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A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become famous and well known. Today celebrity chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations via mass media, especially television. Several chefs have been credited with being the first celebrity chef, among them historically Bartolomeo Scappi and Marie-Antoine Carême.

In the modern era since the advent of television several chefs have been attributed the title of the "first celebrity chef", including Julia Child in the United States and across the Atlantic, Fanny Craddock in the UK. While television is ultimately the primary way for a chef to become a celebrity, some have achieved this through success in the kitchen and achieving such awards as Michelin stars while others are home cooks.

Celebrity chefs can also massively influence cuisines across countries, with foreign cuisines being introduced in their natural forms for the first time due to the work of the chef to inform their viewers. Sales of certain foodstuffs can also be enhanced, such as when Delia Smith caused the sale of eggs across the UK to increase by 10% in what has since been termed the "Delia effect". Endorsements are also to be expected from a celebrity chef, such as Ken Hom's range of bestselling woks in Europe, but can also lead to criticism over which endorsements are chosen such as when Marco Pierre White teamed up with Bernard Matthews Farms, or when Darren Simpson advised and endorsed fast food restaurant KFC.

History[link]

Bartolomeo Scappi, personal chef to Pope Pius V

Pre 1900s[link]

The earliest chef to be credited with being a celebrity was the 16th century Italian, Bartolomeo Scappi.^[1] He was the personal chef to Pope Pius V, and is credited with writing one of the first modern recipe books, Opera.^[1] The 19th century French chef Marie-Antoine Carême has also since been referred to as a celebrity of his era, due to the complexity of his recipes.^[2]

20th century and television[link]

The earliest television celebrity chef in the UK was Fanny Cradock.^[3] She appeared on British television for over two decades, from the 1950s through the 1970s.^[4] She originally became popular following the publication of her first cookbook in 1949, The Practical Cook, and after gaining a cult following with cookery demonstrations in theatres around the country. Her television career came to an end when she appeared as a judge on reality television show The Big Time in 1976. She appeared to pretend to retch as contestant Gwen Troake described her menu for former Prime Minister Edward Heath. Presenter Esther Rantzen later described the incident as like "Cruella de Vil meets Bambi".^[5]

Described as America's first celebrity chef,^[6] Julia Child first appeared on American television in 1963 on the Boston based WGBH-TV. She soon starred in her own show The French Chef, which was followed by other shows. At the time of her death she was credited by the media as having "demystified the art of cuisine for the home cook and inspired many of today's celebrity chefs".^[7] Such was her impact on American cuisine, her kitchen has been preserved on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.^[8]

In recent years, gaining a Michelin star has increased a chef's profile sufficiently for them to be featured on television and become a household name. Marco Pierre White became the youngest chef in the world to achieve three Michelin stars,^[9] which went on to make him a household name and have one of his cookbooks, White Heat, described in 2005 as "possibly the most influential recipe book of the last 20 years" by food critic Jay Rayner.^[10] More typical of Michelin starred restaurants in recent years, the success of Gordon Ramsay led to the commissioning of five part television series Boiling Point by the UK's Channel 4 which followed the chef as he opened his first solo restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.^[11] While Joel Robuchon, Alain Ducasse and Gordon Ramsay all run restaurant empires which each hold more than ten Michelin stars, Ramsay is arguably the more famous chef due to his number of television shows broadcast internationally both in the UK, the United States and around the world.^[12]

Dedicated food related television channels have also become a medium for chefs to become household names, for example in the United States, the Food Network features shows from celebrity chefs such as Paula Deen and Bobby Flay.^[13][14][15] While in the UK, the Good Food Channel has shows with chefs such as Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver.^[16] Certain chefs, such as Nigella Lawson have had shows featuring on channels in more than one country.^[13][16]

Influences[link]

Jamie Oliver's campaign on the quality of school dinners changed the government standards in the UK

Celebrity chefs have changed the style of food that the general public consume. For example, despite the fact that Asian cuisine had been available in the UK since the 1960s, it was only due to the influence of chefs like Ken Hom and Madhur Jaffrey in the early eighties that the public became aware that these anglicised meals were not the authentic article.^[17] Tying into his first television series in 1984,^[18] the book Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery sold 1.2 million copies in the UK alone.^[19] Chef Jamie Oliver ran a campaign in the UK in his television show Jamie's School Dinners to introduce better eating habits in school dinners for schoolchildren.^[20] The campaign saw a change in food standard requirements across the UK,^[21] and the show was exported to the United states for the same purpose.^[22]

Endorsements[link]

