Bobby Flay Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

Bobby Flay is an American reality television personality, restaurateur, and celebrity chef. Born on December 10, 1964, he owns several restaurants including Bar Americain in New York and at Mohegan Sun, Bobby’s Burger Palace in 19 locations across 11 states in the U.S., Mesa Grill in Las Vegas and the Bahamas and Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City. Others include Uncasville, Connecticut, and Gato in New York. As a television personality, he has hosted and appeared in many Food Network television programs including Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay, Food Nation, Bobby Flay's BBQ Addiction, The Best Thing I Ever Ate and Brunch @ Bobby’s among others.

Childhood Life And Education

Bobby Flay was born on December 10, 1964, in New York to Bill and Dorothy Flay. He grew up in Upper East Side of Manhattan. Raised as in a Catholic home, he received education at denominational schools in his neighborhood. At the age of 17, Flay dropped out of high school to venture into the restaurant industry. He later continued his education at the French Culinary Institute with tuition paid by Joe Allen, the proprietor of Joe Allen Restaurant. Flay worked with the restaurant, and Allenwas impressed withhis natural talent. He graduated with a degree in culinary arts in 1984.

Career

Dropping out of high school, Bobby Flay picked a job at a pizza parlor and later at Baskin-Robins. Working there for a while, he was employed as salad maker at Joe Allen Restaurant in Manhattan. His father was a partner at the restaurant. This was when Allen sponsored Flay to enroll at the French Culinary Institute. After graduating, he worked as a sous-chef. Flay was offered a job as executive chef at the Brighton Grill in Third Avenue but left the position later as he was not ready to run a kitchen. His next job was as a chef working for restaurateur Jonathan Waxman who introduced him to southwestern and Cajun cuisine. These cuisines would later become his signature dishes. From 1988 to 1990 he worked as the executive chef at Miracle Grill. He worked and later became a partner of restaurateur Jerome Kretchmer at Mesa Grill.

The partners opened Bolo Bar & Restaurant in the Flatiron District, New York City in 1993. In 2004, Flay opened another Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and the following year opened Bar Americain in Midtown Manhattan. He opened several other branches of Mesa Grill in several other locations. Bobby Flay also started the Bobby's Burger Palace (BBP) with the first branch opened on July 15, 2008, in Lake Grove, Long Island. He has since opened several others in different locations totaling nineteen locations in eleven states and the District of Columbia.

Flay was also a master instructor and visiting chef at the French Culinary Institute.

Television Shows, Film and Radio Career

Bobby Flay has appeared in several television cook shows including on Great Chefs and Food Network. On Great Cheats he featured in episodes like Great Chefs – Great Cities, Mexican Madness DVD, Great Chefs Cook American. Most of his television cook shows has been with Food Network and Cooking Channel. He has hosted fourteen cooking shows some of which are still running. His shows include Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay, Grillin' &Chillin', and Food Nation. Other shows includeWorst Cooks in America, The Main Ingredient with Bobby Flay, Bobby's Dinner Battle and Beat Bobby Flay. He was also a judge on cook shows like Wickedly Perfect, The Next Iron Chef, and The Next Food Network Star.

He made a cameo appearance in the Disney movie, Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off and the episode Design of Law & Order: Special Victim Unit in 2005. He was the host of a weekly call-in show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Books

Bobby Flay is also an author and has several cookbooks to his credit including Bobby Flay's Bold American Food, 1994, Bobby Flay's From My Kitchen to Your Table, 1998,Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill, 1999 and publishedBobby Bobby Flay Cooks American in 2001. Other cookbooks includeBobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill, published in 2004, Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook, 2007, Bobby Flay's Grill It!, 2008, Bobby Flay'sThrowdown, 2011 and Bobby Flay's Barbecue Addiction in 2013.

Personal Life

Bobby Flay was married In 1991, Bobby Flay married a chef Debra Ponzek. After two years of marriage, the couple divorced. He then married his second wife Kate Connelly in 1995. They have a daughter, Sophie. They divorced in 1998. In 2005, Bobby Flay married his third wife actressStephanie March. There are media reports that the couple separated in March 2015 and finally divorced in July 2015. Bobby Flay has since February 2016, been dating Helene York.in 2003; he instituted the Bobby Flay Scholarship at the French Culinary Institute to be awarded to a student in the Long Island City Culinary Arts Program.

Awards And Honours

Bobby Flay has received several awards and honours including James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year (1993), International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Design - Bobby Flay's Bold American Food (1995), Daytime Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Service Show Host – Boy Meets Grill (2004) and Daytime Emmy Award winner for Best Culinary Program – Grill It! With Bobby Flay (2009). Others include Daytime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Culinary Host – Bobby Flay's Barbecue Addiction (2014), he has been inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame, 2015, and a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.