I'm Bobby Flay.
Each week, one brave chef
will try to take me down in my house.
-This is my show. -Today it is.
Tomorrow, who knows?
-[all exclaiming] -Trash talking.
This culinary battle is going to shake down in two rounds.
Round one, to get to me, two contenders have to go through
each other using an ingredient of my choice.
It's do or die, Bobby.
Two people that know me well will decide who's got
the skills to beat me.
Yeah!
Round two, I go head-to-head with the winning contender.
Let's go!
It's their turn to surprise me with their signature dish.
What?
Don't try this at home.
I know you did it, Bobby!
-Bottom line... -You're gonna run out of time!
Everyone's out to beat me.
[opening theme music playing]
I hope you're here to cheer me on because my two guests
are here to heckle me all night long.
Give it up for Food Network's Michael Symon
and comedian Chris Redd.
♪ Here we go ♪
Oh, God.
Yeah, what's going on, y'all?
Hey, Bobby, you're going down, man.
You're going down today.
Because he has the face of a serial killer.
Don't he look like he has a documentary coming out today?
Listen, I know you're a ladies' man, right?
But so is Ted Bundy.
[laughs] Let's get it.
[all cheering]
Michael, I like that you're just the prop guy.
-All right. -You just brought out the bench.
I hate it. I know my role.
Solid work, man. I'm bringing you on tour.
Exactly.
[Chris] I'm really glad to be here, man.
I'm a real big fan of the show.
-You know him? -Yeah, man.
I've seen him try to beat you on the show a lot.
Yes, he does.
He tries to beat me up on the show.
-Yeah. -I know. It's very physical.
He deserves it.
I'll be at home like, "Beat his ass."
[all laughing]
All right, let's bring out some chefs, man. Let's do this.
Our first contender, B, has been named
Best Chef Milwaukee for four years.
Here comes Chef Adam Pawlak.
Let's go, people. Come on, now.
Come on.
-That beard is impressive, sir. -Thank you, sir.
You better keep that out of my food, fam.
Our next contender runs marathons
and runs a whole lot of restaurants.
This man likes running.
From San Antonio, Texas, it's Chef Page Pressley.
[hip-hop music playing]
He's a tall man.
What's he doing? What is he doing?
He doesn't know those people.
Hey, man, you got to sanitize your hands.
-You don't know them. -[all laughing]
Good evening, chefs, Adam, Page, welcome.
Here's the way it's going to work.
I'm going to put 20 minutes on the clock.
I'm going to give you an ingredient of my choice.
And you must make that ingredient the star of your dish.
And that ingredient is...
-red onions. -All right.
Who can't do something with an onion?
Good?
Ironically, one of my favorite foods.
Great.
All right, guys.
20 minutes on the clock to impress Mr. Chris Redd
-with these red onions. -[bell dings]
[all cheering]
I think this is a cool ingredient, actually.
[Michael] You could do so many different things with it.
I mean, like, yeah, like a red onion frittata would be nice.
Oh, yeah.
I'd make, like, crispy onion rings and make a salad out of it.
An onion tart would be delicious.
An onion tart?
This boy got me hungry for things I didn't even know I liked.
[laughter]
Adam, what are you making?
I am going back to my roots.
I've done this at my restaurant.
I'm doing a French onion bucatini pasta.
-That's a good idea. -[Michael] Really good idea.
My strategy is to bring a lot of flavor,
a lot of technique, and something that's comfort food,
'cause that's what I do in the Midwest.
Let's go, people.
-[all cheering] -[man] Let's go.
In this business, you have to be competitive,
and you have to have that drive.
I've had it since I've started working in kitchens.
Today, I'm the chef and owner of Egg & Flour Pasta Bar
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The cuisine that is my specialty has
to be fresh pasta, but also, I love steaks.
I love seafood.
Today, I want to win for my mom.
I know when I bring home that W,
she's going to go crazy.
Everything in the cooking world is for her.
Page, what about you? What are you making?
Also going back to my roots, actually, a little grapefruit,
avocado, red onion, and arugula salad.
It's a lot of ingredients other than red onions.
-That's the only thing. -Right.
I'm going to try to do onions as many ways as possible,
some crunchy raw, some deeply caramelized, some pickled.
And I'm going to live or die by that idea.
