A Study Break with Bobby Flay

Debates on the merits and legitimacy of Bobby Flay's career have run rampant recently between Craig, Ryan and me.   Being the wonderfully optimistic person (who always looks for the good in people) that I am, I always give Flay a break.  Yes,  he's over-exposed.. sure he frequently loses Iron Chef America and Throwdowns... of course he sounds like he's always reading off cue cards.. but gosh darnit, he seems like a nice guy who and he actually went to cooking school!  

Ryan and Craig on the other hand, are not in the Bobby Flay fan club.  Ryan displays a distaste and disgust for Bobby that is surprising and makes me want to ask "where is this coming from?Was Bobby Flay someone who bullied you in middle school? did he steal your girlfriend?"  I think Craig just grows tired of the Flay overexposure on the Food Network and gets fed up.  

So our conflicting views on Mr. Flay has let to many debates and even an outburst from me last night where I basically said "will you both relax! Yes, he's constantly on the Food Network but he's a legitimate chef who is obviously successful and knows how to cook!"

Well, today at work I decided to Wikipedia Bobby Flay just so I could back up my rants with some facts.   After learning quite a bit I wrote an email to Craig and Ryan including some fun facts.  Here are a few facts I bet you didn't know about Iron Chef Bobby Flay:

1. He has been married and divorced twice and is currently married to an actress  on Law and Order: SVU

2. For a long time, Flay was known to hate lentils. As The New York Times reports, "An early draft of Bar Americain's menu had a beet and goat cheese salad with lentils, but Mr. Flay rejected it before the restaurant opened. "When I go on vacation, they run specials on lentils, " he said. In 2007, Flay stated that he had "made peace" with lentils.  (phew)

3. He dropped out of high school at age 17 after he was expelled. (what a rebel)

4. Flay received a degree in culinary arts at the French Culinary Institute and was a member of the schools first graduating class in 1984. 

5. In addition to his restaurants and cooking shows, Flay has been a master instructor and visiting chef at the French Culinary Institute.

6. In 2000, when the original Iron Chef America 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. Not realizing that cutting boards and knives are sacred in Japan, he offended Morimoto who criticized his professionalism, saying Flay was "not a chef". Flay went on to lose the battle.

7. 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.

8. Jeopardy featured a special "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" category during the March 12, 2008 episode, in which each of the clues featured Bobby Flay. 

Hopefully we've all learned some important tidbits about Bobby Flay.  These are kind of random, but you already know he has 8 million shows on the Food Network. You already know he is the "grill guy" and you already know he has a line of cookware at Kohls. 

Are you ready for a Throwdown?

love youuuu Bobby