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 rings] -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 rings] -[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 gonna run out of time!
Everyone's out to beat me.
-[fingers snap] -[bell rings]
[audience cheering]
[Bobby] How's everybody doing tonight?
I'm all prepped and ready to roll,
but these two want me to wrap it up.
From Food Network, it's Katie Lee Biegel
and comedian and podcaster Paul Scheer.
-[Paul] Oh, hey. -[Katie] Hello!
-Good to be here, it's so fun. -Ready to do this?
-We're gonna get this guy? -Come on, let's go.
[audience cheering]
Whoo!
-Yeah. -All right.
You love people cheering for you.
-I love it more than anything. -I do like a cheering section.
I've kind of built this in my house now.
-So whenever I'm just doing anything, you know... -Exactly.
...turn on the TV, I get the cheer.
[all laughing]
[Bobby] Paul Scheer, he has a very, very successful podcast
called "How Did This Get Made?"
You're selling out theaters with your podcast,
which is insane. -[Paul] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We tour around the country, the world.
I wonder if we can do a version
of "How Did This Get Made Beat Bobby Flay."
[all laughing]
Well, Bobby, you've had so many great appearances in film.
Oh, OK, would you chill out?
Bobby is obviously a tremendously talented chef,
an author, but you also are an actor.
They usually make me play a version of myself.
-When I was on "Entourage"... -Yes.
...I played Bobby Flay.
-Right. -I was on "Law and Order."
"Law and Order," what was your character's name?
Uh...Bobby Flay.
[all laughing]
One of his great roles was his Christmas movie.
[Paul] Ooh, I've heard about this Christmas movie.
I don't know why people want me to be in stuff.
I cannot do it.
Well, Bobby, speaking of bad performances,
I hope that you're gonna have another one tonight.
[audience laughing]
We're gonna bring you down, Bobby.
-I'm ready. -Let's do it.
Our first contender made a name for herself
with her Afro-Caribbean cooking.
She may have lost to your Titans on "Triple Threat,"
but tonight she is here to take her vengeance out on you.
-It's Chef Rashida Holmes. -[audience cheering and clapping]
Yeah!
[audience] Whoo!
-What's up, Rashida? -What's up, Bobby?
-Nice to see you. -Nice to see you.
I already feel the tension, it's palpable.
[all laughing]
Our next contestant cooks global fare
on super yachts all around the world.
This is my normal pause I normally take,
everybody just wait. -[all laughing]
-[Paul] It's Chef Dave White. -[audience clapping]
-All right. -[audience cheering]
[upbeat music plays]
Good evening, chefs. Here's the way it's gonna go.
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...
Chicken thighs.
[audience] Ooh!
[Dave] The biggest problem with chicken thighs is
if you don't remove the bone, it will take longer to cook.
So time is an element here.
All right, guys, 20 minutes on the clock.
You know what to do.
Aim high with your chicken thighs.
[bell rings]
[audience cheering]
[Bobby] I love chicken thighs.
One of my favorite things to cook is a boneless
skin-on chicken thigh.
[Paul] I'm just going chicken taco, give it a little bit of spice.
[Bobby] Or a lettuce wrap
or something like that, yeah. -Yeah!
[Bobby] Dave, what are you making?
[Dave] Asian soup,
like a Tom Kha Gai. -Thai soup.
Just so you know, Dave's accent totally made up.
He just wanted to bring that to you to make it feel like
a little bit more refined.
[all laughing]
I'm using this chicken thigh in three different ways.
I'm taking the skin and I'm gonna deep fry that,
and then I'm gonna use the main part of the chicken thigh,
season it with five spice and corn flour,
and fry that as well.
And then I'm gonna use the off cuts of that chicken
thigh and put it into the coconut broth.
Dave has the chicken skin in the fryer already.
-I would do that, too. -[Paul] That's what you'd do.
-[Katie] Totally. -[Bobby] Don't sleep on him.
[Dave] I'm a head chef on a private island
estate off the coast of Palm Beach,
where I'm creating global cuisine every day.