What made me fall in love with professional cooking
was that pressure of needing to be excellent every single time.
And when I ended up being the best cook
in the kitchen, I would find a new kitchen,
from Italian to French to sushi to modern Mexican.
At one point, I was overseeing
40 different restaurants between Philly, D.C., New York, and Miami.
Bobby may be the most successful competition TV chef
of all time, but I'm trying to prove that
I've learned some of his tricks and that he's beatable.
All right, I'm going in. I'll be right back.
Go in, man. Stop hitting me, man.
[Adam] As the onions are sweating down,
I grab a loaf of sourdough bread.
I get that cubed up, goes under the salamander
with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Caramelizing the onions up.
Yep, and once those get a little bit of flavor
on them, then I'm just gonna hit it
with the stock, butter, try to get some pasta water in there
-Pasta water, got it. -so it actually gives it a good sauce.
[Michael] Love it.
It's looking really good to start here.
-[Michael] Good luck. -Thank you so much.
[Page] I have to get the onions that I want to caramelize,
cooking in some duck fat, and get some pressure on them,
which causes them to cook faster.
-How are you feeling, Chef? -Fantastic.
[Michael] So for the salad, you're doing a couple different,
like, onion situations?
Three to four, depending on,
uh, what the next 14 minutes allows me to do, Chef.
[Michael] I was going to say, four to 14 minutes.
Do less and do it right, if that's what it comes down to.
Yeah, 100%.
This is going to be a good one, guys. I'm excited.
I think they can both beat Bobby,
so I don't have a favorite yet.
Yeah, wear him down, playboy. Wear him down.
How they doing over there?
[Michael] Adam is really caramelizing the onions hard,
so I think it's gonna have that French onion soup taste.
-Yeah. -That sounds amazing, man.
[Michael] Page, he's doing some bruleed onions,
some pickled onions, some raw onions.
[Page] For my pickled onions, they get water, vinegar,
and sugar with a liberal amount of salt.
I then grab my bucatini pasta, throw that into salted
boiling water.
All right, man, I'm gonna go check on
these guys and see what they doing. What's up?
-Booga, booga, booga. -[all laughing]
Got him. You know what I'm talking about?
My boy, Page, what's happening, man?
-What's up, man? How you doing? -I'm good, man.
-You know, you built like I want to -Good.
-just arm wrestle you real quick. -I totally have time.
You totally have time?
[laughing]
You like avocado?
-I don't like avocado. -Okay.
Can you make me like avocado?
Challenge accepted. Say less.
-All right. -Say less.
-I'm going to say less. -All right.
Ah! Ah!
Ah!
What's up, my boy? How we doing?
-How you doing? -Hey, focus! Focus!
-This is looking really good, bro. -Oh, yeah.
-It's a nice light sauce. -Mmm.
We got our bucatino. It's our favorite pasta.
-So this pasta actually has a hole right through it. -Oh!
So we're going to get it right in here.
-Yeah, put that in there. -Oh, yeah.
I mean, I'm giving you French onion pasta.
He's giving you avocado, so.
How you a nice man with a mohawk?
This don't make no damn sense.
I love this show. I've been waiting a long time to be here.
I got some grapefruit, some avocado. Let's go.
[Bobby] Five minutes to go, guys. How's everybody feeling?
This guy knows how to put a show on.
Yo, Page, this is my show.
-[all laughing] -Today it is.
-Tomorrow, who knows? -[all exclaiming]
Page is talking crazy! Page is talking crazy!
Whoo!
Yeah, baby!
Bro, you got to get through me first.
Yes, Chef! Yes, Chef!
[Michael] You guys got two and a half minutes.
-You got to get on the plate. -Coming right up, Chef.
[Page] Got to get to Bobby.
How am I going to get these onions on the plate?
-He's not going to get them. -No chance.
But Adam's got to get the pasta right.
I throw my pasta in the bowl really nice,
a little bit of my red onion ragout.
Come on, Page. You're making me nervous, fam.
[Page] We have the nice pop of the acidity coming from the pickled onions.
That's going to play really well off of grapefruit
and avocado.
-He's going back to the French. -Oh, boy.
I pull my caramelized red onions out of the cooler.
Ten, nine...
-And you cannot forget about gruyere cheese grate -[audience counting down]
that all over the top.
