Original subtitles

[narrator] This is Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Sixty miles of beautiful sunny beaches, attractions

and more than 2,000 restaurants.

With amazing culinary options,

the beach has become a true foodie destination.

Our host, chef Amanda Freitag loves southern hospitality,

great food and healthy competition.

So she's here to set up a Chef Swap challenge.

I'm Amanda Freitag and this is Chef Swap at the Beach.

[narrator] Today, Amanda will take two local chefs

out of their comfort zones

out of their comfort zones

and swap them into each other's kitchens.

What?

[Amanda] On each episode, our chefs will have no idea where they're going

or what food they'll cook.

Maybe an appetizer, entree or dessert.

[narrator] They'll grab only one ingredient to bring with them

and they'll have just 60 minutes to make Chef Amanda

and local culinary experts Dylan and Johanna

a dish that might earn them

their very own Chef Swap knife

and major bragging rights.

[Amanda] It's time for Chef Swap.

Today on Chef Swap at the Beach,

Today on Chef Swap at the Beach,

we will be swapping Myrtle Beach veteran, Darren

with Myrtle Beach newcomer, Chad.

I think it just hearkens back

to when, the beginning of time.

Cooking over fire.

Smoked meat, it's delicious, it's fun to do.

I would rather spend a long time doing some food

and hanging out and drinking and talking about it

and where you came from and how your dad did it

than any other thing in my life.

I, uh, attended college to play soccer

and to explore business.

and to explore business.

Love soccer, didn't like the business aspect.

At the time my brother was a chef

and he said, "cook."

Scott, my brother, he was an excellent chef.

He subsequently died in a car crash about 8 years ago.

I think about him a lot.

Just to watch him on the line was really poetry in motion.

He was doing things in the kitchen

that I had never seen or heard of

and that were simply delicious, though provoking.

It made me wanna pursue further what I was doing.

Which leads me to cooking down at Bonfire.

Which leads me to cooking down at Bonfire.

Same principle, try to keep it fun and interesting

and we do it the right way.

I'm a big family man.

Family has always, uh, been a huge part of my life.

My grandmother had seven children.

There's a lot of us.

And, as you can imagine,

all of us in one big yard

how many grills we have to have

and how much food we have to cook,

really, to be able to feed everyone.

Anytime we ever needed anything, anybody,

it was just a phone call away

and I think that's what brought me to, uh, being such a huge family guy.

and I think that's what brought me to, uh, being such a huge family guy.

Growing up in upstate New York,

grew up in a restaurant called the Old Erie

which was a German, American restaurant.

I started there when I was 13 as a dishwasher.

My parents were regulars there

and they talked to the chef.

They had told him that I was interested in cooking.

And, so one day, pulled me from the dish pit

on to the line and handed me a towel and a pair of tongs

which is now my right hand.

To this day,

and from that point on,

I never got off the line.

I love it.

[Amanda] I can't wait to see these two chefs in each other's kitchens.

[Amanda] I can't wait to see these two chefs in each other's kitchens.

Hey, Chef, what are you doing up there?

Good to see ya, how are you?

-Checking on the beer? -Yes, ma'am.

[Amanda] Hey, Chef.

-Hey, there. -How's it going?

Good, really good.

-I love your food here. -Thank you so much.

I love your food

-and of course I love your beer. -Of course.

But that's not why I'm here today.

And what are we here for?

It's time for a Chef Swap.

All right.

In this envelope, it tells you where you're going,

the chef you're gonna swap with

-and what you're gonna cook. -This is exciting.

But wait a second before you take that envelope.

You have to pick an ingredient that you love

You have to pick an ingredient that you love

to bring with you that could go into any dish.

This could be appetizer, entree, even dessert.

Well, I think it's gonna have to be our pork belly.

Pork belly?

Um...

Smoked tomato.

-Smoked tomato? -Yes.

That's unique.

Open it up, let's see.

Bonfire, Darren Smith, making burgers.

