>> with the right ingredients, sizzling businesses. >> anybody can do this. >> tv shows, restaurants, and cook books. these larger than life eatinglity of have made a multimillion dollar industry. we gathered at a classic new york city restaurant.

up, mario battali. he made his splash in new york and now is known around the world for his restaurants and personality. >> next, rachel ray. growing up in her family's restaurant business, she turned her concept for 30 minute meals into an empire. and yet the him you award- winning host is too humble to take credit, calling her career happy accident. bobby flay says being a chef was not cool when he went to the culinary institute but he changed all that in the early 1990s, becoming a food network star. he is still not afraid of hard work, even eyeing a run for office.

he uses his success to help , helping the world's hungry find a place at the table. >> welcome to titans at the table. thank you so much for joining us. let me start with this question. i think it was an irish immigrant who came here and bought the restaurant and then expanded it. when you look at your own businesses, do you want to say it will be around for over 100 years? >> we have already outlived our original plan. we did not have a finish are even a dream of a finish.

i love the idea, but that would be four or five generations. there you preparing business for that possibility? >> what, you made a mistake? >> they are not really valuable as an expandable chain. have 21 to choose from, you can choose from those 21. >> it has to be the casual concept for us. >> how about you, bobby? when you build your business is, do you think about for the next fifth years?

>> i wasn't thinking about anything except the next weekend. i just wanted to build the restaurant that i always wanted to build. a big restaurant, and had a lot of energy to it. it had a lot of big flavors to it and i was able to accomplish that. it just evolved because it is important to continue to evolve your concept without changing it. hardest thing i have had to put a stop to is all my cooks are always watching what the next food trend is. that.'t need to do shoots made the cover of the new york times, i picked the focus which is

contemporary, american southwest. i wanted to be the very best at that. when you crave that food when you are sitting at home trying to decide where to eat in you --l like having something that was my focus only. >> we were rallying against those restaurants. we wanted to be independent and do our own thing. certainly when i was 26 i was thinking along those lines. i was not thinking 20 years in the future. >> when i started cooking, i had no idea. we did not have a model for young, american chefs doing that

kind of thing. a cooking job was the last thing you did. lowest common denominator. everybody could wash dishes. >> when i told my parents i wanted to cook, they had visions of me sitting with a cigarette hanging out of my mouth, starring the pot. >> what would you say was your big rate through moment? >> my life has been a series of happy accidents. i enjoy working really, really hard. i enjoy many plates in the air. i think bobby hit on something i think is very important.

you want to get a sense of yourself. you have to know what you do .ell, what you offer i had no designs or ideas of being on television. i had a pickup truck and a great job. any job and food makes me happy. i love restaurants. i have wanted to get back into restaurants myself for years. i don't sit down with a piece of paper and say i want something that's going to be around for 100 years. i want to stay true to the brands we have built over the years. >> our job is to provide you with the confidence.

annoy you when someone says bobby flay is a tv star, he is not a real chef? ♪

>> define your brand in three words. >> can do. anything that has my name on it or that we touch as a group, can do is definitely our goal. i choose the ones that i would hope would be associated with my brand, that would be authentic. >> i like that. , american, and grilling. when it gets warmer in the northeast, people look for cooking ideas and tips. >> making people happy.

>> it's all about sharing. you have to cook before you ever eat. >> we can say we cook, we make delicious food, we do all these things, but if people are happy, you are successful. >> there is value at the $100 entrée and value at two dollars. yes, yes, no. that is how they decide when they will go back. people make as heroes and all this stuff. you have some very exquisite restaurants in new york that are difficult to get into, but you also try to make yourself accessible to the average american.

we are not going to be talking from the top of some vaulted the. we look at every single person that wants to learn how to grill, that already knows how to grill. we share directly across the table. >> has there ever been a , theren within yourself is a risk of compromising the your restaurants, of your brand? , wet's one of those things have grown up in a time where food has become very important in this country finally. us that own restaurants have been owning them for a long time.

our restaurants are at least $75 a person. you had to think about going there and spending your money. longe like rachel have, and brought the rest of the world into good food at home and also at the right price point. how canat that and say we do this as well? we don't eat at four-star restaurants every night. that wanted to keep making money and stay in -- that's one of the very few silver linings of the economic depression. special offers to get people into those type of restaurants.

we have the burger bash every year. it is a pretty serious throwdown competition. i don't think those things are mutually exclusive. you can enjoy every type of food, including a hamburger. >> i have turned down a lot of things. >> you are not worried about a skeleton in the closet? ♪