As a thrill seeker bachelor for most of my life,
my career has taken me all over the world.
I've cooked on super yachts, mountaintop chalets,
and even in war zones.
I've got a wife, and I've got a baby
that's literally due now.
So beating Bobby would be an amazing start to this new
chapter I have on the land. Bobby, heaps of respect.
But I'm taking you down. Watch out!
[Bobby] Rashida, what are you making?
[Rashida] Panko-crusted curry chicken
with some pineapple chow. -I want that for lunch.
-Yeah, it sounds good. -Me too!
Hey, man, give me chicken. I'll fry it.
I need to move quick because it's really important
that I get those chicken thighs marinated
for as long as possible.
[Paul] There's something about what Rashida's doing
where it's like a can't-miss dish, right?
And I feel like with her Caribbean background,
it feels like she's got the leg up,
or the thigh up, on this competition.
[all laughing]
[Rashida] As the chef and owner of Bridgetown Roti,
I'm bringing my family's Caribbean traditions to life
with my own flair and modern technique.
We started as a pop-up, but it grew into something
I never could have believed.
We were named Best New Restaurant in Los Angeles
by Eater and Pop-Up of the Year by Esquire magazine.
Last time I saw Bobby,
I lost to his Titans on "Triple threat."
It's a loss that haunts me to this day.
If I can beat Bobby in his own house,
no one's gonna remember my L to the Titans.
All right, we are coming up on 15 minutes, y'all.
-[audience cheering] -[Katie] Yeah.
-Chef Rashida, how are you? -What's up? I'm good.
How are you?
[Katie] Ooh, is that ginger in there?
[Rashida] That's ginger, garlic, a little Madras,
and a little bit of lime juice. -Smells so good.
Can you all smell that?
[Rashida speaks indistinctly] There we go!
So are we going to do, like, a quick marinade?
[blender whirring]
-What? -[all laughing]
[Katie] I'm excited to try this.
[Rashida] Yummy!
-All right, Dave, that's ambitious to do a soup... -What's up?
-...in 20 minutes. -I know!
I just thought, I've got, like, the coconut milk,
got lemongrass through there, ginger, shallot, garlic.
Do you think you're gonna do this?
[Dave] I'm gonna give it a good shot.
I'm gonna let you cook, 'cause I'm a little worried right here.
Twelve minutes and 45 seconds.
[audience cheering]
[Dave] I don't need that much time to build flavor,
because I have a shortcut.
I'm gonna use green curry paste.
That curry paste is gonna bring a lot of
flavor immediately. -Oh, yeah.
[Bobby] It's a smart move.
[Rashida] I'm a little bit worried that
the chicken didn't have enough time to marinate,
so I think if I can make a sauce from the marinade,
it'll really help bring the flavors through.
[Paul] We are coming up on seven minutes.
[audience clapping] Whoo!
Now, Dave, you're kind of doing, like,
the fast version of a classic soup.
Yes, sir -- it'll be great, if I get it done in time.
It'll be great.
[Paul] You only have six minutes and 30 seconds.
Keep on cooking.
Rashida, what do we got going on?
I'm just making a very traditional Caribbean salsa,
which we call pineapple chow.
It's pineapples, carrots, jalapenos,
lime juice, and cilantro.
All right, let me ask you this question, is the soup cheating?
Soup is, like, super risky, but if he can pull it off and he beats me --
-What's risky about soup? -You need time to make soup.
[Dave] There's some thyme in the fridge.
All right, well, speaking of time, get cooking,
'cause you only have four minutes left, chefs.
[Rashida] I pull my chicken out of the fryer.
It's got great texture.
I top it with the chow,
and then I realize I still don't have a sauce!
[Bobby] One minute to go, you guys.
[Rashida] It's too late for that.
I gotta get this thing plated and hope for the best.
[Dave] First thing down is my broth.
I top it with my sliced chicken thigh.
[judges and audience] Ten, nine, eight...
[Dave] I add the crispy chicken skin,
and then I finish with micro cilantro.
[judges and audience] ...three, two, one!
