STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Your weekly restaurant column has been 86’d to honor a reader’s request: she needs to laugh today, not cry in her coffee. Fair enough. The world seems heavy, so let’s lighten it—ideally with a Buono Bakery pastry in hand, or even last night’s Seabass Taverna fish and veggies revived with a poached egg.
A few of you recently asked about when I judged Bobby Flay on Beat Bobby Flay. Picture bright TV lights, a live audience perched above like an amphitheater, and Bobby Flay just steps away doing his unflappable Flay thing while I stand there smiling, trying to take it all in—pearls on, of course.
The episode was shot in 2019 but didn’t air until February 2022. COVID-19 appeared, tilting perspectives sideways, and I’d forgotten about the whole thing until it resurfaced like a slow-cooked memory. It was dubbed Smoove Moves, with sharp-talking comedian JB Smoove and celeb chef Michael Symon stirring up some fun while chefs Mia Castro and Brandon Carter handled the real cooking. Depending on the source, it’s Season 29, Episode 1—or close enough…