Talk:Bobby Flay

Citation?
Where is the citation for this? Flay has been criticized in some circles for what is perceived as a "culinary chauvinism" because he tries to, in his words, make traditional, long standing recipes "better." ? Skeeter08865 15:32, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

I am also curious as to the citation for this sentence, as everything else in this article seems well-referenced. Additionally, it's poorly written as it states "...in his words, make traditional, long standing recipes 'better.;" Since the only word in quotes is "better", the sentence should read "in his word...  " Aotcm 00:44, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

I have searched for a citation for claim a couple of times, but I have been unable to find anything. He does often state that he puts his own twist on recipes which can be seen in Throwdown. It seems that he often looses the challenges because the judges don't think his plate fits the traditional definition of the dish. I have never seen him criticized for it or claim that his way is better, just a different take on a classic. Larkworb 01:56, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Law & Order: SVU appearance
According to the IMDB, the episode in question is "Design", which originally aired September 27, 2005. Although rectal cattle prod violations are the kind of thing this series trafficks in, I am treating this claim as vandalism in the absence of a citation. Ribonucleic 20:57, 6 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Just to clarify my position, I think it would be hilarious if this is true. [And, as a Flayophobe, satisfying as well.] But it's too extreme a claim to pass without documentation - especially for a Living Person. Sorry. Ribonucleic 20:40, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

The claim that Flay's character was rectally violated by a cattle prod is somewhat true. I was skeptical, so I watched the episode in question. Flay's character, listed as "Leo Ashford" by IMDB, is a restauranteur who "owns the hottest restaurant in New York". Ashford is one of several high-profile wealthy men who are drugged with Rohypnol by a stalker, who then harvests their sperm via electroejaculation&mdash;a procedure involving a rectally-inserted electric probe. While being briefed about the attacks on the men, Capt. Donald Cragen (played by Dann Florek) asks, "Any nightmares about cattle prods?" The instrument is referred to as a "cattle prod" at least once more in the episode.

I didn't add this information to the article, because I'm not sure how to cite it, other than to refer people to the episode itself. Maybe citing a script or transcript of the episode? --68.63.24.45 19:41, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Feud with Morimoto
Is it opinion, I'll give you that Calton, but any fact is indeed an opinion that a majority of people believe. The stated item in this article that every piece of equipment is sacred in Japan is a crock and the real reason Morimoto was upset is mostly because of unprofessionalism but also because of Flay's standing and popularity in the world dispite his lack of true culinary experience. Half of the items under "Publicity" are opinion. It is truth that his parents are rich, his father was one of the owners of the restaurant he claims to have worked at. He has used cocaine as well, though I won't spout that on a page. Most encylpedia articles are fair and balanced, something wikipedia has never obtained. As what is stated here about Mr. Flay is mostly half-truths skewed to make him look good, I felt a bit of well known opinions should be placed as to balance things out.


 * I'm sure that is exactly why he was upset. It has nothing to do with the fact that Flay was a shithead and jumped on the table in a very unprofessional way.  That speak volumes as to the kind of kitchen he is on if he doesn't even have second thoughts about standing on the cuttingboard, TV show or not.  As for the cuttingboard being sacred, "Flay threw his cutting board on the floor" doesn't show much respect either.  The guy is a world class assclown.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.185.6.18 (talk) 16:09, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

To replace the sections that were removed for anyone who is intereted:

"In the eyes of the American public Flay is a hero to many, though in the eyes of true culinary professionals he is an afront to the cooking senses. Morimoto's anger was not just because of flay standing on a cutting board, but because of his rashness and narrisicism, two of Flay's prominent traits. He gained both his fame and cooking reputation by using his family's money to gain culinary certifications and open his restaurants. Though self confidence is a large part of most chef's lives, Flay often goes to disrespectful extremes and has a superiority complex, thinking all other chefs are inferior. Though it is a very blunt statement, to most chefs he is a rich kid celebrity with little cooking prowess." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zanduar (talk • contribs) 05:18, 28 April 2006


 * A very good description and analysis of events - unfortunately not at all encyclopediac. Unfortunately, because one would love to see that in the article permanently. Bulbous 04:25, 22 July 2007 (UTC)


 * It's probably a very good idea to leave your contribution as a very telling example of how NOT to write an encyclopedia. To whine about how Wikipedia is not "fair and balanced" while trying to fob this off as a counter-example borders on hilarious.


 * but any fact is indeed an opinion that a majority of people believe. As Wolgang Pauli reportedly once said, "That's not right; that's not even wrong."


 * But regardless of whatever idiosyncratic -- and in my opinion self-serving -- definition you give for the word "fact", policy here is Neutral Point of View, "a fundamental Wikipedia principle which states that all articles must...represent...views fairly and without bias." To quote:


 * The neutral point of view is a means of dealing with conflicting views. The policy requires that, where there are or have been conflicting views, these are fairly presented, but not asserted. All significant points of view are presented, not just the most popular one. It is not asserted that the most popular view or some sort of intermediate view among the different views is the correct one. Readers are left to form their own opinions.


