Longtime Food Network personality Bobby Flay has starred in dozens of shows on the network from
the mid-1990s to the present day, but there are some things even his longtime fans may not know
about this multi-talented celebrity chef. Here's the truth about Bobby Flay.
Becoming a chef wasn't so much something that Flay aspired to, but sort of fell into. Speaking
with The Wall Street Journal, Flay admitted that as a kid he had, quote, "no interest
in doing any school work whatsoever." When he ultimately dropped out of high school at 17,
his father strongly suggested he find gainful employment. According to Money Inc.,
his early gigs included working at a pizza place and scooping ice cream at Baskin-Robbins before he
landed a temporary job as a busboy at a New York City eatery, where his dad was a part-owner.
Flay was only meant to fill in for the regular bus boy who was away for two weeks,
but upon his return, the restaurant's chef asked
Flay if he wanted to try working in the kitchen. He told The Wall Street Journal,
"I said, 'Sure.' It was because I had nothing else to do that day."
Flay admitted things could very easily have turned
out differently had his social life been more active that day. He joked,
"If I had plans with friends, I probably would have said no.
I wasn't desperate to work in the kitchen."
Flay was raised in a cat-loving household. He told CBS Sunday Morning that growing up as an
only child, the family cats were, quote, "as close to [his] brothers as [he] had." When he
moved out of his parents' house at age 19, Flay went through what he calls "a 30-year drought"
without a cat living with him. Then he welcomed an adorable Maine Coon named Nacho into his home.
"At just two years old Nacho is approaching close
to twenty pounds and my guess is he'll probably eclipse that."
According to Flay, Nacho exhibits many "canine traits," like playing fetch and
following him around his home from room to room.
Flay admitted his beloved pet has made him, quote, "a softer and more understanding person."
"I often wonder if I wasted three decades without a cat roaming my home,
especially when I look into Nacho's eyes and I can almost hear his thoughts." He explained,
"The world has a way of giving you what you need,
and sometimes a new best friend shows up when you need him the most."
Meanwhile, Nacho has become something of a celebrity in his own right - and even has his
own Instagram account. While Flay boasts over 1.4 million followers on Instagram as of July 2020,
pet influencer Nacho has an impressive 200,000 followers.
In 2013, Flay received the rare honor of being invited to cook for not one but
two world leaders. The chef was asked to prepare a meal for U.S. President
Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi [ZHEE]. Speaking about the experience with Politico,
Flay admitted he was honored to be part of the "historic moment," adding,
"I was just pinching myself that I was there."
With some guidance from the State Department to show off the best of American culture and cuisine,
Flay devised what he described as "an all-American meal."
The dignitaries in attendance were served New Mexican lobster tamales with green chile,
along with Porterhouse steaks accompanied by potatoes with blue cheese. Dessert, he added,
consisted of individual cherry pies with a bourbon, vanilla, and fresh mint ice cream.
This wasn't the only time Flay spent time with Obama, though. Back in 2009,
the celebrity chef joined the president to grill steaks on the White House lawn
and offered the president some key grilling advice that anyone could benefit from, saying,
"Guys that don't grill, they wanna start flipping and turning.
You want to flip [the steak] once. [...] You want to let the grill do its job."
In 2018, Flay shocked viewers - and, reportedly,
his bosses at Food Network - when he announced he was retiring from the Iron Chef franchise
in the middle of taping an episode of Iron Chef Showdown. During what would be his final episode,
he reportedly removed his chef's jacket to reveal a t-shirt beneath, imprinted with the message:
"This is my last Iron Chef battle ever."
According to Vanity Fair, the reason he decided to bail on one of his most successful on-air
roles was simple: Iron Chef America requires a lot of behind-the-scenes effort, and since the
show isn't produced by his production company, he doesn't share in the profits of its success.
According to The Recipe's ranking of all the various Iron Chef America chefs to compete,
Flay made his exit with the knowledge that he'd competed - and won - more than any other chef
to appear on the show. Flay took part in 61 Iron Chef matches, winning 43 times. Flay also
crossed the ocean to appear on the original Iron Chef series in Japan, first appearing in 2001.
" And The winner is Iron Chef Flay."
Flay made Tinseltown history in 2015 when he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame - marking the first time that a chef has ever received the honor. According to People magazine,
Flay's family was in attendance. Fellow chef Michael Symon and then-Food Network
president Brooke Johnson were also there to support him. In his speech, Flay joked,
"I just want to make sure that everybody understands - because I know there's been
a little confusion - I am not getting this star for my cameos in Entourage.
I know there's a little debate about that, but honestly,
to be the first chef to get a star is really, truly an amazing milestone."
The ceremony was not without controversy, though. At the time, Flay's contentious divorce
from Stephanie March was in full swing, with her allegations of his infidelity making headlines.
In the midst of the festivities, a plane could be seen flying overhead pulling a banner
emblazoned with the word "CHEATER." Flay reportedly didn't see it.
As a high-school dropout with no ambitions of becoming a chef until he inadvertently wound up
working in a restaurant kitchen, Flay is a true American success story. According to Money Inc.,
his various business ventures over the years, including successful restaurants and
a television production company, have provided him with an estimated net worth of $30 million.
