Bobby Flay may have met his match on Court Street.
On January 13, the professional chef takes on John Addis, owner of Fish Tales Gourmet Seafood Market in Cobble Hill, on his Food Network TV show, “Throwdown with Bobby Flay.”
A few months ago, Addis thought the Food Network was doing a basic profile of him and his store when, as is the nature of his television show, Flay threw his toke into the ring and challenged the Brooklynite to a surprise throwdown.
Addis was already a TV pro by the time Flay came knocking. He had twice been featured on “Alex’s Day Off,” another Food Network show, which follows professional chef Alex Guarnaschelli as she makes a meal at home (his second appearance airs in the show’s forthcoming second season), when the chef challenged him to a cook-off.
“They liked my personality. They said I was a natural,” said Addis, who grew up in Bensonhurst and now lives in Staten Island. “I’m a very friendly, outgoing person. I’m a jokester. I like to make people laugh.”
Addis has been honing his people, and food, skills since he was a kid. He grew up in the food industry, with his parents owning Pastosa, an Italian specialty store located on Court Street for nearly 30 years before it closed in the early 2000s. Addis moved onto Court Street himself when he entered the fish industry 13 years ago by opening Fish Tales Seafood Market, located at 191 Court St.
One of Addis’s specialties is Manhattan Fish Chowder, which Flay challenged the master to for the “Throwdown” episode.
“He knew he was in for a fight, and he actually said that on the show,” said Addis, who, for obvious reasons, was unable to divulge who won the challenge, though did concede, “I thought everything was as good as it could possibly be.”
The cook-off went down on the Brooklyn waterfront, filmed in the Waterfront Museum in Red Hook this past September.
“It’s a fun episode in that it’s sea-related. I think that was part of the thinking of using the barge, it was a waterfront location,” says David Sharps, a Red Hook resident who runs the Waterfront Museum. “They did a ton of beauty shots. I was talking with the post-production crew, and they were very please. They thought it was very beautiful.”
With his Food Network appearances totaling three now, the Brooklynite is appreciative of the attention.
“My reputation is what brought Bobby to me,” said Addis. “It’s good to know that hard work and dedication pays off.”
Tune in January 13 to find out who sank and who swim in “Throwdown with Bobby Flay,” airing at 9 p.m. on the Food Network. For more information, go to www.foodnetwork.com.
For more on the Waterfront Museum, which is open to the public Thursdays and Saturdays, go to www.waterfrontmuseum.org or call 718-624-4719.
Fish Tales Gourmet Seafood Market is located at 191 Court St. For more information, call 718-246-1346.
