'Abbott Elementary' Star Quinta Brunson Watches Chefs Scramble to 'Beat Bobby Flay'

It’s breakfast time in the Beat Bobby Flay arena. Quinta Brunson, the creator and star of Abbott Elementary, joins chef Michael Voltaggio at the judges’ table to grade some dishes. Quinta starts her day at 4 a.m., and she never skips breakfast. With a filming schedule like that, by the time she’s hungry for lunch, most people are just having breakfast.

“I want waffles!” she exclaims.

Rolling in Sourdough

The first contender, chef Devan Cunningham, is a Chopped champion from Phoenix, Arizona, who specializes in soul food. He steps into the arena and crushes an egg in his palm. (In this economy, crushing one egg is equivalent to six mortgage payments.) The next contender, chef Justin Jacobs, served as an executive chef of Meander Riverside Eatery, a farm-to-table restaurant in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. He jogs out of the smoke and crushes a cup with Bobby Flay’s face on it. Less salmonella, but just as menacing.

Bobby approaches the middle of the ring and reveals a thick boule of sourdough from behind his back. The chefs have 20 minutes to make sourdough the star of the dish.

Devan slathers some mascarpone on the sourdough for his mascarpone-stuffed French toast with a golden raisin-rum syrup, deglazing plump golden raisins with dark rum.

Meanwhile, Justin chars his bread on a grill grate. He’s making an egg hash with kimchi and chorizo in a sourdough bread sauce. Justin extracts kimchi juice for his hash by pressing the fermented cabbage against a strainer. The juice adds heat and funk to the hash, as well as some acidity that pairs with the smokiness of the bread sauce.

Who’s Going to School Bobby?

Michael Voltaggio opens the judges’ table with a powerful sentiment: “Beating Bobby is really, really important to me because … he gets to watch me lose occasionally and I just want him to feel how I feel sometimes.” I’m sure that Bobby’s fallen opponents share that same passion.

Quinta and Michael cut through Devan’s thick piece of French toast.

“It’s not as sweet as I thought it was going to be, and that’s a positive,” Quinta exclaims. “However, the flavors feel like they’re competing a bit in what is a very light-tasting dish.”

Justin’s sourdough hash with soft scrambled eggs, kimchi hot sauce and chorizo hit all of the savory marks you expect to receive in a traditional breakfast plate. However, the char on the bread sauce overpowered the dish.

Devan wins the round and gets to challenge Bobby.

Rolling Up for the Exam

Devan proposes a breakfast burrito battle, playing into Bobby’s specialty.

Bobby decides on a “Christmas burrito,” which includes a red and green chili sauce. "In the state of New Mexico, the most asked question is, do you want red or green [chiles]?" he says. "When you want both, you ask for Christmas."

“I got a gift for you, Bobby,” grins Devan.

“A Christmas present?”

“Yep. I got an ‘L’ for you.”

As Bobby slices avocados for his burrito, Michael hooks a child leash to his belt loop, and Quinta delights her way to Bobby’s station for a pop quiz.

“Which hemisphere is Rome in?”

“How many syllables are there in 'Calabrian chiles'?”

“What US president famously hated broccoli?”

Wrapping It Up

Devan’s burrito includes crispy hash browns, homemade chicken sausage, American cheese, mashed avocado and a fire-roasted salsa. He folds the burrito and sears it to get a nice color and crisp that pairs well with the hash browns.

Bobby assembles his breakfast burrito, starting with crème fraîche-scrambled eggs, cheese, avocado, a splatter of red chili sauce, bacon, shallots and thin potato chips for crunch. Lastly, he smears the red and green chili sauces on the plate with a crumble of cotija cheese.

Judge Sarah Schneider, founder of Egg Shop, loves the crispiness of Devan's tortilla and the hash browns. “The fact that I got a hash brown in there? Winner for me.” Judge Nikki Dinki, founder and executive chef of Sprinkle and Sprout, also loves the addition of the hash brown but finds the eggs underseasoned. Judge Chris Scott, a chef, author and filmmaker who has competed in Tournament of Champions, highlights the sauce, calling it "the star" of the dish.

The judges swipe Bobby’s burrito through the red and green chili sauces. They love the crispy flattened burrito, the eggs and the bacon. It’s easy to dive into, and the flavors pair well. However, there is not enough cotija on the plate.

After some deliberation, the judges come to a decision. It’s not unanimous. The winner is: Bobby.

Devan might’ve brought Bobby to the class, but sadly, he couldn’t school him. "I feel let down, but I showed who I am throughout this whole competition," he said. "Y'all should come see for yourself." We'll let you know when class registration opens.