Tidal Creek Brewhouse, Chad Wiers, a burger.

-Thank goodness. -Yes. [laughing]

Okay.

I love burgers.

I love burgers.

I wanna see what you can do in his kitchen.

-Okay. -And one more thing.

This Chef Swap starts right now.

-Okay. -Right now!

[both giggling]

[Amanda] Our chefs bring one ingredient

and have 60 minutes to swap restaurants

and create a dish that will be a star on that menu.

Judged on taste, integration and creativity.

[Colleen] Oh, hey Chad, how are you doing?

How are you?

-Colleen, nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.

-Cody. -I'm Darren.

Nice to meet you.

This is where you've got all of your dry storage.

Give you a quick look in the walk in.

Seafood. All of our scallops, fish.

Seafood. All of our scallops, fish.

So we got our burgers, our steaks

Right on the line already, sweet.

This is our fresh taco station

where we do all our toppings.

Our, uh, auto chef.

[Darren] Oh, nice.

[Cody] Cooks everything in, like, two minutes.

-All right, let's do this, I'm ready. -Okay.

-Let's do it. -I appreciate you.

Absolutely.

All right, this is our smoke room.

It's the heart of Bonfire right here.

[Chad] This is a huge smoker.

With only an hour,

don't really have time to use it today

but, however, I would love to,

it's a beautiful piece.

[Amanda] Hey, Chef.

[Amanda] Hey, Chef.

-Hey, there. -How you doing?

Uh, kind of up, a little bit.

Uh, when I got here.

But now that I've looked through

and looked at all the ingredients

I feel pretty confident.

Okay, so do you have an idea of what you wanna make?

If it all goes as well,

I plan on doing a surf and turf smash burger.

Surf and turf smash burger.

Okay, that could be the first one ever in the world.

I hope so.

I haven't googled it yet but I hope so.

Don't google it, I think you're the first.

So you've brought some of your fire and your smoke here?

We smoke a lot of things at Bonfire

so I thought bringing some double smoked tomatoes would be cook.

so I thought bringing some double smoked tomatoes would be cook.

-Delicious. -So we're gonna intertwine that ingredient,

kind of all through the dish.

I love that.

-Hey, Chef. -How are ya?

-Good, how are you? -Good.

Did you see that smoker?

I did, it's huge.

Smells great back there.

Smells incredible in here.

Wanna throw something in there?

I would love to, however, with an hour...

Yeah, you'd need 14 more hours.

-Oh, yeah. -Yeah.

-So you brought pork belly? -Yes, ma'am.

I just like our signature rub that we do.

That I... It's an older recipe from the family.

You're not gonna tell me what's in there?

A little bit, one thing?

-Brown sugar. -Brown sugar.

-That's the base. -All right, brown sugar's great.

-So, you're making a burger? -Mmm-hmm.

You're feeling creative?

You're feeling creative?

I am, we're ready to go.

[giggling] Okay.

-Time starts now, for real. -All right.

[Amanda] Our chefs can use anything they want

from each other's shelves if they can find it.

Red wine vinegar.

I'm gonna do a nice butter milk soaked, uh, fried green tomato.

That's gonna hopefully accompany

this, uh, these pickled red onions really well.

Oh, they look great.

Nice, nice tomatoes.

Just a little salt and pepper,

Just a little salt and pepper,

buttermilk and then let them soak.

Got a good idea in my head

and we're gonna rock and roll.

Having no clue of what I was gonna do when I walked in

and seeing all these beautiful seafood,

I thought a seafood burger

would be, uh, the route to go.

So we're gonna do almost like a traditional mousse

but leave it a little bit chunkier.

Some beautiful shrimp.

Some great looking scallops.

We're gonna puree that with, uh, some spice,

some lemon zest.

Couple of eggs and a little bit of panko to bind.

Couple of eggs and a little bit of panko to bind.

[Amanda] Chef Chad and Chef Darren

are working on burgers that are anything but simple.

