Bobby Flay's Favorite Late-Night Snack Is A Classic NYC Sandwich

Bobby Flay is known for founding the (now closed) Mesa Grill restaurants and for being a Food Network stalwart. While Brussels sprouts are the secret ingredient atop Flay's bougie take on nachos, his favorite late-night food is a distinctly traditional, humble favorite. In a video for food delivery service Misfits Market, Flay assembled a New York City classic: a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sammie. New York City might be on the cutting edge of the culinary scene, with a food chain testing Zoom cashiers in multiple boroughs, but Flay's dream sandwich takes him way back to his youth, when he and his friends would pick up a BEC at the local late-night deli. There's very little haute sophistication to Flay's sandwich, but it appeals to classic flavors that everyone loves: melty cheese, gooey egg, and a little dash of spice.

The bacon, egg, and cheese is a Big Apple institution. Beloved by university students, night owls, tipsy bar patrons, and blue-collar workers alike, this classic bodega sandwich tends to be consumed either first thing in the morning or in the wee hours of the night. Its appeal is in its portability, combined with the fact that it is a hearty, square meal: you have your proteins, your dairy, and your carb punch. It takes to condiments beautifully and it eats as good at 9 a.m. as 9 p.m. — or even later!

In the Misfits Market video, Flay assembles his own take on the breakfast sandwich. The star ingredients in his handheld, other than the titular ones, are some spicy harissa and a brioche bun that adds buttery heft. Plain ol' yellow American cheese slices are his dairy of choice. If he's making one sandwich for himself, he fries his bacon in a pan. Should he be constructing food for a crowd, the bacon gets cooked on a sheet tray in the oven. The egg is fried in the residual bacon fat, leading to that prized crispiness. Flay states that he has been known to utilize scrambled eggs in his sandwiches, but that an authentic BEC requires a fried egg.

"The way you build a sandwich is really important," Flay claims (via Misfits Market's Instagram). To that end, he scoops a few pinches of bread from the middle of his bun, lessening the ratio of starchy roll to fillings. The roll is toasted and slathered in harissa on both sides. Another trick? He puts his eggs in the hot pan, covers them with cheese once the whites start to set, and splashes a bit of water in the pan beneath a lid, to steam the cheese and cook the yolks. Then, once all the components are cooked, the sandwich is stacked up ... and we do mean stacked. "It's not about elegance; it's about flavor," Flay enthuses.