In Thursday night’s action-packed episode of Foods Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, Pensacola chef James Briscione proved his put in the culinary scene on national tv by championing a prepare dinner-off among superstar Iron chef Bobby Flay.
Briscione, initially introduced by the judges for his title of People’s sexiest chefs alive, was paired with one particular of Flay’s fierce competitors for the title of Iron Chef, chef Sue Torres out of Vero Beach front, Florida.
“I know you are the two below to get to me, of program,” Flay explained to the cooks on the show. “But before that takes place, you have to go by way of each individual other.”
Briscione to appear on Beat Bobby Flay:Angelena’s Govt Chef James Briscione to contend on Meals Network’s ‘Beat Bobby Flay’
Chef James Briscione lead Angelena’s:Long-awaited Angelena’s cafe announces opening date
With guava remaining the key ingredient of Flay’s deciding upon for the to start with round, the cooks acquired to work building sweet and savory taste pairings that would showcase the tropical fruit.
Briscione eventually triumphed over Torres and advanced to the 2nd spherical with praise from the judges for his fried goat cheese salad served with guava bourbon jam and pickled guava vinaigrette, all built inside of in a 20-moment time body. As a reward, Briscione selected the dish to make towards very esteemed Flay.
Briscione has acquired himself a track record domestically for his by-hand Italian cooking solutions at Angelena’s Ristorante Italiano, so it was no surprise to Pensacola locals that Briscione chose tortellini.
“Bobby’s stepping into my planet now, and I assure these arms have manufactured hundreds of a lot more hrs of pasta than he (Flay) has ever even considered about,” Briscione stated on the present.
With 45 minutes allotted on the clock for the 2nd round, Flay chose to go with a seafood-forward styling of the ravioli-like pasta, settling on a shrimp tortellini with a shellfish and Calabrian chili sauce with saffron and anchovy breadcrumbs and a filling of shrimp, scallops, crème fraiche, chives and tarragon.
Briscione strayed considerably from the traditional Italian roots of the dish by bringing in the regional aptitude of the South. He concocted a crawfish tortellini stuffed with andouille sausage bathed in a crawfish sauce, served with charred corn and brown butter.
Irrespective of his hard level of competition, Briscione exuded confidence, enthusiasm and self esteem hyping up his group, even carrying out the worm dance on the concrete studio ground throughout filming.
“I’ve finished a million factors in the culinary world,” Briscione explained on the clearly show. “I’m the very first ever two-time winner on Chopped, I have written four cookbooks and as a judge on this display….I know what it normally takes to take Bobby down.”
The two offered their vastly various tortellini interpretations in a blind style examination ahead of a refreshing set of judges.
Nevertheless the flavors have been there for Flay, it was his formation of the noodles that unsuccessful to evaluate up to Briscione. Flay received criticism from the judges on the toughness of the pasta and lack of filling, whilst Briscione’s system shined in comparison.
The flavors stayed real to the design and style he arrived in proclaiming to have, mixing Italian cooking with the “comforting, spicy flavors of the American south.”
Briscione was not only equipped to get paid esteem from his young ones seeing at property, but also a packed viewing celebration at Angelena’s and viewers all across the place.
“My young children really like viewing Bobby Flay,” Briscone stated on the exhibit. “They believe he’s the finest particular person at any time to wander the confront of the Earth. And I preserve attempting to persuade them their dad’s not lousy either.”
The prolonged highway to victory
Briscione explained he fell in really like with producing pasta as a teen right after participating in about with a passed down pasta maker from his grandmother.
Now running as an govt chef in an Italian kitchen of his own, Briscione works palms-on each and every working day, very carefully and promptly forming the night’s entrees amongst his fingertips like muscle memory.
Working his way up as a teenage dishwasher in Jubilee Oyster Bar & Grille to now a head chef in Pensacola 20 yrs later on, Briscione has not dropped his insatiable hunger for self-improvement and striving for perfection.
It was at Jubilee where Briscione said he fell in enjoy with the comradery and society of the kitchen area, so a lot so he deserted his path in athletics drugs to pursue a vocation in the culinary arts full-time.
It wasn’t an simple route and expected using his spare time to discover each individual added ability that he could soak in. He picked up weighty influences of Southern-type cooking doing work at some of the most highly regarded places to eat in Birmingham, Alabama, education under cooks who advocated for his probable to go further more.
He recalls exhibiting up early in the morning ahead of his change to discover how to make pastries and staying up late looking at borrowed textbooks from his buddies in culinary school until officially “earning it” as a head chef in New York Metropolis.
“I preferred to have an understanding of everything…it’s my organic disposition,” Briscione explained.
Now at the peak of his career, he is unable to sit again and check out driving the scenes, but is constantly searching for methods to exercising his creativeness in the kitchen and provide new aspects to the menu.
Experimental pasta flavors, these types of as individuals that surface on Angelena’s rotating pasta menu, are a way for him to go back to the drawing board and lean into inspiration.
In addition to the dishes he prepares himself at Angelena’s, he is also continuously education and equipping his workforce to grow to be masters of their have stations.
His group features like a perfectly-oiled device, a flow and symmetry that he said is what he is most happy of considering the fact that opening Angelena’s in 2019.
“Truly, it’s all those guys back again there,” Briscione mentioned, gesturing towards the Angelena’s kitchen. “When we to start with commenced, we did not have a cohesive team that’s passionate and talented like they are now. It reveals in the guest encounter. The group we’ve crafted back again there, we have now created that room.”
Even as Briscione continues to climb the ladder of superstar chef position, Briscione reported placing roots down in Pensacola running Angelena’s and raising his young children together with wife and wine director Brooke Parkhurst, is extra than adequate.
If you missed it, you could even now catch season 9, episode 10 of Defeat Bobby Flay titled “Don’t Be Nice” featuring Briscione on the Meals Network. If seeking to check out to duplicate a Briscione recipe oneself, you can also observe along on his movie tutorials on the Food Network application.
All through the month of March, the restaurant’s a few-class pasta tasting menu will also characteristic a special recipe motivated by Briscione’s time on the “Beat Bobby Flay” present. The tasting can be purchased on your own for $49 or with wine pairings for $79.
Angelena’s is open up from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday as a result of Saturday. Beginning March 21, the cafe will open up at 4 p.m. Reservations can also be created on the net as a result of the Angelena’s website and Facebook web site.