 * As the name suggests, the neutral point of view is a point of view. It is a point of view that is neutral - that is neither sympathetic nor in opposition to its subject.


 * Debates are described, represented, and characterized, but not engaged in. Background is provided on who believes what and why, and which view is more popular. Detailed articles might also contain the mutual evaluations of each viewpoint, but studiously refrain from stating which is better. One can think of unbiased writing as the cold, fair, analytical description of debates. When bias towards one particular point of view can be detected the article needs to be fixed.


 * This is the actual meaning of fair and balanced writing, not equal amounts of opinion cancelling each other out.


 * In any case, if you're going to pretend to speak for "true culinary professionals", we come to a couple of other Wikipedia principles: Verifiability and Citing sources: show what you say has some backing, and where you got it. Did the True Culinary Professionals (is there a certification program?) issue a press release that I missed?


 * For example, Morimoto's anger was not just because of Flay standing on a cutting board, but because of his rashness and narrisicism [sic], two of Flay's prominent traits.: how do you know this (short of mind-reading) and can you prove it? Any answer which uses the verbs "think" or "believe", or the adverbs "clearly" or "obviously" constitutes opinion and is a complete non-starter. Any variation on "someone told me" falls under yet another Wikipedia no-no, "No original research".


 * Work on it. --Calton | Talk 07:55, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I understand fair and balanced and factual, of which this is not:

"Not realizing that all cooking instruments are sacred in Japan, he greatly angered Iron Chef Morimoto who criticized his professionalism, saying that Flay was "not a chef". After all this, Flay lost the battle, but the rivalry between him and Morimoto had just begun.

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 across the room and stood on the counter yet again to raise the roof with the audience. This time, Flay won. Though they share a heated past, Flay and Morimoto, who are both Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America, are now friends."

Cooking equipment is "sacred" to all chefs, not just the Japanese. A knife or cutting board shouldn't be mistreated or misused. In Japan many things are "sacred" as its the Japanese culture to show respect and honor in almost everything they do and someone from Japan would be equally upset if you misused a telephone or ate food quickly without tasting it. The exact quote from Morimoto is "He is not a chef! In Japan, the cutting board and the knife is sacred. NO, he is not a chef!"

In the second paragraph we see pure hersay, that Morimoto and Flay are friends, something that only the two of them would know. Most likely they aren't, but that Morimoto played nice on camera to show respect and not dishonor himself.

I could disect the rest of the article, which has alot of minor flaws when it comes to facts, but I have more important things to do.

As for true culinary professionals, yes there are a few organizations, the ACF being one of them. They have certification programs and do talk about the current culinary world, especially the way the modern public views us because of TV chefs (who are generally not chefs at all). It would be absurd to think that a letter was sent out mudslinging Flay, but if you ask a chef who knows or has met Flay (which I have) then almost all of them will tell you things far worse then what I've mentioned here. Zanduar 17:03, 2 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Don't really want to get dragged into this, but Flay and Morimoto both say (in an Iron Chef America special) that they are now friends. — Chris ( t c ) — 16:41, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

What is a super chef???
The 'super chef' link just redirects to celebrity chef, yet the article makes it sound like a 'super chef' is something different. The terms means nothing to me so this needs to be clarified. --Alexxx1 (talk/contribs) 03:16, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I now see that 'super chef' is defined in the celebrity chef article. --Alexxx1 (talk/contribs) 03:55, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
 * It's essentially term used to pimp a book and a website set up by the book's writer, added by an editor whom I suspect is the writer herself or her PR person. See the user's contributions for some of the spamlinks he or she's been adding. The chef page links all went to a simple aggregation pages on her "Super Chef" site, which you could see by clicking on them. --Calton | Talk 04:17, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I see. It does sound very much like one of those trendy terms that might drop out of fashion again. --Alexxx1 (talk/contribs) 09:24, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Throwdown
Anyone have win/loss stats on Bobby Flay's Throwdown show? David Bergan 03:44, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Date of Birth
Currently the article has contradicting dates of birth for Flay, 12/10/64 and 12/11/64. A Yahoo! group says 12/10, but IMDb says 10/09/64. The Google search for "bobby flay date of birth" puts WP's article first, and for some reason it says "Bobby Flay — Date of Birth: October 9, 1964". Gonna go with IMDb's take, should try to find more sources that agree. 71.205.107.239 03:21, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Many websites have his birthday listed as 1964-10-09. When asked about it in the Ask Bobby section on his website he stated "my assistants have tried to change it about a dozen times but no luck...I guess they like the October date better than my actual December date." Also, the Bobby Flay Chefography episode states that his birthday is 1964-12-10 right at the beginning. I think this is a better source than websites like IMDB because he was directly involved in the production of Chefography so he could have changed it before airing if the date was incorrect. Larkworb (talk) 13:58, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Gynecomastia?
Although this looks like it is vandalism, I will make a note of it here and state that without documentation it would be inappropriate to make such a claim about a living person. Nightclerk 04:31, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
 * It would be reasonable to research the claim to uncover any truth behind it. Bulbous 07:19, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

