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Syracuse Chef Dreams of Becoming the Next Internet Star Syracuse Chef Dreams of Becoming the Next Internet Star

By Maya Pow

Billy-Brendan Ginty: I love this dish because it comes from my father’s restaurant about 50 years ago where I actually still have his recipes and his actual menu.

Maya Pow: THIS SYRACUSE CHEF IS HOPING TO TAKE HIS SMALL BUSINESS BUILT ON HIS FATHER’S TRADITIONS IN AN INNOVATIVE DIRECTION. BILLY-BRENDAN GINTY IS THE OWNER OF YOUR TABLE IS READY… A BUSINESS DOING PRIVATE CATERING FOR SMALL PARTIES AND LOCAL FAMILIES. BUT GINTY’S ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO BE A CELEBRITY CHEF WITH A T-V SHOW.

Ginty: I’m an entertainer, at hand, that’s what I like to do. I like to entertain but I love to cook. So if I can intertwine those somehow, that’d be awesome.

Pow: GINTY’S LOVE FOR THE CAMERA SPARKED AFTER HE MADE A SANDWICH ON FACEBOOK LIVE… FIVE YEARS AGO. THAT’S WHEN HE LAUNCHED FRIDAY NIGHT SANDWICH.. AN ALMOST 40-MINUTE LONG SHOW WHERE HE COOKS FOR A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE. IT CAN COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO OPEN A RESTAURANT OR MAKE IT AS THE NEXT GUY FIERI… AND GINTY’S SHOW COSTS A FRACTION OF THAT. GINTY SAYS EVEN WITH THOSE SAVINGS HE IS STRUGGLING TO KEEP THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL AFLOAT.

Ginty: My challenge is having the funds to back a show. To keep it going from season one to a season two to a season three, and seeing it progressively grow, as what I’ve seen in my mind.

Pow: GETTING FAMOUS ON THE INTERNET IS TOUGH. ONLY ONE IN EVERY THREE-THOUSAND-SIX-HUNDRED YOUTUBE CHANNELS HAVE OVER ONE MILLION SUBSCRIBERS. SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR SEAN BRANAGAN SAYS CREATORS SHOULD BE ON MULTIPLE PLATFORMS LIKE TIKTOK TO MAXIMIZE VIEWERSHIP.

Ginty: He does a sandwich TikTok, it will find them. And then they might say, wow I’ve seen this dude do this kooky sandwich thing, I wonder who that is. It might be in the TikTok or they’ll use the internet, and find oh this is like a sandwich dude with a whole web series”

Pow: EVEN THOUGH GINTY DOESN’T HAVE A LOT OF VIEWERS… HE IS DETERMINED TO MAKE HIS DREAMS COME TRUE.

Ginty: I’m sure there’s better cooks or barbecuers out there than me, but I was born to do this.

Pow: FROM EAST SYRACUSE… I’M MAYA POW… N-C-C News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS)- Billy-Brendan Ginty is a chef hoping to do things a little differently than his father. Growing up, food was a big part of Ginty’s life as his father owned a five-star Italian restaurant in Texas. With careers in internet influencers blossoming, Ginty’s ultimate goal is to become a celebrity chef with a televised cooking show.

“I’m an entertainer, at hand, that’s what I like to do. I like to entertain but I love to cook,” Ginty said, “so if I can intertwine those somehow, that’d be awesome.”

Ginty is the host of “Friday Night Sandwiches”, an almost 40-minute long YouTube series where he cooks for a live studio audience in his home. He makes quick and easy meals, including a buffalo chicken sandwich, meatball sub and a cordon bleu.

Ginty is the owner of Your Table Is Ready, a small business that does meal preparation for local families, small catering events and private cooking in customers’ homes.

It can cost millions of dollars to open a restaurant or become the next Guy Fieri, but Ginty’s show only costs a fraction of that. Despite saving money, Ginty still relies on sponsors and a Patreon account to fund his show.

“My challenge is having the funds to back a show,” Ginty said. “To keep it going from a season 1 to a season 2 to a season 3 and seeing it progressively grow, as what I’ve seen in my mind.”

Only one in every 3,600 Youtube channels has over one million subscribers, according to a Tim Queen research study. Ginty is far from reaching this goal with fewer than 2,500 followers across platforms. He said he knows it’s hard to make it on the internet, but he’s determined to succeed through work ethic and passion.

Sean Branagan, Syracuse University professor, says now is the best time to pursue a career on the internet given how many platforms there are.

“They might say, I’ve seen this kooky sandwich thing, I wonder who that is,” said Branagan.”It might be in the TikTok or they’ll use the internet, and find this is a sandwich dude with a whole web series.”

“You have to put in the work, you have to put in the time, you have to be ready to lose, to fail, to fall,” said Ginty. “I was born to do this.”

In the past year, there was a skyrocketing 280% growth in food channel subscriptions, according to Think with Google. Food Network greenlit two Youtube groups to make content for their network this year, “Rhett and Link: Inside Eats” and “No Recipe Road Trip With The Try Guys”.

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