That was a stop on Man vs Food - apparently it helped his business a bit per the WSJ writeup. (and the chef was wearing the respirator during the prep on the show)
Before the show aired, Brick Lane served five or six orders of phaal, priced from $14 to $20, a week. Since then, Mr. Sharma estimates he serves 10 to 15 orders of the conversation-piece curry in a busy evening, with spikes in orders after reruns. "They keep on airing it again and again, which helps," Mr. Sharma says. Sure enough, the episode will run four times between July 21 and July 28.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954804575381401688564796.html