[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
Meet the inimitable, talented and charming Bobby Flay, known for his frequent appearances on features such as the wildly popular Entourage and his variety of shows on Food Network. He\u2019s one of the world\u2019s most beloved and best-known chefs \u2014 a class act known for his winning smile and culinary savvy.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 Flay\u2019s first restaurant, Mesa Grill, opened in 1991 and Gael Greene, then renowned critic of New York magazine, awarded Mesa Grill the sought-after title of Best Restaurant in 1992. One year later, Flay was named the James Beard Foundation\u2019s Rising Star Chef of the Year. 1993 was filled with success, including the opening of Flay\u2019s Bolo Bar and Restaurant in New York City\u2019s Flatiron District. The story continues with his second Mesa Grill opened in Caesar\u2019s Palace, Las Vegas in 2004, and another at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas in 2007. Flay has become an American institution with a host of marvelous restaurants including Bar Americain, Bobby Flay Steak, GATO and the wildly popular Bobby\u2019s Burger Palace, which just opened its 17th location in Concourse B of Atlanta\u2019s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. \u00a0 \u00a0 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the world\u2019s busiest airport, just snagged the celebrity chef\u2019s Bobby\u2019s Burger Palace, which opened to great acclaim in October. Atlanta-based Concessions International and H & H Hospitality worked with Flay and his partner Laurence Kretchmer. \u201cI wanted to partner with Concessions International because they were Food First operators,\u201d says Flay. \u00a0 \u00a0 Questioned about his foray into Las Vegas, Flay replied, \u201cLas Vegas decided they would not be able to live on gambling alone. They realized they needed better food and they started bringing in better chefs \u2014 chefs with names who could deliver a wonderful dining experience. Walk around Vegas and you will meet some of the best chefs, not just in America but also from around the world. It\u2019s a great place for a first class restaurant.\u201d [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Meet the inimitable, talented and charming Bobby Flay, known for his frequent appearances on features such as the wildly popular Entourage and his variety of shows on Food Network. He\u2019s one of the world\u2019s most beloved and best-known chefs \u2014 a class act known for his winning smile and culinary savvy. A savory success…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,141,10,1],"tags":[170,168,172,151,171,169],"class_list":["post-3866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity","category-covers","category-dining","category-uncategorized","tag-atlanta-airport","tag-bobby-flay","tag-cooking-channel","tag-cover","tag-iron-chef","tag-restaurants","post_format-post-format-image"],"yoast_head":"\nA savory success story<\/span><\/h5>\n
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 He was an instant on-air success when Food Network brought him aboard in 1994. Viewers around the globe tuned in to see Iron Chef Bobby Flay in shows such as Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Brunch @ Bobby\u2019s <\/i>(on the Cooking Channel), the current Emmy Award-winning Bobby Flay\u2019s BBQ Addiction<\/i> and the exceptionally popular Beat Bobby Flay<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFlay\u2019s latest venture: a win for ATL<\/span><\/h5>\n
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 Atlanta\u2019s Bobby\u2019s Burger Palace is the first of several other locations to be positioned in an airport. According to Flay, he chose the Georgia capital to launch first because \u201cit doesn\u2019t get any busier than Atlanta.\u201d
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cI think we were waiting for the right partners and we found them here,\u201d says Flay. <\/span>\u201cI have to say that as a chef I started cooking professionally when I was 17; that was a very long time ago. Airport food has come a long way since then. I was always skeptical earlier in my career about opening in an airport, but things have really changed so much. So, I am thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to open in an airport like this, and to see my employees\u2019 enthusiasm, not to just have a job but to be working in a place that they feel really proud to work in. They are inspired and have passion for learning how to do something and to further their career. It\u2019s really great to see!\u201d
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 Flay\u2019s can-do attitude is contagious. \u201cThere\u2019s no \u2018meal period\u2019. We start at 6 a.m. and go until 10 p.m. at night. If there\u2019s a storm that rolls through here, which often happens, or a flight delay, we will stay open as needed to feed people and make their cocktails.\u201d
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 He\u2019s ready to raise the bar on airport dining. \u201cWe want this to be the best meal you\u2019ve ever had, and we are at the price point where everybody can afford to eat here,\u201d says Flay. Among the menu items are the Crunchburger ($6.95); Philly Burger ($8.75); milkshakes ($5.75), and fries ($3.50). It is signature Flay, and the airport eatery is already a smashing success just a few weeks in operation.<\/span><\/p>\nThe backstory on Vegas and more<\/span><\/h5>\n
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 When asked about the source of his passion for cooking, he explained, \u201cI needed a job; I dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and started working in a restaurant. I sort of fell into it. I didn\u2019t know I could cook but after a while I realized that working with my hands and cooking was really gratifying for me and I went to culinary school after that.\u201d
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 Flay became enamored with Southwestern cuisine working at Buds and Jams, where Chef Jonathan Waxman became a mentor. According to Flay, \u201cMy passion for Southwestern cuisine came from working for a phenomenal chef named Jonathan Waxman.\u201d
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 Bobby Flay (born Robert William Flay) has opened a cadre of restaurants but at heart he says, \u201cI\u2019m a burger guy. When I hang out with chefs after work we aren\u2019t going out for caviar; we want food that\u2019s comforting. Some of my friends want to go eat fried chicken and some want barbeque; I always want a burger. When I was a kid a burger was always my go-to food. For me there\u2019s a myriad of things that make a burger good and I want to make sure my employees know the fundamentals \u2014 the basics of cooking the perfect burger. When you dine at Bobby\u2019s Burger Palace and look at the burger options, in some ways it\u2019s like a tour around America on a burger. We use very simple and obvious ingredients that make sense; nothing is complicated.\u201d
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Chef, restauranteur, cookbook author, television star, Food Network star, Bobby Flay has mastered it all.\u00a0He\u2019s also an avid traveler and his favorite destination is Rome where he spent a glorious six weeks last summer.\u00a0Bobby is incredibly philanthropic. In October he partnered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation giving 50 percent of the proceeds of his strawberry milkshakes to help in the fight against breast cancer. He lost his beloved mother to the disease last April.
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 Bravo Bobby Flay!!! We will be dining at\u00a0Bobby\u2019s Burger Palace on Concourse B at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and at all of your other delicious restaurants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n