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 gonna shake down in two rounds.
-[bell dings] -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!
-[bell dings] -[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? -Ah!
Don't try this at home.
[Sunny] I know you did it, Bobby!
[Bobby] Bottom line?
You're going to run out of time!
Everyone's out to beat me.
[snaps]
[bell dings]
[producer] Three, two, it's Bobby Flay coming out.
[audience chanting] Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, Bobby.
Fire up the grills, let's get this going.
Straight from Star Hill Ranch, it's BBQ Brawl's
newest judges, Adrienne Cheatham and Rashad Jones.
[producer #2] Action.
♪ I want boots on tables, want boots on tables ♪
-Yeah! -[audience cheering]
I'm so glad you guys are here tonight.
After a handful of seasons on "BBQ Brawl,"
we switched things up a little bit.
-I like it, I'm here for the change. -Yeah.
[Bobby] And we had you guys judging.
I thought it was a great season.
-Well, you guys gave us some amazing food, so that made it -Yeah.
a little easier. -Yes.
This is one of my favorite ribs I've had so far.
There's just flavor dancing all around on this plate.
Hats off.
You guys have both been here.
I mean, you've judged here many, many times.
-I think I'm up to 14. -[Bobby] Is that right?
And what happened when you came here and competed against me?
Oh, we had a blast.
Blueberry moonshine chicken wings.
-Yeah, you won. -[laughing]
People make their careers on beating Bobby Flay.
-Exactly right. -And hopefully,
we'll see somebody beat Bobby today. -Yeah.
-We will. -[Adrienne] We are bringing in
some brawlers that you have actually
battled before at Star Hill Ranch. -Hmm.
America fell in love with this contender for his authenticity
and Appalachian-inspired barbecue.
The season six Master of 'Cue, Kyle Bryner.
What's up, buddy?
-Hey, Bobby. -[audience cheering]
Our next contender is about to bring her tenacious spirit
and her Caribbean flavors to "BBQ Brawl."
But before we get to that, first she wants to beat you.
-Come on out, Chef T. -Whoo!
♪ I'm bragadocious ♪
♪ Are you talking to me? ♪
♪ When they lookin' for a winner... ♪
Coming for you, Bobby.
Coming for you, too.
-What's up, chefs? -[both] What's up, Bobby?
What's your goal tonight?
You know, I rooted for Kyle his entire season,
but I'm really gonna have to take him down
because I'm coming for you. -[Bobby] OK, one step at a time.
-[Chef T] That's right. -What about you?
Well, you know, I heard Rashad is the only barbecue guy that's
2 and 0 against you, right? -You got it.
-So I want to be the second guy to do that. -[Bobby] I like that.
And I just really wanted to hang out with you, man,
so I just had to come challenge you.
You wanted to hang out with me?
[Kyle] You don't return my calls anymore.
I mean, call me.
[Bobby] All right, 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. And that ingredient is...
rack of lamb.
-[Chef T] Ah! -[indistinct]
What's the matter?
[Chef T] Rack of lamb?
20 minutes? Are you kidding me right now?
[sighs] This is a suicide mission, Bobby.
You know what to do.
Make sure you keep track of your rack of lamb.
[bell dings]
[Adrienne] That's a great ingredient.
[Bobby] It is a great ingredient.
Killed the budget for this show.
And it's beautifully frenched.
[Bobby] You know, rack of lamb is a tricky ingredient,
but Kyle is the reigning champion of "BBQ Brawl,"
and Chef T is like -- like a serious player,
so let's see what they got. -You guys like lamb?
-Absolutely. -I love lamb.
I love cooking lamb, but 20 minutes?
On "BBQ Brawl," I definitely
shined more on the longer challenges.
I think Bobby's trying to shake us up a little bit.
Hey, Kyle, what are you making?
-Uh, lamb. -[Bobby] Yep.
[Kyle] You got a spice rub, rack of lamb.
I've got some of this radicchio.
-What's it called? -[Bobby] Castelfranco, yeah.
Think I'm gonna grill some of this as well -- whip ricotta.
And you're cooking the rack whole?
[Kyle] Cooking the rack whole, yes, sir.
-OK. -Balls to the wall.
[laughing]
[Bobby] I mean, it's 20 minutes.
In this case, I would cut them into individual chops.
I think he's trying to take the harder route to show
he could get you in that second round.
I mean, that's gamesmanship, right?
