It wasn’t long after longtime Santa Clarita residents Ken and Kevin Klar both retired that the identical twins had started a new endeavor: learning to cook.
As a longtime firefighter who would often help cook at the station, Kevin had quite a bit of experience in the kitchen and wanted to use it to help his brother out.
“He was a single guy who was mostly going out to eat, and the pounds weren’t being good to him,” Kevin said, jokingly. “In doing that, we developed this persona of the Brothers Bistro.”
Soon, the Klar brothers had started their own YouTube cooking channel, creating recipes “even a dude can make” using just a handful of simple ingredients.
Now the brothers are debuting their knowledge on the classic TV game show “Supermarket Sweep,” which ABC has brought back with Emmy Award-nominated comedienne and actress Leslie Jones as the host.
It was the show that actually found the Klar brothers, and what Ken described as the “harrowing” process of auditioning then competing ensued.
“It was a lot of work, putting pieces together and understanding how the whole thing worked, but it was a super fun experience,” Ken added. “All the way along we keep saying to each other, ‘Well, we’ve done good, we got this far. We already feel like winners.’”
However, it was no problem for Team Bistro Brothers, as the Klars aptly named themselves, as, “growing up as identical twin brothers, we’re kind of used to finishing each other’s sentences,” Kevin said.
The show features back-to-back games, following as each team competes using their grocery shopping skills and knowledge of merchandise for a chance to win $100,000.
“The games were more physical than we expected,” Ken said.
“And we’re not youngsters anymore,” Kevin added, chuckling.
Overall, the Klars agreed the show was a great way to continue their mission of helping others get healthy.
“I’m retired from aerospace, he’s retired from the Fire Department, and we’ve been health coaching ever since,” Ken said. “(The show) is just one more way that we’re trying to demystify the kitchen because, for a lot of guys, especially single guys, the kitchen can be a little intimidating.”
Team Bistro Brothers are set to debut on a special Halloween episode of “Supermarket Sweep” scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 31, on ABC, with episodes available on demand on ABC and on Hulu the day following their premieres.
For more information on the Bistro Brothers, visit youtube.com/c/KlarBrothersBistro.