Stephen Kalt ran restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City before he opened Spartina in Los Angeles, which closed in January 2024 after fifteen years on the West Side. He is currently between rooms. He is also, on the record, 1-0 against Bobby Flay.
His weapon in 2017 was a patty melt — the dish that the diner across the street from your high school did better than the celebrity chef in your kitchen. The melt is a sandwich engineering problem: the rye needs to be buttered and griddled on the outside while the cheese melts inside, the patty needs to be smashed thin so its surface area maxes out and the Maillard runs hot, the onions need to be cooked down dark and sweet without burning.
Bobby's patty, per the room, was a hamburger between bread.