Meet the Vegan Chef Who Claimed Victory on Food Network’s ‘Beat Bobby Flay’

In January 2022, the Food Network made background with its initial vegan episode of Beat Bobby Flay— a food preparation competitors reveal that’s gotten on air given that 2013.

Recently, greater than a year after the collection’ inaugural vegan episode, Beat Bobby Flay invited cooks Troy Gardner (chef-owner of Texas-based tender loving care Vegan Coffee Shop) as well as Rachel Klein (chef-owner of Philly’s Miss Rachel’s Cupboard) for the chance to challenge versus star cook as well as host Bobby Flay.

Vegan comic Nikki Glaser as well as star cook Michael Voltaggio were entrusted with evaluating the rivals’ preliminary meals to establish that would certainly advance to round 2 for an opportunity to tackle Flay himself.

Left: Troy Gardner, right: Rachel Klein by Scott Kinkade

In the preliminary of the competitors, Gardner as well as Klein each produced a recipe making use of a secret component chosen by Flay: beetroots. With simply 20 mins on the clock, Gardner chose to develop a beetroot taco covered with tomatillo as well as tomato salsa. However inevitably, it was Klein’s beetroot eco-friendly pasta with zesty beetroot pancetta that showed successful.

After gaining the courts with her Italian recipe, Klein went head to head versus Flay in rounded 2, where she picked the recipe they would certainly each be making: vegan cheesesteaks– a tribute to the city of Philly, Klein’s homebase.

Mushroom meat takes spotlight

For her last recipe, cook Klein rely upon maitake mushrooms for her meaningful alternate. She rounded off her sandwich with a rutabaga as well as cashew cheese sauce, broccoli rabe, spicy tomato jam, as well as crunchy deep-fried onions packed inside Italian rolls.

Klein’s vegan cheesesteak/ Food Network

Flay, also, looked to mushrooms, selecting very finely cut portabello mushrooms instead of meat. The star cook covered his Philly cheesesteak sandwich with caramelized onions, sautéed peppers, cheese sauce used cashews as well as dietary yeast, dairy-free provolone, as well as potato chips all jam-packed within a submarine roll.

This last round was evaluated by Rich Landau (chef-owner of Vedge); cook as well as recipe book writer Nikki Dinki; as well as Chris Cheung (chef-owner of East Wind Treat Store).

” I’m a vegan, as well as I’m from Philly, so this is right up my street,” Landau stated in the episode after sampling cook Kelin’s cheesesteak. Cheung, also, provided Klein’s sandwich a radiant evaluation, mentioning, “I’m a meat-eater from New york city, however I’m actually excavating this vegan sandwich.”

Flay’s vegan cheesesteak/ Food Network

Flay got blended testimonials concerning his cheese sauce as well as his choice to consist of potato contribute his sandwich. Eventually, Klein was crowned the victor, as well as she happily proclaimed, “I simply defeated Bobby Flay.”

Rachel Klein of Miss Rachel’s Cupboard makes background

With her triumph, Klein has actually sealed her area in Food Network background, coming to be the 2nd vegan cook to beat Flay, signing up with Tamearra Dyson of Souley Vegan in her triumph last January.

” It really feels unique,” Klein informs VegNews concerning her win. “I have actually been doing this for as long. I began [Miss Rachel’s Pantry] in 2007, as well as it’s very cool to get to a brand-new target market.”

To plan for the competitors program, Klein was major concerning her training. She saw numerous episodes of Beat Bobby Flay, a passtime she enjoyed as a young person.

” I made an entire checklist of components, whatever I assumed the [round one secret ingredient] can be,” Klein states. From there, she started thinking of the various meals she would certainly use each of the components on her checklist.

” If [the secret ingredient] is mushrooms, perhaps I’ll make a taco, a sandwich, or a crab cake,” Klein remembers. “If it’s a beetroot, perhaps I’ll make it right into pancetta– which I did– or right into baked salmon.

She was gladdened when she learnt more about what the secret component would in fact be. “When they stated it was beetroots, I was so delighted due to the fact that we utilize them so regularly [at Miss Rachel’s Pantry],” she states, calling the origin veggie her very own secret component of kinds.

Food Network

Klein was, nevertheless, reluctant concerning making pasta. “Making pasta was not something I assumed I ought to do,” she describes. “I have actually seen it not succeed with various other candidates.”

Regardless of her unwillingness, she moved on with her choice to make pasta for the courts. Integrating beetroot eco-friendlies– the fallen leaves that expand atop beetroots– right into her pasta contributed to her approach.

Likewise, including the secret component in several methods has actually frequently offered rivals the additional increase they require to win– a factoid Klein discovered while seeing previous episodes as component of her preparation for the program.

Cook Troy Gardner’s Food Network return

Klein’s rival was Gardner, a musician-turned-chef as well as proprietor of tender loving care Vegan Coffee Shop in Richardson, TX.

Gardner himself is familiar with the Food Network. He formerly contended on a vegetarian-themed episode of Man’s Grocery store Gamings, where he was available in 2nd area.

While shooting Beat Bobby Flay, Glasser came close to Gardner, asking the cook if he was vegan himself. In the episode, Gardner states no, as well as starts describing why he still consumes non-vegan food prior to Glasser reduces him off with, “Alright, that’s a genuine back down.”

Thanks To Troy Gardner

When inquired about his diet regimen as well as his choice to run vegan food companies regardless of not consuming completely plant-based himself, Gardner informed VegNews, “The only factor I’m not 100-percent vegan is due to the fact that I’m a vegan cook.”

” In order for me to recreate [dishes] as well as continually expand, I remain open up to maintaining my scheme the very same to make sure that I can in fact recreate products as genuine as feasible,” he states. “I have actually obtained a practical objective of not transforming everyone that goes through the door right into a vegan, however a minimum of making them consume extra vegan food.”

” By having the ability to recreate points as near what they in fact taste like, I believe that it’s ended up being extra reliable,” Gardner states. “I have actually had the ability to sway many individuals that were hesitant [about vegan food].”

The Texas-based cook praises Beat Bobby Flay for remaining to bring veganism right into the mainstream. “Food Network taking these meat-driven programs like Beat Bobby Flay as well as making a vegan episode [will help people] recognize that this is something that’s mosting likely to proceed expanding,” Gardner states.

While the collection has actually been around for a years as well as has actually broadcast 32 periods, the truth that it remains to welcome vegan episodes signifies something larger.

Richie Bowie/ VegNews

For Gardner, Beat Bobby Flay‘s 2nd vegan episode is a sharp comparison from the vegan episode of Man’s Grocery store Gamings he formerly contended in. The 2018 episode focused around vegan food preparation, regardless of host Man Fieri’s wish to movie a vegan episode, because of pushback from the network itself.

” They were frightened to do a [vegan] episode after that, as well as currently, we can openly call it vegan,” Gardner states. “We really did not need to mask it[behind vegetarian] That’s a great deal of development.”