I'm gonna use the house patties here at Bonfire

and incorporate some of our own ingredients.

Our pork belly, some seasoning.

I don't know where a knife...

Somewhere.

I'm gonna grab my secret in ingredient.

These saw about 10 hours of hot smoke.

Then I put 'em on some cold smoke.

And you can actually add more intense smoke that way.

So I thought that would be cool.

Well, that went fast. Ten minutes are gone.

Good.

Good.

That's a big whisk, little bowl.

It sure is.

[Amanda laughing]

-Your pork belly, can I taste a little nugget? -[Chad] Of course.

-Do you smoke it over there? -We do, we do.

Oh, so you do use a little smoke.

-We do. -How about that.

Oh, wow.

How are you gonna put that inside the burger?

-On top? -I'm gonna incorporate it in the burger

-and it's gonna go on top as well. -Nice.

-Yep. -I love it.

Hey, Chef, how's it going?

You put these beautiful tomatoes in that mousse?

[Darren] Yes, I did.

So we've got egg, we've got some salt, pepper, lemon zest.

This whole dish is wild.

I love your creativity but ten minutes have passed.

I love your creativity but ten minutes have passed.

Yes.

[Amanda] We gotta light a little fire under you.

Yes, I'm starting to work quicker now.

-Okay. -[Darren] Thank you.

The pork belly, like I was saying,

the rub is, uh, is an old family recipe.

So I think that's gonna be really stand out for these patties

and the blend on the house patty is really nice.

See how she rolls.

So what's really cool about Tidal Creek

is that we make all of our beer in house.

Everything on the menu we try to incorporate our beer.

So my favorite dishes here are the crab cakes

as well as the shrimp and grit.

Another thing is the beer mussels

Another thing is the beer mussels

which we do with our Tidal Creek beer, Breezy Blonde.

How much time we got left?

[Amanda] You got 45 left.

45 minutes, heard.

How my mom taught me, really, growing up,

always take a little bit, put it on the griddle, try it.

That way you can re-season right then.

Am I a chef? I don't know.

Am I the best barbecue? I don't know.

But I think we do a pretty good job down at Bonfire.

All just delicious, simple, good,

hormone free product that we treat with care

and smoke delicately over a hard wood.

Serve it on plates with sides

Serve it on plates with sides

or we put it in tacos and try to keep it fun.

Of course we have delicious salads

and a wider range of seafood.

And then when it comes to the sweets,

uh, the s'more pie can't be beat.

It's kind of like you're sitting by the camp fire.

All right, that's delicious and ready to go.

Hey, Chef.

-How are ya? -Looks like you're making some progress.

Little intense here now.

You do a lot with beer?

Did you wanna serve this with beer?

Actually, one of our beers, uh, I see on tap that we have here.

Here at Bonfire we have Tidal Creek beer on tap?

-I love that synergy. -Yes.

-It's a beer swap. -[Chad] It is, let's do it.

-It's a beer swap. -[Chad] It is, let's do it.

-I'm gonna go to the bar -Awesome.

Hey, Laurel, I think I'm gonna need a beer for the chef.

Tidal Creek.

Our La Cala, Mexican lager.

Nice, Mexican lager.

Perfect, refreshing.

We're making the turf to juxtapose the surf.

Smoke tomato that I pureed.

Brown sugar's gonna add a little sweetness.

I thought it might be nice

to the lemony, tomato-y, seafood cake

to have a little sweetness on the turf cake.

[Chad] Next we are gonna go to the coleslaw

[Chad] Next we are gonna go to the coleslaw

that I'm gonna do for the side.

Starting to look good, smells really good.

I like to, uh, make a divot into 'em.

That way when they shrink up,

they won't be quite as excessive.

[Amanda] Chef, how you doing?

I'm doing really good.

-I think I might have something that'll help ya. -Yeah?

Cody told me you like tequila?

Oh, thank you so much.

-This'll help you smooth things out? -Let's do this.

-Yes! -Home run.

-All right, keep going. -Thank you so much.

