Everything you always wanted to learn about Throwdown with Bobby Flay but were afraid to ask.

   

(Clockwise from top left: A Red Hook vendors truck beside the Dessert Truck pulled away from the set at 2pm when the taping started. Bobby Flay explains Jerome Chang surprised him with the early online outing. Chang and Chen have nothing to do but wait for an hour until the sun departs and Flay arrives at 315pm. Flay's take on coconut chocolate bread pudding. Flay demonstrating how it was made for the cameras.)

The full story after the jump...

2pm: The line of about 30 pre-approved audience signed-off and filed in to crowd the Dessert Truck's demo table and await further instructions. (We have our doubts about the validity of whatever we signed. The name of the production and the episode were left blank, how binding can that be?)

2-315pm: We're instructed on how to provide reaction shots. One of the production girls had us follow her with our eyes as she roamed and ducked around the set, pretended to be leaning forward and peeking, looking at her raised hand as if she was holding up a bag of chocolate, having us feign awe, feign surprise, feign laughter and feign applause on call. This didn't take very long at all and we were once offered water at word of the first delay. Five, ten, twenty, twenty-five minutes, until we were told taping couldn't commence until the sun was out of sight, passing behind a building on Union Square West for the best lighting. The time actually flew by without complaint, mostly by people incessantly photographing the set and Dessert Truck team. We were all admonished by the girl in charge of the production not to photograph her however as she explained she works behind the camera so she doesn't want to be recorded on ours. After a Q&A with the Dessert Truck team, she provided one as well. She previously worked on Perfect Partner and What Not to Wear before making her way to Food Network productions.

The Dessert Truck Q&A proved more interesting. If you're wondering what's to come from the truck, look forward to bomboloni, the return of a previously tested dark chocolate mousse with cocoa nibs, and new flavors of ice cream. Someday. They did some informal polling on the best style of cheesecake which they now serve. They also shared an anecdote about when the truck broke down for the first time immediately after they bought it. They mentioned their prep work is done uptown, and we recently learned they actually do it at rented space in Daisy May's BBQ in Hell's Kitchen. Regarding Food Roadies, however, Chang just couldn't say the name of the show to us with a straight face.

315pm: The sun passed and Flay arrived in a truck that received an unprompted cheer from the crowd. (Although we were asked to cheer, "Throwdown! Throwdown!") The truck pulled in then stopped dead about forty feet from us then nothing happened, then Flay walked over and the truck then pulled up and carefully parked. We're guessing the feigned awe and some quick editing will come into play here.

315-4pm: Flay explained that because of the Dessert Truck's suspicions, this is the first time Flay gave advance word to a competitor they were going to appear on the show. Apparently taping began yesterday when Flay challenged the team to appear today. (Why did no one have word of that?) Both teams made their bread pudding prior to arrival but filmed demos for the show in front of us before serving up their dishes. Flay made coconut chocolate bread pudding he put up against Dessert Truck's chocolate bread pudding with bacon creme anglaise. (This was actually a chocolate bread pudding competition, not just bread pudding.)

Flay's was made in a pan, cut and served. The Dessert Truck provided the individually packaged portions for which they're known. It looked cleaner but less appetizing on camera and Flay's was our favorite. However, 1.) we're going on past experience. Audience management was a shitshow and we never got anywhere near the Dessert Truck's dish as they didn't make nearly as much as Flay and the audience went easily over 100 people by the time free tastes were being passed out and 2.) we don't know who won.

The winner is apparently based on audience reaction and we were nowhere near a camera by the end of it. People who got a taste of either dish moved back or left after doing so and were long gone when reaction shots were recorded. Those that did get fed, mostly local teenage public school kids passing through - it's amazing how many of them recognize and idolize him - never signed waivers and easily squeezed or pushed through to the front of the tables. Anyone else reaching for bread pudding was often told to step back and away from the tables for safety reasons. We're guessing this is now how things were on the Wisconsin farm. This had to be most disappointing to those people in the back who didn't know what they were missing, they thought they lost out on bread pudding topped with creme brulee, not creme anglaise.

4pm: The food all gone so were we. A final warning was made to everyone if we stuck around to see who won, we couldn't tell you and we were welcome to go. So we didn't stay long enough to have to make the decision. (Although we do know who won most of this season's challenges and for the commenter on Midtown Lunch who suggested there should only be savory contests, you're going to be really disappointed this season!)

We wrote earlier that if Flay doesn't like you he tries hard to beat you. We get the impression he didn't try that hard but he made a better product anyway. He seemed to genuinely like how Jerome Chang could warm up the crowd to applaud and cheer better than the production team and Flay feigned awe at the Dessert Truck's addition of bacon to their dish, joking someone should run down to Mesa Grill so he could do the same. He credited them that it must be so much harder to work in a truck than with the space and equipment available at Chang's old kitchen in Le Cirque and he hopped on board for a tour of their truck. Sure he was being taped for a show, but he just wasn't the asshole he was at the Grand Tasting on Saturday.

But what would impress us most about him is if he became the Jamie Oliver of the US, working with high school kids. They were just about the only ones who wanted him to win and even if their place on the set and their shouting and pushing got in the way, that enthusiasm was not coming from anyone anywhere else. If he had any sense at all he'd start planning Iron Chef Bronx Science now.

As for future episodes, here are the first two competitors - shh! - for the upcoming season.

Comments

[Niko]

Great detailed coverage thanks! I work right where they park every dau. Anything you want me to ask them? Of course I want to know when the Dark Chocloate Mousse will be out now..