Tonight: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives brakes for the Bagel Deli

By Lori Midson Mon., Mar. 28 2011 at 4:56 PM

Categories: Midson: Gastronaughty

"Tonight's the night, as Neil Young would say," quips Joe Kaplan about tonight's episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, in which Guy Fieri, the bleached-out blonde whose hair resembles the scrappy, canary-colored bird from Charlie Brown, brakes at the Bagel Deli, the decades-old shrine to Jewish comfort food that Kaplan runs with his wife, Rhoda.

Early last month, in an episode devoted to "Signature Sandwiches," Fieri pulled up to Steuben's, where he made suck-face with the joint's venerated lobster roll. Both Steuben's and the Bagel Deli are local restaurants that Fieri and his Food Network production crew hit up when they were in town last October scouting restaurants for future episodes.

Tonight's show, titled "From Mozz to Matzo Balls," airs at 7 p.m. on the Food Network, and Kaplan, whose matzoh balls are the bomb, is hosting an invite-only viewing party, beginning at 6 p.m. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us, and I really want my employees to enjoy it," says Kaplan, adding that he hopes the publicity from tonight's shout-out will "encourage people from out of state and Denver to check us out."

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