>> how would you describe mario's brand? >> it is bigger than life. always ready to feed people and always up for fun. he is a focused fisherman.

he chooses things carefully, he is smart about it, delicious his passion is on his sleeve all the time. >> how would you describe rachel's brand? >> she is incredibly focused. everybody here, i am a fan of all of theirs. with has done so much young people. i love watching him talk to kids with as much effect as any other grown up or person -- he doesn't just do stuff for the cameras. >> he is the same on camera as off? >> there was a homemaker teacher -- home ec teacher in

philadelphia. we only shot for a few minutes. the cameras were off, and he approached them and advise them. of you are big brands but you also endorse products. you sell products as well. kohl's.you partner with >> the first thing i designed for the kitchen is an oval spaghetti pot. you look all sweaty before you have even done anything. all of the stoneware and the worked with the corporation to produce those things. put your name behind them, you want to make sure.

>> they are all practical. he goes back to what mario said. >> a lot of chefs will have a market good gets somewhere in china, they will bring them back and put their name on them. people out lot of there you can see on qvc on a regular basis. they are doing it because it is the quick way to capitalize. willone at this table agree that is a fast, easy way to get money. turned down a lot of things. i have turned down most things. want us to get into the wine business, the commercial olive oil business,

all kinds of things you can put your name on that aren't , but ifily a bad idea you want to manage your brand in the long run, the high quality that you assume it's got to be. >> younger people who come to me for advice or just starting to get to that point where they have opportunities. i always say you are in a great position, there will be lots of opportunities. if you start making a lot of bad becomens, it's going to part of that brand and it might not be the best brand. i'm not going to take you what brands i've said no to, but i say no all the time. restaurant chains, and when i say lucrative, i'm talking about life-changing opportunities, but you have to check your gut. your gut knows if it doesn't feel right, and you just have to walk a rate -- walk away.

down diet coke. i sell it in all my restaurants. if you walk into my restaurants and order a diet coke, you get a diet coke. >> i have said no to tomato sauce, frozen dinners. i have said no to lots of stuff. >> you cannot focus on negative energy. >> it takes you 20 years to build a brand.

>> you all are celebrities in your own right. there are celebrities in hollywood who are trying to get into the food is this. -- the food business. gwyneth paltrow, eva longoria, justin timberlake, all these folks. what do you think of these celebrities trying to get into your business?

>> fairplay. >> it just creates more awareness in general for the industry. if someone like jay-z is involved in a restaurant, i was just talking to mario before we set down and i said technically, he is your partner. cool.k that is pretty when you listen to his music, he talks about food all the time. >> he's not going to build a jay-z cheesecake place. was going to get into the computer business, i would probably call apple or dell, not my brothers cousins grandfather. the smart business people are obviously paying attention in doing that, and other people are trying to capitalize. it is like putting your sticker on commercial but that someone buys in china. there is less longevity in putting your sticker on

something you don't really understand. >> it's more than about just having capital, it is more complicated than that. >> a lot of people want a piece of it. >> that is the coolest thing. is noauty is that there entrance fee. you can come in and cook anytime you want, and our job is to provide you with the confidence you can go at it and follow a recipe book or a cooking segment or just follow you on page six. there is a whole vicarious pleasure to eating and preparing delicious food. the average person has a strange understanding of food. billing?top

you don't expect the conductor to jump down in the pit and pick up a violin and start playing. the chefs write the music. we are not actually cooking. cooks cook. .e write the menus we write the recipes. it is our way of setting up the executing,d we are but we are not in their playing the fiddle every night. >> when you get to be a rant as big as all of you, how do you ensure the restaurants are using the kind of food that you want -- producing the kind of food ?hat you want >> you have to check your ego at the door. >>f you are convinced you are the only one they can do it.

being of the things about a chef is being the coach of the team, being the supervisor and being the last word on what that will taste like and how it gets executed, make sure they don't take shortcuts. make sure they are checking for seasoning. >> you hire everybody that is going to produce your food? >> i do. i have chefs who answer to me every single day in each one of my kitchens. places so itger would be impossible for me to hire every single person. we still train the cooks with proper techniques. the same technique, fundamentals we would train somebody in a high-end restaurant. after?did you model that

