Elvis Duran: 30 Years of the Morning Show, What's Next & NYC Food Favorites + Bobby Flay's Pantry Tour

Summary

Bobby on the Beat – “Elvis Duran: 30 Years of the Morning Show, What's Next & NYC Food Favorites + Bobby Flay's Pantry Tour”

Host: Bobby Flay
Guest: Elvis Duran
Date: March 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively and candid episode, Bobby Flay welcomes radio legend Elvis Duran for a wide-ranging talk about Elvis’s three-decade morning radio career, their mutual love of food (especially chicken parm), reflections on personal life and public personas, and a detailed look at Bobby’s own kitchen pantry. The conversation is full of warmth, humor, and the kind of real talk that shows both men behind their well-known public images.
Key themes include authenticity in media, changing restaurant and radio landscapes, personal relationships, and of course, their shared passion for New York City’s food scene.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. How Friendship and Food Intersect

• On their first meeting:
  • Elvis and Bobby reminisce about bonding over chicken parm. Bobby describes making his “Parmigiano” version (04:11–06:31) for Elvis, focusing on texture and cheese quality.

    "We really make it about the cheese... The sauce is on the bottom, so you still have the crispiness." — Bobby Flay (04:27–04:44)

  • Elvis jokes:

    "When I was a kid and I needed discipline from my mom, I wish she'd spanked me with a chicken parm." (03:37)

2. The Human Side of Celebrity

• Authenticity and navigating the public eye:

  • Bobby asks about the power of positivity and avoiding clickbait, with Elvis replying,

    "We're in the friendship business... If I could just bend their mind for a minute and make them happy, make them laugh...they feel the love." (16:58–17:35)

  • Elvis explains why he sometimes delves into guests’ personal lives:

    “If I know your story...you're a real human that breathes and lives...That makes your food taste different." (08:38–09:13)

• Public versus private self:

  • Bobby wonders why tabloids focus on his relationships:

    "Why do people care about who I'm dating? I mean, seriously, like, it's not that interesting..." (09:38–10:19)

  • Elvis reassures:

    "You live a life like the rest of us with imperfections — that makes everything on this plate taste different." (10:19)

3. Elvis Duran’s Radio Craft & Team

• The show’s energy and team roles:
  • Elvis gives an inside look at his staff’s jobs and the chaos behind morning radio:

    "Every person has a job there besides being a character on the show...Without [Scary], the ten-headed monster can't operate." (13:11–13:32)

• The “no plan” plan:
  • On prepping shows:

    "I don't want to serve leftovers. These are leftovers from my mind. The next day is a fresh new day." (12:55–13:06)

4. Podcasting and the Changing Media Landscape

• Digital competition:
  • Elvis on holding listeners despite today’s commercial-free world:

    "We are still following a format...from the 1950s...Holding on to an audience...is challenging, but we still have them because we're offering something you can't get off of Spotify." (16:22–16:53)

  • Bobby and Elvis discuss the rise of YouTube/TikTok for learning to cook vs. old-school TV:

    "Basically, people are learning how to cook on YouTube and TikTok and Instagram. They're not learning how to cook on linear television. They're being entertained on linear television." — Bobby Flay (38:31–38:45)

5. Personal Growth and Trust

• On fatherhood and being softened by relationships:
  • Bobby reflects on his relationship with daughter Sophie:

    "Softened my edges, for sure...It just makes you think about the world differently because you have a daughter." (27:00–27:21)

  • Elvis shares about considering parenthood and how seeing Bobby and Sophie touches him:

    "This relationship between you and Sophie...I'll never have that in my life." (28:51–28:53)

• Trust circles and battle scars:
  • The value of tight, trustworthy friendships and longtime business partners.

6. NYC Food Favorites and Restaurant Realities

• NYC pizza debate:
  • Both swap favorite spots: Lucali, Rubirosa, L'Industrie, Emmett's, Scarr's, Joe's, etc. (35:31–36:00)

  • "The best food in the world is in New York." — Bobby Flay (36:05)

• Challenges of opening a NYC restaurant:
  • Bobby discusses high costs, Covid impacts, and the emotional calculus of making a comeback:

    "There's three buckets, right? There's occupancy cost, labor, and cost of goods. Yeah, that's the restaurant business right there. And they're all high." (37:19–37:28)

7. Bobby's Famous Pantry Tour (32:11–35:26)

• Bobby walks listeners through his fully-stocked NYC pantry:
  • Shares essentials for cooking and shooting content at home — from various rices, grains, canned tomatoes, chilies, and vinegars to specialty hot sauces and “Nacho” cat food for Canelo.
  • Fun moment:

    "All I have to do is just grab one of these treats...Canelo's attention. He knows where the pantry is." (34:57–35:04)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Elvis on the job:

  "We're in the friendship business. And I've said this a million times, but I never get tired of saying this." (16:58)

• Bobby on authenticity:

  "On this podcast, we talk about it being like, no hater zone. Like, we're not interested in being negative just for the sake of being negative." (06:56)

• Elvis on the evolution of food TV:

  "I miss the old how to cook shows. Now it's the competition." (37:57)

• Bobby on Sophie:

  "She is so kind and inclusive. I always use the word inclusive when I talk about Sophie because she is never going to be that Mean girl." (25:31)

• Elvis on parenthood:

  "Now 61 years old, okay. When this kid is 10, I'm 71. See what I'm saying? I think that ship has definitely sailed with me." (28:34)

• Elvis (joking):

  “When I was a kid and I needed discipline from my mom, I wish she'd spanked me with a chicken parm.” (03:37)

• On NYC food:

  “What is it about this city that we love, food wise, more than any other city?” — Elvis (36:00)
  “The best food in the world is in New York.” — Bobby (36:05)

• Bobby on restaurant challenges:

  “We closed Gato when Covid struck...The restaurant business has had a lot of challenges, especially in New York City...It's not even enough for the restaurants to survive.” (36:32–36:48)