[bell rings]
[audience cheering and clapping]
-Come here. -Yeah.
-Good job. -[audience clapping]
[Dave] I'm looking over at Rashida's dish,
and there's no question that the chicken is the star of the show.
Making me a little nervous.
[tense music plays]
We've got two great chefs here and we've gotta pick the one
that we think can just wipe that smile off his face.
[audience laughing]
Chef Rashida, tell us about what you made.
So today I have for you curry panko-crusted chicken thigh
with a pineapple chow.
I mean, you give me a breaded and fried chicken thigh,
I'm gonna be a happy girl. -[all laughing]
[Katie] I love the crunch factor here
and the sweetness and the acid that the pineapple adds.
I'd like to have more of that curry in there.
It got a little lost in the mix, but overall,
this is a beautiful dish.
I mean, this chicken is incredibly juicy.
It's moist. I just wish there was something
bringing it all together.
You know, maybe there's a sauce.
That's the one thing that I'm missing here.
Chef Dave, tell me what I'm about to eat.
So we have a Tom Kha Gai soup with crispy chicken skin
and then micro cilantro. -It is incredibly flavorful.
The chicken inside the soup is so juicy and light,
but I don't know, I love it on the top like this.
Yeah, I like that there was a crunchy texture moment here.
It's just a little difficult to eat,
but the flavor here is just bursting.
[Rashida] I'm feeling a little nervous
about the lack of sauce on the plate.
It's something I wanted, it's something they wanted,
but they definitely liked the dish,
and that's what matters.
The chef that will be moving on to outperform Bobby is --
are you ready for it, crowd?
[audience cheering]
-Chef Dave! -Whoa!
-Thank you. -[audience cheering]
I'm a little disappointed, but I'm excited for Dave,
and I'm rooting for him, 'cause we all gotta beat
Bobby in the end. -Good job.
[audience cheering]
[Katie] So, Dave, ultimately, we chose your dish
because of your balance of flavor in there.
I don't know if you've seen Bobby's acting,
but it's really, really bad, so we're hoping his cooking
is like that too. -No one has seen my acting.
[all laughing]
♪ Game, game time ♪
♪ It's game time ♪
All right, Dave, congratulations.
-Nice job. -Thank you.
So you travel around the world on these big super yachts.
I'd love an invitation at some point.
Just let me know, I'll be there.
So what is your signature dish this evening?
I wanna go back to my roots, Bobby.
My signature dish is...
[tense music builds]
-Fish and chips. -Oh, really?
-[Paul] Yes! -[Katie] Ooh!
-Love fish and chips. -[audience clapping]
This dish has been very touch and go for Bobby.
He's been challenged to fish and chips three times here
and he has not won every time.
-[Bobby sighs] -[audience laughing]
What's the mistake that you've made, though, in the past?
Probably the same mistake I'm gonna make now,
just sitting here thinking this.
What happens to me is, I start going in different directions.
All right y'all, you got 45 minutes on the clock.
-Let's go! -[Katie] Yeah!
[audience] Whoo!
[Paul] I love a traditional feel-good comfort food.
[Katie] And with fish and chips, I think of a great batter
that's super crispy and then a luscious fish on the inside
and some crispy fries.
But it is a little difficult to get, like,
a perfect french fry
in 45 minutes. -Oh, yeah.
Hey, Dave, why did you choose fish and chips
for your signature dish? -[Dave] I don't know.
I just feel like probably the best thing
to come out of England.
I'm making a beer battered black cod,
malted vinegar chips with tartar sauce,
and a pea and mint purée.
[Katie] I just think in 45 minutes,
it's a mistake to try to butcher his own fish.
Right, because we're not judging it on the actual cooking.
No -- judges aren't gonna know that he butchered that
fish himself. -[Dave] Can't take shortcuts,
I'm here to make the Brits proud.
And then I smother it in salt.
That really would draw the moisture out of the fish.
[Bobby] Fish and chips sounds like an easy dish
to make, but it's not.
The timing is really important here in terms of frying.
You want the fries and the fish to be crispy.
So plenty can go wrong here.
