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?
Ooh, 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.
[Bobby] Two people that know me well
will decide who's got the skills to beat me.
Yeah!
[Bobby] Round two, I go head to head with the winning contender.
Let's go.
[Bobby] It's their turn to surprise me with their signature dish.
-What? -Oh, no.
Don't try this at home.
I know you did it, Bobby.
[Bobby] Bottom line...
You're gonna run out of time!
...everyone's out to beat me.
[crowd cheering]
All right. Is everybody on my side tonight?
I have a feeling my co-host will not be singing my praises.
Please welcome chef Michael Symon and actress Chrissy Metz.
Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to...
Beat Bobby Flay?
There we are.
Thanks so much for being here. I'm so glad you're here.
I'm so excited. I've been watching forever.
When I got the word you were gonna be here,
it was literally one of these moments.
Seriously?
That's amazing. No, seriously.
How long was This is Us?
For like, almost ten years?
-No, six. -It was a great run though.
-It was. -But you know what?
Time to do something different, right?
-Yes. -So now you actually
have a wine company?
-Yes. -And you also left me some wine
-in my green room, which I'm very happy about. -Yay!
-Joyful. All right. -Think you delivered some
to my house too, which I'm very excited about.
I like to live my life with a joyful heart.
And so, hence came the name.
I'll be getting drunk right after the show.
Perfect. Can you do it now so you can live?
[all laughing]
Let's bring out some chefs.
-Let's get this thing going. -Exciting.
Our first contender's passion for cooking
started over an open flame in Cameroon, Africa.
Chef Loic Sany.
[Bobby] Yeah.
Whoa!
-Oh, I'm pumped. -[Bobby] Hello.
I'm ready.
From country clubs to private getaways,
this chef serves up exclusive French and Italian cuisine.
Chef Taylor Haupt.
Yeah, Taylor!
Yeah, Taylor. Oh!
[laughing]
[Bobby] I'm ready Loice.
Where'd you go tonight besides jumping over my head?
To prove myself that I can beat Bobby Flay.
Okay, I like that.
How about yourself?
I'm gonna teach an old dog some new tricks.
[all exclaiming]
The shade of it. [evil laughter]
Okay, I'm gonna give you an ingredient of my choice,
and you must make that ingredient
the star of your dish.
And that ingredient is...
-Genoa salami. -[audience exclaiming]
It's a good start.
-All right. -All right, guys.
Twenty minutes on the clock. You know what to do.
-Bring the umami with the salami. -[bell dings]
I'm very excited, but like, I just eat salami by itself.
-So, like... -Salami don't need no friends.
-[laughs] -Mommy don't need no friends.
-Just put it on a plate. -It's good on its own.
[Michael] So it's a cured sausage that has good fat content.
I think I'd fry some, cook an egg in the fat.
What about making a meatball with the salami?
That that sounds really good.
I feel salami should be a food group.
-Oh, don't I know it. [chuckles] -Yeah.
How you doing over there, Chef?
I'm focused, baby. Don't talk to me.
Let's go.
[Chrissy] No talking.
What are you making, Loic?
I'm making a salami pasta.
Okay, I like that.
I can utilize the fat from the salami to give my pasta flavor,
and I'm going to add garlic and shallots
and glaze that up with some white wine and then get the sauce going.
Come on, baby. Come on.
I spent my childhood cooking with my grandmother,
and I came from Cameroon 13 years ago.
My grandmother passed away
literally a few days after I land into this country.
The last thing she said to me was, you have to make it.
And I live by those words my entire life.
Today I'm a chef in Washington, D.C,
currently working on opening my first business
for my son and my grandmother.
I'm determined to be one of the best chefs in this industry,
and to do that, I have to take down the best.
Watch out, Bobby.
Taylor, what are you making?
My mind instantly goes to a classic beautiful Italian sandwich.
Put some oil and vinegar on it, please.
-Thank you. -[laughs]
I'm gonna make a fried Genoa salami open faced sandwich
with pickled vegetables and whipped ricotta.
This represents me because it's gonna be simple.
It's gonna be beautiful, and the flavors are gonna be outstanding.
