Bobby Flay Launches His Signature Kitchenware and Grilling Collection

It’s grilling season and the king of the grills Bobby Flay is everywhere. A new cookbook just out, a new cooking show to follow and finally, his own cookware line, with, natch, a nice feature of grilling attachments. Food Network and Kohl’s Corporation officially launched the Bobby Flay casual lifestyle collection last Thursday.

Quoting from the release: “The new Bobby Flay collection encompasses casual lifestyle products, unique grilling items, and the worldly Mediterranean influences of Bobby’s culinary point of view. The product assortment includes a diverse selection of affordable cookware, dinnerware, kitchen gadgets, utensils, cutlery, kitchen textiles and barbecue tools. At launch, regular prices will range from $4.99 for an oatmeal bowl to $139.99 for a 16-Piece Plancha Dinnerware Set”

Indeed the terra cotta contstructed dishware is available in four different colors includes a bright turquoise that bespeaks of Flay’s famous Southwestern influences. But, thankfully, not everything is bold and wild. The serving dishes for tortillas to tapas are a welcoming homey and earthly dark brown with rich orange and sand accents. Among cooler stuff, the first garlic oven I can recall seeing in a long time. Of course grilling is well represented from the charocal chimney to brushes and grilling baskets.

Other items include the Bobby Blender, with favorite cocktail measurements etched into the pouring glass; tablecloths, placemats, napkins and bar mop towel sets all in Plancha colors; cutlery including a set of steak knives and a slicing set, and an Acacia Wood collection of large salad bowls. The new collection is available only at Kohl’s stores and Kohls.com and continues the collaboration between Kohl’s and Food Network-branded kitchenware products that began last fall.

“I’ve always loved eating almost anything off the grill. These products will help you grill, cook and entertain anytime, in any weather,” said Flay. “My products represent how grilling has become a lifestyle and a part of our culture, all year round. Everyone should have the tools to create amazing food.”

There’s also a contest connected with the launch. From May 15-June 15. Top prize is 5 days, 4 night visit to New York City, a visit to the Throwdown with Bobby Flay set, dinner at Bobby’s Mesa Grill, spending money, $500 Kohl’s gift card and a full line of Flay’s new products. And four more runner-up prizes too. Just click the Ultimate Father’s Day Sweepstakes area on the site for details and signup; you can’t miss it.

Television-wise, Food Network is launching grilling season next week with a series of specials and grilling-themed cooking episodes including a one-hour special rilling “Throwdown with Bobby Flay”. Then on July 6th, Flay’s new “Grill It!” cooking show premieres.

Win Some Beans, Steaks, Backyard Makeover in Bush’s Grillin’ Contest

That’s right we have another cool contest for you — grillers, wake up!

Speaking of waking up, here’s a last minute reminder: there’s a scant two days left if you want to enter the Bobby Flay grilling contest we told you about last month.

But this is about the new contest. What is it? Well you’ve probably seen the new commercials where Jay Bush — and that talking dog of his — say “don’t use baked beans … use Bush’s new Grilling Beans”?! Well there’s one sweet grilling recipe contest to go with that. “You register and and upload a video of yourself demonstrating how to make your favorite chicken, steak or chop recipe that pairs perfectly with one of Bush’s New Grillin’ Beans varieties” at this website.

First 800 get a coupon for a free can of grillin’ beans. Then 12 semi-finalists are chosen (who each get more beans and some steaks). America votes on the 12 and the top four become finalists (and they get some more prizes) and the top one gets a $5-grand backyard makeover. Get your entries in prior to May 1st. Grand prize winner picked end of August.

Food Network’s Las Vegas Culinary Tour Contest: Entries Close Monday

You know what I can’t stand? Companies that don’t know how to market worth a damn. And there are correlaries to this which include Companies who waste money and time by not properly marketing their contests and Companies who still don’t know how to market on the Internet.

Case in point, Food Network’s “Spring into Action” campaign that lasted a month, but no one heard of it until they started promoting it two weeks after it began. This disappears in a few days folks so one last time if you want to enter. Check out my previous mention of this for details (as well as details on two additional contests ending in just a few days.

