Food Network’s ‘Sandwich King’ features slice of Park Ridge life
By JENNIFER JOHNSON jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com January 27, 2012 1:38PM
A photo of the "Sandwich King" crew with host Jeff Mauro hangs in the Park Ridge home of Jennifer and John Munao where the cooking show was filmed. "Sandwich King" airs Feb. 19 on the Food Network. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 31, 2012 1:19PM
Jeff Mauro may be the star of the Food Network’s new series, “Sandwich King,” but his co-star is the Park Ridge kitchen of Jennifer and John Munao.
Thirteen episodes of “Sandwich King”’s first season were filmed between Jan. 13 and Jan. 20 inside the Munao’s kitchen, at 100 N. Lincoln Ave. The food preparation takes place right on the couple’s island range.
“It was fun,” Jennifer Munao said of the experience. “It was definitely eye-opening, all the details that go into the behind-the-scenes that you don’t get to see.”
The Munaos’ home was one of about a dozen homes in the Chicago area visited by the “Sandwich King” film crew, Munao said.
“A friend of a friend of a friend knew the producer and he told him about our house,” she explained.
The couple submitted photos of their kitchen and the following day network representatives came to take a look.
Setup for the week-long shoot took two days and required rearranging the Munao home, like turning the dining room into a living room. The family moved out during the taping and though they got to see some of the filming process unfold, they are not featured in the episodes.
Jeff Mauro, of Elmwood Park, was selected to host “Sandwich King” after winning the seventh season of “Food Network Star,” a battle-of-the-chefs competition. In “Sandwich King” he “shares his passion for all things sandwiches,” according to a description of the show on the Food Network’s website.
Munao described Mauro, who has a background in comedy, as having “a great personality.”
“He’s kind of Jackie Gleason-esque, in my opinion,” she said.
“Sandwich King” will air at 10 a.m. Feb. 19 on the Food Network.
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