The move — THE GRILL
Bobby Flay
Build the flavor on the grill, in the chile and the char, before the food ever gets a sauce.
What I took from Flay is the grill itself, not a recipe of his. High heat, a dry surface, and enough time that the outside actually browns. A lot of home grilling is food warmed over coals. His version is a sear. The marks are a side effect. The flavor is the browned surface.
The other half is the chile. The Southwestern cooking he built Mesa Grill around treats chile as a flavor, not a dare. Ancho, chipotle, a little smoke, acid to keep it from going flat. Heat is one note. The rest of the chile is the point.
And the plate is bold on purpose. Salt, char, and chile have to be decided before you cook, because you cannot paint them on at the end and get the same thing. A timid steak does not become a better one with a spoon of sauce after it rests.
Three dishes Bobby Flay is known for
Chile-rubbed steak
Mesa Grill, New York, from the day it opened
It is the plate that made the case for Southwestern flavor on a serious grill in New York. The restaurant's reputation sat on that combination more than on any single garnish.
What makes it work
The rub goes on ahead of the fire so the spices toast against the meat instead of tasting raw. The steak gets a real crust, then it rests. Whatever sauce is on the plate is a finish. It is not what cooked the meat.
Grilled corn
Mesa Grill, and the menus that followed it
Street corn, taken seriously. It is one of the dishes people order because it tastes like the restaurant's whole idea in one side.
What makes it work
Char the kernels until some of them are actually black. The sweetness shows up because of that bitterness, not in spite of it. Lime and chile go on after, off the heat, so they stay sharp.
The burger
Bobby's Burger Palace, and every Throwdown that argued about one
He turned a burger into a public argument about cooking, which is a strange thing to do with a sandwich and the reason a lot of people know his name.
What makes it work
A thin patty on a hot grate, pressed so it browns, cheese melted at the end. A thick patty nursed over low heat is a different food. The crust is the dish.
What I cook because of Bobby Flay
Three plates where the chile is the flavor, not a garnish I remembered at the end.
A note
Everything above is my own writing about a cook whose work changed how I cook. None of it is their recipe -- I never reproduce a recipe here, only my own account of a technique I took from watching them. A photograph here does not imply any endorsement, affiliation or connection between this site and the person pictured.