Silver Lake Chef Vartan Abgaryan Competes in New Esquire Network Offering

All of us are getting used to seeing camera crews around our 'hood.

But this latest sighting involved one of our own.

Yes, that was Vartan Abgaryan, the new chef at Dana Hollister's Silver Lake restaurant Cliff's Edge, lurking outside the Silverlake Cheese Shop a week or so ago.

With him was the rest of the crew for the new series, "Knife Fight," executive produced by Drew Barrymore, among others.

It will air on the Esquire Network, launching on April 22 as a rebranding of G4, with a wider focus beyond G4's games and gadgets.

Press materials describe "Knife Fight"  as “an underground, after-hours cooking competition where talented chefs go head to head in front of a rowdy crowd of celebrities, critics and die-hard foodies.”

Sounds like a good fit for Abgaryan, a former chef at the Roosevelt Hotel's Public, and Silver Lake, foodie and, arguably still, underground.

When we caught up with Abgaryan, he was shopping for kunik, a blend of goat and cheese milk.

Abgaryan had no idea what he would be asked to make on the show.

He'd simply been asked to show off for the cameras some places he loves, like the Cheese Shop.

Abgaryan, a huge advocate for the local and seasonal, said he hopes to feature more of the Shop's cheeses on his menu.

Knife Fight, meantime, is set to launch in April, perhaps under a different name.