-[Katie] Bobby. -[Bobby] What?
Since when is mango part of fish and chips?
-It's not? -No.
You literally said, "I'm not gonna do anything different."
[Bobby] That's not what I said.
I said, "I'm probably gonna do something different."
[all laughing]
[Bobby] I'm gonna make Indian spice flavored fish and chips.
So I'm gonna bring a little curry powder to it.
I'm not gonna make a chutney, but I'm gonna caramelize some
mangoes and fold it into my tartar sauce.
We've got 37 minutes on the clock.
[audience cheering]
[Katie] Hi, Bobby. How are you?
[Bobby] I'm good. How are you?
Great.
Hi, it's what you've always wanted, to hold my hand.
-Exactly. -[audience laughing]
Katie, keep on holding his hand,
and you know the traditional way to do fish and chips
is to have the chef blindfolded, so...
-[all laughing] -[Katie] How's it going?
-[Bobby] I'm good, I'm good. -[Katie] Yeah?
I'm bringing in some London Town flavors.
Katie, can you also ask him while he's cooking to do it
in a British accent?
Say, like, "All right then, governor."
[in British accent] All right there, governor.
[all laughing]
[Dave] That was good.
All right, I'm gonna let you go.
All right, Dave, are you doing mushy peas?
I'm actually gonna do a nice little pea purée.
A little nod to the tradition. Bobby, are you doing any peas?
-No. -Oh, pea off, Bobby.
-[audience laughing] -Ha!
-Let's hear it for Dave. -[Paul] 27 minutes left.
[Dave] I'm adding the chicken stock on the stove,
and then add the frozen peas.
And then I need to start working on my batter.
Ice cold beer really helps with the crispiness of the texture.
Just by round of applause, who is Team Bobby?
-Ohh... -[Paul] Wow.
-And who is Team Dave? -[audience cheering]
[Paul] 16 minutes on the clock.
[Katie] What's really important to remember with this dish
is that it is equally the chip to the fish.
Both have to be really perfect.
[Dave] I'm running my potatoes through the chip press,
one after the other, and chuck my potatoes
into blanch no longer than four minutes.
[Paul] I love the way he cut his fries.
Those fries really scream to me what I think of when I think
about fish and chips. -I agree.
Bobby did his more of a wedge.
A wedge is an abomination to me.
[audience laughing]
[Bobby] We're gonna do a thrice-cooked potato.
So I blanch them in water to get some of the starch off,
and then blanch in oil to soften them some more.
And then I'm gonna put 'em in the blast chiller
so that they dry out before the final fry.
And now I need to start working on the fish.
-Bobby, what kind of fish are you using? -[Bobby] Cod.
Cod's very traditional, and it works really well
because of the meatiness of the fish.
Then I'm seasoning with Madras curry powder.
My batter is all purpose flour, rice flour, some curry powder,
of course, and I have some cold beer.
[upbeat music plays]
[Dave] My chips are in, they started to fry.
My pea purée is emulsifying.
I need to start working on my tartar sauce.
It's mayonnaise, it's capers, gherkins,
parsley, dill, lemon, and shallot.
[Bobby] For my tartar sauce, I have mayonnaise,
saltiness from capers and cornichons,
heat from some chilies,
and a little bit of sweetness from that caramelized mango.
So while they've been cooking, I was able to go online
and find some reviews of Bobby's performance
in "One Delicious Christmas."
I think maybe I'll go in there and see how that kinda --
plays with his head. Just under seven minutes.
[audience cheering and clapping]
All right, Bobby, I know we talked a lot about your acting.
I figured I'd read you some five-star reviews about
your performance in
"One Delicious Christmas." -OK.
Bobby Flay is by far the best actor in this entire movie.
-Yes. -[audience] Whoo!
Uh, nobody beats Bobby Flay in this movie.
People think that maybe your acting name
should be Robert Flay.
Would you like to be called
Robert Flay? -[Bobby] Yes.
[Paul] Well, now look, those are some positive reviews.
Some people were a little bit rougher.