You're halfway through.

-Halfway through. -30 minutes are up

-Halfway through. -30 minutes are up

-so I thought I'd bring you a treat. -Oh, you're the best.

Little bit of La Cala, Mexican lager.

-Okay. -Nice and fresh.

[Chad] If I could sit down and have one beer

with anybody it would be my Uncle Chris.

Uh, we would catch up on everything

that he has missed out on.

My uncle was the chef in the family

so whenever he would come to my grandparents' house during the holidays

I was always in the kitchen with him

watching what he did.

And then as I grew up

you know, I got to be a little more hands on with him.

I know that he would be real proud of me.

You know, look how far we've come.

You know, look how far we've come.

Look where we're at.

[Darren] Quinoa's on the menu here

so I thought it'd be a nice accompaniment

to this rich burger.

I've got quinoa, some fresh fruit,

little honey, some pecan.

Little vinegar, little smoke tomato.

-Hey, Chef, I see this slaw working. -Yeah.

-I didn't know you were gonna make this. -Yeah.

What's in there?

Uh, so we did a little red wine vinegar,

some mayo, salt, pepper, sugar.

And I used some of our pork belly,

and crisp that up and put that in there as well.

-Oh, nice, the pork belly's in there too? -[Chad] Yeah.

All right, Chef, you got a lot going on in here.

All right, Chef, you got a lot going on in here.

I do, everything's coming together,

I'm gonna make one more thing

as I start to assemble.

I'm gonna make sort of a smoked tomato,

ketchup-y hot sauce thing to dip in if you want.

So I like how you have a smoked tomato in many different things.

-Yes. -I love that.

But making their ingredients the real star with the surf and turf.

[Amanda] You like this kitchen, don't you?

-[Chad] Yeah, it's... -[Amanda] I can tell!

So much room to move around.

-So much room. -You're spreading out.

Chef Darren, you have 22 minutes.

-23? -[Amanda] No, 22.

22, thank you.

It's go time.

It's go time.

All right, these are my seafood patties.

I want them on a little bit lower heat.

And these are my lamb burgers.

My surf and turf.

[Chad] Go ahead and spread the Bonfire poblano cheese on there.

Gonna incorporate one of their ingredients.

Everything else has a pretty one-dimensional flavor,

just delicious.

So I thought it'd be smart to bring some heat

and some sweet as a sidecar.

Actually, when my daughter and I cook,

she actually came up with something similar to this at the house

and it just got in the back of my head

and it just got in the back of my head

that I had some tomatoes left.

Blessed to have a daughter from Guatemala.

Adopted her when she was six months old.

Sophia, just the light of my life

and is a big part of everything that we do, obviously.

And just a real strong young lady.

Oh, and here's my boo-boo.

[chuckling]

Scope out some ingredients

for this aioli that just came to mind.

I'm an adventurer.

I like to just see where the wind takes ya.

Just go for it,

you never really know unless you take that chance.

you never really know unless you take that chance.

I'm also alive for this beautiful beverage.

Really good.

Chef, do you mind if I taste your side sauce?

Side sauce, sort of sweetie with a smoked tomato, barbecue honey.

Not allowed to tell you what I think right now

but I like it.

[Darren] Good, good.

I think that's a positive sign.

So you're feeling good? Do you need anything?

-Water? -Uh, tequila when it's all done.

-More tequila? -Yes.

-Tequila worked? -Yes, yes, it worked great.

Okay.

[narrator] Learn more about he chefs and restaurants

featured in this show at chefswap.com.

Very happy with how these burgers turned out.

Think they're gonna work out well, look good.

[Amanda] Chef, are you finished?

I am, just finishing the touches right here, the pickled rads.

-[Amanda] Feels good to you? -[Chad] It does, very happy.

All right, that's it, we're gonna serve it.

Put it up in the window, we'll take it out.

[Chad] Heard that.

Burgers up.

[Darren] That'll be a nice, light side.

[Darren] That'll be a nice, light side.

