The Classic Beat Bobby Flay Moment That Embarrasses Bobby Today

Everyone makes mistakes while cooking — even professional chefs on TV. How about the worst dishes we've seen on "Chopped," for example, which include contestants putting salt in a recipe when it actually called for sugar and adding raw, practically inedible lemongrass to a sandwich? As hard as it may be to believe, even the best and most seasoned of chefs have had their share of kitchen mishaps.

Mike Isabella will always relive the "Top Chef" moment when he undercooked leeks in a challenge to create a vegetarian meal for Natalie Portman, a mistake that haunts him to this day. Food Network star Alex Guarnaschelli had a scary accident on "Alex vs. America" when she cut off part of her finger in a battle with a mandoline slicer, a moment she is surely never going to forget. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay, too, is no stranger to making mistakes on camera, but one moment sticks in his mind as particularly cringe-worthy.

Bobby Flay's embarrassing onscreen moments are many, from when he messed up a wedding cake with lopsided layers to his loss of a chicken noodle soup challenge versus an untrained cook. However, these might pale in comparison to his performance on the very first episode of "Beat Bobby Flay" in 2013. Food Network recently posted a video of Flay rewatching and reacting to his now-iconic show's premiere, in which he was tasked with making chicken parm. At the time, he seemed genuinely excited about incorporating a piquillo pepper pesto (instead of the traditional tomato sauce) into his version of the dish.

As Flay watched it backs, he wondered out loud, "Why was I making a pesto for chicken parm?" as he shook his head and hid his face. "I could tell, I really thought this was a good idea," he said while laughing at himself. Flay certainly seemed ashamed of the culinary choice, but if you continue watching the video, you'll see that the sauce wasn't his ultimate downfall. What the judges really disliked in Flay's chicken parm — and what lost him the challenge — was the "overpowering" type of cheese he used, as well as his dish's lack of seasoning compared to his opponent's. Still, Flay humbly relived the experience with a wise perspective, noting how his cooking style has "evolved" in the decade since.