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Important Timestamps

• Opening discussion, career beginnings: 00:02–01:14
• Chicken Parm stories and recipe: 03:29–06:31
• Authenticity in media & personal life: 06:45–10:19
• Why personal stories matter: 08:38–09:13
• Elvis’s show and co-hosts explained: 12:43–14:08
• Importance of laughter and their dynamic: 14:08–15:04
• Media competition and the digital shift: 16:07–17:35, 38:29–38:45
• Fatherhood, Sophie, and personal growth: 25:31–27:21
• Parenting, regret, and acceptance: 28:34–28:53
• NYC food scene and restaurants: 35:26–38:07
• Bobby’s pantry tour: 32:11–35:26

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Episode Highlights & Takeaways

• The chemistry between Bobby and Elvis is genuine and lends itself to open conversation about both public and private aspects of celebrity life.
• Food is a love language for both, and their banter over NYC eatery favorites and home cooking is passionate and personal.
• Authenticity, connection, and kindness are strong values they share—in radio, in cooking, and in life.
• The evolving world of media and restaurants is approached with both nostalgia and practical reality checks; both men reflect on staying relevant and true to their crafts.

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Final Thoughts

This episode stands out for its honest, friendly tone, deep dives into media and hospitality realities, humorous riffs on NYC food, and heartfelt glimpses into Bobby and Elvis’s lives. Fans of either personality — or those simply interested in how to stay positive and grounded in the public eye — will find much to enjoy. Don’t miss Bobby’s pantry tour (32:11) for a fun glimpse behind his “kitchen door.”

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Next Episode Teaser:
Bobby will be joined by his girlfriend, Brooke Williamson, to discuss Tokyo food adventures and more family stories.

Transcript

[A]

It wasn't until I left school and I started working in a restaurant and working with my hands that, you know, my life came alive. I take those things that I learn and see and experience, and I make them part of my life's work. And I also think that if you work in a restaurant, like, it teaches you about life.

[B]

You saw this man who worked round the clock, and he still does.

[A]

I mean, he's such a great role model. He leads with kindness, he leads with work ethic.

[B]

Bobby, we were talking one day, he's like, you keep doing that, and you keep being your authentic self, you're gonna win is what he said. So 100% what I did, and I ended up winning.

[A]

First of all, I love Bobby Flay very much. I've loved him on the Today show. I love him here and now. Bobby Flay, everybody. Check out Bobby. Triple Threat Bobby. You're not filming a show with him. You're, like, becoming friends with him. Food business and the restaurant business has been great to me. Right? It's been such an important part of my life. I'm in a really good place right this second for lots of reasons. It gives me that momentum to, you know, keep striving to be better, to learn and to, you know, look for the next adventure. But I feel like I'm now direct my own life.

[B]

Bobby Clay has been a great mentor for me. Gentlemen, Bobby Clay.

[A]

Bobby on the Beat. Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Bobby on the Beat. And we have a great guest today, Elvis Duran. We'll get to Elvis in a couple of minutes. I was in Tokyo last week, which was so fun. Brooke and I went, obviously. We ate tons of food. Tempura, sushi, tonkatsu. It just went on and on and on and on. It's just such a great eating town. The people in Tokyo was so incredibly nice. I hadn't been to Tokyo since I did Iron Chef America in the year 2000. It's been 25 years. And so, you know, Brooke said to me, I really want to go to Tokyo. So we packed our bags and we went. We had a great week there. And so actually, next week, Brooke is going to come on and we're going to talk about Tokyo together. So make sure that you tune in and we'll give you an update on and what's going on with us. And then also this week, I did Eli Manning, the former quarterback of the New York Giants, won a couple Super Bowls. Great guy. I love the Manning family. He's got this podcast now that he does it's like a video podcast. So we. We did some cooking, we made some burgers together and stuff like that. It was really fun. Make sure you be on the lookout for that. But this week, we have my man Elvis Duran from Elvis Duran in the Morning. This guy is a radio legend. I have done this show with Elvis many, many times, dozens of times over the last, I don't know, 10 to 15 years. You know, you talk about, like, radio legends, right? There's a handful of people that you can talk, you know, think about at the top of the heap, and Elvis Durant is definitely one of them. We're going to invite Elvis in a second. But if you're liking the podcast, we're getting so much great feedback. Thank you so much for tuning in. Whether it's on YouTube or, you know, you know, you're listening to it in your car, if you love it, like it, don't like it, please hit subscribe no matter what. If you have a chance to, like, just click that button, it just makes a big difference to us. It just tells us that. That you want to see more of these. So let's welcome in Elvis. I'm so glad you're here.

[B]

I'm happy to be here.

[A]

You and I have a long history together.

[B]

Do you want to talk about that here, now?

[A]

I do.

[B]

Okay, you go first.

[A]

The first time I did your show, you were in a studio that is, like, three studios ago.

[B]

It was in Tribeca. It was down the hall, though. A different studio. Yeah.

[A]

On my show here, I feed people. I always make them a snack or something to eat. We started talking about your love of chicken parm.

[B]

Chicken parm. Let me tell you, when I was a kid and I needed discipline from my mom, I wish she'd spanked me with a chicken parm.

[A]

But you love chicken.

[B]

And I did. I've later fly it as a flag over my house.

[A]

Was the very first thing you talked to me about when you and I first met. I came on your show, I remember sitting down. You were on the other side of the desk, obviously, with the microphone. And I was like, very, very nervous because you're like, a big deal or something. And I sat down and, like, you started talking to me about chicken parm. So I was like, when you come to on this show, I'm gonna make you chicken parm.

[B]

This is it.

[A]

But this is a different version of. This isn't chicken Parmesan. This is chicken Parmigiano. And let me tell you what I mean by that. Okay, so we really make it about the, like, the cheese, like.

[B]

So this is burrata?

[A]

No, it's more. It's buffalo mozzarella.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But this is the one that I do it at Amalfi in Vegas, which is. It's a crispy chicken breast that's not like totally like swimming in sauce and cheese. The sauce is on the bottom, so you still have the crispiness. And you have some of the melted cheese. But we don't put it all. We don't cover the entire thing. So you have that contrast of texture. And we make it about the parmigiano even more so than the mozzarella.

[B]

Are we getting a close up of this? Because this is really gold.

