"He is not a Chef! He stood on his cutting board. Knives, cutting boards, these things are sacred to Chefs. Bobby Flay is not a Chef!" -- Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto Upon conclusion of the first Flay/Morimoto battle.
Yeah! You tell him Morimoto! Wipe that stupid smug grin off his floury white gaijin face.
When it was all over, it seemed that justice had been done. The Food Ruinator had been outclassed, despite his bold and arrogant American style. His dishes lacked refinement and the combinations were nearly vulgar in their lack of subtlety. Flay is an arrogant and terribly typical American chef and I shudder to think what conclusions the Japanese, or indeed, anyone who watched his performance would draw about the rest of America and our culinary traditions. Flay, in his arrogance, could not accept his defeat with humility for himself and respect for his opponent. He blamed his loss on poor equipment, poor assistance and seemed to imply that the production team was deliberately out to get him. In all the episodes of Iron Chef that I have witnessed, I have never seen the defeated chef carry on like the child that Flay pretended to be.
Shameful.
It was not enough that his disrespectful behavior cast shame upon America, but his blatant disregard for the tools of his craft cast shame upon himself and his art. His near constant complaints did not go on deaf ears and so, less than a year after the first battle Bobby Flay got his chance and won a rematch with Morimoto in a tremendous lobster battle. Anyone who watched the rematch and heard the judges responses knows the fix was on. Two of the judges fairly dropped into orgasm while tasting Morimoto's dishes.
Had he learned anything from his previous errors? Apparently not. His attitude was still unreserved and disrespectful.
This time he threw his cutting board on the floor and stood on the counter. I expected Morimoto to knife him. Throughout the broadcast the judges and narrator constantly used phrases like "so American!" as insults. Even in smug victory he took opportunity to complain about conditions again as if to imply that perhaps he would have won MORE if all those serious killjoy Japanese would just stop bothering him with their dour expressions.
I suspect that he still has no idea how much harm his antics may have caused, and likely never will. For some reason that I find personally incomprehensible, food critics, book publishers and TV executives love Bobby. His first restaurant, Mesa Grill was voted the best restaurant in New York and his first book Bobby Flay's Bold American Food won an award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals and prompted him to write three more From My Kitchen to Your Table, Boy Meets Grill, and Bobby Flay Cooks American.
As if all that wasn't enough he's also the host of three popular television shows on the basic cable channel, Food Network. Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay, FoodNation, and Boy Meets Grill are all in frequent rotation on the Food Network despite the fact that the food he creates is mostly unimaginative and his attitude towards other members of the culinary profession is appallingly smug.
It just goes to show you, life ain't fair.