Q&A: Sunny Anderson And Marc Istook

Food Network newcomers Sunny Anderson and Marc Istook dish on the latest kitchen necessities on "Gotta Get It," a new series of primetime specials which premiered last week.

I spoke with the duo by phone a few days before the show premiered, and as you can tell from the conversation, they are tough to keep up with in a discussion.

Q: After watching the first episode, I have to say that the two of you have a great chemistry. Did you know each other before you were cast on the show?

Marc: No, not at all. As a matter of fact, we didn't meet until the night before the taping of the first episode.

Q: Sunny, I get the impression from the show and from talking to before the interview started that you're kind of the boss of this partnership.

Sunny: No....No....(laughing)....

Marc: Did you tell him what happened last weekend? She definitely makes the decisions....

Q: Okay, Sunny, what happened?

Sunny: Well, in my defense....it was just a misunderstanding. We were supposed to do an article together, write a bit about some of our favorite gadgets.

Marc: And she wrote the whole thing....

Sunny: ....the thing is that I'm a journalist. It's easy for me to write these things. And I had some time over the weekend and just wrote the whole thing.

Marc: But I had called and left a message for her the night before because I wanted to talk about doing it together, and when I did hear from her the next day, she said 'Hey, I've finished it already!'

Sunny: (laughing) But I just forgot to check my messages until the next day. And when I listened to Marc's, I thought "Uh, oh, I'm in trouble.'

Q: So Marc, what you're saying is that she not only wrote the article but ignored your phone call.

Marc: Exactly!

Sunny: Hey! I WANTED to work together on this....(laughing).

Q: I think this is a good example of your chemistry, which really comes across on the show. One of the other things I enjoyed about it was that you don't always think that every product is the greatest invention ever. Sometimes, you basically say, "Hey, this kinda sucks!"

Sunny: I'm not sure we say it quite that way..(laughing)

Marc: ....but it's good to hear that people pick up on that. We didn't want the show to be an infomercial for just one product after another. There are some products that just don't work the way they're supposed to. And I think it's important for us to point that out.

Q: And there are also some products that work just fine, but just don't make sense for the average person. For instance, that Rotato thing you highlighted, which spins and peels potatoes and apples.

Sunny: That works fine, but who has the counter space for it? That's the problem for me with a lot of this stuff-where would I put it?

And there are some things which might just not make much sense for most people. Like that Mack Daddy $1,200 microwave we had on the show. I mean, it works great, and does cook things just the way it promises. But really, it's just a $1,200 microwave with some hot bulbs attached inside.

Q: Are there some gadgets that you currently have that you can't live without?

Sunny: This is going to sound really boring-and it's not really a gadget-but I love this Kitchen Maid stand mixer. I use it all the time, and it really isn't something I could live without. And I also have this little hand chopper, that dices up vegetables. It's simple, but it's great.

Q: Is there a gadget that you would like to own if you could afford it, or had the counter space?

Marc: Well, it's more the affording part that stands in the way....

Sunny: (laughing) I want this wine chiller that we profiled. It's small and it can chill a bottle of wine in six minutes flat. Plus, it's portable, so you can take it with you in the car or anywhere....

Marc: I don't know if combining chilled wine and driving is a good idea....

Sunny: That's NOT what I meant....

Q: How about you, Marc?

Marc: If I could afford it, I'd love to get this $3,400 refrigerator. It has an HDTV built into the front, and you can use it to display all sorts of things on an LCD screen from weather to pictures. It's just an amazing piece of hardware.

Q: Since the show is airing on the Food Network, I should ask you for some tips on restaurants. Do you each have a favorite restaurant or two that you can pass along to the readers?

Sunny: My favorite place is Café K in Brooklyn. It's this amazing little place owned by a Jewish family, and they have a small menu, but some dishes that you won't believe. They serve a baked fish that is so good I literally moved closer to them so I could get it whenever I wanted.

Q: That's quite an endorsement of a restaurant.

Sunny: I was looking for an apartment in Brooklyn, and I ended up in a place that's a bit sub-par because it's right across the street from the restaurant. And that way I'm never too far away from a great baked fish.

I also really like a place called "The Spotted Pig." It's been written about a lot lately, but it's a fun place to go. They serve this "pub grub" menu, very tasty but usually pretty simple.

Q: How about you, Marc?

Marc: Well, it's a bit of a touristy place, but I really like "Cha Cha Chicken" in Santa Monica. It's like a little stand by the ocean, but they serve this great Cuban fusion food.

I also love this place called "Kincaid's" in Ft. Worth. They serve these great old school burgers. Really bad for you, but they're just dripping with goodness.

Q: Wow, that's an advertising slogan if I ever heard one. "Kincaid's…Dripping With Goodness."

Marc: That is pretty good, isn't it?

Q: Let's get back to the show for one last question. You've made six episodes of "Gotta Get It." Have you heard any feedback on them yet from the network? Would you be interested in doing more?

Sunny: Oh, I'd love to do more. It's great working with Marc and it was a lot of fun to do these specials.

Marc: We've had some promising feedback already, and sure, I'd love to do more episodes.

Q: And maybe in the new episodes, Sunny would let you be the boss.

Marc: Oh, I don't think there's much chance of that.

Sunny: Hey! (laughing).