It would be easy to try to say Mir Ali is quietly ‘doing his thing’ tucked away behind a bank building on Wilmington Island. It would also be wrong.
The man behind Lili’s Restaurant and Bar is regularly among the first to get mentioned whenever someone who knows Savannah asks about a place to eat outside of downtown Savannah. Lili’s has a solid following. How do we know he’s doing it right?
“90% of our guests are repeat customers and local.” Mir says. “Sometimes we’ll get a tourist who will read something on Yelp or another website and will come out for Brunch, but we are supported by locals.”
Clearly, he’s doing something well. Well enough to attract the eyes of a television production company who works with the Food Network. “They emailed me earlier this year. Asked if I’d like to be involved. I said sure, why not?”
The show Mir was a part of is called “Bite Club” hosted by Tyler Florence. A new concept Mir compares to the very popular ‘Chopped.’ “It is a competition, but you are actually judged by your peers from here in Savannah.” Mir says. They shot the episode at Little Duck Diner on Ellis Square.
Joining Mir on the adventure were Savannah’s Neil Youngblood of East End Provisions and Ken Brown of Sisters. They were the Savannah group. Also involved were Amanda Russ of Pommodori on Hilton Head Island and Orchid Paulmeier of One Hot Mama’s on the island as well.
Mir couldn’t go into too many details about the show, but ultimately 6 contestants draw straws. Some are judges, the others compete against each other. By the end of the one episode, we know who the winner is. There is no weeks long dragged-out drama. He also can’t tell us who won, obviously. You will just have to watch.
“It was fun. It was a very long day.” Mir says “We staged at the old Sapphire Grill space across the street from Little Duck. Tyler Florence was very nice and down to earth. He lives in California now but he is originally from this part of the country.”
“Tyler was funny. It was fun. It was competitive, but it wasn’t stressful.” he says
“Bite Club” is certainly not the first national television show to pass through Savannah. It seems as though there is someone from the Cooking Channel or Travel Channel here multiple times a year. Anyone from the Pirates House, Savannah Seafood and Gerald’s Pig and Shrimp all enjoying their “15 minutes” this year alone.
Does it make a difference in business?
“Free marketing is always great. We will get some traffic, I’m sure” Mir says. “Who knows, if the show gets good ratings, we may even do it again.”
That’s where you come in. You can tune in to “Bite Club” Thursday night 9pm on Food Network. The episode will also re air Friday at Midnight and Sunday at 3pm.
See you on TV
Jesse
# # #
