This Sunday at 10 p.m., Food Network competition show Beat Bobby Flay will feature Vinson Petrillo, Zero Restaurant + Bar’s executive chef.
For those who have not seen the show, there are two rounds, starting with a showdown between the two chefs hoping to face Flay. The chefs are asked to use a secret ingredient of Flay’s choosing to be the star of a dish in 20 minutes. The winner then earns 45 minutes to cook their signature dish against the Food Network celebrity chef.
The episode, titled “Summer Lovin’,” is the first of the show’s 25th season. Although Petrillo could not reveal how he fared against first round opponent and Boston-based chef Kathy Sidell, he did say cooking with the secret ingredient was challenging.
“When I was thinking about a summer ingredient, that’s not what I was expecting,” Petrillo said.
Petrillo has experience competing on the Food Network after winning Chopped, a three-round culinary battle where chefs must cook using a basket of mystery ingredients. Petrillo also won Chopped Champions, which pitted 16 former champions against one another in a round-robin-style tournament.
Petrillo, who showed up to the New York studio kitchen wearing a flamingo shirt fitting the episode’s summer theme, said that competing on this show was different than his previous experience on Chopped.
“Compared to Chopped which is tense and serious, we actually had fun.”
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