[Bobby Flay] I'm Bobby Flay.
-[audience cheering] -Each week, one great chef
will try to take me down in my house.
I'm not worried about Bobby.
-What? -[all] Ohh.
This culinary battle's gonna shake down in two rounds.
Round 1. To get to me, two contenders have to go through each other
using an ingredient of my choice.
-[all applauding] -Let's do it!
Two people that know me well will decide who's got the skills to beat me.
Round 2, I go head to head with the winning contender.
It's their turn to surprise me with their signature dish.
-Go! -[sing-song] Friendly competition!
-Is that distracting? -This is gonna be the first one I don't finish.
Flay's in trouble! Whoo!
-Bottom line? -[exclaiming]
Everyone's out to beat me.
All right, I'm pumped up and ready to go. Who's ready for a great show today?
[all applauding]
[Bobby] Tonight, we're keeping it in the family.
Please welcome my daughter, the one and only Sophie Flay,
and from Food Network, my pal Eddie Jackson.
[laughing]
-[all applauding] -♪ Let's go until I get to the top♪
Thank you.
We got Flay royalty in the house.
You going down, Dad.
Did you say like it's family in the house today?
Yes, you're my family. I mean, to a point.
-Oh. -[all laughing]
Let's, let's not get crazy. You know.
What's happening? What, what are you up to these days?
You know, Food Network keeps me busy.
If there's a cookie or a holiday show, Eddie Jackson's on it. It's great.
Cake and cookies, baby.
I am so bad at that kinda stuff.
Yeah, you don't know how to do stuff like that.
I am the worst.
-[all laughing] -So, Soph, still doing the journalism thing out in LA?
-Yeah. -So how many times you think
you've cohosted the show now?
I think this is my fourth time.
-Fourth time? -Yeah.
-What's your record? Do you know? -I don't know.
-Okay. -I think maybe you lost last time.
Bobby, you do know that you can bail any time, right?
You wouldn't wanna embarrass yourself in front of your daughter, now, would you?
-Yikes. -Won't be the first time.
[all laughing]
All right, let's bring out some chefs.
Our first contender racked up three James Beard Award nominations
before mastering comfort food.
From Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Hari Cameron!
[all applauding]
[laughing]
[Sophie Flay] Whoo!
Dad, our next contender is known for Southern comfort meets Asian flair.
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Chef Leilani Baugh.
[all applauding]
Oh, wow. [laughing]
[Bobby] Hari, Leilani, what's your goal this evening?
To show you what a girl from Oakland can do. Take you down, baby.
-[all] Ohh. -You afraid of her?
I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything.
[all laughing]
Here's the way it's gonna work. I'm gonna give you an ingredient,
and you must make that the star of your dish.
Black seabass.
Hey.
[all applauding]
I love it.
I live by the beach, so I can cook black bass.
-[Eddie Jackson] All right. -These guys are gonna taste your dishes,
and they'll decide which one of you goes up against me in round two.
20 minutes on the clock. Go.
[bell ringing]
[all applauding]
[Leilani Baugh] Let's go.
[Bobby] We got some black seabass. It's a flaky white fish.
A canvas for lots of different flavors.
I mean, it cooks up quick. It's, it's a delicate fish.
It doesn't have overly, like, fishy kind of a flavor to it.
-[Bobby] Yeah. -[Sophie] You do like a shishito pepper sort of...
-Oh, yeah. Pesto. -Would you do it with black bass?
-[Bobby] You totally could. -[Sophie] Okay.
See, I'm learning that she knows a lot about you.
Maybe we can utilize some of that throughout the day.
-Oh, when he goes away, for sure. -Exactly.
[all laughing]
Hi, little fish.
I really enjoy black seabass, except black bass has a lot of bones,
and that can be really tricky.
Ahh!
I'm known for my down home Southern cooking with an Asian twist.
So I'm making ginger soy black sea bass over wilted mustard greens with onions.
Hey, uh, Leilani. What you doing with the fish?
I am going to sear it and then I'm gonna steam it.
-See, she wants to get a crispy crust on top. -Yeah.
And then she wants to finish in the steamer.
My grandmother used to make this for me.
My grandmother Joan was an immigrant from China, and she's the one that taught me
all about cooking fresh fish, fresh produce, and how to shop for the best goods.
I started my catering company in 2013.
I got a major contract with ESPN and my business exploded.
And in 2020, I expanded to our own brick and mortar
named Magnolia Street Wine Lounge & Kitchen.
I am here to win this for every little girl who decided that she wanted to cook.