[all] Five, four, three, two, one.
[all cheering]
I'm a little bit nervous because he did onions in
so many different ways, but I know a lot of technique
went into this pasta.
[Page] I'm really confident this is a better representation of
making onions the star of the dish.
Chef Page, what'd you make?
I decided to make a salad of avocado, grapefruit, arugula,
and red onions as many ways as possible.
[Michael] You went at it aggressively.
There's a lot of different onion preparations here.
I don't have any grapefruit on mine.
-Got it. -Oh, here, playboy.
-Oh, thank you. -I got you.
I got all the grapefruit, man. You gotta get here real early.
-Yeah. -[laughing]
I feel some of my onions, for the thickness,
could have been pickled a little more, roasted a little more.
Yeah.
Could have probably used an onion less and focused on
getting those onions just right.
But the avocado wasn't bad, bro.
And I don't even like avocado.
-Can you try it with the grapefruit? -Yeah. Mother, yeah,
I know how to eat.
Chef Adam, what'd you make?
Today I have a French onion take,
bucatini pasta, and then gruyere croutons.
Pasta is my thing.
I mean, who doesn't love French onion soup?
We could smell it, the onions caramelizing
and the stock hitting them.
Maybe could have used a pinch more salt, but as a whole,
I think that this just has a very fun thought process.
Thank you.
I like this a lot.
I had high hopes, because I saw the sauce percolating,
and I was like, "Dang, that look good."
Personally, I would like this a little bit more heat
or something like that, but that's a personal preference.
All right, you guys, these are two great dishes,
so just give us a minute.
[Adam] I have to get to Bobby Flay.
I cannot lose this first round.
[Page] I feel like I was able to showcase red onions in
a more prolific way, so I still got a puncher's chance.
Michael and I have reached a decision.
The chef moving on to beat Bobby tonight is...
-Chef Adam! -[all cheering]
-Good job, boss. -[indistinct conversations]
This experience was a roller coaster.
Exhausting, exhilarating, and completely unforgettable.
[Michael] Adam, you won ultimately because you set out
to do a dish, you kind of said what you were making,
and I think you executed it at a very high level.
That's right, man. You got some tricks up your sleeve?
Oh, yeah. We're just getting started here, Bobby.
Yeah, Mr. Longhead don't care.
-Look at him. -Literally.
[dramatic music playing]
All right, Adam, that pasta looked amazing.
These guys loved it. What are we cooking tonight?
What's your signature dish?
My signature dish is...
Steak and potatoes.
Yes!
Yeah, baby!
-West in the house! -Yeah!
-Coming at you! -Steak and potatoes!
Let's go.
You excited about this one?
I'm so excited about this next round, Bobby.
I've been waiting my whole life, half your life,
[laughter]
To come in here and watch you get beat in person, baby.
And that's what we're going to do.
-Adam, you ready? -I got you.
-I'm ready. -You got your khakis tied up?
I'm ready.
All right, 45 minutes on the clock.
Let's go.
[all cheering]
-Do you like steak? -I love steak, man.
-Medium rare. -Got you.
I'm making pan-seared ribeye with salsa verde,
crispy potatoes with salsa roja.
Steak and potatoes is definitely something
that I've mastered.
Hey, Bobby, not that we care, but what kind of steak
are you using?
-Rib eye. -Tell us your exact plan in high detail.
I'm gonna use a spice rub.
I'm gonna use a cast iron pan, some peppers.
I'm gonna use some fish.
-What? -[all] Ooh.
Bobby got something up his sleeve.
[Bobby] I love steak and potatoes.
Who doesn't like steak and potatoes?
I'm gonna put a spice crust on the steak
with some Mediterranean spices.
I'm gonna make a pesto out of piquillo peppers from Spain,
some pickled shallots, crispy potatoes
with an anchovy sauce.
[Michael] Anchovies.
-Oh. -All right.
[Bobby] I love these flavors. It really makes
steak and potatoes sing without masking it.
I have to cook the potatoes, and it's going to take a while,
25, 30 minutes at least.
And that's only the beginning.
Adam, what's that? Are you using a ribeye?
Yes. My secret for this is what I baste it in.
So I'm basting the steak with our normal aromatics,
but then I add some chorizo to the pan.
Ooh.
[Michael] Ribeye is tender, but it has great intermuscular fat.
