OCEAN CITY – As visitors and locals were enjoying the start of a busy summer season, the film crew of a national television series quietly made its way to Ocean City last month to feature several resort businesses for an upcoming episode.
In June, the cast and crew of Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food” visited Ocean City to film segments for an episode to air in the near future. Businesses that participated in the filming included Fish Tales, Dolle’s Candyland and Justine’s Ice Cream Parlour.
A synopsis of the show reads, “Armed with a serious love of food and years of experience in the restaurant business, Casey Webb travels the country in search of America’s most delicious dishes and ultimate eating challenges. From a hulking four-pound Reuben sandwich in Milwaukee to a monstrous gallon-sized ice cream sundae in New Orleans, Casey steps up to the table with gusto. New man, new food — same epic battle.”
Kostadin Petrov, partner and general manager at Justine’s, said the filming was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I couldn’t sleep for three nights I was so nervous. I had never been in front of a camera,” he said. “But when the film crew came in that morning, everybody was so nice and friendly.”
Petrov said recruiters with the show reached out to him and his business partner, Tom Quimby, in April.
“We started emailing back and forth and talking about being involved with the TV show,” he said. “It took around a month before everything was good to go.”
On June 8, the film crew and show host, Casey Webb, arrived at Justine’s to shoot the “Titanic” ice cream sundae food challenge. Petrov said the sundae is served in a large sand bucket and includes eight scoops of ice cream, six toppings, four cones, an “iceberg” of whipped cream and four cherries
“A lot of people attempt this challenge,” he said. “We started the challenge in 2013, and from 2013 to 2019 roughly 30 people have succeeded … That’s a little less than 3% of the people who’ve tried it.”
While this was his first experience with television production, Petrov said Justine’s is no stranger to national recognition. To date, the ice cream shop – which also has a location in St. Michaels – has been featured in “Chicago Tribune,” “Life Magazine,” “Chocolatier Magazine,” “The New York Times” and “The Philadelphia Inquirer.”
While he couldn’t discuss the outcome of the food challenge, Petrov encouraged everyone to watch the episode when it receives an air date for the fall season of “Man v. Food.”
“The only experience I’ve had with TV shows is watching them,” he joked. “But it was nice experience.”
Andrew Dolle, co-owner of Dolle’s Candyland, agreed.
“When they were here, it was a lot of fun,” he said. “We had a blast.”
