Last night was a blast, I made my way over to meet Bobby Flay.  I wish I could have said that he cooked some amazing dinner for us at one of his NYC restaurants, but no, this was a simple book signing at Borders to kick off his new book,Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook.  Still, I will take what I can get.   I was way excited, which you can definitely tell by this picture.

Bobby had an approachable, friendly and easy-going attitude when he talked about regional food and his culmination of recipes from his restaurant Mesa Grill, which makes up this cookbook.  I shot out a question that I have always wanted to know, "Do you know the secret ingredient on Iron Chef before the show starts, so that you can prepare?"  He spilled the beans at this point and said that after the show starts and the secret ingredient is announced, there is about 5-7 minutes to recalibrate the cameras and they can talk menu a bit more.  He did say that he comes prepared to shows with a set menu in mind, depending on what dish it is; he shoots to just insert the secret ingredient. 

Bobby also recounted a hilarious time in his life when he decided to take on the original Iron Chef Japan.  This first time ever appearing as an Iron Chef, Bobby almost got his hand chopped off by a blender, got electrocuted by water at his feet and was standing on a sacred cutting board (big no! no! in Japan).  Hilarious! 

I got in one final question during the book signing and I asked about his favorite restaurant is in the US of A.  His answer, Daniel Boulud's Daniel in NYC.  I will have to hit that up on my next trip, along with Mesa Grill!