[A]

You can eat this whenever you want.

[B]

Well, it's weird. It's kind of uncomfortable talking and chewing.

[A]

Well, fine, I'm eating.

[B]

I'll go with you.

[A]

Let me show you how I made it. Bobby, on the beat. All right, let's make some chicken parmigiano. First things first, we're going to pound out some skinless and boneless chicken breasts. Make sure it's nice and even and thin. And then set up a dredging station. Flour, scrambled eggs, panko breadcrumbs each la salt and pepper in it. So you go flour, egg, and then get those breadcrumbs. Really, to make the part of the chicken, put it in 350 degree oil. Make sure it's nice and golden brown and crispy. Let it rest so it gets nice and juicy. Now we're going to start on our tomato sauce. So some aromatics, onions, garlic, and I really like to crush my garlic so it kind of just melts away in the pan. So we're just going to take the onions and the garlic and we're going to put it in a pan with some olive oil and just let it sweat, achieve no color. We'll get back to that in a second. Slice some thin pieces of buff buffalo mozzarella, put it on top of the chicken, and lots of parmigiano. This is where the parmigiano comes in. Put it in the oven and let those cheeses melt back to the sauce. Add some San Marzano tomatoes over the onions and garlic. Let it cook for a while. We're also going to make a basil oil to go on top. So olive oil, arugula, basil, salt and pepper. Blend it until it's nice and green. And then we're going to strain it out so it's got no impurities in there. Just beautiful green, delicious basil oil. Okay. If you notice, I put my Tomato sauce on the bottom of the plate. Then I add the ch with the mozzarella cheese and the parmigiano. A little fresh arugula on top, some of that beautiful basil oil, and there you go. Chicken parmigiano. Don't call me chicken parmesan. Bobby on the beat.

[B]

You were nervous. Here's the thing. I'm nervous now, and I'll tell you why. I'm usually the one interviewing. No, I know, but this is your podcast, so I have to.

[A]

You can interview.

[B]

I have to submit. I have to let you drive the show.

[A]

I'm gonna ask you a question. Okay.

[B]

Please do.

[A]

You have been so successful in the radio business. It's really phenomenal. First of all, I do want to commend you because you inspire me to do things in a positive way.

[B]

What do you mean?

[A]

On this podcast, we talk about it being like, no hater zone. Like, we're not interested in being negative just for the sake of being negative.

[B]

What do you get from that?

[A]

People get a lot of attention for it.

[B]

And people get headlines if they interview a controversial. Controversial celebrity.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

And get them to say something that. To trip on.

[A]

If you have a guest on your show and they've been through something that has maybe, let's say, is a little bit embarrassing, like currently, usually if they're on a radio show, they go after them for it so that they get the clickbait of people wanting to listen into, you know, what they're talking about. And you're always. You always look for the positive in everybody.

[B]

Well, see, having a guest like you makes that easy. I'll tell you why. Because, first of all, you got into food because of the love of food and the love what food does with families and friends. Right. And then you turned into a business, a massive business, gargantuan, worth billions and billions of dollars. But the thing is, is you always have something positive going on with you and your career. You have new openings, new. New. New ideas, new shows. And so what is there to dwell on? I mean, I could talk about your personal life.

[A]

Yeah, Yeah.

[B]

I mean, you know, should we do that now?

[A]

You do like to talk about my

[B]

personal life, but I don't get nasty.

[A]

But you do it in jest. And, like, you do it like. I mean, listen, there's no secret. I've had a handful of divorces in my life. But.

[B]

And see, you brought it up.

[A]

I know, but listen, I'm not. I'm not embarrassed about being divorced. It's part of my life.

[B]

I mean, it's a part of your story.

[A]

It is a part of my story, but it's a part of everybody's story. Like, in terms of, like, you know, what you do in your life and this and that. For some reason, I don't know why this is. Maybe you can tell me.

[B]

Okay, let me tell you why I'm interested in sharing your personal life.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

It's because you could be just a talking head on TV and go into a kitchen and fry up some chicken and put some sauce on it and hand it to someone and, hey, America, here's something you should cook tonight. Or if I know your story, I know that you've been through a life of maybe sometimes struggles, sometimes tears, sometimes positives. I know you're a real human that breathes and lives and as blood flowing through his veins. And you're a guy who's living his life.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That makes your food taste different. That makes everything you do in public different. Because I know you as a human being and not as just some computer, some robot.

[A]

Okay, I never thought of it that way.

[B]

Well, then, because you are. It's like, you know, if interview a music, a musician, the songs they write have a totally different meaning if I know where they're coming from in their

[A]

life as opposed to just like, what's your new song?

[B]

Exactly. So your music is your food.

[A]

That's true.

[B]

Your art is what you write. The music on these plates.

[A]

That's true. I do tell people that the way that I show my adoration to my friends and my family and people I care about is through cooking.

[B]

That's what you do.

[A]

And I feed them. So it is literally my instrument. No question about it. But I like, to me, I'm always like, why do people care about who I'm dating? I mean, seriously, like, it's not that interesting, but for some reason, it's always a topic in the media. And I'm just like, okay, fine. And so. But actually, I don't think that. I don't think most people who like to write about it or talk about it think about it as thoughtful as you just talked about it. You actually. I didn't know that you thought about it that way. And it's really kind of cool to hear because I'm always curious. I always joke around with my friends. I'm always like, why do people care about who I'm dating? And no one ever has the answer.

[B]

Look, you know, you are a guy who's not perfect at all times. You live a life like the rest of us with imperfections that makes everything on this plate taste different. That makes everything you show and every show you do, every competition show that you had, all 45,000 of them.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It makes them different because you're not just a talking head, you're a person.

[A]

I appreciate that.

[B]

I brought you a gift. Open it up. You should smell it as soon as you open it. There you go. Give it a sniff.

[A]

You bought truffles?

[B]

It's the end of black truffle season, I guess, isn't it?

[A]

Sort of. These are expensive.

[B]

I'm a very wealthy man here.

[A]

This is a low budget show.

[B]

I don't spend money on clothes, as you can tell. Aren't those nice black truffles?