>> i have very little formal training in terms of school. as you know, i did not graduate high school. i dropped out when i was in ninth grade. i had to get my equivalency diploma to go to culinary school. i learned from living, living life. the only way i could figure out how to do it is to do it practically and figure out how to get it done. the only way i knew how to get it done then is the same way i get it done today, which is to never rest on your laurels, make sure that people do the fundamentals every day. i walk around the kitchens. i do not spend a lot of time fixing really fancy sauces. the thing i say more than anything else is, did you season it on both sides with salt and pepper? it is the fundamentals. a good basketball coach will tell you the same thing. put the ball down. i do not want to see if you can shoot. i want to see if you can dribble with both hands. i take the same approach as a coach in my kitchens. >> i want you to construct a dish using cherry coke. >> yes, please. >> "iron chef" -- i've done 80 of them. >> we are looking for another way to go here. ♪ >> you are all tv stars.

and all of you started loving food, started as chefs. what is it like now to be television stars?

people see you as chefs, but they also see you as a television star. >> it is really good 80% of the time and it is not very interesting 20% of the time. if i am sitting there with my kids and i want to have a nice breakfast, i have sold a part of that down the tubes because i have agreed to meet the customers. i like it. it is fun. it is fun to be popular. it always was. i don't know this from high school, i learned later on. [laughter] but there is a lot of good to it, and the little bit that is bad about it -- if you do not want to talk to your customers, you should be home. don't go out there and treat them with anything other than respect. it takes you 20 years to build a brand and three bad days to wreck the entire thing. if you do not feel like engaging in a positive way, you should try to stay out of their way. >> do you like those cooking competitions, those game shows that you have been part of and

you have judged? >> yeah, otherwise i wouldn't do them. i do not apologize for anything i do. i did a show on nbc called "america's next great restaurant" that lasted for only one season, but i had a great time doing it. we went through the process of trying to find somebody to create a new business. i have done five years of "throwdown." tom does "top chef." it is part of our culture now that competition is in food and i love it. "iron chef" -- i have done 80 of them. i love doing "iron chef" because i do not have to talk to anyone. i can just cook. it's actually kind of nice. >> what do you think viewers get out of it? what do americans get out of a competition like that? >> it's voyeurism. they are rooting. they want to see what happens at the end. they obviously pick a side at some point. they want you to win or lose, and that is what holds the viewer. >> the competition exists because the tv people know that there is something called stickiness. if there is no reason to stay to the end of the show, you will not sell your advertising.

there is the payoff at the end they are relying on to keep the viewer watching. that is self-perpetuating. we are looking for another way to go and it still will be reality competition shows for some time. >> does it annoy you when someone says, ah, bobby flay, he's a tv star, he is not a real chef? >> does anybody say that? >> people say it all the time about all of us. >> i would say that most of the consumers would not say that. what we hear mostly are people who are in our business, our contemporaries, and i think a lot of it stems from jealousy. i know a ton of people who said to me i cannot believe you're doing television when it all first started. and mario can talk about this as well. they sent their tapes and everyone is on television. it is amazing. >> rachael, what is your relationship like with the network? >> i have a great relationship. our daytime syndicated show is partners with scripps, parent company to food network and cooking channel. i work largely with the same people all throughout my year. i film the daytime show from

september to may. we do 180 episodes of that. then during the summer i do the food network and cooking channel projects. there are the same people who come back and forth with me to those places. it feels like family to me. i've been on food network about a dozen years. i like that continuity. >> those competition shows -- and i'm not talking about "top chef" itself, but some people believe those shows are rigged. >> let them believe it. who cares? >> we can't focus on negative energy. >> the one thing we can't do is waste a lot of energy trying to get everybody to believe that we are putting on something that is real. it is exhausting. those people are watching, too, so we invite them in. it's ok. if you want to watch -- >> conspiracy theories sell lots of books. >> exactly. >> one of the things i want to do is our own sort of recipe challenge. i want to have you construct a dish for a frequent guest on my program, someone that many people know in america.

mario, let me start with you. lloyd blankfein is someone we have had on bloomberg television quite often. i want you to construct a dish you would cook for the goldman sachs ceo with new york hot dogs. bobby flay, don thompson is someone i know well. he is the ceo of mcdonald's. i want you to construct a dish for him -- >> no problem. >> using the sweet-and-sour sauce at mcdonald's. >> ok. >> tom colicchio, warren buffett is someone i have talked to quite often. he loves cherry coke. so, i want you to construct a dish using cherry coke. >> sure, i'm the coke guy, right? great. >> you signed that deal, buddy. >> rachael, i will give you a bit of a curveball. elon musk is a billionaire, founder of tesla, the electric carmaker. >> those are really cool. they are very cute. >> he is south african. so, a south african beef jerky. i want you to construct a dish

using beef jerky. mario, you've had a second to think about it. what would you make lloyd blankfein? >> first of all, i would chop one of the hot dogs -- do i get more than one hot dog? i would chop one of them up and dredge it with flour and salt and pepper and some cayenne and make it nice and crispy and hot. i would take the other one, i would butterfly it open until it was flat, dredge in flour and bread crumbs. i would make a hotdog schnitzel and serve it with a crispy hotdog salsa. >> nice. >> yes, please. >> i'm up for that. bobby? >> he is the ceo of mcdonald's, you said? i'm not going to try to serve him a hamburger. i think mcdonald's could use a little more vegetables in its life. so, i will use the sweet-and-sour sauce and i will do a roasted cauliflower, agua dulce, sort of sweet and sour with some red chilies and put it in an earthenware dish, and put it in an oven and roast it. there you go.

