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Summer barbecues are nothing new to the Iron Chef, who has starred on multiple Food Netwrok Shows including his newest venture, Barbecue Addiction: Bobby’s Basics. COURTESY FOOD NETWORK
Bobby Flay will be honored at the James Beard Foundation’s annual summer tasting party, Chefs & Champagne, at the Wölffer Estate Vineyard. COURTESY FOOD NETWORK Bobby Flay, as seen on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, Season 2.
Bobby Flay competes on Food Network's "Beat Bobby Flay." COURTESY FOOD NETWORK Chef Bobby Flay races to complete his meatloaf dish in round two. Chef Andrew Evans picked meatloaf as the dish they both have to prepare. Each chef is making his own bold version of the classic knowing safe won't cut it with the judges, and they are both out to win, as seen on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, Season 1.
Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown on Food Network Star. COURTESY FOOD NETWORK The Selection Committee Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis and Alton Brown at the reveal of the Star Challenge "Please Try This At Home" as seen on Food Network Star, Season 10.
When French-trained chef Alex Guarnaschelli read “Bold American Food”—the first book by Bobby Flay, before he went on to become a Food Network star—she was not impressed.The flavors and ingredients were “audacious in the face of French cooking,” she recalled last week during a telephone interview. And she never imagined she would ever consider him a mentor.
But, approximately five years ago, they finally met—on the set of Ms. Guarnaschelli’s very own Food Network show, “Alex’s Day Off.” And he asked her a perceptive question, one that made her think: “Do you like the recipes you are making in this episode?”
“I had been so nervous, I hadn’t fully considered that,” Ms. Guarnaschelli had responded to him.
“How can you be your true self if you aren’t connecting fully with what you’re making?” Mr. Flay pointed out.
Now the executive chef at Butter restaurant in Manhattan—and the only woman to win the title of America’s Next Iron Chef on “Iron Chef America”—Ms. Guarnaschelli will dish out her homemade ricotta crostini with heirloom tomatoes, Flying Pigs Farm bacon and ancho chile salt alongside 39 fellow chefs and their concoctions at the James Beard Foundation’s annual Chefs & Champagne on Saturday, July 26, at Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack, where this year’s honored guest will be her longtime mentor, Mr. Flay.
“Julia Child loved to say, ‘In the beginning, there was James Beard,’” said Susan Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation. “After all, he was the country’s first celebrity chef, teaching America how to cook through his books and numerous appearances on television shows. Beard would have been a huge fan of Bobby Flay.”
Mr. Flay, who was one of the first culinary talents at the inaugural Chefs & Champagne in 1991, went on to earn the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year Award two years later—just before he kick-started a television career that is still alive and well today.
The Manhattan-based Iron Chef—who has previously owned homes in both Southampton and East Hampton—recently opened his newest restaurant, Gato, in the city, making it his first New York venture in nearly a decade. He escapes to the East End whenever he can.
“I’ve been going out to the Hamptons for a long time,” Mr. Flay said during a recent telephone interview. “It’s really the place I can relax and I love procuring ingredients from the Hamptons. It’s what I like to cook the most.”
The celebrity chef got his start after dropping out of high school at age 17, only to enroll in the first class of the French Culinary Institute. He had discovered his love of food making salads at Joe Allen Restaurant in Manhattan’s theater district, where his father, Bill Flay, was a partner.
“I utilize things that I’ve done [at the French Culinary Institute] every day,” Mr. Flay said.
But he will be off duty on Saturday night—simply attending Chefs & Champagne for the nosh, and the honor.
“I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic food, lots of great chefs, lots of really great champagne and, you know, what’s better than an event in the Hamptons like this?” Mr. Flay said. “And to me, I’m honored to be honored.”
Chefs & Champagne, featuring the culinary offerings of 40 chefs, will be held on Saturday, July 26, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Wölffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack. General admission tickets are $275, or $200 for James Beard Foundation members. VIP tickets, with early admission starting at 5 p.m., are $375. For more information, call (212) 627-2308 or visit jamesbeard.org/chefsandchampagne.
Maggy Kilroy on Jul 22, 2014