[A]

So nice of you.

[B]

So have you ever gone truffle hunting in Italy?

[A]

No.

[B]

We were in the Chianti district. We were awakened at 4:31 morning by our friends, who we had been drinking a lot of wine with the entire day before. They said, 4:30am we're up, we're going on a truffle hunt, right? I'm like, Dear God, no. 4:30. Well, we got to drive an hour and a half. So we get there, the truffle dogs are cool. We hang out with them. It was the most fun I've ever had in my life. These dogs went wild. They would find the truffles under these trees and dig them up, and then you have to save the trouble from the dog's mouth.

[A]

Like, they would find them immediately.

[B]

Pretty fast, right? And at the end of the truffle hunt, we had a basket with market value in the United States would have been several thousand dollars. Right. And so we went back to their house, and the husband and wife shaved them up, cooked them up. It was the best day ever.

[A]

Were they white or black truffles?

[B]

All black except for two whites that they found. And then they said it was kind of a weird thing. Funny enough, he says, in New York City, Central park is loaded with truffles under those oak trees. But it would be just a free for all madhouse if people started digging up Central Park. Here in New York City, we're living on a treasure trove of.

[A]

Do you cook at home?

[B]

Yeah, I do.

[A]

Because I know you love food so much, like me. Like, I know that you have some quiet investments in restaurants. Every once in a while, you like to support your friends, which is really nice. Like investing in the restaurant business.

[B]

Man, it's the dumbest idea. Well, you're laughing. I mean, you've had some duds, haven't you?

[A]

Me?

[B]

You've lost money on something?

[A]

Well, I mean, yes, I mean it's. But. But an outside investor, it's very hard for them to make money in the restaurant business.

[B]

Why do. Because I can get a reservation.

[A]

No, you like it because you like to be supportive of people. You're so good about that. I really like to know about how people do their jobs. You guys have this controlled chaos basically all morning long. Is there any conversation before you guys turn the mics on? Like, do you guys pre produce anything? You just roll? No.

[B]

You know what? Back in the old days, our program director, the quote unquote boss, would say, look, it's great for you to have a plan for tomorrow's show. So during the day, the rest of the radio station can promote what you're doing the next day.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So we would come up with things to do the next day, but when you wake up the next day, those things don't look good anymore. It's like, I don't want to serve leftovers. These are leftovers from my mind. The next day is a fresh new day.

[A]

I totally agree with that.

[B]

So we come up with new things

[A]

every morning and you just kind of roll with it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The thing I love about your show is that every single person has a job there besides being a character on the show. Right.

[B]

Pretty much.

[A]

Like, what does Scary do?

[B]

He's a technical producer. Everything that's on computer that has to be fed into my computer to push buttons that play sound. He puts it all in there. So without him, the ten headed monster can't operate.

[A]

What does Nate do? Does he keep you on time?

[B]

Nate is more of an executive producer who tries to keep me on time. And as you've seen, that fails miserably. But, you know, we're not like a network TV show where we have marks and Q's, we have to meet at the top of the hour, crap like that. We just, you know, have to fit in a lot of stuff in four hours and it's up to him to get that done. So he's also in charge of guesting and communicating with iHeartMedia, who owns us, who I never talked to.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You know, I don't know. I just come in and do my thing and thanks to Nate, I can leave.

[A]

So Nate talks to like the corporate office.

[B]

Yeah. And in sales and things.

[A]

And you just come in and do your thing.

[B]

Yeah. Very important part of the machine.

[A]

I love doing your show so much. It's literally. I tell people this all the time. It's one of the. It's one of the funnest things I do in my life.

[B]

Why do you say that?

[A]

I like the medium. I know that I'm going to laugh a lot. Like, being able to laugh out loud in a real way is one of life's great joys. I mean, let's face it, it doesn't happen all the time. And I know when I come there that you guys are going to give me a hard time. I'm going to be. You guys are okay with me giving you a hard time back, and it turns into, like, very funny moments.

[B]

We have fun.

[A]

When I go there, I don't want to leave.

[B]

You do overstay your welcome.

[A]

Do I? Are you, like, wait, behind the scenes, you say, Bobby stays way too long?

[B]

No, never. First and foremost, we love being with you because you're like, you're becoming a brother to me in a weird way. But the listeners love you. They love it. They love seeing and actually hearing a side of you they don't hear.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

In a somewhat scripted world on.

[A]

On tv, you know, with this show, like, I'm getting a lot of comments with people saying, like, you know, we don't see this side of you, which is really. I mean, it's who I am. But, you know, those shows on the Food Network, they're so polished in a way.

[B]

They are. And that's been my only complaint about you on these shows. But. But I understand in the production of those shows, you. You have a format. You have. It's a format. It's all formatting.

[A]

But that's why when you say to me, what do you like about being on your show? It's because it's freewheeling. I know you guys have, you know, you have some agenda, and there's some. I don't want to say a storyline, but there's like, you know, Nate has a couple of ideas that he wants to get through. Like, in the hour that I'm there, when Greg T. Was around, he'd play the, you know, the French chef, which was.

[B]

He'd call you Bobby McFlay.

[A]

Bobby McFlay. Exactly. I mean. I mean, that was like. It was insane.

[B]

Are you enjoying being yourself on the show, just doing this? Totally. There's no teleprompter. There's no insane.

[A]

There's nothing. Like, people like me are doing this with a microphone. It's like they're creating their own radio shows. Let's face it.

[B]

That's exactly what it is.

[A]

How has that changed what you guys do? Do you do anything differently?

[B]

We Just do what we do, and thank God people listen to it. You know, we throw it against the wall. If it sticks, it works. You know, and so the ratings are our report card. You know, a lot of people are going, well, I want to listen to music. I don't want to hear commercials. Okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We are still following a format that was developed in the 1950s. 50s. 1950s, where we'll play four minutes of commercials, a song, and then we'll talk, and then four minutes. Commercials. That hasn't changed. And so holding on to an audience with this commercial free content world around us, yeah, it's challenging, but we still have them because we're offering something you can't get off of Spotify or whatever. Just music. We don't. The music is just what we play when we have to go to the bathroom.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Plan what we're going to mess up next.