Since opening his first restaurant, New York City's Mesa Grill, in 2004,
Flay has built a culinary empire that includes more than 20 eateries,
mostly in the United States but also in the Bahamas. As Delish noted, these restaurants
range from his nationwide Bobby's Burger Palace chain to his upscale NYC eatery Gato.
Other sources of revenue include public speaking fees and royalties from numerous cookbooks,
including titles like Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes and Bobby at Home.
Then there's his lucrative television empire, much of which comes through his Rock Shrimp
Productions company. Not only does Rock Shrimp produce several Flay-starring shows,
but is also responsible for series like Kelsey's Essentials,
Boss Nails, and the horse-racing series All In: The Road to the Classic.
When Flay goes out to enjoy a meal at a restaurant that isn't one of his own,
there's one thing he has promised to never do. In an interview with PopSugar, he admitted,
"I won't send food back to the chef. Never."
On the flip side, he explained that he has no problem whatsoever if diners at one of
his eateries send back a dish if it's not to their satisfaction. He explained,
"It happens in all my restaurants for one reason or the other. I want my customers to be happy,
and I will try to the end of the world to make them happy. That's it."
He also divulged that when he goes out to eat, there's one thing in particular he tends to order,
and revealed the unusual reason why, saying,
"I don't easily have crushed ice at home,
so if I can get oysters or anything else served on ice, that's what I go for."
As for the one thing he'll never order, he singled out cod, saying,
"It just doesn't taste like anything. So I don't bother."
Back in 2009, Delish asked Flay what celebrity he'd like to enjoy a meal with,
and he offered an instant response, admitting,
"Hands down, Muhammad Ali."
Noting that the athlete was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky,
Flay explained he would create a Southern-themed menu that would focus on
"ingredients from that region." With that in mind, he said he would serve:
"Bourbon-glazed pork chops, cheesy grits, buttermilk biscuits,
and whatever else the Champ wanted."
Flay revealed in a 2005 interview with Rachael Ray Every Day that Ali was also on the guest list
of Flay's "dream dinner party." In addition to Ali, other dream guests, dead or alive,
would include former U.S. president Bill Clinton, iconic Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe,
U2 frontman Bono, and New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen. Flay told Ray,
"That would be a fun conversation because we'd cover so many
topics. Of course, I'd want you to come, too."
Flay is known for his juicy, sumptuous burgers, which have been enjoyed by many customers of
his Bobby's Burger Palace restaurant chain. Yet when asked about the best burger he'd
ever tasted, Flay admitted that it didn't originate from one of his own kitchens.
It was when he was in New Mexico filming Food Network series Food Nation
that he ordered a green chile cheeseburger from Santa Fe restaurant La Casa Sena.
While promoting his Flay's Burgers, Fries & Shakes cookbook, Flay told Delish,
"That burger really stuck with me, so much, in fact,
that I revamped it for Mesa Grill's lunch menu." Flay further revealed that the flavor profile of
that particular burger also inspired a burger on the menu at Bobby's Burger Palace, the Santa
Fe Burger. He shared some tips he used to build his masterpiece with Food Network, mentioning
that the burger included a mix of ground beef and ground turkey, along with an entire poblano chile.
While it's obvious that food is the driving force in Flay's life,
both personally and professionally, it's not his only passion.
The Boy Meets Grill host is also a massive devotee of horse racing.
A profile for Thoroughbred Daily News focused on Flay's involvement in the sport, noting that he
had established himself as an owner and breeder of championship thoroughbreds, having put together,
quote, "a boutique stable that includes some of the best bloodlines in the stud book."
According to the profile, Flay first became interested in horse racing when
a fellow restaurateur offered him the opportunity to invest in some yearlings.
As his interest in horses grew, Flay evolved from passive investor to ultimately buying
and breeding his own thoroughbreds, some of which have turned out to be champions.
To say that he's developed a knack for it would be a massive understatement.
In 2016, he purchased a 25 percent interest in a thoroughbred named Creator just five days before
the horse won the 2016 Belmont Stakes. And, according to Associated Press, a horse he owned
outright won the 2010 Breeders' Cup, with Flay taking home $500,000 of the $1 million purse.
When it comes to grilling meat or competing in an Iron Chef competition,
Flay is as formidable as they come. Baking, however, has never been his forte.
As he admitted to Delish, he's out of his element when tasked with creating, quote, "anything
with butter, flour, sugar and eggs." He calls himself "the most impatient pastry chef ever."
He recalled an episode of Food Network's Throwdown that saw him compete with a
professional pastry chef to create a wedding cake. While his called
his opponent's cake "spectacular," he described his own finished product as:
"Uh, very country-style. It was very uneven, but it tasted really good."
In fact, Flay cited German chocolate cake as
the one recipe that he's never managed to get right, saying,
"It's got a lot of my favorite flavors - chocolate, coconut,
pecans - and I always have a hard time getting the layers right,
like what they look like. You can always tell my cake is homemade. It's very rustic."
"It's lumpy because you're not, you've gotta stir it correctly,
okay, he's blaming the recipe, of course."
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