Houston chef Stanton Bundy beats Bobby Flay in Food Network duel

New off a acquire on the Food items Network show Beat Bobby Flay, government chef Stanton Bundy of Houston restaurant Traveler’s Desk says the triumph even now hasn’t sunk in.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” laughs Bundy, “it really is nearly like a good traumatic expertise.”

Even though the episode was filmed in February 2022, Bundy’s coronary heart nevertheless races when he thinks about it. The episode, titled “Entire Frontal Assault”, aired last evening, with eyes from all in excess of Houston and Bundy’s hometown looking at. Lifted in the minuscule hamlet of Hico, Texas, Bundy used his adolescence in the kitchen, cooking with his father and admiring Flay’s capabilities on Tv set. This week, the hometown hero triumphed around the large town chef with a Texas basic.

All through the episode, Bundy initially defeated California chef John “Johnny” Alvarez with the thriller component: chicken breast. Influenced by Bundy’s adore of fried hen and Texas’ extensive German influence, Bundy cooked up a fried chicken schnitzel, served with a scorching sauce beurre blanc, a runny fried egg, and wilted greens. 

“I just assumed it would be a fantastic illustration of where I’m from,” Bundy said.

In the next spherical, Bundy moved on to experience his idol, suggesting a signature dish of chilaquiles. The Mexican breakfast dish is a staple in Tex-Mex cuisine and all over the Southwest. Flay, who is credited as the very first chef to convey Southwestern delicacies to the Significant Apple, was incredibly self-confident, attesting that he’s made chilaquiles “numerous situations” and even featured it as a signature dish in his cookbooks. Regardless of Flay’s authority in excess of the dish, Bundy remained undeterred.

“When it came to the second round, I felt really self-assured,” he reported.

Settling into the kitchen’s unfamiliar digs, Bundy’s chilaquiles paired chorizo and mesquite-smoked duck with cotija cheese and a pumpkin-seed salsa roja. Despite some missteps, which provided burning chorizo and a absence of acidity in the dish, Bundy defeated Flay, with judges praising Bundy’s use of flippantly smoked duck. The addition of duck, Bundy notes, was mainly influenced by his relatives. Bundy’s sister usually hunted duck and the loved ones patriarch would make duck a l’Orange for Xmas evening meal. “Wild video game, things like that are a significant portion of Hill Region in common.”

It is really well worth noting that the two of Bundy’s competitors dishes are a model of menu objects at Traveler’s Desk. Lovers hungry for a flavor of the Iron Chef-defeating food can purchase the Louisiana Fried Chicken and Duck Chilaquiles, which are aspect of the restaurant’s weekend brunch menu.

To prepare for the challenge, Bundy followed his aged superior college football regimen: doing the job out, eating thoroughly clean, and concentrating on the target. Teaching with other cooks at Traveler’s Table, the restaurant crew practiced the signature dish working day and night, tackling hypothetical curveball mystery components. Nevertheless there are no present-day designs for one more competition, Bundy is open up to an additional a person. “It’s like tasting blood for the first time,” he chuckles, “I want one more shot at a quick-hearth problem a person working day!” 

Given that beating Bobby Flay, Bundy has stayed occupied with a Traveler’s Desk expansion. The restaurant, which was beforehand highlighted on Foods Network’s Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives, options to open up a street-meals-focused, counter-provider joint in March 2024, headed by Bundy.