuring Redmond’s Grace and Hammer, Sister’s High Camp Taphouse and Big Ski’s Pierogis, A Broken Angel and Anita’s Kitchen Gourmet Indian Food in Bend.

Anita Chopra, chef and owner at Anita’s Kitchen, said she wasn’t interested in being featured on the show at first, but the experience has been life-changing.

“I thought I’m not worth it,” she said. “I have just a little food truck, and I’m not a professional cook.”

When Chopra received the call to be filmed on the show, she had a flight booked to India for the first time in five years. She was also apprehensive about appearing on TV.

But her college-aged sons insisted that she reschedule her travel plans.

On the show, Chopra prepares butter chicken and fritters, a taping that she said took 20 hours. The fritters are a vegetarian dish popular in Punjab, her home state in India.

Chopra was pleased that Fieri couldn’t stop eating her food. Even after the cameras were shut off, Fieri continued to help himself.

Chopra recalled one customer who drove three hours from Eugene after watching Anita’s Kitchen on the show. The customer said the drive was worth it.

“This makes me really proud,” she said.

After receiving praise for her cooking from Fieri, Chopra finds herself with more energy to keep up with demands of her business, which have increased since the show aired on July 7. She used to finish cooking in five hours each day, but Chopra now spends seven hours cooking before going home to rest. Then she’s often called back into work again by her team to keep up with the orders.

“Whenever people praise your food, I think that gives you more energy,” Chopra said.

Most of all, Chopra was impressed by Fieri’s down-to-earth attitude, and said he acted more like an old friend than a celebrity. He and his team made her feel comfortable, despite her unease with publicity.

Chopra is working on building a brick-and-mortar restaurant for Anita’s Kitchen on the Cascade Lodge property facing Third Street. It is already under process and she is waiting on the city to approve the plan.

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Indian food prepared with love at Anita’s Kitchen in Bend

Dumpling-icious

Nurbu and Pema Sherpa, owners of High Camp Taphouse, were featured in ”Dumpling-icious,” an episode that aired Aug. 18.

“We had a good time,” Nurbu Sherpa said. “We kind of joked around and (Guy Fieri) is just like us, just a regular guy.”

On the evening the episode aired, the Sherpas hosted a jam-packed viewing party at the restaurant.

Since the airing, Nurbu Sherpa said he has noticed new faces dining in the restaurant, with customers driving in from Portland, La Pine, Prineville and Redmond.

According to Sherpa, Fieri wanted to learn more about the Sherpas’ humanitarian work benefiting the Musahar caste in Southern Nepal. A portion of the restaurant’s profits benefits Ten Friends, which provides education to children and vocational training to women in an effort to break the cycle of poverty.

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More episodes to watch

On Aug. 8, Big Ski’s Pierogis, a pierogi food truck in The Podski, joined the Triple D family with the airing of “Stuffed, Sandwiched & Souped.”

A Broken Angel’s vegan fare is featured in the episode entitled “Top-Notch Toppings,” which originally aired July 28. According to the show notes, the food truck gets “creative with righteous rice, veggies and tostadas.”

On Friday, “Tasty Time Travel” aired with a focus on the pizzeria Grace and Hammer, located in a former church, now declared a historic site. According to the website, key players at the restaurant are founders Chad and Cinnamon Nemec and “preacher of pizza,” Adam Valentine.

“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” is available for streaming on Max, Food Network, Discovery+, DIRECTV and fuboTV. It’s also possible to purchase and download episodes on Amazon Video, Apple TV+, Google Play Movies and Vudu.