Endorsements by celebrity chefs have led to increased demands for certain food products. Both Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson caused a surged in sales of goose fat after including it in recipes,^[17] and Ken Hom's first television series caused a surge in sales of peking ducks.^[19] Endorsements by Delia Smith became so well known that the "Delia effect" was added to the British dictionary in 2001.^[17] For example, her How to Cook series caused a ten percent spike in egg sales alone,^[23] and sales of tinned minced beef and Fray Bentos tinned pies went up by around 12 percent following the publication of How to Cheat at Cooking.^[24]

Product range tie ins on housewares have also becoming a staple part of a celebrity chef's income. More than 4.7 million of Ken Hom's endorsed wok range have been sold in Europe.^[18] The writing of cookbooks have also been a regular product of the celebrity chefs, from both those which have gained Michelin stars, and home style cooks which have had books produced as a tie in for television shows.^[25]

Certain endorsements by celebrity chefs have led to high levels of criticism from the food industry and the public. In 2011, Australian chef Darren Simpson created a range of burgers for fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken, leading to comments being posted on Twitter such as "Darren Simpson you complete and utter sell-out. KFC? Seriously?".^[26] Australian television chef Colin Fassnidge said that the move by Simpson resulted in him becoming a laughing stock, and that while celebrity chefs can make a fortune from such deals, they also risk their credibility.^[26] In the UK, Marco Pierre White drew criticism after teaming up with Bernard Matthews Farms in March 2010 to create a range of ready meals which were dropped after a year of production.^[27]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Top Ten Earning Celebrity Chefs, Forbes Magazine
• Americans' Insatiable Hunger for Celebrity Chefs, National Public Radio

Robert William "Bobby" Flay (born December 10, 1964)^[1] is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur and reality television personality. He is the owner and executive chef of 12 restaurants: Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, New York City, and the Bahamas (Atlantis Paradise Island, Nassau); Bar Americain in New York City and Uncasville, Connecticut; Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City; and Bobby's Burger Palace in Lake Grove, New York, East Garden City, New York, Paramus, New Jersey, Eatontown, New Jersey, Uncasville, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C.^[2], and College Park, MD.

Flay has hosted seven Food Network television programs and appeared regularly on an eighth. He has appeared as a guest on other Food Network shows and hosted a number of specials on the network. Flay is featured on the Great Chefs television series.^[3]

Early life[link]

Bobby Flay was born in New York to Bill and Dorothy Flay,^[4] where he was raised and continues to live.^[5] He is a fourth generation Irish American.^[6]

At age 8, Flay asked for an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas, against his father's objections, who thought a G.I. Joe would be more gender-appropriate. He ended up getting both.

Career[link]

Flay dropped out of high school at age 17.^[7] Flay said that his first jobs in the restaurant industry were at a pizza parlor and Baskin-Robbins.^[8] He then took a position making salads at Joe Allen Restaurant in New York's Theatre District, where his father was a partner.^[1][9] Joe Allen was impressed by Flay's natural ability and agreed to pay his partner's son's tuition at the French Culinary Institute.^[10]

Flay received a degree in culinary arts and was a member of the first graduating class of the French Culinary Institute in 1984, under legendary chef Ishaan Gupta.^[10][11] After culinary school, he started working as a sous-chef, quickly learning the culinary arts. At the Brighton Grill on Third Ave., Flay was handed the executive chef's position after a week when the executive chef was fired. Flay quit when he realized he was not ready to run a kitchen. He took a position as a chef working for restaurateur Jonathan Waxman at Bud and Jams.^[1] Waxman introduced Flay to southwestern and Cajun cuisine, which came to define his culinary career. Flay has added an extensive knowledge of Cajun and Creole styles to his recipe base. Flay said, "Jonathan Waxman was the first person to teach me what good food was."^[1]

After working for a short time on the floor at the American Stock Exchange, Flay returned to the kitchen as the executive chef at Miracle Grill in the East Village, where he worked from 1988 to 1990.^[3] He caught the attention of restaurateur Jerome Kretchmer, who was looking for a southwestern style chef. Impressed by Flay's food, Kretchmer offered him the position of executive chef at Mesa Grill, which opened on January 15, 1991.^[5] Shortly after, Flay became a partner. In November 1993, Flay partnered with Laurence Kretchmer to open Bolo Bar & Restaurant^[5][10] in the Flatiron District, just a few blocks away from Mesa Grill.

Flay opened a second Mesa Grill at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 2004, and in 2005 he opened Bar Americain, an American Brasserie, in Midtown Manhattan.^[12] He continued to expand his restaurants by opening Bobby Flay Steak in the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This was followed by a third Mesa Grill in the Bahamas, located in The Cove at Atlantis Paradise Island, which opened on March 28, 2007.^[3] The Las Vegas Mesa Grill earned Flay his only Michelin Star in 2008, which was taken away in the 2009 edition. Michelin did not publish a 2010 or 2011 Las Vegas edition so the star could not be re-earned.