I get my vegetables pickling with water, sugar, and champagne vinegar.
I know it will bring some brightness to the dish.
Why is it so quiet in here?
[audience cheering]
I grew up with a mom who worked the night shift as a nurse.
My father and I had to fend for ourselves for dinner,
and it became a passion of ours.
While in culinary school, I interned at the Augusta National Golf Club,
the number one country club in the world.
And now I'm a private chef in Washington, D.C.
I travel all around the world learning about global flavors
I can integrate into my fresh pasta dishes.
I'm here today to show that I can run with the top guns
like Bobby Flay.
All right. So tell me what you got going.
You got a little bit of salami in the pan.
Yes. I just want to render that out.
I'm gonna soak my bread in it before I toast it
to get that salami flavor going through there.
You got... What do you got? Fennel, carrots.
-Fresno chili? -Yes, sir.
I like the way it sounds.
-It's gonna be tasty. -All right.
-Good luck. -Thank you, Chuck.
-Loic, how you doing, baby? -I'm doing great.
Okay, So you have some in the pan.
[Loic] We're gonna do a little bit of cream on there,
and some chili flakes.
I have some salami that I'm gonna use as garnish as well.
Yep. They sound like two delicious dishes you guys.
13:50 minutes left. Let's bring it.
It's nice and 'lish.
[Michael] Taylor's got those big cubes of salami
that he's rendering the fat to brush on his bread.
Over here with the pasta,
he's got white wine and cream, chili flakes, garlic, onions.
Do you think it's gonna be too hot?
I think it will. It's gonna a kick.
-I don't know. I'm sensitive. -It's gonna have a kick.
-I'm delicate. -It's gonna have a kick.
[grunts] When is this pasta gonna be finally cooked?
Pasta is so simple, but very easy to mess up also.
Come on, cook, cook, cook, cook.
Find out what Taylor's making in that boat.
-I'm going to. -Okay. [laughs]
What's in the bowl?
We got a little whip ricotta going here,
a little lusciousness to break through that saltiness.
-Delish. -The acidity.
And I'm gonna get the salami nice and crispy
as my base layer on top of that bread.
All right, I'm gonna check on my boy over here.
-I need some help. -Oh, you need help?
How's the pasta?
Like two more minutes.
-I hope I have enough time. -What can I do for you?
Just pray for me.
Pray? Okay.
-[angelic music playing] -I'm praying.
We got this. Give me five.
Oh, sorry, I was praying. [laughs]
Coming up on seven minutes.
So Taylor's whipping up some ricotta.
In addition to Loic's pasta, he's putting a baguette,
with some little crispy salami on top.
I think these are two really inventive dishes, very creative.
[Loic] I check on my pasta and It's slightly over.
[grunts]
Two minutes. You better get it on the plate.
I put my bread down, I put a few pieces of salami on top
and I topped that off with some pickles.
[Loic] I'm twirling my pasta into my bowl
and then topped my pasta with that salami sauce.
Forty seconds to ago.
I take a nice dollop of my whipped ricotta, put it on top.
-[Michael] Get it on the plate. -[Bobby] Come on, Loic.
Ten...
[Taylor] I garnish with some fennel frond.
Eight, seven...
[Loic] And little bit more of that crispy salami on top.
Three, two, one.
-[bell dings] -[audience cheering]
I'm a bit nervous that he was able to execute what he did in 20 minutes,
but I really feel like I was able to showcase the Genoa salami.
Hey, Taylor, you better watch out, my guy.
This is the perfect bite.
I'm trying to figure out if your combined age equals his.
-[all laughing] -Hey.
[Michael] Chef Taylor, tell us about your dish.
I made a Genoa salami sandwich,
pickled vegetables and whipped ricotta.
That salami fat really runs through the bread, which is fantastic.
The pickled fennel, the chilies.
It's got a nice balanced heat to it.
My one criticism would be It's a little tough to eat.
It is a little hard to maneuver.
But I do love the vinegar and the fennel.
It packs a little punch.
I'm not a heat or a pepper fan,
but I do want to stuff this in my face, but...
-Yeah, I know. Let's go. -Yeah.
All right, Chef Loic, tell us about your dish.