[A]

So what is it that you're offering them that's different in your mind?

[B]

It's conversation. It's friendship. We're in the friendship business. And I've said this a million times, but I never get tired of saying this. If someone hops in their car for 30 minutes to get to work, they're either leaving a house that makes them very sad, or they're going to a job to work for a boss that bust their balls every day, or they're living some life of problems here and there. I get them for 30 minutes, maybe, maybe 45 minutes. If I could just bend their mind for a minute and make them happy, make them laugh when you come on. We just laugh about stupid stuff. We don't even plan. People know it's spontaneous. They know that we actually have a bond with each other. They feel the love. And I think that's what we do better than a lot of people do.

[A]

Yeah. You always say to me, come back more.

[B]

I do. I know you're busy now. You know why I'm intrigued with you doing this? Because this is basically what we do. What guests have you had on Bobby on the Beat so far that you really, really had a great time with?

[A]

Actually, we had Alex Guana Shelley on, who you actually, you.

[B]

You got her to open up a lot. She's a very quiet person.

[A]

Sometimes she is quiet, but she's one of the smartest people out there.

[B]

She's lovely. I love her.

[A]

Now, interestingly enough, getting back to, like, how we started this conversation, the most sort of watched episodes have been the two times that Brooke, my girlfriend, had been on, because they want to hear, like, about our Relationship.

[B]

Let's talk about that.

[A]

Okay, let's talk about it. What do you want to know?

[B]

Well, in the circles that you guys move in, business wise, everyone talks about what a positive energy the two of you together really emit. Yes. You're radiate. You're radiating positivity.

[A]

You're talking to people. In my business, you mean.

[B]

Yeah, maybe the truth is the two of you together have a great energy, so it works here. Plus, you know, there's the. Let's check this gal out, right, who's taken over my Bobby. She's awesome, by the way.

[A]

She is amazing. I'm really enjoying being with her. She's been a great, you know, light in my life.

[B]

You ever have sofon?

[A]

Sophie? Oh, yeah, I know people like to hear about from Sophie as well.

[B]

She's awesome. She's.

[A]

I mean, I think it's one of those things where. Like when. When you had Sophie on the show when I was there the other day, I thought that was totally fun. And she. She kind of held her own, didn't she?

[B]

Didn't kind of. No, she held her own.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

She crumbled. You. You crumbled.

[A]

I got nervous.

[B]

You did. See, when you see your name on the page sixes of the world a lot.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you find yourself kind of guarded in conversations? Do you actually edit in your mind quickly before you say something, answer a question, or go down any road of conversation with anyone?

[A]

I think everybody has to do that in the world these days. Because you don't.

[B]

Maybe I should start doing that.

[A]

If you say something that's going to, you know, kind of light a fire

[B]

in somebody, your very best friend, you can. You don't have to look around and see who's listening. You can go. Okay. Between us.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I gotta. I want to talk to you about something where, you know, on your second level, third level of friends, you're a little more guarded. You're a little more, you know, on the surface.

[A]

Yeah, I have a very tight core crew. It's been the same people for a very, very long time. And, you know, there is a handful of people they. And they know. And they know who they are. And everybody's protective of each other. I think trust takes time, you know, and.

[B]

And it takes.

[A]

It has to prove itself.

[B]

It takes battle scars too, sometimes, I would think. I. Because I know you have. I don't know who he is, but I know you have a business partner that you. Lawrence. Okay, I've never met.

[A]

You've never met Lawrence.

[B]

Don't yell at me.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

I've never met Lawrence. But you and Lawrence, I'm assuming, being in business all these years in this very competitive race of business, you have battle scars together. You've learned things.

[A]

We've been parties for 35 years.

[B]

But in doing, in 35 years, you've learned how to do things and how not to do things. Sometimes. Sometimes things fail, sometimes things. But you have proven history with that, and I think of that way with friends as well.

[A]

Do you talk about your marriage a

[B]

lot on the show? I do. We'll call him and just live.

[A]

Hey, Alex, what's up?

[B]

Yeah, he hates it, of course.

[A]

He's pretty awesome because he's probably doing something at home and you call him.

[B]

Yeah. Plus he's, you know, through Staten Island. He's got that. You've met him, he's got that tough how you're doing kind of thing. And so if people find that entertaining, I don't know why.

[A]

But have you ever married anybody?

[B]

No.

[A]

No.

[B]

I know I'd be awful. I'm awful at public speaking. I'm. I'm awful at being interviewed, to be honest.

[A]

You're not.

[B]

Well, I'm just following your lead, Mr. Flay.

[A]

First of all, I've seen you do so many things in public, I get nervous.

[B]

You're very, very, very well spoken in speaking, surprisingly, I. Sometimes I'm on, sometimes I'm not.

[A]

Did you go to college?

[B]

I started college, but radio took over and my dad said, hey, man, go be a radio guy and get out of my ass pocket. I know I'm tired of paying for you. So I never had a reason to go back.

[A]

And you've been doing this for how long?

[B]

Well, this is our 30th year just doing mornings at Z100. So I. But I started when I was 14 years old and I'm 61 now.

[A]

I remember you guys yelled at me the first time I was on the show.

[B]

About what?

[A]

Because I. Because I said Z100. And you're like, no, it's Elvis in the Morning show.

[B]

Because we're syndicated, right? Yeah, you can say Z.

[A]

How many markets are you in?

[B]

70, maybe 60, 50, 40. It's going down as we speak. I don't know. The thing is, is as we see radio stations moving on to different formats, we see our digital numbers replacing those people. So it's a whole different world. I mean, now we're actually rated a top. We're a top morning show in Chicago, in Los Angeles, but in Los Angeles, at 4 in the morning, when we're on, you know.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. So it's. It's weird how the digital thing worked.

[A]

How could you not be in la?

[B]

I was this close to going to LA once, really, and I just didn't go. I just ended up staying here. They kept offering me a great reason to stay here, so I stayed here.

[A]

You've never wanted to do anything else?

[B]

What else would I do?

[A]

What do you mean?