Bobby, it is so nice to meet you. But it is gonna be so sweet beating you today.
I've worked with black bass many times being a mid-Atlantic chef.
Hey, Hari, what you making over there?
I'm gonna make some fried fish.
-Yes, there we go. -[all applauding]
I'm making crispy black seabass
with olive oil compressed spinach and sauce Romesco.
I know Bobby really brings a lot of big flavors, so I'm trying to do the same.
Who is cheering for Hari?
[all applauding]
My childhood was a little bit unusual, because we moved around a lot,
but it really gave me a chance to taste food from everywhere, and explore a lot of things.
After graduating culinary school, I went to stage
at some of the top restaurants in the world,
like 11 Madison Park.
I wanted to take all of the things I learned from fine dining
and elevate comfort food.
So my brother and I opened up Grandpa Mac.
We make fresh pasta, and the creamiest, best mac and cheese every day.
I'm here to prove that comfort food can be world class.
Bobby, you cheddar be ready.
All right, 15 minutes.
Now, I'm gonna get my fish seasoned with salt, pepper,
and a little bit of seafood seasoning.
What's happening over here, Leilani?
So we're gonna sear in our fish,
and then, I'm gonna steam it with some soy and some ginger.
Ohh, soy and ginger. I like that. So you think you can take Hari down?
I think I can take Hari down. No problem.
[all laughing]
Next, I start on my Romesco sauce.
I'm using tomatoes, onions, Fresno chili, hazelnuts and bread,
and get them under the Salamander.
Hari, what are you making over here?
[Hari Cameron] A Romesco sauce.
Browning up some hazelnuts, tomatoes, some chilis.
Now, Leilani, you know she tried to take you out with the hat?
-She tried. -It was an accident.
It was beeline right at his head.
[all laughing]
I need to see some flavor, though. Let's get to it.
12:30.
[all applauding]
All right, Leilani is seasoning up with seafood seasoning.
I will say this, though, it seems like she doesn't really know how to filet,
'cause all the pieces are a little bit all over the place.
And Hari, he knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to breaking down the fish.
They're nice and even.
With the spinach, I want to break it down
using olive oil and salt in the vacuum sealer
to infuse a lot of flavor in a short amount of time.
Hey, Hari, how you doing?
I'm doing great, getting my dredge together right now.
I use AP flour, rice flour, seafood seasoning and cornstarch.
When you fry fish like that, you can overcook it very easily.
Right.
[Leilani] Beating Bobby Flay using the food my grandmother taught me how to make
would be the highest honor.
Steaming the fish is gonna make sure that it's not overcooked.
I've put in garlic, green onions, fresh ginger, soy sauce, and honey.
And then I'm making mustard greens with onions,
because the pepper from the mustard greens
is really gonna bring out the flavor in the fish.
I put my vegetables and I put them in the blender
with Worcestershire, soy sauce and sherry vinegar.
Coming up on 8 minutes.
[all applauding]
[Sophie] Hari, how's it looking over here?
[Hari] My, uh, sauce is working. A Romesco sauce.
-Taking a page out of your father's book. -I was gonna say.
Bring in the big flavor.
Okay, I like the idea. So, if you get to the next round,
you think you got a chance against my dad?
-I'll do it. -All right, keep going.
[Sophie] Leilani, what do you have going on?
[Leilani] Mustard greens with some onions.
So if you make it to the next round, do you have a chance against my dad, do you think?
-I... No, yeah. We'll see. -I like that. All right, keep going.
Thank you, babe.
[all applauding]
I'm happy with the way that the fish is fried.
Crispy on the outside, but beautifully moist.
[Hari] 2 minutes to go.
I have to get started plating.
First, I plate my Romesco sauce, top it with spinach, and get my fish on the plate.
I check on my fish and it looks perfect.
So I plate my fish on top of my mustard greens.
10, 9, 8, 7,
-6, 5, 4... -And I finish it with some green onions.
-3, 2, 1... -[bell rings]
[all exclaiming]
[Hari] I felt like I cooked everything well and developed flavor,
so I'm hoping that my fish is the star.
[Leilani] It's pretty. I know it tastes good.
But I can literally see bones sticking out of that fish.
This is something that I've dreamt about for a long time,
to see Bobby lose in front of his own daughter.
[all laughing]
It's all gonna come down to what you guys did with the black seabass.
Chef Hari, what'd you make?
So, today, I prepared crispy black bass with olive oil compressed spinach
and sauce Romesco.
The batter's light, which I think it should be with a fish like this.
