'Bobby's Triple Threat' Titan Was on 'Chopped' 16 Years Ago & Served Scott Conant Raw Onions — Twice Andrea ReiherNovember 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM 0 Food Network Before she was facing challengers as one of Bobby Flay's Titans, Bobby's Triple Threat star Ayesha Nurdjaja was the one under pressure.
- - 'Bobby's Triple Threat' Titan Was on 'Chopped' 16 Years Ago & Served Scott Conant Raw Onions — Twice
Andrea ReiherNovember 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
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Food Network
Before she was facing challengers as one of Bobby Flay's Titans, Bobby's Triple Threat star Ayesha Nurdjaja was the one under pressure.
Nearly 16 years ago, she appeared on Chopped season 3 episode "Judge Knows Best," battling mystery baskets that included hamachi, quail eggs and gochujang. Introducing herself as a self-proclaimed "Sexy Chef" determined to win, she quickly learned that the competition's time crunch and tough critics could test even the most confident cook — and her fiery exit quote still stands out all these years later.
What Happened on Her Chopped Episode
The 2009 episode, which originally aired on October 27 of that year, featured judges Chris Santos, Scott Conant and Marc Murphy. Competing alongside three New York chefs, the future Titan introduced herself as an executive chef at Il Bordello and wasted no time declaring her confidence.
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"With $10,000, I would hire publicists because I was born to be famous," said Ayesha in her opening confessional. "I'm absolutely going to win this competition."
For the appetizer round, the basket contained hamachi, quail eggs and dried cherries. She decided on spiced hamachi kebabs served with a salad of dried cherries, sliced red onion and arugula, topped with fried quail eggs.
"Usually whatever I set out to do, I conquer," she said, describing herself as "a little spicy and sassy" while marinating the fish with lemon juice, cumin and paprika.
But the heat of the kitchen proved literal — her grill pan wasn't hot enough, forcing her to finish the kebabs in the oven before searing. The result: slightly overcooked fish and a sharp bite of raw onion that didn't please Conant, a well-known onion critic. Conant absolutely despises raw onions. Still, she survived to cook again in round two.
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The Entree Challenge
For the entrée, the mystery ingredients were beef tenderloin, mangoes, Gruyère cheese and gochujang — an unconventional combination even by Chopped standards.
"These ingredients are ridiculous," Ayesha exclaimed before deciding to make gochujang tenderloin with a mango-lentil salad and a Gruyère-gochujang sauce.
The chef, who described herself as "half Italian, half Indonesian," leaned into spice and bold flavor but took a risk by cooking her tenderloin whole. The clock caught up to her again; she had to cut the meat into medallions and sear them quickly, leading to a mix of nicely cooked and overcooked pieces. Once again, raw red onion made an appearance, overpowering the mango, and Conant was again very displeased with the raw onions.
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When it came time for judging, Chris Santos delivered the verdict:
"We all were left, as we were deliberating, with a sort of a bitter aftertaste of onion and despite your valiant rescue with the beef, ultimately, it was a little dry and a little overcooked. So you didn't make any big mistakes, but you made a lot of little ones, so we have to let you go."
That's when the chef gave one of the most memorable exit lines in early Chopped history:
"I'm so angry right now it's not even funny. I have so much heart and I just feel like I was shorted. I gave it my all and now here I am, chopped."
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Where Ayesha Nurdjaja Is Now
Fast-forward to today, and the once-hopeful competitor is now a key player on Bobby's Triple Threat. The Food Network series — hosted by Bobby Flay — features three elite chefs, or "Titans," who take on new challengers every week. To win, challengers must defeat all three Titans in head-to-head rounds.
Each episode features surprise ingredients, a secret guest judge, and high-energy competition that plays perfectly to her bold, risk-taking personality — traits viewers first glimpsed back in that 2009 kitchen.
Seeing her early Chopped appearance resurface is a reminder of how long the Food Network has been a proving ground for rising stars. Sixteen years later, she's not the wide-eyed "Sexy Chef" chasing publicity anymore — she's one of Bobby Flay's trusted Titans, commanding her own spotlight.
Bobby's Triple Threat season 4 finale airs Tuesday, November 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network. In the finale, the Titans take on Food Network fan-fave Karen Akunowicz, and funnily enough, the guest judge is Scott Conant. Hope everyone cooks their onions.
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