By MELISSA BEVERIDGE
Chef Peter Morris, executive chef of Woody’s which is scheduled to open in Tinton Falls, will be featured tonight (July 30) at 10 p.m. on the Beat Bobby Flay show on the Food Network.
In the episode, Morris faced off against Tex-mex chef Gregory Webb as they competed to make a winning dish featuring pomegranate.
“I thought wow, how am I going to make pomegranate the focus?” said Morris of Freehold who’s dish was judged by New York City chef celebrities Scott Conant and Geoffrey Zakarian.
In the competition, Morris, former chef de cuisine at Langosta Lounge in Asbury Park, created a pomegranate focused dish with poached shrimp in a pomegranate stock, a curry with pomegranates and a pomegranate molasses finish. Despite not moving ahead to “beat Bobby Flay” in the next round, Morris learned a lot about the hard work and attention to detail that comes with TV production.
“I have an admiration for the production people from beginning to end,” Morris said. “Their attention to detail and behind the scenes work was impressive.”
Morris originally caught the show’s attention in October where he was then vetted through a lengthy process including phone and Skype interviews, pictures of his dishes along with countless applications.
“It was a really great experience,” Morris said. “Really professional.”
When speaking of his day of filming, Morris said that “it was a really great experience.”
Food Network picked up him and his wife, Lauren, and drove them into to the New York City based Food Network studio.
“There was a lot of waiting, but it was really interesting to see the behind the scenes of a popular show,” Morris said.
As for future endeavors, Morris is focusing on getting everything “squared away” for his position as executive chef at Woody’s second location in Tinton Falls.