My only concern is that the black sea bass is under seasoned.
But everything else is so well-seasoned, once you get
that one bite with everything together, it works.
Thank you.
[Sophie] I love the Romesco sauce. It's really well balanced.
The spinach is really good, too.
But I do have to echo Eddie on the fish.
There's not a ton of flavor in it. That being said,
when you eat it all together, that one bite is really good.
Thank you.
Chef Leilani, what'd you make?
Today I made for you ginger soy black sea bass
over a wilted mustard green with onions and honey.
Mustard greens have a pepperiness to it that I think works really well
with that honey and ginger.
The fish itself is seasoned so well.
My biggest issue, though, is the butchery on the fish,
-because there's so many bones inside of it. -Right.
The honey and the soy sauce, I think they're balanced really well.
It was cooked really beautifully, also.
I had a few bones in my fish, too.
All in all, great flavor. But a little worried on the execution.
Those bones!
I'm hoping that the judges choose flavor over execution.
And the chef moving forward to beat Bobby Flay is...
-Chef Hari. -[all applauding]
It's a little heartbreaking
that I didn't get to go up against Bobby Flay and beat him.
Bobby's getting off easy not having to go up against me.
We picked your dish because you showcased some technique
that I think you're gonna need if you wanna beat Bobby.
You think you can do this?
[makes kissing noises]
Oh!
♪ When the bars that we catchin', they shock and amaze ♪
♪ The take is never ending 'cause I'm gonna wait♪
All right, Hari, congratulations.
-Thank you. -How you feeling about round 2?
-This round is mine. -All right, so, uh, what are we cooking tonight?
What's your signature dish?
My signature dish is...
♪ I will get it whatever it takes♪
...mac and cheese.
[all] Ohh!
Dad, the only dish I've ever told you to take off the menu
because I thought it wasn't good was lobster mac and cheese.
I remember that well.
-[all laughing] -45 minutes on the clock. Let's go!
[all applauding]
Is there anything more comforting than a nice bowl of macaroni and cheese?
For real.
[Eddie] So, macaroni noodles paired with cheese sauce, right?
And you can use any noodle but traditionally, it's elbow, which has that tunnel
-that runs through it. -Yeah.
-To allow some of that cheese to get in there, and... -Yeah.
[Eddie] In my opinion, it has to be at least four cheeses,
-like a smoked gouda, like a Gruyere. -Okay. Yum.
-Nice melting cheese is good. -Yeah. Right,
and I love like a toasted breadcrumb situation on top of a mac and cheese.
-Yeah. I could get with that. -That's kind of my jam.
How you guys doing up there?
[all applauding]
Mac and cheese is our number one seller at Grandpa Mac.
It has pancetta and breadcrumbs toasted on top.
Because I'm making my pasta from scratch, I need to start working on it right away.
So I get my semolina flour into the pasta extruder,
which will mix my dough and form the noodles.
Then, I slowly add the water.
[Eddie] How many cheeses you got over there, Hari?
-I'm doing seven cheeses. -Seven cheeses?
-[all applauding] -Oh, my goodness!
[laughing]
Beating Bobby will let the world know that my mac and cheese is epic.
Dad, what are you making over there?
Lobster mac and cheese. Your favorite.
-Are you actually? -No.
-Oh. -[all laughing]
I'm making a porcini mushroom mac and cheese.
I just wanna keep it simple. I'm adding basically one component, which is mushrooms.
I think mushrooms and cheese go very nicely together.
And then crust on top to give it a little texture.
So I start by rehydrating my porcini mushrooms and let them come back to life.
What's your favorite noodle for mac and cheese?
I'm gonna use some, uh, lumachine today.
Oh, nice.
Kind of like a classic elbow but a tiny bit different.
It has like a hole running through it, so the cheese sauce is gonna go inside it.
I like a dry pasta for this, 'cause it just holds up better.
-38 minutes left. -[all applauding]
Hari, seven cheeses, my man. What kind of cheeses are we doing?
White cheddar, yellow cheddar, fontina, gouda, mozzarella,
and Parmigiano Reggiano, the king of cheeses.
I like that, man. When you have that minute,
you gotta make sure you have balance.
[Hari] For sure.
It took me a long time to find the right cheeses,
but this gives the perfect depth to the cheese sauce.
Hey, Bobby, are you making your own noodles?
Nope. I'm using dry pasta. 'Cause I think dry pasta's better for mac and cheese.
Wow. So what else you got going over here, Bobby?