Today I made for you Genoa salami pasta with Genoa salami toast.
Toasters, crispy, salty.
The pasta. I get the flavor of the salami.
My spaghetti is just a touch overcooked.
Okay, so I love bread.
And I love that you put a little bit of salami on top.
The chili flakes try to take me down.
But yeah, really enjoyable.
-It's close. -You made two great dishes.
-Thank you, Chef. -Okay.
[Loic] I'm a little nervous.
He toasted his bread in the salami fat, which I thought was grand.
The chef moving forward is...
chef Taylor.
Hey, man, good job.
[Loic] It definitely does hurt.
Good job, man.
But this is only the beginning. I'm only 30, baby.
We love you.
Come on, let's go.
Your dish just had a little bit more balance and flavors.
And I'm hoping that you could take that into the next round.
How are you feeling? I mean, you're going up against the man, Mr. Bobby.
It's time to get serious.
Okay, We're ready.
All right, Chef. Congratulations.
Made through round one.
What is your signature dish?
My signature dish is...
-Bolognese. -[audience exclaiming]
Give us the rules. I want to start cooking right now.
I don't think I've ever seen you this excited.
-I like this dish. -[Michael] I love Bolognese.
He needs to go get his dry pasta going.
-[all laughing] -Wrong.
Okay, so there's 45 minutes on the clock
and the time starts... now.
Whoa!
He was, like, gone!
Bolognese.
Obviously from Bologna, tomato based sauce, wine.
It's usually beef, pork and veal,
served with a broad noodle,
either tagliatelle or pappardelle.
It's simple.
But all the technique has to be perfect.
-There's nowhere to hide. -Right.
-Hey, T man. -[laughs]
So why did you choose this dish?
It's special to me.
Always makes people smile, gets people around the table.
-And that's why you're gonna win. -[laughs]
My signature dish is pappardelle Bolognese
with whipped burrata and mint.
[Michael] Taylor, are you making a straight yolk dough?
Oh, yeah.
I really love a yolk dough with the sauce.
It's more tender and it's a little bit richer.
[Chrissy] Mm.
I love Bolognese. I mean, it's meat, sauce and pasta.
[clicks tongue] Let's get at it.
I'm gonna go pretty classic here.
I'm making fresh fettuccine Bolognese.
I'm gonna get the pasta dough made.
They're both making fresh pasta.
Taylor's is straight egg yolk.
Bobby's is whole legs.
Get it in a food processor, Send it round and round.
I got to say, you've mastered this little food processor move.
Yeah, 'cause it's done.
-It's effective, right? -Yeah. Fast.
-That's the Beat Bobby Flay method. -[laughs]
I start the base of my sauce.
Rough chop my bacon.
I want to get my vegetables in there.
Bobby, are you using veal, beef and pork?
I'm using pork and beef.
Taylor, what about you?
-I'm using lamb, chef. -Oh, lamb.
The umami and earthiness is gonna go perfectly
with this homemade pasta.
It's not traditional, but I just love that.
[Bobby] I'm gonna start working on the sauce.
I just think that beef and pork have the most flavor.
The other pan, I'm gonna start vegetables and some bacon.
Thirty-seven minutes and eighteen seconds.
All right, chef.
So you got your dough going?
-Oh, yeah. -You got to give it a little time to rest.
Yeah, so I actually put it in the vacuum sealer,
and that cuts out the rest time.
-Yes, it does. -So, she'll be ready to go.
That was an old Iron Chef cheat.
Beautiful. All right.
-Good luck. -[Taylor] Thank you.
Hey, buddy.
-What's up? -What do you got going?
-Sawi, carrots, bacon. -Okay.
What kind of noodle are you making?
Go talk to Chrissy.
-[Michael] What kind of noodle are you making? -[Bobby] Fettuccine.
-Get out of here. -Where do you want me to go?
-I don't know where to go. -[audience laughing]
All right. Go get 'em, B.
All right, so, Bobby's making a fettuccine.
Taylor's made pappardelle.
So Taylor's is gonna be a little bit thicker.
The thicker pasta might be a good move for Taylor.
The heartier the sauce, the thicker the noodle basically, the rule.
