I'm Bobby Flay.
Each week, one brave chef will try to take me down in my house.
-I'm not worried about Bobby. -What?
Ooh.
This culinary battle is 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.
-[audience cheers] -Let's do it!
[Bobby] Two people that know me well,
will decide who's got the skills to beat me.
Yeah!
[Bobby] Round 2, I got head-to-head with the winning contender.
It's their turn to surprise me with their signature dish.
[singing] ♪ Branzino♪
-Was that distracting? -You're done.
This is gonna be the first one I don't finish.
-Flay's in trouble! -Whoo!
[Bobby] Bottom line...
No!
...everyone's out to beat me.
[crowd cheering]
[bell ringing]
All right, time to break out the sunscreen
'cause it's gonna be a scorcher in here.
Who's ready?
[cheering]
Please welcome two friends of mine who are looking to throw some shade my way.
It's Food Network's Jet Tila and Jesse Palmer.
Hey, everybody!
[Jet] Yeah, baby.
-Feeling good. -Whoo-hoo!
[Jesse] All right.
It's gonna be no day at the beach for you.
-[laughs] -Clearly for us it is.
-But not for you. -[Bobby] It is, indeed.
What's goin' on, guys?
We're living our best lives.
Jesse, you're definitely living your best life.
First you were the Bachelor, now you're the host of The Bachelorette,
you do football on ESPN, and you're on Food Network.
Uh, dude, I'm just lucky.
I have a ton of passions, including wearing pink flamingos.
-[laughs] -Made it!
Beat Bobby Flay...
-[Bobby] You have made it. -...in a flamingo floatie.
Wanna bring out some chefs?
-Let's do it. -Distraction's over.
Time to bring the pain.
Our first contender grew up in Argentina,
but had since made a huge name for himself in the Miami dining scene.
-Cool. -Let's hear it for Pablo Lamon!
[in Spanish]
Amor, Lamon!
-[Jet] Whoa! -Oh, my god!
All right, our next contender, he is making a huge statement
with his Afro-Caribbean cuisine.
-Please welcome chef Demetrius Brown! -[Bobby] Yeah!
[audience cheers]
Double-front biceps.
[Bobby] Pablo, Demetrius, welcome.
Demetrius, how you feeling?
Well, first I gotta beat this guy.
Then I gotta come take your job.
-I thought he was just trying to beat you, man. -I love that.
He doesn't wanna just beat me, he wants my job.
[laughs]
I'm ready to teach you a lesson too.
-What're you gonna teach me? -I'm gonna teach you how to cook.
I love these young bucks, man.
-They come in here. So fun. -[chuckles]
[Bobby] Here's the way it's gonna work.
I'm gonna give you an ingredient of my choice,
and you must make that ingredient the star of your dish.
An ingredient perfect for summer...
...champagne mangos!
-[Jesse] Whoo! Okay. -Mango!
-These mangoes in your cuisine? -Yes.
-[Bobby] Sir? -Of course I do.
All right, guys, 20 minutes on the clock.
May all your pain be champagne mangoes.
[rings]
[Jet] Go, go, go!
Let's go!
Good ingredient, Bobby.
[Bobby] I mean, look, you can make mango salsa,
mango glaze, mango sauce.
[Jesse] And then, but you think mango, you think sweet,
but I think the champagne mango
-is actually even sweeter, potentially. -Yes.
And then texturally, are you gonna bring a crunch?
Are you gonna pair a protein that doesn't get, like, beat up by it?
It'll be interesting to see what they do.
Mangoes are super common in Caribbean cuisine.
I'm making a pan-seared scallop with mango four ways,
because I can get a nice hard sear on the scallops
that's gonna add a little bit of texture into my dish.
So the first thing I'm getting started on is my curry mango
to honor my grandmother
because that was one of her dishes that she would always make.
And it's mango cooked down with curry powder, garlic and onions,
with a little bit of a habanero.
Chef Demetrius, what're we doing over there with these champagne mangoes?
So I'm gonna do pickled, fresh, curry and then charred.
[Jet] That's a lotta ways that Demetrius going.
I might... I wonder if it's too much.
[Demetrius] I'm gonna get started on my pickling liquid.
It's just gonna be champagne vinegar and sugar.
And then I'm doing a charred mango,
because I want a lot of smokiness.
Food was a really big part of my upbringing.
My grandmother was probably the best cook I've ever seen in my life.
So I went to culinary school,
and then I got a job at The Watershed,
and then I was the Executive Chef at The Pinewood.
