If you’re a Food Network fan, you might have seen a familiar face recently: NoDa’s own Chris Coleman, executive chef at The Goodyear House, competed – and won – in an episode of “Beat Bobby Flay.”

In the episode (titled “Best Dressed in TV” if you missed it), Chris competed against Chef Siddharth Krishna before taking on Bobby Flay. Below, he shares some of the highlights and surprises (cottage cheese, anyone?) of the experience.

Q. How were you chosen for the show?
A. The production company for “Beat Bobby Flay” reached out to me after I won on “Chopped.” I had recently left Marriott to open Goodyear House (in August 2019), so the timing was super exciting.

Q. How did you feel going into the competition? Did you expect to win?
A. I was confident but still nervous. I wouldn’t say I expected to win, but I did expect to do well. I think I had a chip on my shoulder after “Chopped.” Honestly though, I just wanted to get past the first round.

Q. What dishes did you make?
A. In the first round, our star ingredient was cottage cheese, one of only like three things I don’t enjoy eating. I made a cottage cheese arancini with spicy stewed tomatoes.

My signature dish was chicken and rice stew, a dish I was developing for Goodyear House (if you dined with us pre-COVID shutdown, it was featured on the menu as Guinea Hen Stew).

Q. Were there any curveballs?
A. Other than the cottage cheese, not really.

Q. How did it feel to beat Bobby Flay?
A. It felt amazing, but honestly surreal. Same as winning “Chopped.” It didn’t hit me until later that day.

Q. Have you done anything like this before?
A. As I’ve mentioned, I have appeared on “Chopped” and won that, so I’m a “Chopped” champion as well as a member of the Beat Bobby Flay club.

Q. How was the experience overall?
A. It was so much fun. My personal motto is “always take the meeting” because sometimes life will take you in directions you never imagined – you may end up opening a cool restaurant in NoDa or appearing on a national cooking show!

Q. Last but not least – any Goodyear House news or updates you want your NoDa neighbors to know?
A. We want to thank NoDa for their continued support. The last year and a half have been crazy and we are so lucky and fortunate to be in the position we’re in. We’ll be announcing some fun initiatives soon, including a back-to-school cookout to benefit BuildOn, a charity we’re stoked about, and a partnership with the Johnston Y!