So then we'll add our turf.

With the brown sugar, pork belly.

Little quick pickle, just a little.

And this is for the chef.

I see a smile on his face.

[Darren] Yes, yes.

Speaking my language.

Lastly...

There's an offspring to the smoked tomato pulp and puree.

I get this delicious smoked tomato water

and I thought it'd be really cool

to put it into one of their delicious beers.

To add the final, smokey back drop.

-[Amanda] Chef, it looks like you're done? -[Darren] Done.

-Is that correct? -Yes.

-Nicely done. -[Darren] Thank you so much.

Thank you, let's go taste.

-Yes. -Cheers.

-Cheers. -Well done.

Thank you.

[Amanda] Okay, so Chad's ingredient

[Amanda] Okay, so Chad's ingredient

that he brought with him was pork belly.

And the cool part about it is the seasoning on the pork belly

is a family seasoning of his.

-Of Chad's family? -[Amanda] Of Chad's family.

-Okay. -So, he did chop it up,

mix it with the beef for the patty.

He crisped it up put it in the coleslaw.

-Okay. -So he's connected pretty much everything.

Oh, it's gonna be messy.

Messy is good though.

-Mmm. -[Amanda] Wow.

There is tons of texture in there.

Yeah, I'm gonna get a little bit more here.

Yeah, I'm gonna get a little bit more here.

[Amanda] Mmm-hmm.

I love that pork belly in the slaw.

I think the burger's great, the pork belly in the burger,

that's a really interesting, uh, interesting touch.

The fried green tomato on top is great.

I've never had a fried green tomato on a burger

and I think it's awesome.

[Amanda laughing]

Shame on you.

The crunch when you bite in to it,

that crunch of the fried green tomato

and the tart of the pickled onions

and the sweetness at the end, love it.

And I like the fact that Chef Chad

just sort of reigned it in with some big, bold flavors.

just sort of reigned it in with some big, bold flavors.

And the pork belly in the beef

is not too overpowering

but I think you really get how beautiful it is when you taste the slaw.

-[Johanna] Right. -[Dylan] Yeah.

So what could Chef Chad have done better here?

You know, um, it definitely could be, like, something you, actually...

-I would put some of this on the burger. -Yes, go ahead.

-To make the burger juicier, you know? -[Amanda] Yeah, do it.

I just thought about that.

-Let me try some on the burger. -[Amanda] Yeah.

-[Johanna] Just a little bit. -I think that's a great idea.

-[Johanna] Just to try it. -And I don't think the chef would mind

if you did that, right?

It tastes really good on there.

Yeah, I mean...

Tastes better than the burger by itself, actually.

Tastes better than the burger by itself, actually.

I can see having this burger, the slaw, a beer,

-Sitting out on the porch. -[Dylan] Yeah.

That's it.

[all] Cheers.

[Amanda] This is Chef Darren's interpretation of a burger

that would go really, really well on Tidal Creek's menu.

-He got super creative. -Looks like it.

There's two patties.

So it's a seafood smash surf and turf burger.

And his ingredient that he brought from the restaurant

is smoked tomato.

Mmm.

-I'm just gonna go right in the middle. -Yeah.

I want it all.

[Amanda and Johanna] Mmm.

[Amanda and Johanna] Mmm.

[Amanda] So, I mean the chef layered in the smoked tomato

in so many different places.

In the sauce, in the patty on the seafood smash,

in our drink.

-Oh, yeah, cool. -In our beer.

We didn't even go in for the drink.

[Amanda] I mean, he didn't even have to give us a beer,

he just wanted to

because he was so inspired by that smoked tomato.

-Mmm. -[Amanda] Mmm-hmm.

-Oh, my goodness, it's like, southern heaven here. -[Amanda] Mmm.

Okay, you have the best of the south.

For me this, the whole plate works.

I like the fact that there's no fries

or onion rings, it keeps it a little lighter with the quinoa salad.

or onion rings, it keeps it a little lighter with the quinoa salad.

