Robert William Flay is a 59-year-old celebrity chef, restaurateur, and reality television personality who has worked with the food network since 1995 which has won him four Daytime Emmy awards, and is also the owner and executive chef of several restaurants and franchises including Bobby’s Burger Place, Bobby’s Burgers and Amalfi.
| Category | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Robert William Flay |
| Birthdate | December 10, 1964 |
| Birthplace | New York City, New York, USA |
| Education | French Culinary Institute |
| Restaurants | Mesa Grill, Bar Americain, Bobby Flay Steak, Gato, and others |
| TV Shows | “Boy Meets Grill,” “Throwdown! with Bobby Flay,” “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Iron Chef America,” and others |
| Cookbooks | “Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction,” “Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook,” “Bobby Flay’s Grilling for Life,” and others |
| Awards and Honors | James Beard Foundation Awards (including “Rising Star Chef of the Year” and “Outstanding Chef”), Hollywood Walk of Fame star, and others |
| Personal Life | Married to actress Stephanie March from 2005 to 2015; married to actress and “Law & Order: SVU” star Heléne Yorke since 2019; has one daughter, Sophie Flay |
| Net Worth | Estimated at $60 million |
Born in 1964 in New York City, Robert William Flay grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He’s a fourth-generation Irish American who was raised Catholic and attended denominational schools. As a child, he received both an Easy-Bake Oven and a G.I. Joe for Christmas.
At 17, Flay left high school and began working at a pizza parlour and Baskin-Robbins. He was later hired to make salads at Joe Allen Restaurant, and impressed proprietor Joe Allen enough to have his tuition at the French Culinary Institute paid for. After graduating, Flay worked as a sous-chef before becoming the executive chef at Brighton Grill.
Flay then worked at Miracle Grill before being offered the executive chef position at Mesa Grill by Jerome Kretchmer. Flay became a partner shortly after and later opened Bolo Bar & Restaurant with Laurence Kretchmer.
He has grown his restaurant empire by opening a number of businesses across the country, including Bobby’s Burger Palace in various locales, Bar Americain in Manhattan, and Mesa Grill in Las Vegas and the Bahamas. Along with having a successful career in the kitchen, Bobby Flay has also served as a master lecturer and visiting chef at the French Culinary Institute, where he created the Bobby Flay Scholarship in 2003.
As of September 2019, Flay’s net worth has been estimated to be $30 million. The Bolo Bar & Restaurant shuttered in 2007 to make room for a condominium, while the original Mesa Grill in New York closed in 2013 as a result of a proposed rent hike, proving that not all of Flay’s endeavours have been successful.
Bobby Flay has been a judge on various food shows and also appeared as a chef on Emeril Live and Paula’s Party. He is known for his show, Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, where he challenges renowned cooks to a cook-off of their signature dish.
Flay was an Iron Chef on Iron Chef America and won against Morimoto in a rematch. In the Beat Bobby Flay series, chefs create dishes to beat Flay. This series was the most successful for Food Network in the previous season.
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay married Debra Ponzek, also a chef, in 1991. However, they divorced in 1993, and Flay married his second wife, Kate Connelly, in 1995. Flay and Connelly had a daughter named Sophie but later divorced in 1998. Flay then married actress Stephanie March in 2005, but they separated in 2015, and their divorce was finalized later that year. Flay dated Helene Yorke from 2016 to 2019.
Flay is also a ‘cat person’ and owns two Maine Coons named Nacho and Stella. Additionally, he has a personal interest in Thoroughbred horse racing and has won multiple graded stakes races. He served on the Breeders’ Cup board of directors from 2014 to 2018.
Famous chef Bobby Flay has fallen in love with Christina Pérez. After dating discreetly for approximately a year, the couple announced their relationship to the world in November 2021. Perez has contributed to a number of fashion magazines as a freelance writer and editor.
Perez also held the position of Senior Director of Content and Creative at the cannabis lifestyle company Miss Grass. Together, Flay and Perez like cooking, and they’ve been on international trips. They were first introduced by mutual friends a year before they announced their relationship to the world. The duo works well together, with Perez managing the interior design and Flay concentrating on the food.
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