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Bobby Flay chats with USA TODAY’s Ralphie Aversa about the new season of Food Network’s “Bobby’s Triple Threat” and his time at the network.
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A North Jersey chef and restaurant owner had the opportunity to go head-to-head with a celebrity chef on the newest episode of Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay.”
Antonio De Ieso, a resident of Cedar Grove, was born and raised in Florence. He is the chef and co-owner of Fiorentini in Rutherford, which, according to its website, serves authentic, farm-to-table Italian cuisine with a global and modern flare.
“After I graduated, I had to go master as much as I can in the best Italian kitchens in Europe. That’s what I did,” De Ieso said during the episode, which aired on Food Network on Thursday, Feb. 5. “Me and my wife, we moved to New Jersey, and together we opened Fiorentini.”
“I’m here to compete for my wife, my kids. My winning, it’s their winning,” he added.
During the first round of the competition, De Ieso faced off against Ciro Fodera, the executive chef at Capo Restaurant and Supper Club in Boston, Massachusetts.
The chefs had 20 minutes to prepare a dish featuring fennel as the star ingredient. De Ieso opted to make a “classic winter dish” called fennel gratin paired with a fresh fennel salad on the side.
While the judges enjoyed Fodera’s fennel fritter, De Ieso’s dish ultimately came out on top, allowing him to advance to the second round and compete head-to-head with Flay.
For round two, the chefs had 45 minutes to prepare a version of De Ieso’s signature dish: tortellini. Flay chose to make a seafood tortellini, with ricotta and lemon pasta tossed in a lobster sauce and topped with anchovy breadcrumbs.
De Ieso, the self-described “king of pasta,” made tortellini filled with mortadella, prosciutto and pork loin. His sauce was a Parmigiano fondue, which he made simply with cheese and cream. When asked why he chose this dish, De Ieso responded, “This is home. This is grandma. This is memory.”
The final dishes were judged by Joey Campanaro, chef-owner of Little Owl in New York, Olivia Tiedemann, a private chef, and Albert Di Meglio, chef and partner of Barano and Bluebird Kitchen in New York.
While the judges had a couple of critiques for De Ieso’s dish, including its saltiness and simplicity, they overall seemed to enjoy it. However, in the end, Flay was named the winner.
“You prepared an amazing, classic dish of tortellini,” De Meglio said. “But it was just a lot of flavor going on that kind of brought Bobby’s over the top.”
Dining and Cooking