It was an early April Fools’ celebration on Guy’s Grocery Games and they honored chef and former judge Carl Ruiz who passed away in Sept. 2019.
On March 25, Food Network aired an episode of Guy’s Grocery Games that was guaranteed to make at least a few fans cry. The episode, which was titled “April Fools’ Day,” was a tribute to chef Carl Ruiz who passed away in 2019.
As both a judge and a contestant on Guy’s Grocery Games, Ruiz was a beloved member of the family. And over the years, it is clear that he developed some very special relationships with the people he worked with on the show.
It is these relationships and his sense of humor and mischief that really inspired this April Fools’ episode of Guy’s Grocery Games. Not only did a number of his chef friends take part in the episode, not only by cooking, but also by judging the different rounds, but even members of his family came to celebrate his life. And this episode really was a celebration of life.
To know Carl was to know laughter — And so it is only appropriate that we would celebrate him on #GroceryGames with a riotous April Fool’s episode. It was a simultaneously sorrowful and joyful episode to shoot. I hope you’ll tune in TONIGHT at 9pm on @foodnetwork. #ruizing pic.twitter.com/K5r29MCHGN
— aarti sequeira (@aartipaarti) March 25, 2020
This episode was a lot of fun, and not only that, it was a fitting tribute for Carl Ruiz. There was shoplifting, blindfolded shopping, and even excessive spiciness. Basically, this was Guy’s Grocery Games to the extreme.
While it may not have been a typical competition, it was exactly what we would have expected of a tribute to the chef. Considering he was a practical joker, who often was over the top in his reactions to so many things, this episode felt like the perfect way to honor his memory.
And it was also hard to watch, as it was both sad and funny in equal measure. There was a sense of finality to basically saying goodbye to the chef who made such an impact on Guy’s Grocery Games. While he will not be forgotten by those who loved him or his fans, there will never again be an episode with his humor and wit to cheer us up.
Luckily, we have not only this tribute to his memory, but also the collection of episodes he was a part of to enjoy when we need to smile.