In the days that followed Little Sparrow’s appearance on Bravo’s “Best New Restaurant,” the Santa Ana bistro felt the impact of the coast-to-coast airing in peculiar ways.

“We were running out of odd things very quickly – like ketchup,” owner Bruce Marsh said.

Clean linens, normally laundered weekly, became scarce.

“We blew right through them. We were washing napkins at home,” Marsh said.

And, to think, what would have happened if Little Sparrow had won?

The 42-seat Santa Ana bistro lost to a near flawless New York competitor. But the defeat, so far, hasn’t hurt.

Celebrity judge Tom Colicchio praised the restaurant’s “no boundaries” European-inspired cuisine throughout the hour-long episode. The endorsement and primetime TV exposure has been priceless. Curious foodies, smitten by the quaint underdog from Santa Ana, have flocked to the restaurant.

Sales records are being smashed. Extra servers have been hired. Social media pages are logging hundreds of new fans.

“It’s been really busy. All the people who saw the show universally said, ‘You should have won. You got robbed,’” Marsh said.

But now the real question remains.

“Will they come back?” Marsh said. “I don’t know how long this will last.”

Does TV food fame have a long shelf life or does it fade fast? We turned to Orange County reality show alumni – chefs and restaurateurs – to find out. Here’s what they had to say:

Chomp Chomp Nation (“Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”)

The Triple D effect is the term used to describe the impact of appearing on Guy Fieri’s wildly popular Food Network show, “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.”

Unlike on a competition show where kitchen disasters are amplified, a Triple D spotlight is an automatic glowing endorsement of any roadside gem. Fieri’s fans are so fierce many plan vacations around his favorite haunts, including the tiger-striped food truck Chomp Chomp Nation.

The truck’s exotic, Indonesian-inspired fare was featured in 2013. It remains one of the few Orange County-based food outlets featured on the show. After the first airing, investors approached owners Robert Zuetell and his wife, Gina Galvan about expanding Chomp Chomp in London and Dubai.

When repeats air, the truck’s Twitter and Facebook pages log at least 200 new followers, Zuetell said. Some even call him directly.

“They want to know where it is. They think it is a restaurant,” laughs Zuetell.

The irony, of course, is that Zuetell is getting publicity he no longer needs. He stopped operating the truck more than a year ago. He and Galvan said the show was a “springboard” to expand their consulting and catering business, which has flourished.

They credit the show for getting an exclusive, high-profile catering gig for the Singapore Embassy in San Francisco. They’ve also done menu consulting for Huntington Beach-based BJ’s Restaurants, Boudin’s and Del Taco, Zuetell said.

“To be connected with that (Triple D) brand has been really amazing. It has a global impact in scope,” said Galvan, who specializes in fast-food menu development.

Slater’s 50/50 (Travel Channel)

In 2009 Scott Slater opened Slater’s 50/50 amid a tanking economy in a hard-to-find strip center in Anaheim Hills. The odds were against him, but he had one thing on his side: bacon.

The restaurant earned instant notoriety for its pork-centric burgers, made with an equal blend of ground bacon and ground beef. The aptly named 50/50 burger caught the attention of the Travel Channel, which selected Slater’s 50/50 for a “Bacon Paradise” themed episode of the series “Food Paradise.”

The show aired in November 2010. Afterward, Slater said his “cash flow was incredible.” He parlayed the profits into two more restaurants in Huntington Beach and San Diego.

“It was equivalent to winning the lottery,” Slater said.

Today, Slater, 33, has added locations in Lake Forest, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamonga and San Marcos. His restaurants go through 30,000 pounds of bacon a month. Last year, he also opened a second concept, S&M Sausage and Meat in San Diego. With re-runs occurring continuously, he said the Travel Channel spotlight has had long legs.

Many tourists who watch the show put Slater’s on their bucket list.

Just last month, a Northern California resident sent Slater an email, praising the restaurant’s cheesy vampire dip and bacon loaded burgers: “Whenever I am in Southern California, your restaurant is on the top of my list to visit,” the fan wrote.

