Pat and Gina Neely

Pat and Gina Neely are American TV chefs and the husband-and-wife team who own the "Neely's Bar-B-Que" restaurants in Memphis, Tennessee, and also host the Food Network cooking show Down Home with the Neelys. When the show debuted on the Food Network in February 2008, it boasted the network's highest-ever ratings for a debut show on the network's weekend "In the Kitchen" programming block, and, according to the Food Network's website, continues to be a top-ratings powerhouse. [cite web | title=Food Network Biography of Pat and Gina Neely | publisher=Food Network | accessdate=2008-10-04 | format=HTML | url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/chefs/article/0,1000011,FOOD_32077_5769574,00.html] Some of the show's hallmarks include kitchen gadgets fashioned on Gina's favorite animal, the pig (hence their common catch-phrase, "it's all about the pig"), visits from Pat and Gina's family members, many of whom are also in the family business, and Pat's thinly-veiled "bedroom humor." "(Example, when Gina asks him to pass the brown sugar: "I'd love to get a little bit of your brown sugar, honey.")"

Patrick Neely began his career in the restaurant business when he was only 15. He and his older brother, Tony, learned the art of slow-cooked southern barbecue using indirect heat by working at their uncle Jim Neely's restaurant, "Interstate Bar-B-Que" in Memphis. On their website, Interstate Bar-B-Que claims that they were the "first to put the Neely name on the Memphis BBQ scene." [cite web | title=Interstate Bar-B-Que - History | accessdate=2008-10-04 | format=HTML | url=http://www.interstatebarbecue.com//history.html] In February 1988, Pat and his three brothers, Tony, Gaelin, and Mark, opened their first barbecue restaurant, "Neely's Bar-B-Que", in downtown Memphis with nothing more than a few tables and chairs, a barbecue pit designed by their Uncle Jimmy, and $20,000 they had borrowed from their grandmother. They eventully earned a good reputation based on hard work, great food and consistently good service. [cite web | title=Food Network Biography of Pat and Gina Neely | publisher=Food Network | accessdate=2008-10-04 | format=HTML | url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/chefs/article/0,1000011,FOOD_32077_5769574,00.html] The Neelys now have three restaurant locations: two in Memphis, and one in Nashville. Pat's brother Tony moved to Nashville to head up the new restaurant there. Additionally, they operate several concession stands in the Memphis FedEx Forum (one of the company's main logistics hubs) and their products are sold online and in selected grocery stores nationwide. [cite web | title=Neely's Bar-B-Que - Neely's Story | accessdate=2008-10-04 | format=HTML | url=http://www.neelysbbq.com/ourstory.htm] Gina handles the restaurant's catering division, which accounts for over 25% of the restaurant chain's total sales. [cite web | title=Food Network Biography of Pat and Gina Neely | publisher=Food Network | accessdate=2008-10-04 | format=HTML | url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/chefs/article/0,1000011,FOOD_32077_5769574,00.html]

Pat and Gina Neely were high school sweethearts in the 1980s. They grew apart over the years, but met up again at their tenth high school reunion, and soon got back together. They were married in 1994. They currently reside in Memphis with their two daughters, Spenser and Shelbi. A second show, called Road Tasted with the Neelys, in which they travel to various U.S. cities to visit various food specialty companies, began airing on the Food Network in July 2008. [cite web | title=Food Network Biography of Pat and Gina Neely | publisher=Food Network | accessdate=2008-10-04 | format=HTML | url=http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/chefs/article/0,1000011,FOOD_32077_5769574,00.html] This show is modeled on the Food Network's ealier show, Road Tasted, starring Jamie Deen and Bobby Deen, sons of the Food Network's reigning queen of southern cooking, Paula Deen.

References