>> sounds good. tom? >> a midwest guy, he probably likes beef. so, let's braise some short ribs with cherry coke and let's cut that sweetness with a lot of vinegar. >> rachael? >> i do make a great homemade beef jerky i make for my family every year and i give it to all the dads in my family. has a lot of worcestershire, juniper, beer, soy. so, i could make my homemade batch of jerky. or you could bring the jerky back to life, make a burger and stack it on it like a bacon cheeseburger, but a jerky cheeseburger. >> that sounds good. >> if elected officials aren't going to get behind this, they should be labeled pro hunger. >> we should be thinking about bugs. let's start getting used to it. >> eating bugs. >> i cannot even imagine the idea of it. >> we'd need a lot more rose. >> bring on the rose. ♪ >> tom, you have just executive

produced a film called "a place at the table." >> fantastic film, by the way. >> talking all about how to get kids to eat healthier and how to get the government to care about it. why can't we get proper food into our kids?

who do you blame? >> that's a very complex question. i don't know if we have enough time to address everything. >> as opposed to blame, what can we do? >> it's actually not all bad news. the health and hunger-free child act was the first increase -- not enough, but it was the first increase -- >> that is criticized in tom's film. >> i criticize that. >> and i agree. >> the president asked for $10 billion. it gets ordered down to $8 billion, then it gets down to $4.5 billion, and they take half the money from snap. >> i cannot understand why both sides of the aisle would not have come together on all of the money that was granted -- >> hunger issues and obesity issues cost the country $110 billion a year. if you factor in lack of productivity, it's $176 billion a year. you would think you would want to address that whatever side of the aisle you're on. >> it does not make sense. >> why aren't lawmakers listening? >> because no one is asking them. hunger and food is not a voting issue. it's not like second amendment rights or reproduction rights. and so, no one is out there advocating for people. there are 50 million americans who are food insecure.

if all of a sudden they became a voting bloc, people would listen. >> if you watch the movie, it outlines very clearly the problems we have in the legislature but also in the home. people are choosing salty, fatty carbohydrates because they have been sold those. they are the cheapest. so, you are gettings something to eat. but the funniest thing, along with the obesity, there is malnutrition. big people are malnourished. they are not healthy. >> but again, why? we have farm subsidies, $20 billion a year, and 85% is going to corn, wheat, and soy, all these products that go into fast food or highly-processed foods. we are only subsidizing dairy and livestock to the tune of 15% and fruits and vegetables 1%. >> what about the horsemeat scandal? i want to get your thoughts on that. >> bobby's comment on that one. you're a horse guy. >> that's right, you own some thoroughbred horses. >> i do. obviously, as an american, i cannot imagine the idea of it. i know in other countries, it is

commonplace, but not for here. >> i do not know. when you're looking at a shortage of protein, why are we not looking at the sources of protein? >> because those kind of animals are expensive to grow as a protein source. we should start thinking about bugs. let's just start getting used to it. there's an infinite supply. bugs are definitely the future of protein if we are going to feed a growing planet. transferring grass through an animal to make it bigger so that you can get some kind of return on protein is a very inefficient system. >> it is a new pizza topping, grasshoppers. >> i am not against it. >> crunchy. >> right. >> you travel all over the world and you have experimented with these types of proteins. >> i've eaten bugs. >> in china, we eat chicken feet. it is a delicacy. are americans food snobs because they won't touch certain kinds of meat? >> i don't think that's snobbery. >> it's culture. it is fear, ignorance.