Right.
[Michael] Typically, you want pasta dough to rest.
Yeah, a Cryovac machine makes
a three hour process into a ten-minute process.
-Ooh. -Yeah.
[Chrissy] All right, because I'm a kind guest,
I'm gonna go feed Mr. Flay.
I love that. You are kind.
Yeah, also, we need a distraction.
Yes, that, too. [laughs]
Bobby.
A little snacky doo?
-Oh, yeah. -You look thirsty.
I'm gonna grab a drink.
You're breaking out your wine?
-You look really thirsty, so. -I do.
Yeah. Just a full glass.
You should have some.
-Cheers. -Cheers.
-Thanks for bringing over the wine. -Want me to hold that for you?
This is my bouquet for you.
-Oh, thank you. -[Bobby laughs]
So sweet.
-That's it. Mm. -Yeah, Just hold it.
Just... Yeah.
Wow, a model.
He's the model.
-[audience] Ooh. -Ciao Bella.
[laughs]
Taylor, can you make my pasta for me?
-I'm over here drinking. -Bring it on, chef.
-How about a little wine? -[audience laughing]
Do you get drunk easily?
-Yep. -Perfect.
[all laughing]
Chrissy, that is fact.
Thanks, Michael.
Mm.
-Into it? -I'm literally feeling it already.
You should chug it.
-If you love it, chug it. -[coughs]
Should we get a chair?
-Do you wanna sit? -I gotta cook.
Keep drinking.
-Sorry. -Yeah. Great. Great.
[coughs]
He's a lightweight. We love it. Cheers!
I am a lightweight. Cheers.
All right, T man.
[all laughing]
Oh.
I'm sorry.
[laughs] I've been horrible.
But you're not gonna win.
Taylor.
I'm not gonna distract you.
I'm happy to do that to Bobby, but...
I appreciate though.
-How are you feeling? -Great.
I'm gonna finish our pasta here, finish my sauce plate,
and we'll head back down to Washington, D.C.
Okay. Okay. Come on.
I cut the pasta ball into half inch pieces
and begin to roll them out so they can fit into the sheeter
and I can cut them into my noodles.
I'm right in my comfort zone.
It looks perfect, and I know what I'm doing.
-You do your thing. -Thank you.
-Bobby, keep drinking. -[chuckles]
I'm getting excited.
Taylor. What'd you just put in there?
Putting some spices in there.
A little cumin, coriander and just a pinch of cinnamon.
-Cinnamon? -[Michael] I love it.
These warming spices complement lamb because it can be gamey.
I know that Bobby is gonna spice it up,
so I need to hit him with the spice as well.
To beat the man with all the flavors,
you have to use all the flavors.
I mean, I kind of love that Taylor is doing it differently.
He's doing it, obviously, his own way.
[Michael] We'll see where the judges go.
[Bobby] So I'm adding in my ground beef and pork.
A lot of times, they don't make this spicy.
But I'm gonna put a little Calabrian chilies in here
because it's just not heat.
It has a really earthy background pepper flavor as well.
Twelve minutes on the clock.
[Michael] See, 'cause he made an egg yolk dough,
look how beautiful and yellow it is.
-It's like, golden. -I know.
[Michael] And he's hand cutting it.
So it has that little bit of that rusticness to it, which I love.
Pasta looks beautiful, Taylor.
Thank you.
Not you, Bobby.
It's hard to be mean to Bobby.
It's not that hard. [laughs]
[Bobby] First I have to make sheets,
and then I change the attachment
to a fettuccine cutter and I get fresh fettuccini.
And the crowd goes wild.
-Yeah, What's up? -[audience laughing]
Yours looks nice too, B.
Aw.
Fresh pasta goes really fast.
I still wanted to have a little bit of an al dente bite to it.
Taylor, are you feeling good?
Feeling great, chef.
I just need to drop this pasta in and to finish my sauce.
I need to add some heavy cream
and I'm feeling really good about it.
Taylor, what are you mixing?
It's a little whipped burrata to go on top.
Give it some richness, a little creaminess.
It'll be beautiful.
I want that whipped burrata right here.