And I was nominated for Eater's Young Gun Award.
Today I'm the chef and owner of Heritage.
It's a pop-up restaurant where we go in and takeover different restaurants.
We do everything from West African cooking to Caribbean cuisines
to American soul food.
We've been awarded best pop-up in Atlanta by Atlanta Magazine.
I'm here to prove that food of the African diaspora is here to stay.
[Pablo] So I'm going to be making a black seabass crudo
with a champagne mango vinaigrette and a champagne mango salsa.
I decided to go crudo because I'm coming from Miami, we have amazing fish,
so we normally do some raw fish preparations.
The flesh is going to compliment the sweetness from the champagne mango.
So for the champagne mango vinaigrette,
I'm making a simple syrup, which is sugar and water.
So I'm adding a little bit of the simple syrup with rice wine vinegar.
Some lime juice and some fish sauce for some umami.
Next, I'm going to start butchering my fish.
So I'm slicing the sea bass sashimi style.
Chef Pablo, what is your application of mangoes going to be?
The mango vinaigrette and a mango salsa.
In this case, I'm going to be using champagne mango,
avocado, tomatillo, and a little bit of magic that I tell you later.
-A little magic. -Okay. You know, I love it.
So I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
When I was in high school my parents worked late.
I got to reheat whatever they would leave for me.
I would just start adding spices, vegetables,
and it was so much fun that when I was 17 I went to culinary school.
I've been cooking pretty much around the world,
always in fine dining restaurants.
Today I'm the executive chef and co-owner of Lamon Culinary Group.
We currently operate a high end catering service,
so watch out, Bobby, I'm coming for you.
[Jet] 15 minutes on the clock, chefs.
[Pablo] So once I get my seabass sliced,
I'm going to put them into the cooler.
[Jet] Pablo! You're going crudo, black bass.
-I figure we're thinking about the beach in Miami. -Like that. Yeah.
-So I do that a lot. -Yeah.
You know, Afro-Caribbean, I mean, he's playing right into his strengths.
What're you thinking, you scared at all?
You might wanna be.
[laughs]
I'm thinking about myself, mainly.
All right! How about a hand for Pablo, everybody?
-Demetrius! -What's up?
You have a lot happening here.
[Demetrius] Mango is super versatile, and I wanna show that.
All right, I like it. Good luck, chefs!
[cheering]
[Demetrius] I'm slicing the champagne mangoes thinly,
and then I get my pickling liquid
and I pour it on top of my sliced mangoes.
[Jet] Demetrius has a lot of applications.
And also scallops,
I'm scared they're gonna get beat up by the mango, right?
Chef Pablo, crudo.
I don't think you have enough going on in the plate.
[Pablo] And now I'm going to start working on my salsa.
I'll be using tomatillos, avocado, lime juice, Thai chilis.
I have to bring some heat from Miami.
Next I'm going to blend the base liquid for the vinaigrette
along with the champagne mango.
I get my scallops into a pan.
Coming up on 8 minutes, chefs.
8 minutes to go!
Demetrius, these scallops smell delicious.
I see you basting them right now.
That is absolutely gorgeous.
For this curry mango, I want to puree it so that it's nice and smooth.
I've been on tv enough to know
-we can't talk over blenders. -[laughs]
[Jesse] Talk to me, what's goin' on?
I'm working on the vinaigrette.
[Jesse] You understand what's at stake here, right?
If you can take down my guy, Demetrius,
you get a shot at the man, Bobby Flay.
-Is this gonna do it? -Oh, for sure.
We'll see, chef.
Now I wanna showcase the mango fresh,
so I move on into a small dice.
[Bobby] Two very inventive dishes.
Well, all that means is we're gonna beat you today, Bobby.
[Bobby] 1:45 to go, you guys.
I have to start getting my plates together.
I get my curry mango down on the plate.
Then I add a little bit of mustard frill.
Top it with my scallops.
Then I add my fresh mango, my charred mango and pickled mango.
So I grab my fish and I start plating my seabass crudo first,
then I top it off with the champagne mango salsa,
and then my champagne mango vinaigrette.
Come on, y'all, get it done!
[Bobby and audience] Ten, nine, eight...
[Pablo] I finish it with a little bit of micro cilantro.
[Demetrius] And a little bit of flaky sea salt.
-[both] Three! -Ring the bell.
[all] Two, one!
-[ringing] -Let's go!
[crowd cheers]
[Pablo] So I'm feeling really good, it is beautiful and it's delicious.
And the champagne mango is definitely the star of the dish.
