ORANGE COUNTY, CA – I’ve always been curious about what happens behind the scenes of food shows, especially Guy Fieri’s” Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

How much time does the spiky-haired, bleached blond really spend in the kitchen with the house chef? Is Fieri as personable off camera as he is on? How do you get on the show?

I got my answers in December when I watched the taping of a “Triple D” show featuring Orange County food truck Chomp Chomp Nation. The influential program, which has put dozens of small-town restaurants on the map, tapped Chomp Chomp after a “secret eater” sampled its exotic, Indonesian-inspired fare last year.

“The food caught their eye,” owner Gina Galvan said.

Galvan and her husband, Robert Zuetell, invited me to watch Fieri’s crew tape segments in Santa Ana and Compton. (More on Compton later.) We couldn’t publicize details of the shoot then. Producers don’t want Fieri fans to know his whereabouts for fear of a mob scene.

But now we can spill the beans. Chomp Chomp’s crab and lamb burgers will become famous come Monday when the show airs. The truck is in rare company. Only two other Orange County food establishments, Paul’s Coffee Shop in Fountain Valley and Mama Cozza’s in Anaheim, have been featured on the popular Food Network show.

“It was more fun than I expected,” Galvan said of the whirlwind experience.

Find the entire article with show spoiler by Nancy Luna at the OC Register <here>