Boise chef to compete on Food Network in ‘amazing’ experience with Guy Fieri

Excitement just keeps growing for Basquenese.

After joining Boise’s food truck scene in 2023, then expanding to The Warehouse Food Hall in downtown Boise this year, the culture-fusing brand will get a shot of national publicity.

Co-owner and chef Barbie Larrinaga will appear on the 500th episode of “Guy’s Grocery Games,” a Food Network reality series hosted by Guy Fieri, she posted on Instagram . The episode is slated to premiere Oct. 23.

“It’s finally time to announce one of the most amazing experiences of my life!” she wrote. “... I feel incredibly blessed for all the wonderful opportunities this year and love cooking for you all!”

On the show, four chefs compete by cooking dishes with ingredients from a “Flavortown Market” grocery store. The winner can snag as much as $20,000 in a bonus-round shopping frenzy.

Offering Basque and Vietnamese cuisine, Barbie and her husband, Basquenese co-owner Matthew Larrinaga, earned a following parked in Garden City. The crispy pork belly banh mi was the food truck’s (technically, food trailer’s) top seller, according to a post from Basquenese on social media.

But Basque food also is key. “Matthew is a proud Basquo and wants to share his heritage with you through food!” Basquenese proclaims on its website .

Barbie’s mother owned a Vietnamese pho stand during the 1980s in Saigon, Vietnam, the website adds.

Basquenese is the only Basque and Vietnamese combination in the nation, it says.

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