Looking at that Pablo's dish, it looks like it came out of a magazine.
But I think all my components taste great.
He has no chance of making it to the second round.
[Jesse] Based on what Jet and I are looking at here,
I feel like we're gonna be feeling the sweet breeze of victory.
[laughs]
All right. Chef Demetrius, what did you make?
Seared scallops with mango four ways.
I was like, "There's no way it's gonna be delicious four ways. Maybe two."
But you nailed it.
The scallop was the right protein.
It's sweet, it's salty.
There's so much balance on this plate.
This is an umami bomb.
The habanero's really used perfectly.
So many flavors goin' on.
I didn't think you could pull it off in 20 minutes.
-Nice job. -Thank you.
Chef Pablo, what'd you make for us?
Black seabass crudo, with a champagne mango vinaigrette
and a champagne mango salsa.
Bro, tomatillo acid, mango sweet, fish sauce, vinegar.
Dude, you're hitting all those big five flavors
and you're doing it really smart.
Aesthetically, it's beautiful.
This looks like something you'd find in a Michelin restaurant.
It hits sweet to me first,
and then the acidity dials that down nicely.
Just the perfect amount of heat as well.
Dude, this is gonna be brutal.
-Oh. -This is gonna be a really tough decision.
I'm super nervous because there's nothing wrong with either one of our dishes.
I am praying to the food gods that I make it to round two.
The chef moving forward to beat Bobby is...
...Chef Demetrius!
[crowd cheers]
[Pablo] Well, I'm super disappointed,
mainly because they loved my dish as well.
I would've rather gone home because of a dish that wasn't so good.
Demetrius, you put such a complete thought on a plate.
Four perfect executions.
You've got what it takes to bring home the dub.
-You can do this. -Thank you.
All right, Demetrius, great job.
Your dish was beautiful.
-How're you feeling about round two? -Feel really confident.
I think I got what it takes to take you down. [laughs]
What are we cooking today? What's your signature dish?
My signature dish is...
...Jamaican beef patties.
-Jamaican beef patties. -[Demetrius] Yes!
We're gonna bring in three industry experts to pick the winner.
Once I win, it's gonna be Beat Demetrius not Beat Bobby Flay.
-Okay. -[both] Ooh!
I like that he just wants my job.
[laughs]
[Jesse] 45 minutes on the clock, gentlemen,
and your time starts now.
-[Jet] Yeah! -[crowd cheers]
You know, I think Jamaican beef patties are the perfect summertime dish.
Right? Handheld pastry, beef,
a curry powder, paprika, Allspice.
[Jesse] And listen, I need a flaky crust.
-Got it. -Something buttery, flavorful.
[Jet] I wonder if they're going to do a sauce.
-Do you like a sauce? -I am a no sauce patty guy.
And I like the move where he's grinding his own meat.
Beating Bobby Flay with Jamaican beef patties is just gonna show
that Jamaican beef patties are on the same playing field
as perogies or Asian dumplings.
So I'm making a Jamaican beef patty with dry chili yogurt.
So in my filling I'm using short rib brisket and top round,
so that I have different flavors and different fat contents.
Demetrius, why did you want to go with this as your special dish?
I've been eating this ever since I was a kid.
So it's kind of something that's in my DNA.
Awesome.
[Demetrius] And then I add onions, garlic, and habanero into a food processor.
This is gonna give me a nice, fine chop.
And it's also gonna help them melt into the, uh, beef mixture.
[sizzling]
[Bobby] So I'm makin' Jamaican beef patties
with a mango, coconut rum sauce.
So the first thing I do is I get my dough started.
So I'm gonna use some flour, some butter, some water and an egg.
Hey, Bobby, have you ever made a Jamaican beef patty before?
-No. -[Jesse] Yeah!
[Bobby] But I'm really excited about it, I have to be honest.
I love the way they taste, I love the flavors.
I'm gonna get started on my filling.
I started with onions, Fresnos, garlic.
37 minutes, y'all.
[crowd cheers]
[Jet] Bobby!
You got your crust in already.
-Yeah, but here's the problem, okay? -Yeah.
So you have to, like, make the dough, let it rest,
roll out the dough, make the filling,
and these things take a minute to bake.
[Jet] Right.
I think they need to bake for about 35 minutes and 40 seconds.
-Good for our team. -Yeah, that's... that's gonna be a problem.
[all laughing]
I'm gonna get started on my dough.
I add my flour to the mixer,
and I'm adding cold butter, turmeric and curry powder,
because it's super traditional for your Jamaican beef patties to be yellow.