-[Michael] Some grilled bread. -[Chrissy] Oh!
[Taylor] The pasta's absolutely perfect al dente.
So I begin to toss it in some of my sauce.
I put it into a large mixing bowl so it won't overcook.
[Chrissy] Four minutes to go.
Usually I would go pasta right in with the sauce.
-Right. -So he's doing it on the side here.
You want the pasta
and the sauce to come together as a unit.
I'm gonna finish the sauce with some creme fraiche,
some pecorino for a little saltiness.
Watch. I'll bet you Bobby's gonna go from his pan...
-Mm-hmm. -...to the sauce.
Ah! You know your guy. [chuckles]
One minute, 30 seconds.
[Taylor] The first thing I do when I plate is get a nice ladle
of my Bolognese sauce, top it with my coated noodles,
put some more sauce on top.
[Michael] Thirty seconds left, guys.
They both look delish.
[Michael] Mm-hmm. With this, it comes down to the little things.
[Bobby] I think I have the right amount of sauce to pasta.
I mean, classic Bolognese.
You just want to basically dress the pasta with the sauce.
[all] Ten, nine...
[Taylor] A nice, big scoop of my whipped burrata on top.
[Bobby] I'm gonna add more pecorino cheese.
[Taylor] I garnish with mint.
...two, one.
[audience cheering]
Good job. Beautiful.
Good job.
Beautiful.
I'm feeling really good about my dish because I did push the envelope.
I did throw some bold flavors in there,
and I am giving them something
that they've never seen before.
[Bobby] I'm pretty happy with this dish.
I would say mine is more classic,
and that doesn't always work.
You know, sometimes the judges like
something more creative or modern, et cetera.
So, who knows?
Bobby and Taylor,
now we would like to introduce you to your judges.
Chef and restaurateur Melba Wilson.
Chef Andrew Riccatelli.
James Beard Award winning chef Karen Akunowicz.
You start with the pasta Bolognese in front of you.
I love this dish.
I feel like I could have gone to Bologna
and eaten this in a restaurant.
The pasta is sauced perfectly.
It has a little more heat than maybe a typical Bolognese,
but I think it adds to the flavor of the dish.
The pork and the beef could have been maybe a little finer.
It could have been ground up a little bit better.
However, I like the fact that this chef incorporated beef and pork.
Also, where's the salt?
The cheese is definitely bringing some salt,
but I'm missing a tad bit of seasoning.
It's a little bit under seasoned,
but the pasta is cooked perfectly.
The ragu is beautiful. I think it's a good dish.
Could you please try your second dish?
Well, first of all, I think the pasta is just gorgeous.
The lamb, the cumin, the mint.
It's smart, it's fun.
I wish that the pasta was tossed with the sauce.
I feel like I got a bowl of sauce with pasta on top of it.
I love the wide noodle.
The cumin is a home run for me.
The burrata, great creaminess.
Maybe just needs a little bit more seasoning.
I really enjoyed this dish.
The lamb gave it a totally different, really fun flavor in there.
I did think that the ratio of meat to noodles was a bit off,
but this is really going to be a tough one.
All right, Judges, please vote.
I'm feeling like this battle could go either way.
I have this confidence,
but I also have this nervousness,
seeing what Bobby put forward.
[Chrissy] Thank you.
Oh!
The winner is...
I'm really not thrilled.
But Bobby Flay.
These were both such amazing pasta dishes.
But chef, this was a walk through the city of Bologna,
and it was really as close to perfect as you can get.
-Wow, thank you. -Yeah. Thank you.
Great job.
I came here today to prove that I can go toe to toe with these incredible chefs.
Great job, chef. Thank you.
I'll walk away with my head held up.
Whatever.
Hope you enjoyed just breaking kids' hearts.
I mean, you've been doing this for 72 years.
He said he was gonna teach an old dog new tricks.
[all laughing]
-Yeah. -I forgot about that.
All right, fine.
Okay, fine.
I thought we had him when you gave him your wine.
I know, I know.
[all laughing]
Whatever.
-What is it gonna take? -Flay.
-[in deep voice] Flay. -Flay.
Pasta La Vista, baby.
[audience cheering]