[B]

Well, no, I'm not asking to be a jackass about it, but I don't know what else I would do. I could retire the Price Is Right.

[A]

What? No, but you're. You'd be good on the prices, right? You could be the new Pat Sajak.

[B]

Oh, God.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

I have one of those already. First of all, TV makes me nervous. I don't want to get dressed and put makeup on every day.

[A]

Yeah, but now you have to, right? Because you guys do a lot of video.

[B]

Yeah. I don't care about it.

[A]

You don't care?

[B]

Look, I dress like this.

[A]

I don't care. But what about, like, when you have to go do the, like the I Heart, like the awards?

[B]

And those are easy. Those are fun.

[A]

You challenged me once early on, after I'd been on the show about five or six times. You're like, we're going to leave the studio and we're going to let you have the microphone. It's really hard.

[B]

It's not. You're doing it right now.

[A]

You're running five people at a time, like, keeping them engaged, making sure, like, you're hitting all the marks that you have to hit. I mean, you are doing business there. I know you say you don't think about it, but, like, it's inherent to what you're doing. You have to mean you are paying bills there in some way, shape or form. You have all these characters, this cast of characters that you keep, like, energized and activated. It's not easy to do. It's easy for you. It is because you show up in the morning in these clothes and you turn the mic on, and then you. And you activate these people every. Every day. And you constantly do it. You can do that very hard.

[B]

Let me take a week off. All expenses paid.

[A]

Done. I'll talk. I'll talk to your boss. Who's your boss now? I don't.

[B]

I don't have a boss, do I? Do we have bosses? I don't think we do.

[A]

Yeah, My boss is David Zaslav.

[B]

Who's that?

[A]

He runs Warner Brothers.

[B]

When's the last time you had to Go have a meeting with him.

[A]

I saw him yesterday, so.

[B]

But is he really your boss? I mean, do you answer to him? I mean, does he ever say, bobby, we got to work on this?

[A]

No, he. But he'll say, I want you to show up at this event. It's really important to me. And of course, I'd be like, of

[B]

course that's not a boss thing.

[A]

But, like, when I have to renegotiate my contract, he's. He's been very involved.

[B]

It involves money, of course.

[A]

So, yes, he's my boss.

[B]

To me, a boss is someone who is on you at least once a week saying, hey, list of things I want you to work on. We're looking for this. You got to get this done. I don't. They don't do that to me.

[A]

No, I. That's me.

[B]

Well, here's the thing, Bobby. You. You have been doing this for a while. You've sort of invented the medium a little bit in certain ways. Some would argue at some point, it's like you're going to do it your way, and if they ever give you crap, you're going to go, well, I'll see you later. Thanks. This is my time to get off this island.

[A]

But I think I have the same syndrome that a lot of people have where, like, you have success in a certain place or area or category, but you're really pining away to do something else, even though you're successful at doing something that you've been doing for a long time. Like, I always wanted to be a newscaster. I always wanted. I always wanted to be telling people the news of the world, and they would never let me do it.

[B]

Well, you know what? Why do you want to do that?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

You're reading something someone else wrote on a teleprompter.

[A]

I wanted to be, like, the host of the Today Show. That was, like, one of my dreams when I was much younger.

[B]

The Today show is different than a newscaster. You actually can sit down and have conversations with people.

[A]

Well, when I say. When I say newscaster, I mean being in the news.

[B]

News world. Okay?

[A]

But now my. My daughter's gonna. Is doing that, you know, so I can live vicariously through her and watch her. Watch her do it.

[B]

You must be so proud of her.

[A]

She's the best. Sophie is, like the one thing that. The one thing I love about Sophie is that she is so kind and inclusive. It's. I always use the word inclusive when I talk about Sophie because she is never going to be that Mean girl, you know, she's a very cool, very savvy person. So she, you know, she can run in any crowd she wants to, but she never makes anybody feel left out.

[B]

Do you ever get advice from her?

[A]

Always. I'll say to her, do you think this is a good idea? And she'll say either yes or no, based on the fact that she really actually knows. She has a serious understanding of the world and how it works. She pays very close attention to entertainment news, world news, local news. Like, she's always paying attention to what's around her. So she. She's very opinionated. Sophie offers her opinion when she feels like she can be helpful. She doesn't do it all the time. You know, she's got her own life. And, you know, we have this really nice relationship where most of the time we're just enjoying each other's company as, you know, father and daughter and friends, so. So to speak. Because she hangs out with my friend group, too. I mean, she's. She's part of my. My whole crew.

[B]

This relationship turned out to be pretty special.

[A]

Well, I got lucky. I have one kid, and I got Sophie. And so it's been. It's been amazing.

[B]

What would you be like if you didn't have Sophie in your life? For instance? What has she brought into your life? What has she snuck into your life?

[A]

Softened my edges, for sure. Talk about that, just in general, I think. I mean, I talk to a lot of my friends who, you know, guys who have daughters, and we all sort of talk about them in the same way where, like, you know, it's. It's a very special relationship, and it just makes you think about the world differently because you have a daughter.

[B]

I was kind of just processing that.

[A]

What do you mean?

[B]

Because I always wanted a child. And so having a relationship like that with a daughter or a son, whatever, how different than having that with a boyfriend, girlfriend, or just a good friend or a nephew or a niece, you know.

[A]

Why haven't you done it?

[B]

Always wanted to. My last partner didn't want anything to do with it. Alex, my current husband, we actually, when we were in Italy at this villa with our friends, we went truffle hunting. It was Christmas time. And they brought. Some of them brought their kids, and watching them have that special time around this massive Christmas tree and enjoying each other's company. We went into Florence, all bought gifts for each other and open them Christmas morning, this and that. And Alex looked over and said, God, this is. This is great. Let's talk to them about what it. What it would be like to begin to think about contemplating, about commencing to, like, maybe think about it, really. And so we had these conversations with them and the good, the bad, just, you know, over red wine for several days. And we said, okay, when we get home to New York, I have a few people I can call. Maybe we can figure out how we can have a kid in our lives. We're sitting on the airplane and this little brat behind us started kicking my seat.

[A]

And that ended it.

