Vesuvio was given the chance to cater a taping of the Food Network’s Next Star this past Thursday. In addition to serving up a ton of good food, we also got to hang with Paula Deen and Bobby Flay!

Paula was awesome. Matt told her he was a big fan of her bacon wrapped, deep fried macaroni and cheese recipe. Her response? “I wouldn’t incorporate that into your daily diet if I was you!”

Matt with his new wife, Paula Deen

Chef Flay was awesome too. You could tell people bug him all day long but he didn’t really mind. He asked us how business was going. The answer? Obviously not as good as his, lol. He talked to us about the arancini, wished us good luck and then went back to getting primped by his staff. Someone warned us he was mean, but we didn’t get that vibe at all.

Matt with the Iron Chef, Bobby Flay

The whole thing was badass. More pics to come soon.