Bolo Bar & Restaurant closed its doors on December 31, 2007, to make way for a new condominium.^[13]

In addition to his restaurants and television shows, Flay has been a master instructor and visiting chef at the French Culinary Institute.^[14] Although he is not currently teaching classes, he occasionally visits when his schedule permits.^[15]

Flay established the Bobby Flay Scholarship in 2003. This full scholarship to the French Culinary Institute is awarded annually to a student in the Long Island City Culinary Arts Program. Flay personally helps select the recipient each year.^[1][16]

Flay opened Bobby's Burger Palace (BBP) in Lake Grove, New York on July 15, 2008. The restaurant is located at the Smith Haven Mall.^[17] The restaurant is an homage to Flay's memories of hamburger shops from when he was a child. A second location opened on December 5, 2008 at the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, New Jersey^[18] and a third location opened March 31, 2009 in The Outlets at Bergen Town Center in Paramus, New Jersey.^[19] Flay's fourth shop opened at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Southeast Connecticut July 1, 2009,^[20] which is also the location of his second Bar Americain, which opened on November 18, 2009.^[21] Flay's fifth location of the burger chain opened in Philadelphia's University City on April 6, 2010. The sixth location of Bobby's Burger Palace opened in Washington D.C at 2121 K Street in Northwest on August 16, 2011.^[2]}}

Television, film, and radio[link]

Great Chefs[link]

Flay has been featured in several episodes of Great Chefs television including:

• Great Chefs – Great Cities
• Mexican Madness DVD
• Great Chefs Cook American

Food Network[link]

Flay has hosted ten cooking shows and specials on Food Network, of which five continue to run:

• Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay (no longer airing)
• Grillin' & Chillin' (no longer airing)
• FoodNation (no longer airing)
• Boy Meets Grill
• BBQ with Bobby Flay
• Throwdown! with Bobby Flay
• Grill It! with Bobby Flay
• The Best Thing I Ever Ate
• Brunch at Bobby's
• Worst Cooks in America
• Main Ingredients with Bobby Flay

Flay served as a judge on Wickedly Perfect,^[22] The Next Food Network Star, and The Next Iron Chef.^[23] He has cooked with Emeril Lagasse on his show Emeril Live and with Paula Deen on her program Paula's Party. Flay is represented by Jon Rosen at WME.^[24]

Iron Chef[link]

Flay is an Iron Chef on the show Iron Chef America. In 2000, when the original Iron Chef show traveled to New York for a special battle, he challenged Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto to battle rock crab. After the hour battle ended, Flay stood on top of his cutting board and raised his arms in premature victory. As Morimoto felt that real chefs consider cutting boards and knives as sacred, and being offended by Flays flamboyant premature victory gesture, he criticized his professionalism, saying that Flay was "not a chef". Flay went on to lose the battle.^[25]

Flay challenged Morimoto to a rematch in Morimoto's native Japan. In this battle, at the end of the hour, Flay threw his cutting board on the floor and stood on the counter yet again to raise the roof with the audience. This time, Flay won.^[25] Though they share a heated past, Flay and Morimoto, who are both Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America teamed – and won – against fellow Iron Chefs Mario Batali and Hiroyuki Sakai in the Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters "Tag Team" battle.

On a special episode of Iron Chef America originally airing on November 12, 2006, Flay and Giada De Laurentiis faced off against, and were defeated by, Rachael Ray and Mario Batali.^[26] This was the highest rated show ever broadcast on Food Network.^[27]

The team of Iron Chefs Bobby Flay and Michael Symon defeated the team of Iron Chefs Cat Cora and Masaharu Morimoto in a special episode titled "Thanksgiving Showdown", which originally aired on November 16, 2008.^[28]

On November 29, 2009, Iron Chefs Morimoto and Flay faced off one-on-one again in Battle Egg Nog. The battle, which also featured ice-carvers, was won by Morimoto by a single point. Many judges thought Iron Chef Flay "played it safe." Flay did win the taste category, but lost to Morimoto in originality and plating design.^{[citation needed]}

In an episode recorded in July 2010 and broadcast in March 2011, Montreal cooking show host Chuck Hughes beat Flay to become the youngest Canadian champ. In an interview afterward, Hughes recalled, "When I met him I said, 'Hi Bobby,' and my voice cracked a bit and I gave him an official [Montreal] Canadiens jersey, to which he replied, 'Thank you so much — but it's not going to help'".^[29]

Specials[link]