Well I think it keeps the focus on the surf and turf burger.

-[Johanna] Right. -The focus is right there where it needs to be.

-Amongst everything... -The pork as well.

...this was so creative.

So, how could we make this better?

Maybe a little bit of that, uh, more of that smoked tomato, like...

You want an actual piece of that smoked tomato.

-Yes, I like a body. -[Amanda] Yeah.

You need body to a burger,

you're supposed to bite into, like, a big juicy tomato.

-[Amanda] I like that. -Just, like, put my teeth in to it.

-'Cause you really wanna get to know it. -[Johanna] Yes.

-It's such a unique ingredient. -Yes, get to know me.

-[Amanda] Yeah. -Learn more about your heart and her tongue, yes.

-[Amanda] Yeah. -Learn more about your heart and her tongue, yes.

Yes, let's get down to it.

-How's it going? -Good, how are you?

Okay, so you made that slaw with pork belly,

you've never done that before, so you kind of took a risk?

One of my mottos is you're unsure,

you should just go for it and today I presented an idea

and I just went for it.

That's really brave, actually,

-and that's what we wanna see. -Yeah.

Did you learn anything about yourself under pressure?

Didn't think I had it in me

but now, you know, first one,

I think, uh, we can build off of that

and I can do a lot better.

Nice, I love that. Always learning.

-How ya feeling? -Uh, relieved.

Thank you for the tequila, that helped.

-Thank you for the beer. -Yes, yes.

How did you feel being in this tiny kitchen

-compared to yours? -A little different.

My kitchens are, um...

...enormous compared to that.

-But this was set up well. -Yeah.

And those guys were a huge help.

We tasted your food...

-...and we'll see what everybody thinks. -Oh, come on.

Not even a hint?

So we'll see you at the knife ceremony.

I look forward to it, I hope.

[Amanda] These two chefs came to win and it showed.

Time to award the Chef Swap knife.

Chef Darren, Chef Chad,

Chef Darren, Chef Chad,

thank you again for taking the Chef Swap challenge.

We challenged you with burger.

You gonna make that burger again?

I think so.

If I win, yes.

-Or never again. -Or never again.

[Amanda laughing]

Yeah, we truly loved getting to know both of you guys

and eating your food.

-You both knocked it out of the park. -Thank you.

Chef Chad, we really loved what you did in the kitchen.

You brought your pork belly with your family secret spice

and you used it in multiple places

and we loved that you did that.

and we loved that you did that.

The fried green tomato, the texture was incredible.

-Really good job. -Thank you.

And you got to spread your wings

in that huge kitchen.

It was, definitely felt good.

[Amanda] Chef Darren, we loved your creativity

you really went over the top

and you used that house smoked tomato

in so many ways.

Even in a beer.

Great job, we liked that surf and turf burger.

Thank you.

How did that feel?

[Darren] Very nervous at first

but once I got around in the kitchen

and got a little more comfortable

I kind of eased in.

I kind of eased in.

Honestly, I would come back for a burger

in either of your restaurants anytime.

And I loved the way you both worked with each other's kitchen teams.

-[Chad] Thank you. -That was really cool.

-Colleen was awesome. -[Chad] She was.

-[Amanda] And Cody helped you out. -Yes.

[Amanda] I love that.

Everybody was so welcoming

and exactly the vibe of Chef Swap.

Community, chefs coming together.

Chef Chad, Chef Darren.

Our Chef Swap knife goes to...

Chef Darren.

Chef Darren.

[applause]

Oh.

-Wow. -Congratulations.

Thank you.

[Amanda] Darren's surf and turf burger

with smoked tomato was a flavor bomb

and a truly innovative take on a burger.

He's a fiery competitor.

-Good one. -Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I'm Amanda Freitag, join me next time

as we put two more amazing Myrtle Beach chefs to the test

on Chef Swap at the Beach.

For more on the chefs and restaurants featured in this episode

visit chefswap.com.