[B]

I said, you know, this. We're not having a kid. Here's the thing, though, now 61 years old, okay. When this kid is 10, I'm 71. See what I'm saying? I think that ship has definitely sailed with me. But I hear about this relationship between you and Sophie and I'm like, wow, I'll never have that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In my life. My life will never have that. And it makes me sad.

[A]

But you can't have everything in the world, right?

[B]

Where would you put it?

[A]

People say to me all the time, like, you're such a great parent. Sophie turned out to be amazing. And I'm like, well, actually, 90% of it is her. It's just the way it is. I mean, you know, you hope to shape your child in a way that is, you know, a positive, you know, outcome, but ultimately, these kids are their own person. I think about, when is she going to turn me into a grandfather?

[B]

Are you putting that pressure on me? Yeah.

[A]

Absolutely not.

[B]

I bet you'd have a lot of fun being a grandfather.

[A]

I'm not ready for what?

[B]

What do you have to do? Grandfathers have to do nothing but to spoil the kid and leave.

[A]

I'm not ready to be a grandfather.

[B]

This isn't about you, though. Being a grandfather is such a third level down thing.

[A]

What does that mean?

[B]

She's top level.

[A]

There's responsibility.

[B]

Father, maybe.

[A]

My father. My father passed away last year. But my father and my. And. And Sophie had the most incredible relationship.

[B]

Was it taxing on your father?

[A]

No.

[B]

So what. What is there to be ready saying,

[A]

I don't want to. I don't want to have the moniker. I'm not ready for the monitor.

[B]

It's about you.

[A]

Yes. That's only about.

[B]

Okay, just admit that.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

I think you'd be vain.

[A]

I bet I'm as vain as you are. Where are you spending your, like, like off time now?

[B]

Everywhere. Bobby, you're not telling me. You know what? I. I live here in the city, not far from you, but during. It's only a few Days a week. I have a farm out in New Jersey.

[A]

You have a farm in your.

[B]

Have a farm?

[A]

What kind of farm?

[B]

We raised schnauzers. What I tell you what it is. Now I've got two schnauzers.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It's like 80 acres. And a lot of it is being farmed for me. I don't farm it. I mean, last year was soybeans. This year. This past year was feed corn. You know, everything out of my control.

[A]

You're growing stuff.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I bought the land adjacent to my. My current area so no one would buy it and put it.

[A]

Yourself a farmer now?

[B]

No, not at all. But I live on a farm.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Now. Love it out there. And now we have a house that we bought in Florida, which I swore I would never, ever buy a house in Florida. Now I have a house in Florida because, damn it, this blizzard life we live every winter in New York. So now I'm kind of into that down there. Coconut Grove. I love that town.

[A]

And how much time can you spend there?

[B]

I've got a studio. We've got studios there, so I can spend all the time in the world. I'm building a studio in the house.

[A]

You eat sushi?

[B]

Yeah, I love sushi.

[A]

Okay. But do you ever, like, go for omakase and stuff like that?

[B]

Yeah, you know what? Ever since I had my. I started doing the, you know, my shots.

[A]

What shots?

[B]

The GLP1s or whatever they were.

[A]

You do that?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. I'm maintaining. I'm not. I'm not doing them.

[A]

I'm always curious about that, because I know a lot of people doing it now, and it's. It's been very successful. Does it just quell your appetite?

[B]

Yeah. You sit down to eat, and you eat a few bites, and then you're. I can't do anymore.

[A]

Really?

[B]

And it makes me mad sometimes because of the love of food. I have many friends who are chefs who were doing it, and then they stopped, especially during the holidays, because they wanted to eat. As a person who owns a restaurant, how has it changed the restaurant scene?

[A]

Oh, I don't think it's that.

[B]

Well, you know what? Because I've had a few friends who are chefs wondering why all of their best dishes are coming back to the kitchen uneaten.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yes. Like, what are you doing? And then he goes to his line.

[A]

He should cook better.

[B]

Well, he goes to the. Well, okay. He would go to his chefs on the line. His cooks on the line go, what are you doing? People were having them boxed up to go. Because they could not eat as much in your house.

[A]

Do you cook? Do you guys cook a lot? What's your pantry like?

[B]

Oh, it's full of everything.

[A]

I want to show you my pantry. Bobby on the beat. All right, time for a pantry tour. Come on in. This is my pantry in my apartment. Pretty well stocked, I would say. It's kind of crazy how much stuff, like, I actually really need, because I'm cooking in my house all the time. Whether I'm just cooking, you know, dinner or lunch or breakfast or a snack or a game time meal or we're shooting some videos. I need a significant pantry. These are all the dry goods and stuff like that. All kinds of rice, from long grain rice to short grain rice. We have light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, coarse cornmeal, fine cornmeal, wondro flour, stone ground polenta, basmati rice. We have some couscous here, farro arborio rice for risotto. And then, you know, this is like the Italian section up here. We have all these beautiful canned tomatoes. My man Chris Bianco's di Napoli roasted chopped tomatoes. I love those. You know, sauce, lots of San Marzano. Up here we have, you know, rice flour and almond flour, you know, cane sugar, oatmeal, semolina flour. You know, all these things to make pasta. Some of the hot ones, hot sauces that I had on the show, cap that.

[B]

Here's the.

