Why Bobby Flay Chose To Name One Of His Restaurants Gato

If you've been to a high-end restaurant, you might leave thinking, "The food was great, but what does that restaurant's name mean?" Many higher-caliber restaurants have short names that seem to have little meaning behind them. According to Grub Street, the trend started with restaurants like the word-renowned, Copenhagen-based (and soon-to-close) Noma and has accelerated in recent years, with "nonsense" restaurant names like "Moomba" and "Babbo" becoming commonplace.

But instead of choosing restaurant names that don't really say anything about the restaurant itself, Bobby Flay prefers a different naming convention overall — longer names that describe the purpose of his restaurants or short, sophisticated names that have personal meaning to him. One of his now-closed restaurants, Gato, is no exception to this rule. 

Although it may sound like any other upper-crust restaurant name, Flay chose "Gato" with a purpose in mind — and he's opened up about the reasoning behind the moniker.

Okay, so maybe Gato isn't as self-explanatory as Bobby's Burgers — the name of Bobby Flay's five made-to-order burger restaurants. But it's a far cry from a "nonsense name." The Mediterranean restaurant is fittingly named, considering that "gato" is a Spanish word and Spain borders the Mediterranean Sea. But if you don't want to comb through a Spanish-English dictionary to find the meaning of the word "gato," look no further than one of your favorite furry companions. "Gato" is Spanish for "cat" (per Collins Dictionary).

But why would Flay name his restaurant after a cat? "I like something short and sweet [for a restaurant name]," the Food Network star said to Grub Street in 2014. "There are a lot of made-up words that people are using, and it's hard to understand what they mean." 

As a restaurant name, Gato certainly fits the "short and sweet" bill, but that's not the whole story behind the feline-inspired moniker. According to Gato, when Flay was waiting for a real estate agent to show him the space that would eventually become one of his restaurants, an orange cat meandered through Flay's legs — and into his heart. Flay never saw the curious kitty again, but he paid the cat permanent homage with the restaurant name.

The orange "gato" from Bobby Flay's Lafayette Street restaurant space isn't the only cat in his life. The chef has two cats (and one of them is orange, too). Nacho and Stella have been right by his side throughout his long, illustrious career. And Flay has made food that will satisfy even the pickiest cats. 

Flay launched his pet food brand, Made by Nacho, in 2021, and it features a variety of wet and dry cat foods, cat treats, and cat food "toppers," all of which are Nacho-approved. With two business ventures named after cats, to say Flay is a "cat person" is an understatement.

Whether he's naming a restaurant or a pet food brand, Flay seems to favor straightforward names with the occasional personal meaning. Although he may never have seen his restaurant Gato's namesake again, Flay kept the memory of the "mystery cat" alive for as long as Gato remained open.