So it's, uh, mostly butter,
which is... which is my secret.
Shh!
Mostly shortening. Yes, go ahead.
[Demetrius] Having cold butter is the key to having flaky layers
because that's what's gonna release the steam in the oven.
All right, Demetrius everyone, let's give it up.
[crowd cheering]
[Jet] Demetrius is, uh, taking the dough out, he's pressing it together.
Make sure you don't form a lotta gluten,
which gives you a beautiful, flaky crust.
So I get my dough wrapped up and into the cooler.
[Bobby] So I add the ground beef,
then I add some curry powder, Allspice, and some smoked paprika.
[Demetrius] I think Bobby's coping out,
because he's using ground beef.
Like, come on now, if you're gonna make Jamaican beef patties
you have to do all the work yourself.
I'm adding Allspice, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, curry powder and turmeric.
And then I'm adding gelatin so that when it cools down,
I don't have a... a runny liquid.
He put in gelatin powder.
The moisture in the filling doesn't permeate the dough and then sog it out.
I think it's a genius move, dude.
So I have to get it colder so that I don't melt the butter in my dough.
[Bobby] So I need to get that filling cooled down,
because I can't put hot filling into these.
[Jet] Oh, Bobby's working his crust already.
So does it look like crust or does it look like pasta?
I'm ready for a Jamaican pappardelle baby.
-[Bobby laughs] -[laughs] He's flustered.
-Oh, look at that flaky crust on Demetrius' side. -Mmm.
He can't even roll it out because it's so beautifully buttery.
[Demetrius] The trick to great dough
is to bash it on the counter so that you don't melt any of that butter.
You wanna create as little friction as possible.
See what Demetrius is doing there, hammering?
-Those are your dreams right there, Bobby. -[laughs]
-[crowd laughs]
29 minutes left now.
[Jet] So usually the Jamaican beef patties are very yellow.
-This is a good sign. That pasta looking thing? -[Jesse] Yeah.
Versus Demetrius' for sure has it on the crust.
[Jesse] Ah, Jet, I wonder how many women would want to date Bobby Flay.
-Should I go find out? -Oh, man!
Jesse, yes!
Did you all know that Bobby Flay
was actually asked to be the Bachelor,
a very, very, very long time ago.
[all laughing]
[Jesse] I thought I would just come over and ask this beautiful young lady,
would you accept this rose and date Bobby Flay?
Hm, no.
[crowd laughs]
[snickers]
-O for one. -No lunch for you.
[all laughing]
What about you, would you date Bobby Flay?
No, thank you.
Oh, my god.
Free roses! Free roses!
-[laughs] -I do have to say this looks moist and delicious.
[Bobby] We got some, uh, curry beef in here.
And now I'm tryna fold 'em the best I can.
Listen, if you wanna incorporate the roses,
you've got a bunch of free ones over...
[laughs] Thanks.
-We'll see ya, chef. -[Jesse] Bye.
So I gotta get these patties filled.
Demetrius, is this like you normally make 'em?
It's a lot better. Bobby got something to worry about today.
Cheer for Demetrius, everybody!
[crowd cheers]
[Demetrius] I'm sealing these just like my grandmother taught me,
and I have to get these into the oven.
[Bobby] And then brush it with some egg.
So it gets a nice sorta golden color.
And I gotta get 'em in the oven.
So I'm making a dry chili yogurt with some pasilla chilies, guajillo,
and I'm toasting the skins to bring out all the flavors.
Demetrius, do you usually pair a sauce or anything with this?
Yes, I do. I'm doin' that right now.
[Jet] Don't say it out loud, we don't want Bobby to steal your recipe.
Even if he had, he couldn't make it as good anyway.
-[crowd] Whoa! -Whoo!
I throw that into a spice grind to get a nice, even powder,
and add that to my Greek yogurt.
This is something that isn't traditionally done,
but I think it's gonna help to cool the spice that's inside of my dish.
So my mango sauce is cooked mangoes, some rum.
[Jet] Whoa!
-He's so desperate he playin' the flambe game. -[Jesse laughs] Yeah!
So, Bobby, what do we got in the pan?
[Bobby] Mangoes, some rum, coconut milk, some scotch bonnets.
I ain't ever heard of rum in a Jamaican beef patty, but we'll see.
I'm just gonna get 'em drunk, baby, that's it.
[laughs]
Very fruity from the mango and the coconut,
gives it that creamy consistency.
All right, I'll give you one.
-[crowd] Aw! -Thank you.