[A]

Here's the very famous one, the bomb. This is the one that they try to crush you on. As you can see, I have not opened this one. And then, you know, things like, you know, molasses and pomegranate molasses and tamari, balsamic vinegar and harissa pink salt. We have capers, olives. When I don't want to make barbecue sauce, and I want to just open the jar. Bone sucking sauce is like my favorite one. Chipotle peppers, you know, everywhere. Mustards, chopped Calabrian chilies, red curry, green curry. To make like a Thai curry. Of course, up here is a baking section. You know, sweetened condensed milk. We have vanilla extract, coconut oil, fig preserves, almond extract. I mean, it just kind of goes on and on. Sicilian cherries and things like that. Down here we have a bunch of, like, chili powders from Chipotle to New Mexico, aji amarillo ancho chili, an adobo spice rub, and of course, like, you know, baking and baking soda and baking powder, cornstarch to make that amazing fried chicken, Kashmiri chilies, which has kind of been the thing that I'VE been going towards lately. We have some pastas and dried pastas down here. You know, different shapes, different sizes. Some rigatoni. We have spaghetti linguine over here. This is like the blue corn masa, red corn masa to make tortillas and sopes and things like that. Yellow cornmeal, semolina to make cavatelli. Different kinds of sugars and then olive oils and avocado oils and flavored oils and vinegars. Espresso, I use ili, whole beans. And for my drip coffee, cafe pastelo. I make very strong coffee in a percolator. Then up here is made by Nacho. This is my cat food company. Dry food, wet food cans, pouches, treats for Canelo. He loves these so much. Canelo's attention. All I have to do is just grab one of these treats. This one is salmon and tuna. This one is the ahi tuna recipe. See if we can get him to pay attention. He knows where the pantry is. Nacho treats Canelo Flay the next generation. Just a baby. All right. There's my pantry. Everybody always wants to know what's in my pantry now. You know, Bobby on the beat. You guys do cook a lot.

[B]

Not enough.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah, When I'm in the city, it's always delivery.

[A]

Do you have a favorite pizza place in New York?

[B]

Several. If you have like six of them. Where do you start?

[A]

Lucali.

[B]

Lucali is good.

[A]

What's your.

[B]

Okay, so ruberosa I love.

[A]

Do you like Linda Street?

[B]

Linda Street. I love Linda Street. I love Emmett's for the bar pie. Emmett's a great guy, by the way. Do you know Emmett?

[A]

I've met him.

[B]

Great pies.

[A]

That's more like a mid midwestern.

[B]

It is, it's a. Yeah, it is. It's a bar pie. And scars is good for bar.

[A]

Scars is very good. What about Mama's too?

[B]

I haven't been, you know, because every time I walk by, you can't get near it.

[A]

Joe's. Joe's is the classic now.

[B]

So what is it about this city that we love, food wise, more than any other city?

[A]

The best food in the world is in New York.

[B]

I agree. Do we say that because we live here? No.

[A]

When I travel, I travel to eat. Right. And I've been to lots of places in the world. I think it's very hard to beat.

[B]

Do you miss having a restaurant here?

[A]

I do. You think I should open another one?

[B]

You asked me this question. Every time we're together, I always think you're. You're teasing me. You've been thinking, I'm sure you've been thinking about.

[A]

I think about it more and more every single day. Because we closed Gato when Covid struck.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And we kind of never looked back. And the restaurant businesses had. I'm not going to go through it again, because I've done it a lot. But the restaurant business has had a lot of challenges, especially in New York City. I mean, you see it when you go out to restaurants. How expensive is it?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And by the way, it's not even enough for the restaurants to survive. It's very hard. And so you know that. So that's the financial side of it. What do you think? If you're. You're my friend, open something.

[B]

But, you know, it's like. It's like getting married again. You know, what's waiting for you. You know, it's a lot of work. You know, it's a different. It's a different stage here than anywhere else in the United States. And you know that you're. You're dealing with employee issues and the state and, you know, Attorney General. I don't know why. I know there's a lot to deal with here.

[A]

There's three buckets, right? There's. There's occupancy cost, labor, and cost of goods. Yeah, that's the restaurant business right there. And they're all high.

[B]

And then, I take it back. I do not want you to open a restaurant.

[A]

I mean, that's.

[B]

Gado was a very special restaurant.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

Mesa Grill was fantastic. But Bar Americana, I always loved. Yeah, I always loved going to that restaurant. Let me ask you this, Bobby. If someone asked you right now what you do for a living, what's the headline? You are a chef. Chef. The evolution of the TV network, all the TV shows that are about food has. Has totally shifted. I miss the old how to cook shows. Now it's the competition.

[A]

Yeah, a lot of people say that, but here's the problem. They don't rate well.

[B]

I don't care what race. I'm talking about what I like.

[A]

No, no, I'm just telling you why they don't.

[B]

They don't exist because there's no money to be made.

[A]

Exactly. Right.

[B]

Well, it sucks.

[A]

I know. We live in the world of entertainment, and so the Food Network at some point decided that they were going to use food as a tool to entertain. And that's. That's why you see all these competition shows and things like that. Listen, it's the same thing in your business. Certain parts of our Business, whether it's radio or television, are moving to a digital platform.

[B]

YouTube.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So basically, people are learning how to cook on YouTube and TikTok and Instagram. They're not learning how to cook on linear television. They're being entertained on linear television. It's very different.

[B]

One time, I was at the food festival here in New York, New York City Wine and food festival. And a friend of ours was doing a demonstration with a huge studio, you know, temporary studio built, and she had the stove going and the. The mirrors and the cameras. And then she made this dish, and I went to taste it. It was the saltiest thing I've ever tasted in my life. Overly salted. And then I had to make a decision right then and there. Ooh, this is way too salty. Or I could let it go.

[A]

And what'd you do?

[B]

I said, this is way over salted. This person was a little embarrassed. And then I felt like a total. I felt. I felt like a really.

[A]

I. I shouldn't have done that. I have to judge your Thanksgiving dishes every once in a while.

[B]

You always like mine?

[A]

Yes. You do a good job.

[B]

I do a good job.

[A]

Do you actually cook it or something?

[B]

Absolutely. I cooked it, absolutely.

[A]

Because Danielle, like, she gets people to cook for her. It's cheating.

[B]

I think she. She got Boston Market to bring in some stuffing.

[A]

Thank you for being here.

[B]

Thank you for having me, and thank

[A]

you for the truffles.

[B]

Do more of these shows. This is the Bobby we all like.

[A]

All right, Elvis, thank you so much for being here. That was as fun as ever. Always have great conversation with you and. And thank you for having me on your show for all these years. And thanks for coming on mine. I really appreciate it. And just make sure that you hit, like, and subscribe. Really means a lot to us, and we really appreciate it. Next week, we have my girlfriend, Brooke Williamson. We're going to talk about Tokyo and all the things that are going on in our world. And so make sure you tune in Bobby on the beat.