-I call it courage. -[laughing]
♪ Whoa ♪
[Kyle] I'm the chef and pit master of Blue Helm Barbecue, where we're
trying to put the mountains on the map.
You know, we're using sorghum syrup and collard greens,
Appalachian allspice, getting the flavors of
our region and blending that with
traditional barbecue meats.
-Time for the grind. -♪ What a winner looks like ♪
[Kyle] Y'all might remember me from a little show called "BBQ Brawl,"
where I won the title of Master of 'Cue.
-[woman] Congratulations, Kyle. -[man] Congratulations, Kyle.
[Kyle] Now I'm ready to be Master of All.
I want to get that second win,
but this time against Bobby Flay himself.
Bobby, you're about to get smoked.
Chef T, what are you up to?
[Chef T] Like a play on steak and potatoes,
but lamb and potatoes.
So, I'm gonna toss the potatoes in some lamb fat
and then do a little bit of golden raisin relish with
some acid because I know those judges love that acid.
-[chuckles] -I like it.
♪ Don't break from speed ♪
♪ Don't stop till I get what I need ♪
[Chef T] Growing up in the Caribbean, everything is fresh.
Literally, it comes from the tree to the plate.
It was just a different perspective and helped me become
the chef that you see today.
This isn't my first rodeo.
You know, you guys have seen me on all these other shows.
"Hell's Kitchen," "Yes, Chef!,"
Food Network's "Big Restaurant Bet."
I have been searching for this W,
just close, close, close every time.
Today -- today's my day.
Bobby, I'm coming for you.
All right, we got just under 15 minutes.
[Kyle] Heard.
[Rashad] Chef T, how you doing over here?
-Good to see you, Chef. -Good to see you as well.
So tell me, what do you got going on?
So I've got the corn grilling.
The corn is gonna go with my relish, with my pomegranate,
my golden raisins.
Corn and pomegranates are not gonna
outshine your rack, right? -They're just -- nope.
Nope, they're just complimentary.
All righty. Best of luck, Chef.
[Chef T] This dish is, like, so important because Rashad
and Adrienne have had my food, so they have an expectation,
and I've gotta live up to it tonight.
So, got two barbecue aficionados going head-to-head
against each other. -Oh, yeah.
You know, I'm just gonna try to bring
just my gut instincts and stuff like that, you know? -Yeah.
Make sure the meat's cooked right.
I got some radicchio I think will go good with this.
-[Rashad] Nice. -[Kyle] Add a little bitterness to it.
How'd you season this?
[Kyle] The same spice rub as I put it on the lamb.
OK. Best of luck, chef.
-Kill it. -Thank you, chef. Appreciate you.
-[audience cheering] -Whoo!
[Chef T] I get the lamb into a pan, lots of herbs, and then let
that ambient heat of the oven take this lamb home.
Hey, Kyle, what temperature is your oven at?
-Oven is at...too low. -[laughs] Too low.
It's at 350 right now. I'm turning it up.
Might be time for the fryer.
[laughing]
[Adrienne] Eight minutes and 30 seconds, guys.
[audience cheering]
[Adrienne] All right, Kyle.
So, who do you have here with you, rooting you on today?
-Well, I have my son, Elijah. -[Adrienne] Hi, Elijah.
[Kyle] The chili champ himself. And my buddy Al.
My God, y'all are just big family.
Yeah.
And I saw you had some sorghum out here.
Yep, I'm doing whipped ricotta, so I wanted to sweeten it up
just a little bit. -Nice.
[Kyle] And that's what we're going with.
All right, well, I'll let you get back to it, Chef, thank you.
-Chef T. -[Chef T] Adrienne.
[Adrienne] Ooh, you got your herbs in there.
-[Chef T] Yeah. -A little butter.
[Chef T] A little butter.
This is at the risk of not being done, and we're gonna
make it happen -- thank you. -Nice.
And who's in the audience cheering you on today?
-Oh, it's my wife. -[Adrienne] Hi, how good to see you.
[Chef T] This is my family, my second chosen family.
-Well, I'll let you get back to it, T. -[Chef T] For sure.
[Adrienne] We're at four minutes, guys.
Make sure it's cooked.
[Chef T] The oven is just not hot enough.
Gotta get this over to the convection.
Come on, baby!
[Kyle] I take the lamb out of the oven
and it's nowhere near where I need it to be.
Ain't cookin' fast enough.