if you have something that is delicious not knowing what it is, and you find out what it is, odds are it is not going to bother you that much. one of the things about teaching children not to be so picky is to cook it with them. >> if they have ownership of it, they want to try it. they put their own time and effort and they're proud when their family sits down together, so they want to try it, too. >> i always hear the stories about parents feeding their kids a different meal than the parents. >> you don't agree with the whole separate children's menu at restaurants? >> absolutely not. ridiculous. >> all of our food is children's food that happens to be adult-friendly. what kid does not want to eat spaghetti? >> i hear a rumor that you may be interested in running for mayor of new york. >> the envelope, please. >> we got five guys already lined up. >> i'm going to work very hard to make tom colicchio president of the united states. >> thank you. >> i have never been more jealous than when i walked into that place. you guys killed it. ♪ >> this has been a great

meal. i want to ask what is next for each of you. bobby, i hear a rumor that you may be interested in running for mayor of new york? >> who are you going to bribe for that one? the envelope, please. >> we have five guys already lined up. >> wow. i thought you were going to ask me something else. i am opening a new

restaurant. [laughter] >> i know that. you can talk about that, too. >> i am a native new yorker. i am proud to be a native new yorker and i love new york so much. it has been a wonderful place for me, a wonderful stage for me to be on. everybody at this table is really passionate about things. i am passionate about new york. i think that at some point in my life, i could be helpful in the political arena. i do not know when that would be. i do not know what position. people say mayor to me. people say i might run for office one day. who knows? >> you are open. >> i'm open, sure. >> you're not worried about a skeleton or two in the closet? >> i'm going to put the skeletons on the table day one. i don't care about that. one thing that we all have in common -- >> skeletons? >> not only do we have skeletons, we are used to being hit on in the press. at this point, we are numb to it. >> everything anybody needs to

know about bobby flay is already out there? >> totally. absolutely. do you have something i don't know? if you have something to make me more interesting, bring it out. >> tell us about the restaurant. >> i had a spanish restaurant for 15 years called bolo. it closed about five years ago. they knocked the building down when my lease was up. i'm going to open a restaurant. it's not going to be called bolo. i made a decision that bolo lived and died for 15 years. it will be in the spirit of bolo. the thrust will be spanish but i will utilize as much of the mediterranean as i feel comfortable with. i love those ingredients. >> i have a name for you. lobo. >> i'm sure lawrence would like that. [laughter] >> more bobby's burger palaces? >> i have 14 bobby's burger palaces. we will build four or five more this year. >> you are opening up in bridgehampton, right? what are your hopes for it?

>> that is busy and profitable and people love it. >> you are going on a cruise, is that right, for "top chef"? >> yes. [laughter] >> what a joy. and all the positive press cruises have been getting, who knows what's going to happen? >> we might have planned that before some of the latest news stories. >> we are opening a restaurant in las vegas in july at the mirage hotel. >> what is it? >> heritage steak. i am busy raising children and running restaurants. >> trying to change the world? >> trying to change the world a little at a time. >> rachael, what about you? >> i am going to work hard to make tom colicchio president of the united states so we get more money for children's school food. >> thank you. >> and i will spend any day off that i get for that working on the campaign for bobby flay for mayor. >> i just want to come to the restaurant, don't worry about the other part. >> no, because that is what i have to do to support mario, my good friend. i have to spend the other 21 nights i have off at his restaurants so that he can decide where he's taking his career next and which one gets to be the chain. >> there you go. >> i am dedicated to getting up every day and trying harder at all the things i am blessed to have the opportunity to do.

i didn't plan it so far, so i am going to stick to that plan. >> would you be happy if you were doing this for the next five years? >> this is really, like, four or five different things for me. >> this for five years -- >> i'm not sure you could take it. we need a lot more rose. >> we will open a couple of eataly's. the first one, next up is in chicago. >> amazing concept. >> fantastic. >> i have never been more jealous than when i the first time i walked into that place. you guys killed it. >> thank you. we're proud of it. it is an honor to be able to associate ourselves with the italian food culture in such a way that it just feels great. anyone who walks ain can be italian if they want. >> what was the key to that success? >> the originator of the idea came up with this because it was all the things he is passionate about. italians love the food --

whatever their mom or aunt made growing up, or their grandma, or anyone in their family. so, it is generally about the flavor of the wind on the hill closest to your house. he grew up in the area where they made this wine. he wasn't a rich kid, but he worked hard and really made this great idea. and celebrating all of his favorite things to eat was what that store was about, and more than just the food, the information and the ideology behind it. he is about slow food. it was all about not fast production. it was about pure, traditional flavors of italy. when they brought it here, a lot of the things people had never seen. we bring our own production into america. you will not find a lot of products on the shelf anywhere else. it feels good. there is exclusive products. the price point to walk in there is free, and you can get something to eat for $2. it is a really happy concept. it works really well for a lot of people. >> on that note, i want to say cheers. thank you very much for joining

me on this edition of "titans at the table." ♪