-Oh, so now he's handing out roses. -Traitor!
[Bobby] You wanna taste the sauce?
Don't fall in love now.
-[laughing] -[woman] Aw!
That's pretty good, Bobby.
See, you gotta court 'em.
-[crowd laughs] -Can't just roll up with the roses!
Chivalry's not dead, Bobby.
Wow, there's only 6 minutes to go.
You know, I've always... I've always wanted to go, you know, play a little game,
throw the ball around in a kitchen.
[Jet] What can possibly go wrong?
It would never be a distracting thing.
Would it?
-[Jesse] Oh! -[crowd exclaims]
[Jet] What?
Taste the sauce.
There you go. We're gonna taste that sauce.
[Bobby] Yeah.
Mmm.
Bro, a little heat, pretty darn delicious.
It's delicious. It's... Yes.
-[Jet] Demetrius, what's happening? -[Jesse] Can I go in here?
[Demetrius] Yes, sir, you can.
-Thank you. I love that. -Mmm.
-Thank you. The Greek yogurt. -Wow.
[Jesse] 2 minutes to go!
[Demetrius] I have to start plating.
So I get my dry chili yogurt down first.
My Jamaican beef patties look golden brown.
And I gotta get these on the plate.
[Bobby] So when I take 'em out, like, they look actually really good.
I'm gonna put some of the mango coconut sauce on the bottom of the plate.
Patty on top.
Some scallions, some pickled shallots,
'cause I like a little crunchy pickling flavor on top.
[both] Ten, nine, eight.
[Demetrius] And I garnish it with fresh cilantro.
[Jesse and Jet] Five, four, three, two, one.
[crowd cheers]
-Great job. -Thank you.
Great job.
[Bobby] I think the flavors are good.
I hope, like, one doesn't overpower the other,
but, you know, Demetrius' dish looks really good.
[Demetrius] I'm super proud of the dish that's in front of me.
My grandmother would be extremely proud.
But I know that I cannot underestimate Bobby.
Tonight we're celebrating Jamaican beef patties.
And so now we wanna introduce the judges.
Co-owner of La Fonda NYC, James Gonzalez.
The chef and owner of LoLo's Seafood Shack, Skai Young.
And the executive chef of Veranda restaurant, George Mendes.
-[crowd cheers] -[mouthing] Thank you, thank you.
All right, judges, we're gonna ask you to start
with the first Jamaican beef patty in front of you.
I literally feel like I'm in Jamaica having a little snack.
It's really soulful, the spice is really coming through.
Crust is nice and flaky, and it's got a nice ratio of dough to the filling.
I love this patty.
I'm getting all the spicy heat.
And I love the color of the crust.
But instead of just cilantro on top,
I would've loved, like, a herbal blend with the yogurt.
[James] From the profile, the crust, the balance of the beef,
I felt everything was working.
I really enjoyed the yogurt sauce a lot.
It's something I can eat by itself as well.
Judges, please try the second Jamaican beef patty.
I thought this was a beautiful island-friendly presentation.
I love the different flavors and textures,
but the sauce for me was a little on the sweet side.
The sauce is definitely overpowering,
but it's still, nonetheless, really delicious.
Presentation, great.
The beef in the inside was good.
It was a really good dish.
[George] Beautiful colors on the plate.
Really striking presentation.
I love the tropical connotations of the sauce itself.
It's a festive sauce.
I wanna keep having more of it.
But I'm looking for more of a traditional flakier dough.
All right, judges, we're gonna ask you to take a vote.
There you go.
I cannot lose to Bobby Flay, because this is a personal dish.
This is something I've made hundreds and hundreds of times,
so if I lose to Bobby Flay I don't think I can go back to Atlanta.
Thanks, man.
And the winner is...
...Chef Demetrius!
[Bobby] Thanks a lot, man.
[both cheering]
[laughs]
I just beat Bobby Flay and it feels fantastic.
To my grandma, I just wanna say thank you,
without you I wouldn't be here right now.
-How do you feel? -It's amazing.
I watched him on TV since I was, like, 5-years-old.
-So... -[Jet] Right?
-It's... It's... -Take it easy. Take it easy.
[all laughing]
[Jet] I love watching Demetrius come to your house,
and just teach you how to make beef patties.
He brought his A game. He was on fire.
[Jet] Bobby, take a vacation!
-Take that. Take a vacation! -Take that L, Bobby.
Go get some sun, you need it!
Take that L, Flay.
I'm Demetrius Brown and I just beat Bobby Flay.
[crowd cheering]