Man v. Food, the Travel Channel show where seemingly insatiable host Adam Richman tours America in search of interesting food and — more sensationally — gut-busting extreme eating challenges, invaded Nashville last week.

Richman and his video crew descended on Rooster’s Texas-Style BBQ & Steakhouse on Wednesday night. The target was a humongous special called The Roost, a platter heaped with a 72-ounce sirloin, a massive baked potato, two pieces of Texas toast and a big salad. As is common with such challenges, the meal price is listed at $72, but if you can eat it all within one hour, it’s free.

The genial Richman ruled the roost with his ringmaster voice and hyperkinetic enthusiasm, whipping up the crowd to hootin’ and hollerin’ — but on this night, he did not partake in the challenge. Instead, he coached two country singers, Preston Brust and Chris Lucas of LoCash Cowboys, as they tackled the gigantic meal. They sat side by side, each man competing individually. That means the groaning table was laid with not one but two 72-ounce steaks. That’s nine pounds of beef.

Though it’s his duty to encourage contestants, Richman seemed genuinely sincere with his hard-earned tips for eating massively, including starting with the hot food while it’s hot (warm steak is much easier to swallow than cold) and using the first 22 minutes as the sprint phase, then switching to smaller, slower and more judicious bites as the marathon goes on.

At one point, restaurant owner Rooster Beane strolled over to give his advice: Take three bites of the sirloin, followed by one bite of salad (the latter is considered a mouth coolant and lubricant), and then repeat. The camera-crazy crowd took this up as a chant: “Three bites steak! One bite salad!

To prevent the Cowboys’ energy from flagging, their musical mentor Vince Gill showed up to deliver a pep talk. At some point, Gill jokingly tried to conceal a large chunk of steak under Lucas’ cowboy hat, prompting a new chant: “Meat Head! Meat Head!”

I’m not a fan of competitive eating, but the evening was entertaining. It was certainly good advertising for Rooster’s, which has only been open on 12th Avenue north of Broadway for a few months.

The TV folk wouldn’t speculate on when the episode will be shown, but they did say it might be the next season opener, and we know that a new season titled Man v. Food Nation is supposed to air this summer.

As for revealing the outcome of the contest, I am acceding to the request that the producers addressed to everyone in the room: Keep your big mouth shut.

Froyo to The Gulch!

Sweet CeCe’s opened in The Gulch last week, and it’s the frozen-yogurt juggernaut’s first outlet near the city’s core. It’s hard to imagine anything but success for tart fro-yo and multifarious toppings in such close proximity to downtown workers and Gulch residents and diners.

The new shop is at 319 12th Ave. S., in the same building as The Turnip Truck natural food market. It’s unique in that Bill DuBois of W.T. DuBois Construction is a partner in the location. His company has been involved in building previous CeCe’s stores.