What Does It Take to Beat Bobby Flay? Special Guests Speak Out

No one knows Bobby Flay's cooking quite like his longtime colleagues, which is why they're just the group of special guests to determine which hopeful rivals should be given the chance to defeat the famed Iron Chef. Keep clicking to learn what Michael Symon, Alex Guarnaschelli and others think the competitors should do to be successful against Bobby.

"First of all, I could beat Bobby Flay with one hand tied behind my back and an eye patch," Geoffrey Zakarian says. "People go on the show thinking that they have to cook fancy. My advice is, cook a fried egg. Use just a few ingredients, because if you try to use all of the ingredients, he will kill you."

According to Alex Guarnaschelli, Bobby's competitors need "a real sense of self, a real sense of culinary identity — the courage to kind of put aside the 700 ingredients in the pantry and just make something that's really true to who [they] are."

Fellow Iron Chef and Bobby's close friend Michael Symon advises Bobby's rivals: "Don't be afraid of flavor. And you're not going to intimidate him, so don't worry about doing that."

Jonathan Waxman, one of Bobby's original mentors, notes, "I think it's actually pretty easy. To beat Bobby Flay, don't get complicated. Just don't get complicated … They think they need to over-amp the situation … I think the way to do it is to really zone in and put blinders on and cook the best you can cook within your comfort zone."

"I think they need to have, like, a little rabbit in their hat somewhere. Bobby has plenty of tricks up his sleeve from Iron Chef America competitions, and so you might come [for] Battle Hamburger, but Bobby's bringing an Iron Chef hamburger. And that generally involves some degree of Iron Chef finesse," Justin Warner notes.

"It's a tough question because he's fierce. The guy's fierce," Scott Conant explains about Bobby. "I would say stay in your heart. Focus on flavors and flavor development, and just get your techniques correct."

According to Ted Allen, "Competitors should be really afraid … This is a very specific skill. You're going up against one of the most fierce, talented, competitive cooks on the planet. What do you need to know?" He adds, "Know what you can accomplish that is exciting and excellent fast. What's the key to beating Bobby Flay? Probably being able to control your panic, and being able to focus and concentrate and be aware of what you can do with this ingredient in a short period of time. Good luck."

Aarón Sánchez says, "I think you have to beat him at his own game. I think that's the way to do it. Utilize chiles — the affinities he has toward certain ingredients and flavors. I think that's the way to beat him, 'cause then if you do that better than him, it's so obvious."

"Somebody like me, who has got at least 20 years' cooking experience under her belt, lost by one point to him in Iron Chef America," Amanda Freitag says. "You pretty much have to know every cuisine, every technique in the culinary world, and be able to do it under pressure — and be able to know how to compete like him, and he's got tons of competitive experience."

"Keep it simple. Cook what you know. Aggressively season," Jeff Mauro advises.

"Try to stay calm, cool and collected," Katie Lee Biegel instructs. "And to really work on building flavor, because he always has a lot of layers of flavor, and everything's really deep that he makes."