When producers contacted Rob Maffucci about possibly appearing on Food Network’s “Beat Bobby Flay,” he jumped at the chance.
“I don’t know a chef that wouldn’t like to take a culinary swipe at him…potentially take him down,” said the chef-owner of the Vito’s restaurants in Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor. Maffucci will compete against culinary instructor James Gillespie on the Oct. 23 Halloween-themed episode of Flay’s latest battle show.
The program pits two chefs against each other in the first round. They’re given just 20 minutes to come up with a dish, using a mystery main ingredient chosen by the celebrity chef, restaurateur and TV personality. Two celebrity judges taste their plates and choose a winner, who will then go on to battle Flay – with a dish of their choice. Flay is given no warning, and has to put his own unique spin on the chef’s selected food.
Maffucci is the second Connecticut chef to step into the kitchen with Flay this year. In August, Millwright’s chef-owner Tyler Anderson made it to the second round of the competition, challenging the celebrity to a clam chowder battle. Judges chose Flay’s Southwestern-spiced version over Anderson’s tapioca-thickened recipe.
With no advance information about the mystery ingredient in the first round, Maffucci wasn’t able to train specifically for the task. But he spent time in the kitchen, practicing for the constrained 20-minute showdown. “I prepared myself by cooking every morning at 6 a.m., putting time on the clock and cooking whatever I thought would work. Just to get ready for round one,” he said. “I’d go in and prepare a different type of meal, sauce, different flavor profile…bring all of my strategies.”
As it turns out, the first-round mystery ingredient was something he’d actually never used before. “When they say here’s the secret ingredient and you have 20 minutes to make it amazing, they’re not kidding. You wonder how you’re going to react in that situation,” he said. “…I showcased what I can do. Based on my upbringing and my professional career, that’s all you can do is fall back on that.”
Maffucci was able to train for the potential second round, though, in the event that he’d make it through to go up against Flay. But he made sure to pick something that would dazzle.
“You have to be careful about a dish that’s too pedestrian. You have to transform ingredients, be amazing. If it’s boring, it’s not going to make it,” he said. “You’re going against a guy who’s made his living being edgy, someone who’s got a lot of flair and can dress up anything.”
This is Maffucci’s first national television appearance, but he was approached about five years ago to audition for “The Next Food Network Star,” he said. Ultimately, he decided the 12 weeks of taping, which required sequestration, was a commitment he couldn’t make. But a one-day taping of Flay’s competition show was more feasible.
“I’ve never had all this attention, all these people guiding you from one place to the next, 27 cameras on you,” he said. “It was very surreal. One minute you’re cooking in your own kitchen, one minute you’re in New York City.”
On Thursday, Maffucci will host a small “friends and family” gathering at Vito’s By The Park to watch the show, where they’ll find out, along with the rest of America, how he fared in the competition arena. And he’s up for the experience again, should the producers come calling.
“I would like to do more TV; anything to further our brand and bring awareness to what we do,” he said. “It was definitely a great experience. I look forward to any other challenges they throw at me in the future.”
Maffucci’s episode of “Beat Bobby Flay” airs on the Food Network Thursday, Oct. 23, at 10 p.m.
