Who is Debra Ponzek, Bobby Flay’s ex-wife?
Debra Ponzek was born in Morristown, New Jersey USA, on 26 August 1961 – her zodiac sign is Virgo and she holds American nationality. She is a chef, but who is perhaps best known for being the ex-wife of Bobby Flay, a famous American TV personality, chef and restaurateur.
Early life and education
Debra was raised in Morristown an only child, by her Italian father who was a chef and her American mother who worked as a waitress. Motivated by her parents, Debra became interested in food at a very early age, and both her father and mother would teach her whatever she wanted to know.
Posted by Debra Ponzek on Thursday, February 20, 2014
Debra was physically very active while attending high school, as she played soccer and tennis for the school’s teams, and upon matriculation in 1979, she enrolled at Boston University at which she studied engineering for a year, before dropping out and enrolling at The Culinary Institute of America – she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 1984, and then launched her career as a chef.
Career as a chef
Debra began working at the Tarragon Tree Restaurant in Chatham in New York, as well as at Toto Steakhouse located in Summit, New Jersey, while still attending college.
After receiving her college degree, she became a sous-chef at the Montrachet Restaurant which was operated by the chef Drew Nieporent, and in 1992 Debra was awarded a Jamse Beard Foundation Award for Rising Star Chef. In 1994, she left Montrachet to open Aux Delices, her own restaurant in Greenwich, Connecticut – she has since opened new restaurants in various locations, and is holding cooking classes on the internet.
Debra only gained widespread recognition after she was cast to appear in the reality TV show “Great Chefs – Great Cities”, in which she prepared three dishes.
Love life and marriage with Bobby
Debra met Bobby Flay in June 1990 at an event organized for chefs, and the two started dating a day later. After less than a month, Bobby asked Debra to marry him, and they exchanged vows in a private ceremony attended by their closest friends and family in May 1991. In 1992, Bobby was nominated for the same James Beard Foundation Award for Rising Star Chef, but wanted to withdraw after finding out that Debra was nominate, too, however, he wasn’t allowed to, but the award went to Debra nevertheless. In 1993 Bobby won the same award, presented to him by Debra.
However, they were divorced by the end of 1993, and only a year later, Debra met and married the Italian Greg Addonizio, who prefers to keep away from the media’s attention. Several months after the wedding, Debra gave birth to their daughter Remy, and their two sons Cole and Gray followed in the next five years. The family of five seems to be leading a happy life together at their home in Connecticut.
Hobbies and other interests
Debra is a huge lover of animals, and has three dogs which can often be seen featured in the pictures she uploads onto her Instagram account.
She likes to spend her free time outdoors, is a fan of flowers and so is keen on working in her garden, and spending time there alone.
One of Debra’s main hobbies is travelling and she has been to many states in the US, but prefers to travel around Europe – some of her favorite cities are London in England, Milano in Italy, and Paris in France. Summer is her favorite season – she doesn’t like cold weather or snow.
Debra also likes to watch movies late at night, and a few of her favorite actors and actresses are Tom Hanks, Amanda Seyfried and Julia Roberts, while a few of her favorite movies are “Sleepless in Seattle”, “Letters to Juliette” and “The Runaway Bride”.
Age and height
Debra’s age is 59. She has long brown hair and blue eyes, her height is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) and she weighs around 145lbs (65kgs). As of September 2020, her net worth has been estimated at over $30 million while Bobby’s net worth is reputedly over $30 million as well.
Who is Bobby Flay?
Robert William Flay was born in New York City, USA, on 10 December 1964 – his zodiac sign is Sagittarius and he holds American nationality. Bobby is currently working at several restaurants as the executive chef, including the Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City, the Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, and The Gato in New York.
Bobby was raised in Manhattan, New York City as an only child, by his parents Bill Flay and Dorothy Barbara McGuirk – Bobby was eight years old when he asked his father to buy him an Easy-Bake Oven, and although his father argued with him at first, he eventually bought it.
Bobby left school at the age of 17 as he wanted to pursue his career as a chef.
Two of his first jobs were at the Baskin-Robbins cake specialty shop restaurant and a pizza parlor, and his father eventually helped him to start working at Joe Allen Restaurant as a salad chef. Impressed by his skills, the owner of the restaurant Joe Allen, paid for Bobby to attend the French Culinary Institute. He became a sous-chef after obtaining his degree in 1984, and eventually started working as a chef for Jonathan Waxman at his Bud and Jams restaurant.
Bobby took a short break from cooking when he entered the stock exchange business, but soon returned to the kitchen to work at Miracle Grill as the executive chef. On 15 January 1991 as soon as the Mesa Grill was opened, Bobby started working there as an executive chef, and eventually became a partner.
He opened his first restaurant in November 1993 called Bolo Bar & Restaurant, and subsequently opened several other Mesa Grill restaurants in the US, such in Las Vegas which was the only one to receive a Michelin star, but which was taken away a year later.
On 15 July 2008, he opened Bobby’s Burger Palace (BBP) in Lake Grove on Long Island, and then a second BBP on 5 December 2008 in Eatontown in New Jersey, and the third BBP on 31 March 2009 in Paramus in New Jersey. Bobby today has 11 BBPs.
He has appeared in several reality TV series, such as “Great Chefs – Great Cities”, “Mexican Madness” and “Great Chefs Cook American”. He is a writer who has published more than 10 cook books.
Bobby is also interested in horse racing, and today owns at least one horse that has won awards, while his racehorse More Than Real won the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, one of the most prestigious horse races in the US.
After his divorce from Debra, Bobby married Kate Connelly in 1995, and she gave birth to their daughter Sophie, but they divorced in 1998. On 20 February 2005, Bobby married the famous American actress Stephanie Caroline March, but they split in March 2015 and their divorce was finalized five months later. In February 2016, Bobby began dating Helene Yorker, a Canadian-born American actress and dancer, but they split in early 2019.