Surname
What is the origin of his surname? Badagnani (talk) 05:22, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

German?
Is he part German? He said on Throwdown (meatball throwdown, June 17, 2008) that his grandmother made sauerbraten rather than meatballs. Badagnani (talk) 01:16, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Whatever you want to call it - it's not Personal Life
"As The New York Times reported, "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."[6] In 2007, Flay stated that he had "made peace" with lentils.[7] Flay also dislikes fiddlehead ferns, stating that they "taste like grass."[8]"

but that is where it's presently situated. Anyone have a notion for a better placement? Irish Melkite (talk) 00:48, 27 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Although it's sourced, I don't consider Flay's like or dislike of lentils or ferns as having encyclopedic notability. Why not just remove it? &mdash;ADavidB 11:36, 27 November 2008 (UTC)

Certified Master Chef
Does anyone know if Flay is a Master Chef? I don't completely understand the title yet other than it's given after an eight to ten day test. I can't find anything other than a few articles (which are most likely mistaken) that Flay is a Master Chef. While Master Chef is a title given in the industry, it's not crazy to think that people would think that someone is a master at what they do and a chef; therefore they're a master chef. I can't find an actual list of certified master chefs but if he is, I think it needs to be added. If not, I don't think it should be mentioned that he's not as there are only 50-60 in the US. Ol Yeller '''Talktome 15:57, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Recent Iron Chef Battle
What's the point of saying on Iron Chef he lost a recent battle. Thats POV right there and is not needed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.2.40.7 (talk) 05:25, May 17, 2009 (UTC)


 * It has the same point as listing other battles he won and lost, which the section still includes. Including too much detail or adding theory regarding the significance would be POV. I think the the information should remain. &mdash;ADavidB 12:53, 17 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The other listed battles are against or with other Iron Chefs. The most recent defeat listing singles out a fairly irrelevant piece of information that links to an article no longer directly accessible.  If you want neutrality with the inclusion of this most recent loss, you'd need to create a full list of all his ICA battles, a list that really doesn't belong in the article. Woofer99 (talk) 07:14, 30 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Point taken. Unfamiliar with the show's contestants and format, I didn't know the extent to which battles vary in significance. &mdash;ADavidB 03:49, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

White house meal
I don't know if it is notable enough but on CSPAN they had a short bit showing a fathers day meal out on the white house lawn that took place on Friday, June 19, 2009 where the president mentioned Bobby Flay was cooking the meal. I did see Bobby Flay a couple times in the video.

Link: http://www.slashfood.com/2009/06/20/obama-grills-with-bobby-flay/

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/2009/06/19/Commander-and-Chef-Obama/1245444636.html Jared555 (talk) 06:05, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Food Network Start
I am interested to know HOW Bobby Flay became involved with the Food Network. There is no information as to the series of events that lead to his prominence on the network.

Stacy Cuthbertson 99.159.195.134 (talk) 03:31, 29 June 2009 (UTC)


 * It's not much of a start, but this source points to agent Jon Rosen as significantly influencing Flay's career (among those of other televised cooking personalities). &mdash;ADavidB 05:44, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Unsourced and Generally Unimportant
"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."

This statement is unsourced and adds no value to the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.15.30.125 (talk) 22:10, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Family
Is he brothers with Kevin O'Connor from The Old House? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.173.254.69 (talk) 23:12, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Ishaan Gupta?
I did some Google-fu on Ishaan Gupta, and couldn't find anything on this "legendary" chef, so I looked up all the cites and they have no information on him and literally copy word for word the line in the wiki. So I have doubts as to his "legendary" status, and I even have doubts to his existence, so could some one with better google-fu than I look this Gupta guy up, thanks.

66.205.158.229 (talk) 21:47, 1 September 2014 (UTC)A.C. Citizen

Utah jazz
Any source for the assertion he played for Utah jazz? I can't find any verification 50.34.154.97 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 17:47, 21 November 2015 (UTC)


 * None, and it was removed by another editor. —ADavidB 23:17, 21 November 2015 (UTC)

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culinary arts
He only learned the "culinary arts" after culinary school? What did they teach him there? Comportment? French? --Richardson mcphillips (talk) 14:07, 18 November 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 19 May 2017
The Bobby's Burger Palace in Burlington, MA closed on 12/28/16, please remove it from his current restaurant list.

Source: https://boston.eater.com/2017/1/4/14165144/bobby-flay-burger-restaurant-burlington-closed 208.118.234.226 (talk) 14:09, 19 May 2017 (UTC)


 * This request is completed. Thanks  —ADavidB 05:26, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

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