Bobby Flay on America's Next Great Restaurant: "I've Made a Lot of Mistakes — Why Not Pass Those Down So People Don't Have to Make Them Again"

Bobby Flay — master chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and Food Network star — joined Steve Ells (Chipotle), Curtis Stone, and Lorena Garcia as an investor and mentor on NBC's new reality series America's Next Great Restaurant, premiering Sunday, March 6 at 8 p.m. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

Bobby Flay — master chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and Food Network star for 16 years — joined Steve Ells (Chipotle), Curtis Stone, and Lorena Garcia as an investor and mentor on NBC's new reality series America's Next Great Restaurant, premiering Sunday, March 6 at 8 p.m. ET. Premier Guide Miami caught up with Flay in Miami during the Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival.

On what makes a great restaurant: "There are certain ingredients to make the perfect restaurant — terrific food, which is more important than ever. Great service, because service can actually deter people even more than the food sometimes. An environment that people are going to enjoy. And fourth but certainly not last: value. People want good food, good service, a good environment, and they want it to cost the right amount of money in their own minds."

On why he backed the show: "The restaurant business is one of those things that is intriguing to almost everyone. I think almost every single person has said at least one time in their life, 'I have a great idea for a restaurant.' This was a perfect opportunity for anyone, no matter who you are, to come and pitch your ideas to four people that have had success in the restaurant business. I've made a lot of mistakes through the years — why not be able to pass down the mistakes that I've made so that people who are really passionate about opening a restaurant don't have to make them again."

On what he wanted to know from contestants: "What I wanted to know from these people first and foremost is why they wanted to do this. Did they want to do this because they wanted to be on television — which obviously was not going to work for us. Or is this really a lifelong dream of theirs? For me the real question is: why were you doing this and what is driving you to basically commit your entire career and the rest of your life to making this work."

On balancing restaurants, TV, and cookbooks: "Sleep is overrated, I can tell you that much. My entire life is about food — it's about one word. My restaurants are the most important thing to me. The stuff that I do on the Food Network gets people to know who I am and, more importantly, to know what my restaurants are. Writing cookbooks, doing television, the restaurants — it all revolves around one word, which is food. I don't think of it as business versus personal. To me it's all one life."

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