Within a culinary space that can flip personalities like a thin crepe on a griddle, consider Tyler Florence a menu staple that always dabbles in fresh ingredients. The South Carolina native just wrapped his 17th season of The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network and, through his two-plus decades in the business, has hosted shows like Food 911 and Worst Cooks in America and has made oodles of national TV appearances spanning Oprah to the Today show.
Forbes Travel Guide recently caught up with the versatile chef. His cool and collective on-screen style transfers beautifully to his endeavors that range from a budding empire of sleek-meets-old-school steakhouses to habitual motorcycle rides in Northern California.
Where are you right now and what’s the vibe?
I’m in beautiful Marin County, California. It’s where I live with my wife and our three wonderful children. We have an old Bernard Maybeck home. We also have five goats, a pig, three dogs and three cats. Plus, there are a bunch of fruit trees here. We’re just living the life.
That sounds dreamy, and I would probably never want to leave. But, when you do, what is a local spot you enjoy there?
Our favorite is Stinson Beach when we need a quick getaway. It’s this really beautiful three-mile, crescent-shaped beach that’s about 27 minutes from here. We timed it door-to-door, and that’s all it takes to be surrounded by some of the most spectacular views in the world. You look over the Pacific Ocean, and it’s so relaxing. There are a lot of homes in rental programs there, so we’ll book one from time to time.
Let’s venture from your home to your hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. It’s an emerging spot. What do you like to do when you’re back there?
I’m so proud of where I’m from. There’s a third city between Charlotte and Atlanta — Greenville. It’s really impressive, and it has started to find its footing from a style standpoint, too. It feels like you’re in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains but it’s also slightly European.
I was just there in May on a book tour, and I got to visit for a couple of days and see my family. My mom and my dad still live there, and the hotels are great. We got a chance to stay at the Grand Bohemian, this beautiful new hotel on the Reedy River. If you get a chance to walk over the Liberty Bridge, I recommend it. It’s this new kind of modern juxtaposition between the rustic natural environment of the falls and a piece of civic architecture. You’re walking right over the falls.
Looking at your experience with Food Network, tell me how you’ve seen that platform evolve through the decades as it continues to carry such weight in the culinary space.
The table at Food Network has gotten a lot bigger and, when you watch, there’s somebody for everybody. That’s what I like about it now. It doesn’t matter what food style you like or where you live in the country; there’s going to be somebody on Food Network who speaks to you. Our team of chefs and culinary personalities has never been more engaging.
This is my 28th year on the network, and I have seen a lot of changes. It’s gone from a lot of instructional cooking to a lot of competition programming. People watch two people cook against each other, making anything, and people just love it.
Is there a favorite place that your work with Food Network has taken you that you always can’t wait to get back to?
I don’t know if there’s one location in particular, but I say this to many young people: travel while you’re young. Travel while you have a chance to do so because it’ll be very influential for you to have those conversations with people because you’ve been there and experienced that, especially from a cooking standpoint. Get a passport, go see the world, go cook, go taste, go learn.
And then when you come back, at least you will have the ability to say, “Okay, this is not what the real deal is all about. I know because I’ve been there.”
The latest season of The Great Food Truck Race just wrapped. What else do you have planned?
We’ve got so much stuff in the pipeline. So, Miller & Lux, our new flagship steakhouse restaurant in San Francisco, just got named “Best Steakhouse” in the San Francisco Bay Area for the second year [by San Francisco Magazine]. So, we’re really in love with our steakhouse.
We just opened up our second Miller & Lux restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the Kona side of the Big Island in Hawaii. And then we have three new Miller & Lux restaurants in the pipeline. So, I’m excited about my restaurant and love my team.
Amid all of these endeavors and travels, what does downtime look like for you?
Well, I don’t get a lot of it, and it’s by choice. I’m really happy. I like to work. I like being busy and sometimes my schedule will be seven days a week for months at a time. I thrive on that. We’re growing right now, and as the CEO of my company, leadership starts at the top. I think that work ethic trickles down to all of our teams.
With that being said, I love riding my motorcycle. I have four motorcycles: two Ducatis and two Harley-Davidsons. I have such a great time, especially on that Stinson Beach route. I have a handful of motorcycle friends. We try to connect on the weekends or maybe sneak a weekday to ride the California coastline. Those rides up along the coast and those big, long stretches of highway are absolutely beautiful.
And there’s so many great places to stop off and grab lunch and coffee. The Tomales Bay has some of the best oysters in the world, so we always stop off at Hog Island and have barbecue oysters, which is really super fun.
Looking at the remainder of the year, how are things shaping up travel-wise?
I have two separate Hawaii trips coming up. In November, I’ll be going to see one of our restaurants. Then we have a long family trip in December from Christmas to New Year. This will be our third year as a family spending Christmas in Hawaii. It’s a new tradition.
It would be great to get to know Hawaii even better. I’ve been to Oahu. I’ve been to Maui. I’ve been to the Big Island. But I would love to explore all the Hawaiian Islands, and I think that’s something I’m looking forward to in addition to whatever may come my way here.