Chef Jamie Gwen (“Cutthroat Kitchen”)





Being a champion of Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” has opened doors for Newport Beach chef Jamie Gwen.

Gwen is already a national celebrity, hosting the syndicated radio program “Food & Wine with Chef Jamie Gwen” every Sunday. Locally, it airs on KABC. But Cutthroat Kitchen, she said, allowed her to show off a fireball personality and coolness under pressure.

During the unorthodox competition show, Gwen was forced to cook without utensils and pans. Her MacGyver-inspired skills and charming personality paid off. Since winning in 2013, Gwen has been tapped to serve as a judge on high-profile programs, including Fox’s “MasterChef ” starring Gordon Ramsay.

“For me, it’s added exposure,” she said.

Shirley Chung (“Top Chef”)

Beijing raised Shirley Chung is classically trained in French and Italian cuisine. She’s worked for industry stars Jose Andres, Thomas Keller, Guy Savoy and Mario Batali.

You’d think that would give her confidence to eventually open her own restaurant.

But Chung said bravado didn’t come until competing in Season 11 of “Top Chef.” Being a finalist gave her the push she needed to open her first restaurant – Twenty Eight in Irvine.

“I found my own culinary voice (on “Top Chef”) and the direction for my culinary career. I left empowered and ready to give the world a taste of ‘Shirley Chung’ cuisine,” she said.

The modern Chinese restaurant opened in December. So far, the cachet of “Top Chef” has been good for business.

“We booked parties before we were even open,” Chung said.

Casey’s Cupcakes (“Cupcake Wars”)





When Casey Reinhardt won Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” in 2011, the former MTV “Laguna Beach” star had launched a cupcake shop in a saturated market.

Four years later, Casey’s Cupcakes has thrived, while others have failed. Reinhardt operates cupcake shops in Newport Beach, Irvine (two locations), Huntington Beach and at the Mission Inn in Riverside. The latter is owned by her father and financier Duane Roberts.

Though she has her dad’s financial backing, being a “Cupcake Wars” champion has proved valuable for her business, she said.

“It’s huge. It takes you to a different level,” Reinhardt said.

Reinhardt worked tirelessly to get her second shop open in Laguna Beach before the show aired.

“I knew the exposure I was going to get and I needed to capitalize on it,” she said.

She opened Feb. 14, 2011. The show aired eight days later.

“After the episode, we had lines out the door,” she said.

The Laguna Beach shop has since closed. She plans to relocate it, but hasn’t found a location. This year, more expansion is on the way with shops in the works for San Diego and Los Angeles. Next year, she plans to expand outside the Southern California.

Whenever her episode repeats, social media traffic spikes. “I look back on that day, and I smile,” she said.

The Lime Truck (Great Food Truck Race)





Irvine’s The Lime Truck won Season 2 of the Food Network’s “Great Food Truck Race,” nabbing one of the biggest purses of any competition show: $100,000.

Truck owner Daniel Shemtob said the 2011 prize – captured during the peak of the food truck craze – allowed him and chef Jason Quinn to pursue two separate goals.

Quinn went on to open his first restaurant, The Playground, in downtown Santa Ana. Shemtob took ownership of the food truck brand and expanded.

Today, his trucks are limited to catering and special events as Shemtob focuses on building TLT Food, which has outlets in Westwood Village and Irvine. The counter-service restaurant serves Lime Truck-inspired comfort foods such as ground bacon and beef sliders, steak fries, pork belly nachos and udon noodles.

Shemtob said the Great Food Truck Race “was a catalyst to my success.”

However, he said the TV fame wasn’t directly responsible for his accomplishments.

“It helped a lot, but it wasn’t the reason we are both successful,” Shemtob said about himself and Quinn. “We would have achieved our goals at some point down the line. We are both highly motivated and driven people.”

Good advice.

Got that, Little Sparrow?

Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com