The Sweet Story Behind The Dish Named After Bobby Flay's Daughter At Brasserie B - Exclusive

There are lots of dishes that have been named after people by enterprising chefs looking to celebrate someone famous or possibly market on name recognition. Arthur Wellesley, the former Duke of Wellington and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, lends his title to the sumptuous beef wellington, and Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova is honored with a crunchy meringue dessert that is wildly popular in Australia. But, occasionally dishes are named after folks not quite as well known but no less special, relatively at least. Such is the case with a dish on the debut menu of Bobby Flay's new French restaurant Brasserie B, as the celebrity chef told Tasting Table in an exclusive interview.

A love letter to the "bustling brasseries" he loves to frequent in Paris, Brasserie B features a plethora of French classics, but only one dish is named after a person. Featured a la carte on the extensive raw bar menu and on the impressive "Tower Magnifique," the Bay Scallops Sophie are an ode to Flay's daughter, who has an affinity for crustaceans. "Sophie has been a shellfish lover since the day she was born," Flay noted. "I mean, literally, she was eating mussels and clams when she was like six months old. Shellfish is always her thing."

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A Bit Of Flay Flair

The dish features bay scallops served with tangerine, espelette hot sauce, and crunchy garlic. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Flay knows that he rose to fame cooking cuisine influenced by the flavors of the American Southwest, so what is he doing cooking French food? Well, putting aside the fact that Flay, like nearly all Western chefs, has a background and training in French culinary technique, the chef explained to us that he's always been drawn to Paris and French cuisine. And, it's a love affair that he's shared with his daughter.

"When she was 12 years old, the first overseas trip I took her on was actually to Paris," Flay remembered. "She and I, we went to the Louvre, stayed for about 20 minutes, saw the two or three most important things... And then we went and ate all over Paris." The pair likely ate at the famed La Coupole, which Flay called "the most classic French brasserie," and is a spot famous for its stunning raw bar. Just as likely was the absence of the unusual flavor pairings in Bay Scallops Sophie. The toppings are nods to his Southwestern cuisine background. "Basically in every category," said Flay, "there's a sense of me taking a little bit of my own creative license in terms of flavor."

Read the original article on Tasting Table.