-I mean, he's on fire over there. -Ooh.
Bobby really liked the fact that I took risks on "BBQ Brawl."
And so I think he knows that I'm not gonna back down.
-♪ Pure fire ♪ -See what's going on over there?
-Uh-uh. -[Rashad] Yeah.
[Bobby] He called an audible,
cut 'em, now he's grilling him.
-This is a desperation move. -Chef T's got hers in the oven.
-I don't know what's going on. -[Chef T] I've got to get my potatoes.
Give them a quick smash, toss them in the lamb fat.
Chefs, you have just over a minute to go.
♪ I make 'em go sheesh ♪
[Chef T] I take creme fraiche, my double chop of lamb,
top that with my relish. -25 seconds.
[Chef T] And finally, my potatoes.
[Kyle] Working on it. My hands are shaking.
I put the Castelfranco on first.
Spoonful of whipped ricotta on each plate.
-[all] Nine... -[Kyle] Two lamb chops per plate.
I'm just praying that this is gonna work out.
[all] Five, four, three, two, one.
[bell dings]
[audience cheering]
[Bobby] Get it done?
That was intense.
I didn't know this was so stressful.
[Rashad] Kyle and Chef T, what did y'all feel about that
20-minute clock? -That was way too fast.
-[Chef T] It was quick. -[Kyle] Way too fast.
All right, let's see who's moving on to beat Bobby Flay.
Chef Kyle, tell us what you made?
Today, I made a spiced-rubbed lamb with Castelfranco
and a whipped ricotta.
[Rashad] I love that you built a dry rub.
I mean, we're talking barbecue here, right?
But I got a lot of burnt notes, and the interior was raw.
I was afraid of that.
I like that you chose the Castelfranco to
complement the lamb.
I like the creamy element that you brought
with the whipped ricotta on the bottom as well. -Thank you.
All right, Chef T, tell us about your dish.
I made a rack of lamb, a fresh corn relish,
and potatoes that have been tossed in the lamb fat.
The pomegranate and grilled corn relish,
it adds that bright pop.
I mean, you knocked that out of the park.
The lamb has great flavor.
However, the interior is quite underdone.
Yeah.
These potatoes are outstanding, but I think
the lamb cook in 20 minutes is a challenge for anybody.
And so that is a struggle that we're seeing
on both plates here.
[Chef T] They love the relish.
They love the potatoes,
but the lamb, the lamb, the lamb.
The chef who's gonna go up against Bobby Flay is...
[Rashad] Chef T.
[audience cheering]
I'm never gonna cook a rack of lamb in 20 minutes again.
I'm gonna give myself at least 26 minutes.
Kick this guy's butt.
Chef T, show Bobby who's boss.
Chef T, even in spite of the lamb being a little
undercooked, your flavors on this dish were outstanding.
Thank you, Chef.
You just made it to round two to be able to take on
Bobby Flay. -Bobby, you're toast.
[laughing]
[tense music plays]
-[Bobby] Chef T, well done. -Thank you, Chef.
[Bobby] So what are we cooking tonight?
Well, Bobby, my signature dish is...
jerk pork.
-Ooh. -[audience] Ooh.
Smart. Smart.
Jerk pork. I love jerk flavor.
All right, Chef T, before we start the clock,
is there anything you wanna say to Bobby?
You know, Bobby's a part of my story, and if you wanna be
the best, you gotta beat the best.
Bobby, you got too many wins in this arena, man.
[Adrienne] Well, we are gonna put 45 minutes on the clock.
Fire up the grills, and go!
[audience cheering]
[Rashad] When I hear jerk, I'm thinking classic Caribbean flavor.
Yeah, it's like it's smoked, it's sweet, it's spiced.
[whistling]
Chef T's jerk pork is gonna be spectacular.
So, you know, can I beat her?
Probably not, but I'm making jerk pork steaks
with a mango habanero sauce
and then a salad of black-eyed peas,
pickled red cabbage, scallions, and mint.
-Ooh, does T have pork belly? -So we've got --
She does. And Bobby's got coleslaw.
So already, Chef T one,
Bobby zero. -[Adrienne] Right?
[Adrienne & Rashad laugh]
So Chef T, tell me, why is this your go-to?
Why do you think this is what it's gonna take to
beat Bobby? -This is very nostalgic for me.
Like when I go home to St. Vincent,
this is what everyone's doing -- this is the first place I stop.