Some mushrooms. I got some portobellos and I got some porcini.
All right, Bobby, you got to pick it up.
33:30.
So, then I sauté the portobello mushrooms in some garlic and olive oil.
So I feel good Hari's balancing out his cheeses.
-Okay. -So he has some that's a little bit light.
-And he has some that's a little bit more robust. -Okay.
[Eddie] Now, whereas Bobby, I didn't see any cheese. All I saw was mushrooms.
That's definitely a little weird.
[Sophie] Just under 30 minutes.
Can you grate some for me?
It's called Beat Bobby Flay, not Cheese Grate for Bobby Flay.
-[all laughing] -Now it's time to make the sauce.
I don't take the traditional route of making a roux.
I use sodium citrate.
The sodium citrate acts as a thickener, but then,
it also helps with the texture, makes it glossy.
-Got it. Okay. -It's gonna be silky smooth.
Then, I add Dijon mustard, Tabasco and nutmeg in my heated milk,
and slowly add the cheese.
What kinda cheese goes well with mushrooms?
Personally, I like to have things that are a little bit lighter.
You want that earthiness that mushrooms have,
so you don't wanna totally kill that vibe.
Yeah.
So I start making a roux, butter and flour.
And then I add scalded milk to that. And that creates a Bechamel,
which will then become the base of my cheese sauce.
What kinda cheese you using, Bobby?
Uh... [crickets chirping]
-Hello? -[all laughing]
I'm using four different cheeses. I'm using, uh...
[laughing]
Bobby Flay, ladies and gentlemen.
-[all laughing, applauding] -[Eddie] Wow.
What kinda cheese you using, Bobby?
Gruyere, Monterey Jack, fontina and Parmigiano Reggiano.
I knew he was gonna use Monterey Jack.
[Eddie] Yeah, I knew that. It's his thing.
I have to show you this. In his green room...
That is like a wall of cats.
Yeah, he goes, these are all my kids. Except where am I?
-What's this now? -If you could throw him off his game, that'd be purr-fect.
-[all laughing] -I see what you did there.
[Eddie laughing]
-Just under 26 minutes. -[all applauding]
-What's up, Soph? -I went into your green room.
-[laughing] -You have all your kids on the wall?
-Yeah. -There's not a picture of me up there.
-Ohh. -It's his cats. Well, we're gonna fix that for you.
-Oh, nice. I like that picture. -Yeah.
All right, what are you up to?
I have some mushrooms with garlic and thyme.
I think the mushrooms is a little weird.
-You do? -Yeah.
Should I not put the mushrooms in?
-I'm not telling you what to do. -[all laughing]
Hey, Hari. This machine is nuts.
-It is. -And you're using seven cheeses?
I am, yeah.
So you have salty umami from the parmesan,
the white and yellow cheddar give it that classic mac and cheese flavor.
The gouda and Gruyere give it a lot of depth,
and creaminess from the mozzarella and fontina.
And then the other thing is, is I love the breadcrumbs baked on top,
-because I love that... -[whispering] Me, too.
-I love that!... -texture differential.
-[Sophie] All right, keep going. -[all applauding]
[Eddie] 19 minutes to go.
Bobby needs to look out for me. This is what I do every day.
And I'm gonna nail it.
I don't know, I think the mushrooms is a little weird.
But when you taste it, especially if you're an expert,
if you're a critic, you're like, wow.
-[Sophie] Right. -[Eddie] This is a new take on macaroni and cheese.
Right.
Gruyere has a little bit of a sharpness to it.
Monterey Jack's a very good melting cheese for texture.
Fontina's a nutty cheese. And the Parmigiano Reggiano is a salty cheese.
What's that you're chopping, Hari?
I do have a little bit of a pancetta on top.
-[all] Ohh. -Yeah.
[Hari] At this point I'm feeling really good.
I like to use fresh noodles because they cook in two minutes,
and they have a really silky texture.
[all applauding]
Okay, so look. I need some dirt. Tell me something good I can use.
What about a signature dance move? What about that?
Oh, he does a little bit of, like, snapping. He's always snapping.
-[laughing] Like that? That's it? -You nailed it.
So now I'm gonna dump all the cheese into the Bechamel.
Bobby, I got a little bit of dirt. Can you help me out, make sure I'm doing it right.
-[all laughing] -[all] Ohh.
Show me how, how you do it?
-Oh. Oh, okay. -[all cheering]
Sophie, you're dead.
I don't see any spices.
[Bobby] I'm just doing salt and pepper. Fresh thyme.
