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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Guy Fieri, the celebrity chef who opened a central Ohio eatery this summer, is now working with a Columbus apparel brand that also recently collaborated with Ryan Reynolds and saw boosted sales from Taylor Swift.
The Ohio-born restaurateur launched new t-shirts with Columbus-based Homage called the "MLB x Flavortown collection," a collaboration with all 30 Major League Baseball teams that celebrates each team's fan-favorite ballpark bites. The eats featured on the T-shirts include Skyline Chili nachos for the Cincinnati Reds, slider dogs for the Cleveland Guardians and pastrami for the New York Mets.
"Take me out to the ballgame, but make it by way of Flavortown," said Fieri in a release. "A great day at the ballpark is more than just peanuts and popcorn these days and my MLB x Flavortown collection is bringing you your favorite ballparks' most iconic dishes, ready to rock, any time."
Fieri's collection with Homage comes as he also launched a new Italian concept in June named "Guy Fieri's Trattoria" inside Scioto Downs, which features "an old-school Italian feel polished with textured glass screens, rustic wood finishes, an open pizza & pasta prep station and gallery walls."
"It's a true homecoming to bring my latest concept to the area," said Fieri. "Being from an Italian family, classic Italian American fare has always been a part of my life and I’m stoked to bring those real deal flavors to Scioto Downs."
The opening of the trattoria could've coincided with the inaugural Flavortown Festival, a weekend-long Columbus event spearheaded by Fieri, but the festival was canceled earlier this year due to "unforeseen circumstances." The festival promised a fusion of food and funk, with rock band Greta Van Fleet and country star Kane Brown as headline performers.
Fieri said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the trattoria that the festival "still will happen, we've just got to make sure we've got the right people in the right positions making this fly." Along with the Mayor of Flavortown himself, the festival would have featured eats and experiences from some of Guy’s favorite Triple D restaurants from the Columbus area and around the country while offering the ultimate experience for foodies.
"I don't do things half-assed," Fieri told reporters during a May 31 press conference. "I'm an all-or-nothing guy. It's go big or go home. And if it's not time to go big, then we go home, you know?"
Even before Fieri's collaboration, Homage got a boost when the brand landed an investor in May known for Marvel's "Deadpool" movies: Ryan Reynolds. The company received a round of capital from the actor's Maximum Effort Investments, a firm that "makes movies, TV series, content, ads, and cocktails for the personal amusement of [Reynolds]," the company's site states.
"We started very much as a regional company, very Ohio focused, but we've grown to be much more of a national brand," said Ryan Vesler, Homage CEO and founder. "It demonstrates the potential that Maximum Effort sees in Homage and a belief in our ability to tell stories."
Earlier in July, Homage released a "Deadpool" line called "Threadpool," with 18 shirts that fall into one of three categories: "Deadpool & Wolverine," "Classic Cuts" and "Deadpool Noir." A fourth category, "Wade's Closet," promises a collection of Deadpool designs handpicked by Reynolds, coming soon.
Homage sales have also risen after Taylor Swift attended the Coachella music festival sporting a baseball-style cap that read "New Heights," the name of a podcast hosted by her boyfriend and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, former center for the Philadelphia Eagles. Homage is the official apparel partner of the podcast, selling the hat in black or green for $36.