Some people said, "Bobby Flay needed more lines
'cause I needed to give him a chance to try to act."
-Oh -- yes! -[Paul] That's a little rough.
[Bobby] Here's some caramelized mango and tartar sauce for you.
Wow, that's really, really good. I don't want it to be good.
All right, let's go over and check in with Dave.
All right, Dave, Bobby is doing
a Indian fusion kind of fish and chips.
What's your gut reaction to that?
It's almost blasphemy, to be fair, on fish and chips.
Right -- it's like putting pineapple on pizza.
-Ooh, that's rough. -[Paul] Yeah, right?
Mango on fish and chips, pineapple on pizza.
[audience laughing]
[Paul] Four minutes, chefs. Four minutes!
[Dave] My fish is ready to go, so I roll it in flour,
and then I dip it into the ice cold batter,
and then I add them one by one into the hot oil.
Ohh, yes!
[Bobby] I take the fries out of the blast chiller
and finish 'em up. I drop the fish in the fryer.
I'm looking for a light-golden color,
but it's gotta be crispy.
[Dave] So fish is looking great.
Now it's time for the last fry, on the chips,
just to get them nice and crispy.
Now I need to start plating. First thing down,
tartare sauce, next, the pea purée.
[Katie] One minute on the clock.
[Bobby] I put the fish down
next to the caramelized mango tartar sauce.
[Dave] I'm now adding malt vinegar into a spray bowl.
I just wanna spray it to evenly coat it,
just to give it that little added flavor.
[audience and judges] Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three, two, one.
[audience cheering]
-[Dave laughs] -[Bobby] Good job!
I'm so proud. I'm really happy.
I look over at Bobby's,
it's a very pretty looking plate.
Could go either way here.
[tense music plays]
[Katie] Dave and Bobby, congrats on finishing your fish and chips.
Now it's gonna all come down to what the judges think.
First up, the creator and founder
of Mama Tanya's Kitchen, Mama Tanya.
The chef owner of Jones Wood Foundry, Jason Hicks.
And executive chef, Asia Shabazz.
[audience clapping] Whoo-hoo!
Judges, please start with the first dish in front of you.
[soft tense music plays]
This is a great fish and chips dish.
The seasoning is top notch. I love it.
-A resounding yew. -[all laughing]
The tartar sauce there was just maybe
a touch too much sweetness.
The tartar sauce was probably a little too sweet,
but the chips were, like, perfect.
Creativity-wise, it's a great riff on fish and chips,
but for me personally,
I would have liked a bit more crunch in the batter.
Especially when you go to get British-style fish and chips,
you're expecting to hear that super crunch, but the flavor is
really phenomenal, and these fries are killer.
OK, judges, please try our second dish.
♪♪
[Mama Tanya] This is giving British pub.
I just want a pitcher of ale, and I just wanna ask somebody,
"What you going on about, innit?"
Or whatever they be saying out in Britain.
[all laughing]
The batter was amazing.
It has that crispiness and also that airiness,
but there was something about this mushy pea
that felt a little flat for me.
Maybe it was because it was puréed.
[Jason] I would have liked it a bit more of a mushy pea,
bit of texture in there, but the batter, super crispy.
[Asia] The texture of it was lovely.
That other potato was my top ten potato of potatoes,
but it was a very nice french fry.
[Katie] Judges, it's now time to take a vote.
[Dave] I can't lose cooking fish and chips.
I have sweat, blood, and tears in this dish.
Let's hope it's enough.
Our judges have voted, and we have a winner.
♪♪
Chef Dave, you just beat Bobby Flay!
-There we go, yes -- whoo! -[audience cheering]
-Yes! -[Dave] I'm speechless.
I started this new chapter, baby on the way.
This means so much to me and my family's future.
This dish was what we know to be great about London pub food.
It's not easy to beat Bobby Flay, but you did it today.
[audience cheering]
Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah!
That's your killing skill, man. More Brits on this show.
[Katie] Bobby, I guess your fish and chip skills
are just as good as your acting skills.
I'm Dave White, and I just beat Bobby Flay.
[audience cheering]