And then that big cap, it kind of has everything.
What went in that rump?
Garlic, onion, chili powder, salt, pepper.
That sounds so good.
Now I'm starting to work on my piquillo pesto, piquillo peppers,
pine nuts, a little bit of honey, Calabrian chilies.
You can eat this with the potatoes or with the steak.
That's what I like about this.
[Adam] I flip over that steak.
-That crust is perfect. -[Michael] The crust looks great.
[Adam] Thank you.
I really like to baste with chorizo because it adds
another layer of fat, great flavor,
and we're off to the races.
37 minutes and 30 seconds, guys.
[all cheering]
Ooh, smelling good over here.
Going with the power base, huh?
[Adam] That's right.
Chorizo fat, herbs, poblanos, butter.
All right, Chef. Beautiful.
-Thank you so much. -I like what you got going.
[Bobby] Adam, you know, he's serious business.
I like where he's going.
What do you got there?
[Bobby] This is a piquillo pepper pesto.
The anchovies are going to go in a butter?
I think I'm going to put them on the potatoes.
Michael, pick him up!
-Get out of here. -Pick up Bobby Flay right now.
All right, I'll see you later.
Chris and Michael are bugging the hell out of me.
Hey, Chris, don't give me any ideas.
[Chris] Uh-oh, man, I'm an idea guy.
Did you move the olive oil, you knucklehead?
[laughing]
Michael's stealing my stuff.
He took my knives, my olive oil, my pepper mill.
It's like the Easter egg hunt on the set of Beat Bobby Flay.
Bobby, we killing you over here.
[all laughing]
[Michael] 29 minutes and 30 seconds, guys.
Adam, what do you have going there?
Like a salsa verde kind of situation?
Yeah, but I like to put a little bit of basil in there,
white wine vinegar,
dry oregano, a little bit of chili flake
to go up against that chorizo ribeye.
Now, Bobby, you say something delicious.
[all laughing]
I rub my steaks, paprika, ancho chili powder,
dry mustard, cumin, coriander.
The spice rub is gonna add flavor,
but it's also gonna help create a crust on the outside of the steak.
Should we be worried that Bobby's just starting the steak now?
Nah, he'll be okay.
[Adam] My veggies are really nice and charred.
I add white wine vinegar, a little bit of oil,
and fresh cilantro for my salsa roja.
Adam, so what are you doing with those potatoes, my boy?
[Adam] So the potatoes are gonna go into the fryer,
and they're actually gonna get tossed in the salsa roja.
You should come over and check it out.
I'm on my way in.
Bobby, I'll get to you in a second.
-Adam, my boy, Adam! -What's up, dude?
-How you doing? -Man, I'm good, bro.
I want to see what you're doing over here.
-It's looking delicious. -This is the sauce that
the potatoes are gonna get tossed in.
Oh, my.
-This is the verde sauce. -Okay.
-Oh, you have so many flavors. -I told you.
I think we're going to beat Bobby with this.
[Adam] Oh, yeah. I'm not coming all the way here to lose.
Bobby, you look like you're trying to cook
to get your family back.
-[laughing] -What's going on, Bobby?
Want to taste some red pepper pesto?
-Yeah, I do. -Right there. Red pepper pesto.
That is gross.
[Michael] It's probably good.
Yeah, that's good as hell.
[crowd laughing]
We still gonna beat you and your pants too short.
[Bobby] I know.
Boy, your legs ain't seen the sun since '85, man.
[all laughing]
Good luck, but not too much. You know what I'm saying?
[Bobby] Okay.
16 minutes and 30 seconds, guys.
That boy's ankles are white.
But I would say my boy Adam's flavors over there,
those sauces are [kisses] perfect, man.
I just hope he doesn't try to do too much.
Yeah.
So to cook the perfect steak, I want to sear it
and get it really crusty on one side.
I think what he's doing is there's this famous steakhouse
in Brooklyn called Peter Luger.
So they get it all seared and marked.
Then they take it out and they slice it, cover it in butter,
and then put it under the broiler to finish
to the temperature.
-That's why it tastes so damn good. -[Michael] Oh, yeah.
It's a Peter Luger trick.
[Adam] Bobby is a very seasoned competitor,
but I'm feeling really good.
So we take the rested steaks, get them into the hot oven.
