STEPHANIE & BOBBY REACH FULL BOIL
Wife gives Flay flak for flack in divorce
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay was grilled by his “Law & Order: SVU” actresswife, Stephanie March, for bringing a publicist to a hearing in their nasty divorce case Thursday.
March had been giving Flay the cold shoulder in the Manhattan courtroom, adjusting herself so she wouldn’t even have to look at the “Throwdown” star as she sat two benches away from him.
But she got steamed when she learned the Food Network star/ restaurateur had brought along a mouthpiece — despite a judge’s order not to discuss the case.
“You brought a p.r person to talk to the press?” March fumed outside the courtroom.
Then when the Flay rep, Julie Halpin of Derris & Co., told a reporter, “We’ll talk later,” March’s lawyer boiled over.
“Is this what you call not talking to the press?” Deborah Lans barked at Flay’s lawyer, Nancy Chemtob.
Halpin ultimately issued no statement.
March, 40, and Flay, 50, are at odds over a decadeold prenuptial agreement that gives the actress $5,000 a month and a $1 million buyout for the family home.
March says that the money is mere table scraps and that she deserves more because she was the key ingredient to Flay’s success.
Two months ago, Flay sent March a check, but it was returned with a letter from Lans claiming the prenup was “unenforceable.”
A source said March had gagged over an offer to merely increase the allowance because she thought it was inadequate.
Flay is worth an estimated $20 million.
The couple married in 2005. They have no children together.
In new sealed legal papers, March claims Flay relied on her to taste test the recipes that made him a household name and led to success at such places as his Bar Americain, a source said.
March also claimed that during a vacation to Spain, she pushed Flay into including tapas on the menu at one of his eateries, which she said became an enormous success.
She also boasted having “an amazing palate” and took credit for picking out the design, ambiance, lighting and music in Flay’s restaurants, the source said. Lans declined to elaborate. “Ms. March really doesn’t want to try this in the press,” she said.
Flay has been accused of having an affair with an assistant, Elyse Tirrell, 28. He has denied it.
While leaving court, Flay feigned ignorance of his fame.
“I don’t know why they care,” he said, nodding to three press photographers.