Robert William (Bobby) Flay

Iron Chef America (Food Network )

When you brainstorm about heroes in class, there is a general definition that comes into everyone’s mind. Immediately your mind goes to the men and women in your community who perform the more life threatening tasks; the firefighters, the soldiers, the doctors, the peacemakers and the world leaders. My hero is a great influence and legacy in the culinary world. On top of his raw natural talents in the kitchen, he influences new cuisines and battles rare and unthought-of spices.

The legacy of a hero is simply the memory of a great name. A high school dropout can even be a hero, mine is. He is heroic because of his raw natural talent. He started his career at a Baskin Robins, then a pizza parlor, and then making salads in New York at Joe Allen’s restaurant where he was discovered. Does this make him less heroic? Who’s to say he isn’t a hero because of his lack of a high school degree? Bobby Flay has the desire to learn and the commitment to do his best, which is a quality I find extremely heroic.

Iron Chef America (Food Network )

Bobby Flay had a calling for the kitchen, a natural born chef. His path to success started as a high school dropout. “Growing up I never really thought about becoming a chef much less owning restaurants and being on television. The truth is I didn’t really have any goals. I didn’t like school, I was unfocused. Most of all, I liked hanging out with my buddies on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 84th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side, where I was born and raised. Just shooting the breeze. That was the life I imagined for myself when I dropped out of high school.”

Bobby Flay was a native New Yorker who was tired of hitting the books; he was bored and unmotivated but his father, a scholarly man, wasn’t willing to watch his son sit around wasting his life hanging with his friends on the street. “My leaving school must have hit him hard, I didn’t want to let him down, but it seemed like that was exactly what I was doing.” Flay had his marching orders. He no longer could just hang around. His father demanded that he got a job, and set him up as a bus boy where he was working at Joe Allen’s restaurant. He went from being a bus boy, to being the boy who stocked the pantry, to the boy who cleaned lettuce and made salad dressing. “And that is where my career really got started” says Flay. Flay was surprised by his own natural abilities, “and my salads tasted pretty good.” Slowly Flay began to shed his irresponsible 17 year old skin, and ended up wanting to go to work. Flay’s natural talents were recognized by one of his first employers, Joe Allen an executive chef and restaurant owner. Joe Allen personally picked up the tab himself to send Flay to the newly opened French Culinary Institute. “Flay had natural talent, drive and motivation,” says Allen.

Iron Chef America (Food Network )

At first the sound of going back to school churned in his stomach and didn’t sit well, but then it started to settle and sound like a great opportunity. At the culinary institute Flay, though being six years younger than everyone else, at least was the ideal student and received the “Outstanding Graduate Award” in 1993. Also in that same year he was voted James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year, an award that honors the country’s most accomplished Chefs under the age of thirty. “Cooking took over my life. I was working in the restaurant at night and going to school by day.” Flay was some kind of super hero.

After the six month program at the culinary school, he went back to start his career. But it was time for him to leave Joe Allen’s and really enter the workforce. Bobby Flay sent out resumes and pounded the pavement, exploring the city for a job. He finally was hired as a sous chef at Brighton Grill, and then it came to be his first day. “I promptly arrived for work at 8:00 a.m. and the owner approached me saying we’ve got a problem.” Apparently the chef of the restaurant had passed out in the laundry room from hitting the tequila a little too much last night and was fired. You can see how this is a lot to swallow on your first day. Flay went from being sous chef to head chef in a matter of seconds at his first job. After conquering his first day and surviving a year, growing, learning, Flay was itching to move onto something new.

His next job in the Upper West Side is where he instantly fell in love with the southwestern flavor. Surprisingly Flay had never been to New Mexico, Arizona, or anywhere hot for that matter. He was used to the harsh winters of New York, and the snowy Christmases at Time Square. Working at Bud’s on the Upper West Side Flay was introduced to flavors and ingredients he had never been able to experience before. He was working with chili peppers, papayas, mangoes, and blue tortilla chips. “All the stuff was completely new to me. And it was awesome. And the crew was amazing, energetic cooks, eager to experiment. We all learned from each other. It was a rare, special and inspiring place” said Flay.

Bobby Flay experimented and learned from many kitchens, and built his own style of Southwestern American. Bold is the word that describes both Bobby Flay's cooking style and the chef himself. Flay created a successful career for himself and he has been the chef to watch since 17. Bobby Flay over the course of his career has opened five restaurants, is one of the top chefs in America, and written a number of books.

When does Bobby Flay have time for anything else, like sleep? “Sleep is overrated. I work basically every single day. Listen, I’m not going to complain about it. I love it. Everything I do revolves around food, so it’s the one common denominator that sort of brings it all together. Television is obviously part of it, but my restaurants are most important to me” replies Flay.