I like it. Just keep it basic like this basic dance.
-[all laughing] -Uh-oh.
Oh, there you go, yeah! There you go.
-[all applauding] -You guys wanna see some cheese love? Ohh.
[all applauding]
-That's what you wanna see right there. -And the crowd goes wild.
You wanna taste the cheese sauce? It has a little bit of mustard, little bit of nutmeg.
-You wanna really... -Oh, yeah.
-You want that... Like that. That is delicious. -[all applauding]
Thank you, sir.
[Eddie] 12 minutes left, chefs.
-Hari's cheese sauce? So good. -[gasps] Good, okay.
[Eddie] Very balanced. So silky.
-Hari's is like a little more decadent. -Yeah.
[Sophie] My dad's cheese sauce is very simple.
He's not going typical Flay. There's no spices in there.
Oh, yeah.
[Hari] I like to season my breadcrumbs with a little bit of pancetta fat, as well.
Speaking my language, Hari.
I get it in the Salamander so I can get that beautiful golden color on top,
and then they're off to the oven to melt that cheese.
Seven minutes!
So, your dad is making a breadcrumb topping with porcini mushroom powder.
-It's a very mushroom forward dish he's going for. -Yeah.
Oh, that's beaut... Risotto? You making risotto?
[all laughing]
[Hari] Mushroom risotto, everybody. [clapping]
-[all applauding] -Hari is all up in it.
You don't bake mac and cheese, because then it really dries out.
So I'm gonna just let this hot for ten.
35 seconds. Come on, Hari. Get it out of the oven.
I check my mac and cheese. It looks perfect.
[all] 10, 9, 8, 7,
6, 5, 4,
3, 2, 1...
-Whoo! -[all applauding]
-Great job, Chef. -Good job to you.
[Hari] I feel good. I've done exactly what I've set out to do:
make beautiful mac and cheese.
Absolutely gorgeous.
I think it's gonna be cheese sauce versus cheese sauce and pancetta versus porcini.
It's gonna come down to which one the judges like more.
So, tonight's challenge was mac and cheese.
Hari, Dad, we'd now like to introduce you to the judges.
The chef of Butterfunk Biscuit Company, Chris Scott.
Author, chef and restaurateur, Melba Wilson.
Owner of Jacob's Pickles and Maison Pickle, Jacob Hadjigeorgis.
[all applauding]
All right, judges. Please start with the first mac and cheese in front of you.
I'm a mushroom fan. And the porcinis in this is really coming through.
The sharpness of the cheeses, it's powerful.
I'm really enjoying this dish.
On the downside, the sauce is a little bit loose,
and I think that the noodle might be incorrect,
'cause it's not really catching that sauce.
The earthiness of the mushroom brings this mac and cheese to a different level.
I love that I'm getting a crisp crust on the top.
However, I think the noodle may have been the wrong choice of noodle.
I would have loved something that really married more to the sauce.
The sauce, the blend with the mushrooms, is out of this world.
You get that earthiness, and then the sharpness of the cheese.
It has a beautiful crust.
Unfortunately, I think it was left under the broiler a little too long.
All right, judges, please try the second mac and cheese.
I think we're gonna go from loosey goosey to ooey gooey on this one.
And you can really taste all of those cheeses combined.
That pasta has that toothsomeness, but I think it's a little under seasoned.
I love the crust on this, and the pancetta, it's giving me a great texture.
And these noodles taste like they're homemade noodles.
However, I could have used a little more seasoning. I'd have liked pepper in there.
The pasta. Perfect for mac and cheese. I do get a little bit of mustard in here.
But you want that extra little bit of punch with all that cheese.
It's lacking a little bit of flavor.
All right, judges, now it's time for you all to take a vote.
The judges say that my sauce is a little under seasoned,
which I don't really understand.
I thought it was perfect.
Well, the judges have spoken. We have our winner.
Tonight's winner is...
...my dad, Chef Bobby Flay.
[all applauding]
Thank you. Great job.
I'm really proud of myself. I feel like I gave it the best shot that I could,
and I know that I put up a beautiful plate.
This was a tough decision.
Dish A was flavor forward, and that's all it came down to.
[all applauding]
Eddie, you nailed those moves I gave you to distract him a little bit.
You were crushing it out there.
-[Eddie] I mean, I tried, but nothing seemed to work. -[Sophie] I know.
But you looked better doing it, obviously.
-Come on. Your dad has no moves. -Obviously.
Well, when it comes to mac and cheese, I guess I'm the mac daddy.
[all applauding]