Now it's about nailing the temperature.
[Adam] I want nice medium rare.
[Bobby] I take the potatoes out of the boiling water,
and I put them into the fryer.
[Michael] Both have potatoes in the fryer. We'll see.
[Adam] I get my potatoes out of the fryer.
It's a really nice twist to have the salsa roja,
giving them some extra flavor.
[Bobby] The potatoes look good. They're golden and crispy.
And I season them with some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese,
fresh rosemary, salt, and pepper.
The anchovy sauce is gonna go on the potatoes.
It has a little mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar,
honey, olive oil, and crushed anchovies.
Maybe this is my secret weapon.
Three minutes left.
[Adam] It's the moment of truth. It's time to slice the steaks.
[Chris] Look at that.
[Michael] Yeah.
That looks gorgeous to me.
I like how calm my boy is.
He's in control of his moments.
Oh!
[Chris] Look at Adam feeding the people.
Adam, feed him when you're done.
[Chris] Focus, Adam!
This is game day, baby!
[Adam] I just put down my salsa verde first,
then we put a ladle of salsa roja.
Sliced steak, crowds going wild.
I grab my crispy fried potatoes.
I take my steaks out of the salamander, and they look good.
[Michael] Pouring that extra butter on top.
Oh, that's a move.
[Bobby] Potato's next to it.
My piquillo pesto, some of the anchovy sauce on the potatoes.
Just need a little bit for enhancement.
40 seconds.
[Adam] To pull up that steak, little bit of orange zest
over the top.
-I almost forgot the shallots. -Uh-oh, Bobby running.
Oh, you get the pickled onions on there?
[all] Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
-You're done. You're done. -[all cheering]
[Bobby] I think it looks good, but who knows if they like gatchos
on potatoes? Who knows?
Let's go.
Beating Bobby Flay would mean the world to me,
but I know that he has a lot of tricks up his sleeves.
Steak and potatoes, Bobby and Adam.
Congratulations.
Now we'd like you to meet your judges.
First up, we have TV host and restaurant reporter Lauren Scala.
Chef and restaurateur, Michael Psilakis.
And the executive chef of The Maiden, Michael Ragussis.
[Michael] All right, guys, if you could start with
the first steak and potatoes in front of you.
When it comes to the steak, I love the flavor.
I really like the rosemary.
I also like the flavor of the rub.
I think that it could have been cooked a little bit more.
But to me, the star of the dish is the potatoes.
They are perfectly cooked. I love how crispy they are.
Let me tell you, bro, these potatoes are sexual, dude.
They are ridiculous.
-You said they sexual. -[all laughing]
I didn't see that coming at all.
They way overshadow the steak, which is undercooked.
But when you take a little potato,
a little steak, a little bit of that salsa,
and you take a bite, it's a good place, bro.
These potatoes, they're crunchy, they're salty.
They're, like, the most perfect potato
I think I've ever had.
The steak, I love it.
I think it has a ton of flavor,
just if it was not so underdone.
All right, guys, switch your plates.
The steak's prepared really well.
The flavor's really good.
The salsa verde packs a punch.
As far as the potatoes go, they're a little bit mushy.
That steak and the salsa verde, so good.
Potatoes, fail.
Soggy, under-seasoned, underwhelming.
I mean, I'm kind of there with my fellow judges.
The steak cooked perfectly.
The salsa verde, knock out of the park.
It is making my mouth happy.
The potatoes, they're muddy. They're soggy.
With that being said, it's close.
All right, judges, let's take a vote.
Taking down Bobby Flay proves that David to Goliath can prevail.
It's going to be coming down to my steak
and Bobby's potatoes.
Okay, looks like we have a winner.
And the winner is...
Chef Bobby Flay. Damn it.
How does he do it?
-Thought you had me there, kid. -I know, it was close.
[Adam] I'm super proud of what I did today.
I made really great food, big, bold flavors.
I wouldn't regret anything.
The bite on this one with the potatoes and the rub
and everything together is money.
Adam, you took him to the limit today.
-So great job. -Thank you.
Good job, Adam.
Thank you, guys.
Hey, Bobby, you gonna get some sun,
get them ankles some color?
These white ankles, he runs marathons.
Don't they have sun in marathons?
Looks like the stakes have been raised.
[all cheering]