Dallas chef John Tesar to appear Thursday on ‘Beat Bobby Flay’

Dallas chef John Tesar is no stranger to reality-TV cooking competitions, having appeared on Top Chef: Seattle and other shows.

He is also no stranger to beefs, and not just because he runs “modern steakhouse” Knife Dallas -- he’s had a well-covered feud with Dallas Morning News food critic Leslie Brenner, and he recently took some shots at Fort Worth chef Tim Love and the city of Dallas in a recent Playboy interview.

So we’re a little amused by the synopsis for Thursday night’s episode of Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, which will feature Tesar. Here’s the synopsis in its entirety:

“Clearly someone has some beef to settle when chefs John Tesar and Terry Sargent step into the arena in the hopes of taking down Bobby Flay. Cutthroat Kitchen judges Simon Majumdar and Jet Tila see which chef is a cut above the rest.”

We asked a Food Network publicist if she could provide more details, and she said, essentially, sorry, but any more details would mean spoilers. A little Googling reveals that Terry Sargent is chef/owner of The Cuisson Company, an Atlanta-area catering/personal-chef biz.

Just a few months ago, Jennifer Bajsel, a DFW-based private chef who had worked with Tesar at his now-closed seafood restaurant Spoon Bar & Kitchen, made her own appearance on Beat Bobby Flay. On the show, two chefs go head-to-head with each other, then the winner gets to challenge celebrity chef Flay. So in other words, Tesar will have to get past Sargent to get to Flay.

Although Food Network didn’t want to say much more, Tesar talked to the Dallas Morning News, telling writer Sarah Blaskovich (with whom he appears to have no beef), saying it’s “probably the best show I've done to date." (Blaskovich points out that judge Jet Tila is the executive chef at Pakpao, a sibling restaurant to Dallas restaurant Oak, where Tesar serves as chef-partner).

The episode, titled “A Cut Above,” airs at 9 p.m. CST Thursday, Jan. 28 on Food Network. It repeats at midnight Thursday and, if you miss those, it will repeat at 9:30 p.m. Feb. 25 and 12:30 a.m. Feb. 26.

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Dallas chef John Tesar to appear Thursday on ‘Beat Bobby Flay’."