Then there is the Fox Network who has not updated the Hell’s Kitchen website since Roc won eight or nine months ago. That’s right. Where Bravo’s Top Chef website was up a full month before, replete with bios, photos and embeddable videos, the Hell’s Kitchen website still says Congrats, Roc on it! Worse that that? Fox just tossed a ton of money at Google Ads and as of today is heavily promoting the site. That’s right, the site with nothing up there for season four even though it begins Tuesday. That’s like taking a two-page ad out in the Sunday paper and going to a store that says “stay in the parking lot, we’ll be open next week.” Duh!!!

And now, one more, the crux of this post. And another Food Network (sigh) “winner”. Seems there’s yet another Food Network contest that ends March 31st. Seems this one conducted with SeaPak Shrimp has been going on since January. Seems even though I’m at the Food Network site almost daily and watch the network at least once a day, I’ve never heard of this contest until yesterday. Yepper now that’s some slick promotion, huh? A contest no one heard of cause no one’s promoting it. Anyway for giving away your personal info and email addy over here you can signup for the great (cough, cough) Food Network Culinary Tour in Las Vegas!

Seriously though this is a sweet contest. “You could win an all-expense paid trip for two for a weekend of culinary surprises in Las Vegas. Every night dine at a different Food Network chef’s restaurant - we’ll even throw in $1,000 spending money”. Why the lack of promoting it? No idea. Again though you have a few days left to enter.

‘Grill It!’ with Bobby Flay Coming in July — And You Can Cook with Him

It’s always interesting writing these things down here when I have more than one item. You see, while you’re reading “backwards”, that is my most recent post to my previous-to-that-by-one post, I’m going “forward” … Eh, you get it.

Anyhow, depending on how I’m writing or the way you’re reading, you just read about the April, May and June new cooking shows on the Food Network. Well this one makes number four and the following consecutive month of July. But I’ve seperated this from the other three for a couple big reasons.

One, this is Bobby Flay, the Iron Chef, the grill master not someone new. Next, Bobby isn’t just doing another show, he’s looking for folks like you to join him on the show. Yes, if you’re a grillmaster, Chef Flay wants you. You need to make a two-minute video and upload it to the Grill It! site at Food Network by April 10. So you got two weeks tops. Right now as I write this there’s a whopping three videos there.

So, duuuuuuude (or gal), you got major grilling skillz? You got a video camera? Get it up there fast cause they’re looking for a bunch of people to come on the show and cook with Bobby — and you can be one of them!

4 March Food Contests — 3 Recipe Contests — You Can Enter Now

First up is a reminder. We first told you about this one 17 days ago, and now there’s only a couple days left. You need to come up with a recipe, take a photo, enter it and you can cook with Wolfgang Puck. Details here. This ends March 19th.

Second one is open until March 31st (same with the remainding contests) and that’s the one for Foodnetwork’s Ultimate Recipe Showdown. According the the site, categories include Breakfast, Chocolate, American Hometown Favorites and dozens more. Details and legal junk here.

The third and fourth contests have some, um, bizarre aspects to them. There’s the other Foodnetwork contest that runs from February 29th to March 31st. The bizarre aspect is this one month contest has only been advertised at FN both the television network and the website for two days. Making it effectively a two-week contest. Anyone with any remote knowledge in marketing and ROI knows that is just weird. Doesn’t matter to you the consumer though. Go enter. Recipe? Nope. They just want your name and email to send you stuff. For a chance at a giant $75,000 this one is probably worth it. (Btw, what any of this has to do with a skinny non-dancer doing “jazz hands” on the site I have no idea.) Go signup for the Spring into Action Sweepstakes now.

Final of four contests is another recipe contest. This one in connection with Top Chef. And this is the most bizarre of them all. Why? I’ll hold off on that a moment. First, this is the “home version” of the Top Chef Quickfire. “Your At-Home Quickfire Challenge is to create a burger inspired by the word “audacious” with only 30 minutes from prep to serve.” What do you win? No idea!!! Nothing apparently from reading the legal (and I’m one of those rare animals that can actually read legals.) So, for your chance at …. nothing, hurry up and enter, this contest here. It closes March 31st.