The guys on the side of the road grilling pork.
-I like it, mon. -[Chef T laughs]
[Chef T] In the Caribbean, when you serve street-side pork,
you're usually getting a combination of
the shoulder, the meat from the pork belly.
So my plan is to cook both with pickled vegetables
and a festival, which is a fried cornmeal dumpling.
So the pork belly is cubed and blanching.
And T is also breaking down a pork shoulder right now.
[meat tenderizer thudding]
This is a cut that has a lot of connective tissue.
-It does. -It's very tough.
It usually is something that you cook low and slow.
-That's right. -[thudding continues]
[Bobby] For pork chops, I usually cook the rack whole
so that it loosens up the muscles a little bit.
I grill on the outside first to give it a crust,
but then I'm gonna put it in the oven and let it cook
for about 25 minutes.
That is a thick, dense cut of meat to try to cook.
-[Rashad] And that's the lesson we learned in round one. -[Adrienne] Exactly.
I don't want to say it too loud, so hopefully he doesn't know.
I know, right?
[Chef T] So Bobby's doing a whole rack of pork.
You know, rack of lamb almost bit me in the ass
on the last one, so good luck to you, Bobby.
[Bobby exhales heavily]
-♪ We calling the shots ♪ -[Adrienne] Twenty-three minutes to go.
On Chef T's side, she is making a jerk spice rub
using fresh scallions.
Ooh, a lot of scotch bonnet too.
-Oh, that's gonna be hot. -Ooh, that is...[laughs]
Jerk packs a punch.
So I'm adding garlic, fresh thyme, cinnamon,
raisins, big, bold, rich flavors.
Let's give it up for Chef T.
[audience cheering]
Chef T, what do we got going on in the kitchen?
Right now, I'm making my jerk rub.
-A marinade or a dry rub? -It's gonna be a wet marinade.
-Wet marinade, I love it. -Yeah.
You've got the traditional, authentic,
from-the-Caribbean flavors. -Yes, sir.
-And Bobby's just winging it. Look at him. -Ah!
-B-B-B-Bobby's getting beat. -[laughs]
For my hot sauce, I take some mangoes and some honey,
habanero, rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
-Did you make a jerk marinade at all? -No, not a marinade.
-I'm doing a spice rub -- no. -You didn't make a jerk marinade?
Marinades -- marinades, like, need time.
But I don't -- I don't think that's technically a jerk dish.
-No, no, I got jerk rub right here. -Uh-huh.
All right, well, I wish you the best of luck, Chef,
but not really. -Do you, though?
Not really.
And let's give it up for Bobby, y'all.
-Yeah. -Boo.
-[Bobby laughs] -[audience claps]
-I see some plantains. -She didn't tell me about that.
Chef T, you got plantains as well?
Yeah, I'm making a festival, almost like
a Caribbean hush puppy. -Yes.
I combine flour, coconut milk, vanilla extract,
turn it into a dough.
I can smell the aromas over here.
Yeah, it smelled like victory over there.
-Like defeat over here. -[laughs] Defeat.
Next, I'm moving on to my salad of pickled red cabbage,
black-eyed peas, and scallions.
And I'm dressing it with the mango habanero sauce.
[Adrienne] Just 17 minutes to go.
♪ When I walk in, yeah ♪
-I love those boots. -Oh, why, thank you.
Did y'all get those boots?
[Adrienne] My "BBQ Brawl" boots.
Because here we have a barbecue brawler in the house, Chef T.
-[Chef T] What up, Chef? How are you? -[Adrienne] How's it going?
Is this for our slaw?
Yeah, so we need a little acid.
So, you know, in the Caribbean, we do escovitch vegetables.
-[Adrienne] Yes -- all right. -[Chef T] Yeah.
Chef Kyle, I see you cheering on your fellow brawler, Chef T.
Let's do it. Let's do it.
I mean, the whole purpose of this is for Bobby
to lose, right? -[Kyle] Absolutely.
-Whoever does it. -That's it.
T wins, I win. And we all win.
[Adrienne] We can do this today, guys.
Whoo!
Chef Bobby.
After round one, what made you do a thick cut on the bone?
I wanted to show Kyle how to do it.
-Oh-ho-ho. -[Kyle] Oh.
-Just kidding, Kyle. -Ooh.
I mean, beat Bobby Flay.
[audience chanting] Beat Bobby Flay.
