The fun of watching Beat Bobby Flay is seeing the celebrity chef be taken down by his far more talented peers. With 41 seasons under his belt, Flay still relies on the same tricks: Calabrian chilis, a southwestern take on a classic, and a nonsensical twist on an ethnic dish (as a Puerto Rican, I’m still very offended by him making mofongo spicy, given that, culturally, we have zero tolerance for spiciness). Can’t forget the crispy rice, either.
The latest season brings back the “Holiday Throwdown,” seeing Flay face off against previous contestants who want to take him down, from Top Chef season 16 winner Kelsey Barnard Clark to Food Network star Aarti Sequeira, while making Thanksgiving and Christmas dishes. Although some were able to defeat him, like Bobby’s Triple Threat newcomer Ayesha Nurdjaja, Flay still won most of the episodes. Surprisingly, his wins do make sense this season. Ahead of the season finale, let’s look back at moments from season 41 when he was rightfully victorious.
EPISODE 2 – “FRIENDSGIVING POTLUCK”
This was Antonia Lofaso’s second time competing on Beat Bobby Flay. She won on her debut with the help of Michael Simon in season 34, but she wasn’t so lucky this time around. Lofaso, who focuses on Italian cooking, chose sausage lasagna as her signature dish. When faced with the choice of picking Jet Tila—who’s had a lucky streak of never losing while helping Flay beat previous contestants— or Damaris Phillips—who has defeated Flay—as her teammate, she went with Phillips. While Phillips is a brilliant chef and pastry genius, the decision not to split up Flay and Tila (who even wore matching outfits!) backfired.
The ladies went the simple route, with cheesy garlic bread and a shaved Brussels sprouts salad as sides. Meanwhile, Flay and Tila had a tension-filled cook, with Flay looking a bit more stressed than usual, while making shrimp with anchovy breadcrumbs (as expected, flavored with Calabrian chilis) and a Castelfranco salad. It was a tight competition, as Flay and Tila’s lasagna was a tad overcooked, but combined with the sides, it turned out to be the winner of the night. While you can’t go wrong with cheesy garlic bread, I have to give Flay and Tila props for picking sides that weren’t as heavy as the lasagna, which I think was the key to them remaining an undefeated duo.
EPISODE 4 – “GHOST OF BOBBY FLAY’S PAST”
Keeping a Christmas Carol theme, the episode featured three chefs who had previously beaten Flay, face-to-face: Esther Choi, Amanda Freitag, and Maneet Chauhan. After Chauhan emerged victorious after battling it out with Choi and Freitag, the Tournament of Champions two-time champ seemed like the perfect person to take Flay down again. Alas, despite trying to throw Flay off by picking mutton meat pie as her signature dish (Flay is notoriously awful when it comes to pastries), he wound up winning against her with Choi’s help. While it was surprising to see Chauhan lose, Beat Bobby Flay is nothing compared to dealing with TOC‘s tedious, randomizer-based format while competing against some of the country’s best chefs. Flay had a huge advantage with Choi, who’s a beast in the kitchen. He decided to go with flavors that fit Choi’s Korean cuisine, giving them a leg up.
While Chauhan and Freitag decided to pair their mutton meat pie with kedgeree rice with smoked haddock and a raspberry summer trifle, their pie didn’t win over the judges and the dishes didn’t look nearly as appetizing as Flay and Choi’s Korean mutton meat pie (with a kick of spice from kimchi), which was accompanied by crispy Brussels sprouts with bacon and kimchi, and a crunchy salad with cucumbers and chilis. But as Choi semi-jokingly quipped, it really was her win, as she influenced Flay’s direction and gave him pointers on how to maximize the Korean flavors.
EPISODE 5 – CHRISTMAS EVE-RYWHERE
Given Flay’s personal tie-in, this was a weird episode. We have Top Chef and Triple Threat star Brooke Williamson, who is dating Flay, competing against him. While they don’t address their romance on TV, there’s plenty of banter, including Flay pointing out that she’s lost each time she’s been on Beat Bobby Flay. But it also meant that Williamson could mess with him more, picking three signature dishes: chateaubriand, potato latkes, and a dessert soufflé. Flay decided to rely on his go-to, putting chiles on everything—including the soufflé! While I can’t help but roll my eyes at him defaulting to his expected moves, I will give him props for using the chiles in unexpected ways.
Typically, the judges aren’t household names, but this time the panel included Top Chef‘s Karen Akunowicz. We’ve recently seen her thrive in many of Food Network’s shows, including Tournament of Champions and Triple Threat, so she knows flavor. While she thought his chile-crusted chateaubriand was a bit too spicy, she called his latkes, which were topped with goat cheese and green chili sauce, an “outstanding bite.” Meanwhile, Williamson, who competed with the help of fellow Top Chef alum Claudette Zepeda, didn’t wow the judges with her classic take on the chateaubriand, paired with a traditional latka and chocolate soufflé with a passion fruit anglaise. As much as it pains me to admit it, Flay deserved the win.
The post ‘Beat Bobby Flay’ Season 41 Dishes Bobby Flay Actually Deserved to Win With appeared first on VICE.
