The finale for America’s Next Great Restaurant will air this Sunday at 8:00 pm on NBC. Chef, restaurateur and investor Bobby Flay spoke with PCM about the impending finale and what we can expect!
Is there anything you can tell us about this finale without spoiling things like something that’s going to be in the episode?
Well you – there’s three people left. There’s Soul Daddy, Spice Coast, and Brooklyn Meatballs. And basically you’re going to see them build I guess for a lack of a better description pop-up restaurants of what they’re going – of what they want to actually have as their own restaurant. And they’re going to actually go through the motions of, you know, opening a restaurant, getting it staffed up and then actually serving real customers.
And it’s basically sort of the final test of the – of everything they’ve gone through to actually get to this point. So that’s where sort of all the action is going to take place and then ultimately we’ll decide, you know, we’ll get their own restaurant.
How hard do you think it’s going to be decide? Do you already have somebody in mind or does it really just depend on this episode?
I think that – I think the most important thing is that as an investor you have an open mind in terms of, you know, what you’ve seen, what you’re going to see, you know, a finale, what you seen up to this point in terms of, you know, how people, you know, how people react to mistakes that they’ve made in the past and whether or not they’re going to be, you know, people that we want to work with as investors. I mean ultimately it’s more than just a game. It’s actually going to be a livelihood for one of these people and hopefully for the investors as well. So I think that we take all that in consideration.
So in your opinion what formula truly makes a great restaurant?
Well the obvious things are great food, great service. But I think beyond that I think value is incredibly important. Creating an environment that people are going to enjoy and that it fits the actual mood of the food and also, you know, the style of service of the restaurant.
And I think that energy is really important. It’s something that I talk a lot about in my restaurants that, you know, I think that restaurants, especially casual restaurants need to have a very, a really terrific sense of energy so that, you know, people think of it as not just a meal but an event.
Great and just for fun question what is the first meal that you’ve ever prepared?
Mighty Fine Chocolate Pudding which is like, you know, it’s like chocolate pudding that you’ve add milk – it’s like powdered chocolate pudding that you add milk to and it gets thicker and then yes. And then also it was either that or deviled eggs. I can’t remember which came first.
So thinking back to the very beginning when you were being pitched all these different ideas for the restaurants, would you have thought that the three contestants that are remaining would have made it this far?
You know what, in a way yes. But it’s hard for me to think of it that way because the process took such a long time. And so I felt like these people just kept growing on me. And – or should I say growing on us more and more. You know, I would say that, you know, there are three very interesting ideas. You know, there’s a Spice Coast which is an Indian idea, you know, sort of a new modern Indian idea which I think is, you know, very of the moment and I think that it’s a great idea for a couple of reasons.
First of all it’s got lots of flavor and people really want a lot of flavor these days. It’s a much healthier cuisine than some of the other cuisines. And I think that that’s also obviously a very big subject in the way people are eating these days. And I think that Indian culture in general has really percolated a lot in terms of fashion and furniture and of course food. And so I think, you know, the Indian ideas are very sort of very viable idea.
Soul Daddy is, you know, soul food with a twist in terms of I think that what he’s trying to do is actually take some of the calories out and savor the flavor and the soul of the soul food. And I think that, you know, it’s obviously it’s a very true American food concept. And so I think that that also resonates really well with the American public. And the meatball concept is something that we all know. You know, meatballs are, you know, a true comfort food.
What surprised you the most during this whole long, you know, competition here that you’ve had going on? What one thing just really surprised you during all this?
The thing that surprised me I think across the board was that a lot of people with little or no restaurant experience that were, you know, very, very smart people who had really good ideas weren’t really keen on listening to investor’s advice.
Since the restaurant business is so tough how do you think shows like this will eventually make it easier given the accessibility?
It’s not going to make it easier. The restaurant – I mean, you know, the ironic part about it is the person that wins this, the tough part really starts the next day. I mean it’s a very tough business. The margins in the restaurant business are very tight even if you’re incredibly successful. It’s there is so many things that can go wrong and only a few things that can go right to make it work. And so I don’t think that shows like this are going to help it get easier. I think what it’s going to do is it’s going to give people an opportunity that would not have had an opportunity otherwise.
And I think what it does is it gives you sort of an installation of people who are professionals like the panel, like the investors who are – who could actually help somebody who have a really good idea, who have the drive and the work ethic to do it but aren’t really sure how to actually get it done or how to get it started.
I think that it’s a process that you learn basically every day how to do a better. And I think that that’s what will be able – that’s what will make it easier for people because we’ll give that sort of a team of people that will actually help them, us. And but other than making the restaurant business easier that’s never going to happen.
Well can you talk about what you saw in the finalists early on in the series that you think led them to the finale?
Yes well I think that Sadir who’s got Spice Coast, the Indian – modern Indian concept is a very smart guy. He’s smart, he’s savvy, he’s got a good business sensibility and he really is passionate about his – the food of his land. And so, you know, that sort of – that to me was a very – he was very obvious from the very beginning.
Jamawn who has the Soul Daddy, soul food idea just I feel like he’s doing it for all the right reasons. He’s doing it because he wants to make a better life for him and his family. And it’s something – it would be an extension of what he was doing before he got here which was actually selling fried chicken and waffles out of his apartment. And so, you know, it just seems like it would be sort of the next – he just needs somebody to kind of give him the bricks and mortar and also a little guidance.
And then, you know, Joey from the Brooklyn Meatball Company, I mean you see how passionate he is about his grandmother’s meatballs. He reminds me of lots of kids when I was growing up why – I was always jealous of my Italian-American friends because they had these wonderful mothers and grandmothers who basically cooked all week long and taught them how to make these delicious meals.