Beat Bobby Flay.
[audience cheering]
♪ We got it on lock ♪
Nine minutes to go.
[Chef T] I'm taking my pork shoulder,
and I'm getting it into the oven.
I take my belly out, get it onto this grill pan.
[Kyle] Smelling so good up here, T.
[Chef T] Thank you.
So Bobby's meat is out of the oven. Hallelujah!
Bobby, how's your meat looking?
Uh, I'll tell you in a second.
[Rashad] They still have to plate.
That's gonna be the next step that he's...
Ooh.
[Rashad] Is it raw?
-[Bobby] The pork is very rare. -[Kyle] I know that feeling, Bobby.
I'm not serving undercooked pork.
I'm gonna season it very liberally
with salt and pepper and then the jerk rub.
This is why Bobby wins so much.
Look at him paying extra attention to season every nook
and cranny of that piece of meat.
[Bobby] And then straight onto the grill, high heat.
[Chef T] My belly is looking fantastic.
I know the fryer's gonna bring it to where I need it.
[Rashad] Two minutes to finish up here.
So the first thing I do is get my festival down,
my pork shoulder.
I'm taking my belly out of the fryer.
It's G-B-D.
Golden brown and delicious, baby!
-[Bobby] Time? -[Adrienne] Coming up on one minute.
I put some of the cabbage and black-eyed pea salad down,
put the pork chop down.
[Chef T] To top it all off, gonna add pickled cabbage and carrots.
[Bobby] I put some of the mango habanero sauce.
[all] Seven, six...
Some fresh herbs, and that's it.
[all] Three, two, one.
-[Rashad] Yeah! -[audience cheering]
I almost killed myself on the jerk.
-Good job, Bobby. -Beautiful.
Oh, my God.
Bobby, T, congratulations on finishing jerk pork
in 45 minutes.
Now, we want to introduce you to your judges.
First up, founder of Hometown Bar-B-Que and Red Hook Tavern,
Billy Durney.
Founder of Vaux Social and LoLo's, Leti Skai Young.
Author, chef, and co-founder of Rise Doughnuts
and Mighty Quinn's BBQ, Hugh Mangum.
Judges, please try the first jerk pork in front of you.
[pensive music plays]
This pork was cooked perfectly, super juicy,
really flavorful, really well seasoned.
To me, this is pretty much a perfect plate of food.
[Leti] The meat was very flavorful.
I love that black-eyed pea salad, but I would have loved if
the sauce was a little bit less acidic.
I had a really nice charred piece of pork.
The one thing that missed for me was a little lack of heat.
When I think of jerk, when I think of East Flatbush,
kind of where I'm from, it kind of buries you, you know, it hits
you a little harder. -[Adrienne] Thank you, judges.
We are now gonna ask you to switch your plates.
[Hugh] This pork belly is, like, the star of this plate.
It's cooked perfectly.
The slaw, I would have liked more of.
It's almost put on as an accent versus like a salad with it.
[Leti] OK, so first I had to pick up my festival.
And I was completely transported somewhere in the Caribbean.
And this jerk pork, I mean, I felt like I was at a stand
in Jamaica -- I loved it.
[Bill] On the belly side, I agree with you.
I mean [exhales] give me a bucket of these, you know,
instead of a box of popcorn, and I'll be -- I'll be
watching movies with this thing.
But the shoulder was not cooked as well as the belly was.
[Rashad] All right, judges, I'm gonna need your votes.
[Chef T] I'm really glad the judges like my food,
and they're recognizing the authenticity,
but, like, who knows? It could go any way.
For the record, this is not a unanimous decision.
And the winner is...
Chef Bobby Flay.
[audience applauds]
-[indistinct] -Good job.
So, although this dish brought me back to the street carts of
East Flatbush, the first dish was just overall
flavor bomb, you know? It was really delicious.
-Thank you. -Congratulations, Chef T.
We know you can cook.
So, just keep going and keep pumping them Caribbean flavors.
This is a powerhouse right here.
-Thank you, Bobby. -Thank you.
[Chef T] Man, Bobby did not grow up in the islands.
That boy from the Upper East Side,
but he definitely understands flavor.
No regrets. None whatsoever.
-[Adrienne] Congratulations, Bobby, I mean -- -Thank you.
I've never seen people so sad for you to win.
Welcome to my life.
Well, I gave it my all.
Time to tune in to "BBQ Brawl."