HaRdwAre CheFs : The Origin

From Justin Foran

My father (Dennis Foran, Bob’s very close friend for over 30 years) was headed over to the Cook’s for a fish fry. I believe it was a Sunday afternoon, during the summer. I was visiting from New York that weekend, and was on my way back to the city that day. As I was about to leave, my father asked me if I wanted to go along with him. I hadn’t seen Bob in awhile, and thought that it would be great to stop by, so we headed over to the Cook’s for some fish and some beer. Upon arriving we immediately met up with Bob who was trying to configure some kind of device (not a surprise at all). Peanut oil was splashing all over place, Robart was using a case of Labatts for a marinade, and of course Don was getting yelled at for not doing something that Bob had told him to do, even though Don had already done it. I guess it wasn’t up to Bob’s standards. So Don was fired… but only for an hour.

I watched Robart and Bob interact while they cooked, drank (a lot), and yelled at one another in a playful, childish manner. There was something about their chemistry that was very unique and spirited. I had my camera with me, and started shooting… asking them questions about their friendship, their cooking skills, why they did what they did. Some great lines started to come out as well: Bob and Bob (one spelling, two men). I shot for the rest of the day, gathering footage, watching these two wild men do their thing. Later that evening Bob showed me some other tapes from their exploits together. I asked him if I could borrow them because I wanted to try to incorporate it with the footage that was shot that day.

I went back to New York and began to digitize the footage and piece it together. It all came together into this trailer about two guys who love to build devices and cook with them. As the edit moved along, we needed a name for the show. I remembered asking them during the shoot if they had a name for their duo, something along the lines of “The Hardware Chefs”. (I think they preferred “Bob and Bob”).

I sent the trailer to Bob. He called me soon after, and we spoke about the show. I asked him if he would be interested in shooting a longer version. We discussed how the show could work, and what we’d have to do. He was interested in doing a pilot shoot, and thought that we should start with the smoker, since he still had a lot of pieces left from earlier that year. We set a date for the shoot.

We showed up at Bob’s house with a camera crew and production staff. Bob, Robart and myself would serve as the hosts of the show. They would build and cook, and I would guide the audience through the process. As we worked he reminded me that the real reason we were doing this was to have fun and be with our friends, and share it with our families when we were done. He told me that whatever happened with the show, that you have keep going… you have keep building, let your creative ideas flow. Keep making things with people that you like. “Projects are a good thing, Justo,” he said.

After we finished shooting and editing, I took the show around to see what the response would be. It can be rather treacherous when you’re dealing with TV executives. They seem to always care about technicalities such as the length of someone’s beard. They wanted everyone smiling all the time, like Ryan Seacrest. They thought that the show should be shot in a more urban area. They had their own ideas, which didn’t reflect the show we made, or wanted to make for that matter.

I remember seeing Bob at my Grandfathers funeral. I had been living in Los Angeles at the time. It was the first time I had seen Bob since he was diagnosed with cancer. We started talking about how much fun we had making the show together, and how much he enjoyed viewing the original trailer, from the fish fry with his family and friends that summer. I remember watching Bob and Merrill leave that day, after the funeral, walking to their car together. I thought about all the memories I had shared with Bob, his friends, and his family. All the fun we had.

I guess that was the idea after all, to have fun; To make something together, and keep creating to keep life interesting. In some respects, I wish the show made it. I always felt deep down that Bob Cook was the real deal… and it would have been really neat to share that with everyone. But then, I also think that Bob Cook already had his own show in a way. In fact, he was the show. And his studio was located in Mansfield, CT. And his audience was his family and his friends. And if you ever wanted to see an episode, all you had to do was stop by.

I hope you all enjoy the videos that I had the honor of making with Bob, Robart, his family, and all his friends. Bob Cook inspired us to keep going, to keep building, to make our own show, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Your friend, Denny’s son…

Justin