The Food Industry Job Bobby Flay Started In 6th Grade
Bobby Flay is a hugely successful chef, restaurateur, author, and television personality. Today, the celebrity chef is a household name, having appeared in more than 25 different TV series and specials, including such shows as "Beat Bobby Flay" and "Iron Chef America." He was the first chef to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (via Variety). But like many celebrity chefs, he had a very humble and less-than-glamorous first job in the food industry. (Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali both started out as dishwashers in restaurants.)
In a recent Instagram post, Flay writes that, "One of my first jobs in the food business was delivering pizzas after school when I was in 6th grade ... yeah 6th grade." To make it clear that his role was largely limited to delivery and not any actual cooking, Flay added, "When there was downtime the pizza guys would let me grate the cheese and open the cans of tomatoes but never let me near the actual pizzas."
Flay had his first cooking job a few years later
After delivering pizza in 6th grade, Bobby Flay ended up scooping ice cream at Baskin-Robbins (an early job that he shared with the likes of President Barack Obama and Julia Roberts, according to Eat This, Not That!). It wasn't until he worked at restaurant Joe Allen that he got his big break in the food industry. His father may have been a part-owner of the Theater District eatery, but Flay got his start as a temporary busboy. That gig eventually turned into a stint in the kitchen, where Flay's demonstrated potential and talent led to the owner himself paying for his tuition at the French Culinary Institute, per Britannica. And the rest is history.
Flay still loves pizza — New York-style pizza, that is. As he notes in his Instagram post, "As a native New Yorker I have an affinity for that NYC style of pizza. It's thin, crispy, sweet with tomato sauce and fully melted whole milk mozzarella." Flay then gives a shout-out to Joe's Pizza in Greenwich Village and Scarr's Pizza on the Lower East Side. You're bound to get a great slice at either place. Just remember to fold it in half (despite any admonitions otherwise), and enjoy it as a true New Yorker would.