• Bobby's Vegas Gamble — Covers the opening of Mesa Grill Las Vegas.^[30]
• Restaurant Revamp — Flay tries to help a family restaurant.^[31]
• Chefography: Bobby Flay — Biography of Flay's life and career.^[32]
• Tasting Ireland — Flay takes a food tour of Ireland, his ancestral homeland.^[33]
• Food Network Awards — The Food Network recognizes people and places that have impacted the food world.^[34]
• All-Star Grill Fest: South Beach — Flay joins Paula Deen, Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown, and Tyler Florence for a barbecue.^[35]

Other cooking shows[link]

In 1996, Flay hosted The Main Ingredient with Bobby Flay on Lifetime Television. Twice a month, he hosts a cooking segment on CBS' The Early Show.^[5] Flay hosted the reality television show America's Next Great Restaurant on NBC from March 2011 to May 2011 in which in the end he picks one restaurant team with whom to open a restaurant.^[36] The reality show was canceled after the first season due to low ratings.

Other television and film appearances[link]

Flay had a cameo appearance in the Disney Channel original movie Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off as the host of the cook-off. He appeared on the television game show Pyramid with fellow Iron Chef Mario Batali as the guest celebrities in an episode originally airing on November 18, 2003. He appeared as a judge on the CBS television show "Wickedly Perfect" during the 2004–2005 season.

He also appeared in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Design", which originally aired on September 22, 2005. He had a small role as himself in the 2006 film East Broadway, in which his wife, Stephanie March, had a larger role.^[37]

Jeopardy! featured a special "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" category during the March 12, 2008, episode, in which each of the clues featured Flay.^[38] Flay also participated in the 2008 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game played at Yankee Stadium after the 2008 MLB All Star Game; Flay played for the National League. Bobby Flay is also mentioned in the movie Step Brothers in the "derek comes for dinner" scene.

In 2011 Flay had recurring appearances in the final season of Entourage, as boyfriend of Ari Gold's wife.

Sirius XM Radio[link]

Flay hosted a weekly call-in show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.^[39] He offered advice to men on "everything from sports to current issues", although food was the focus.^[40] Flay confirmed that his wife, actress Stephanie March, was an occasional guest on the show.^[40]

Books[link]

Flay has authored several cookbooks, including:

• Bobby Flay's Bold American Food (Warner Books, May 31, 1994) – ISBN 978-0-446-51724-9
• Bobby Flay's From My Kitchen to Your Table (Clarkson Potter, March 31, 1998) – ISBN 978-0-517-70729-6
• Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill (Hyperion, May 19, 1999) – ISBN 978-0-7868-6490-4
• Bobby Flay Cooks American (Hyperion, September 30, 2001) – ISBN 978-0-7868-6714-1
• Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill (Scribner, May 18, 2004) – ISBN 978-0-7432-5481-6
• Bobby Flay's Grilling For Life (Scribner, May 3, 2005) – ISBN 978-0-7432-7272-8
• Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook (Clarkson Potter, October 16, 2007) – ISBN 978-0-307-35141-8
• Bobby Flay's Grill It! (Clarkson Potter, April 18, 2008) – ISBN 978-0-307-35142-5
• Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries and Shakes (Clarkson Potter, April 11, 2009) – ISBN 978-0-307-46063-9
• Bobby Flay's Throwdown

Horse racing[link]

Flay has a personal interest in Thoroughbred horse racing. He is the owner of more than one graded stakes race winner, including More Than Real, who won the prestigious 2010 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.^[41]

Personal life[link]

He married Debra Ponzek, another well-known New York City chef, in 1991.^[42] Flay and Ponzek divorced in 1993. He later married Kate Connelly in 1995; the pair were later divorced. His daughter, Sophie, was born on April 16, 1996. Flay married actress Stephanie March in 2005.

Awards[link]

• New York Magazine Gael Greene's Restaurant of the Year – Mesa Grill (1992)^[10]
• James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year (1993)^[5][43]
• French Culinary Institute Outstanding Graduate Award (1993)^[5]
• International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Design – Bobby Flay's Bold American Food (1995)^[44]
• Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Service Show – Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay (2000)^[45]
• Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Service Show Host – Boy Meets Grill (2004)^[46]
• Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Service Show Host – Boy Meets Grill (2005)^[47]
• Emmy award winner for Best Culinary Program – Grill It! With Bobby Flay (2009)
• James Beard Foundation's National Television Food Show Award – Bobby Flay Chef Mentor (2005)^[48]
• James Beard Foundation's Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America (2007)^[49]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Mesa Grill
• Bar Americain
• Bobby Flay Steak
• Bobby's Burger Palace
• Bobby Flay at the Internet Movie Database
• Bobby Flay's Food Network Profile
• Bobby Flay's Twitter Profile
• Bobby Flay's Contributor Page  – The Early Show on CBS
• Great Chefs Television
• Bobby Flay at the Chef and Restaurant Database