Fabio on Fire – Peoria, Arizona
In the early ’90s, a mesomorphic V-shaped woman’s man with the mononymous name Fabio garnered worldwide recognition for his appearance on the covers of hundreds of romance novels. With his flowing mane, chiseled physique and aquiline nose, Fabio Lanzoni was lusted after and admired–at least by readers of romance lovers. The idyllic man perceptions were reinforced when Fabio revealed that he cooks (albeit with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, a product he’s been hawking on television for more than a decade). When I told my Kim, we were headed to the western enclave of Peoria, Arizona to dine at a restaurant called Fabio on Fire, her immediate reaction was “you mean that hot guy on all those book covers has a restaurant.” As a not-so-hot guy perpetually waging war against a middle-age spread, I certainly fall short in any comparisons to the hunky Fabio (thankfully my Kim hasn’t resorted to calling me “Flabbio”). I did console my Kim with the assurance that “there are several “hot” guys at Fabio.” I didn’t tell her they’re hot because of proximity to stoves and ovens (and the 82-degree Phoenix heat on a late December day). Though somewhat ambivalent about the hot guy…
