Posted by Mountain Mail, NM on May 21, 2009 at 19:17:24:
Bobby Olguin Faces Off Against TV’s Bobby Flay In Food Network Contest
by: John Larson
For The Mountain Mail
Contact: mountainmailreporter@gmail.com
TV cameras catch the action as Flay checks on the status of at least a dozen of his burgers.
Fans of the Food Network got a treat last Thursday, May 14, when the cable channel came to Socorro County to tape an episode of the popular series “Throwdown with Bobby Flay.”
About 60 residents turned out to watch the popular TV chef challenge The Buckhorn’s Bobby Olguin to a green-chile cheeseburger cook-off at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
One week before the event, the Food Network issued a press release about a so-called “Buckhorn Green Chile Festival.” Once the cameras started rolling, Flay appeared from the crowd and announced the real reason for the taping.
Then both “Bobbys” squared off, cooking their burgers side-by-side on outdoor grills.
Olguin said he had prepared his ground-beef patties for the show exactly the way he’s done every morning at the Buckhorn for the past 15 years.
“It’s one of the first things I do each day,” he said. “I get fresh ingredients from Supermart every day. I want to make sure the quality can be tasted in every bite.”
He said going up against one of the most popular chefs in the country on television made that Thursday a little different.
“I’m still wondering if it really happened. It was stressful, but it was well worth it,” Olguin said.
“It was like someone chosen to be on American Idol to me. To be on a show with Bobby Flay.”
He said Flay told him he wanted to put the Buckhorn Burger on one of his restaurant’s menus.
“He was picking on me for my green chile secret,” Olguin said.
Being famous for his burgers is nothing new to Olguin.
In 2005, GQ Magazine rated the Buckhorn as having the seventh-best burger in America.
The restaurant has most recently been proclaimed as serving the Third-Baddest Burger in the Land by the Nightlife Flavor Roundup on the Marlboro.com Web site.
“We’re having all these nice things happen, the publicity is great. The El Paso Times newspaper also did a nice write-up on us,” Olguin said. “And now the Food Network.”
He said he is worried he will get too much business, especially during the tourist season.
“I will never have plans to expand or franchise,” Olguin said. “I get the most satisfaction from cooking for my people, the people in San Antonio and in the Socorro area. This is why I do it.”
After a full day running the Buckhorn, Olguin still has time to blow on the blues harp with his friends.
A strong musical tradition, along with the burger tradition at the Buckhorn, goes back at least 50 years.
According to Olguin, his father, Mannie Olguin, built the Buckhorn in 1943.
“Our liquor license dates back to 1918,” he said. “It was transferred from my grandfather’s bar that used to be across the street.”
He said his father had a place where people could come for gasoline, a burger, a beer and a haircut.
“Dad was a drummer and played in a local jazz group. One day he brought the piano in and since then, music’s always been associated with the Buckhorn. People began referring to the Buckhorn with three words: burgers, beer and music,” Bobby said. “In the 50s, we were known for jazz, and later, blues. Just like our burgers, we had the best blues here, outside of Chicago.”
Bobby’s first instrument was harmonica, and he picked up the accordion 12 years ago.
“My first love is Chicago blues,” he said. “Every Monday night we play the blues. We’ve got Hound-Dog, Jim Ruff and Gene Robles.”
And “Big Bad Bob plays blues,” he said.
The two judges on the Throwdown were chosen from outside the area, since the Buckhorn’s burgers are familiar to most everyone in the Socorro area.
In a blind taste test, the judges gave their impressions as they sampled each burger.
Burger judge Al Lucero of Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen in Santa Fe drew a laugh from the audience when he said “the maker of this burger must have gotten his start at a McDonald’s.”
Although all 60 people who attended the taping know to which burger he was referring, the winner of the Throwdown will remain a secret until the program airs.
Bobby Olguin said he was told the show would air in June.
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