What dish reminds you of home? For some, it’s the first recipe they learned to cook from scratch. For others, it’s a dish a loved one always whipped up as an Rx on sick days. For Bobby Flay, it’s a seafood soup that reminds him of his greatest role model: dad.

A lifelong Manhattan resident, William Francis "Bill" Flay was a US Navy lieutenant, an attorney, a restaurateur, an art history buff, a devoted dad and a passionate food fan. (Bill actually helped Bobby land his first job in the food industry at age 17 at the New York City institution Joe Allen.)

Fittingly, after Bill passed away in 2025 at 93, Bobby and his daughter, Sophie, paid tribute to their patriarch at a celebration of life feast full of many of Bill’s foods. The menu included pork chops, rye bread from Orwashers (Bill’s favorite Upper East Side bakery) and a sweet-and-sour cabbage recipe that his grandmother used to make on Sunday nights.

“Having memories and recipes … connects you forever,” Bobby told People soon after the memorial. “Grief is a hard thing. It has to be dealt with psychologically in some way, shape or form. It doesn't go away, so making it a positive is really, really important."

While all of the aforementioned recipes certainly remind Bobby of his beloved dad, there’s one other dish that might eclipse them all as a way to invite the memory of his dad back to the dinner table.

In his 2021 cookbook, Beat Bobby Flay: Conquer the Kitchen With 100+ Battle-Tested Recipes, Bobby wrote of Bill, “He loves soup and he loves lobster, so when a menu presents him with the opportunity, lobster bisque is his go-to.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Bobby knew exactly what to do when chef Jeremy Sewall challenged him to a lobster bisque challenge on an episode of Beat Bobby Flay. Infusing his dish with a hint of French flair via fennel and Pernod (a classic French anise-flavored liqueur), Bobby edged out Jeremy with his Lobster Bisque With Garlic Croutons and Crispy Lobster Claws. His exact recipe — and many more tips and tricks — are hiding out in that cookbook.

Bill would likely delight in knowing that this isn’t the only version of the seafood soup Bobby has shared over the years. In fact, Bobby’s Lobster and Green Chile Bisque is one of the best sleeper hits in our archives. Plus, a classic Lobster Bisque that was originally featured on the early-2000s series FoodNation With Bobby Flay has fans declaring it “mind-blowing” and “the best lobster bisque we have ever had.”

Knowing Bill’s fondness for lobster, soups and anything to do with family, we bet he’d share similar reviews about any lobster bisque remix his son dreams up.