You Gotta Eat Here!

Host John Catucci discovers the perfect cure for what ails you at Ottawa’s Elgin Street Diner. Open 24 hours, it’s famous for its chilli laden poutine and humongous Hangover Blue Plate Special. Here they sell over 700 lbs of fresh cut fries per week, 700!!. John then gets strict schooling on the art of the perfect smoked-meat sandwich at Schwartz’s Deli in Montreal, QUE (est. 1928), And at Mrs. Riches restaurant in Nanaimo, BC, John attempts to finish the massive K2 Mountain Burger and get his face on the “wall of fame” – will he be triumphant, or will he fail to scale this mountain of meat and bust a gut while trying?

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John Catucci

John Catucci may not be a chef, but he knows a great burger when he eats one! In fact, just talking about the food featured on You Gotta Eat Here! gets John all worked up. Toss pulled pork smothered in blueberry BBQ sauce onto his plate and he’ll embrace the chef. Show this proud Italian the right way to make a pizza, and he’s ready to move in with the restaurant owner’s family. If making the “liquid gold” hollandaise sauce requires a marathon whisking, then John is the comedian for the job. Working in his uncle’s restaurant as a youth must have prepared him for this gig, although his kitchen etiquette might have you wondering!

This talented actor-singer-comedian discovered a love for performance as a member of York University’s Vanier College Productions. It was there that he met and teamed up with David Mesiano to form the award winning musical comedy duo, The Doo Wops. What else would a couple of singing Italian-Canadians call themselves? John has also been a member of The Second City Touring Company, where he honed the improv skills he now displays in restaurant kitchens across our country. But John is undaunted as he persists in the pursuit of perfectly-made comfort food.

A veteran of movies and television shows, comedy has been a very comfortable place for John, just watch him on Punched Up or The Sean Cullen show. And for those young enough at heart, John’s appearances as Bus Driver Bob on the children’s show, The Doodlebops, has the local public staring in awe when he enters restaurants across the country in search of the next mac & cheese phenomenon.

To quote a recent National Post article; “John Catucci may be a comedian, but he’s also the kind of guy who will “talk about food while eating other food.” Messy, but true!