Facing Down an Iron Chef

By: Guest Blogger
Morimoto
Would YOU want to be thown into the shark tank with this guy?

Facing down an Iron Chef is not for the faint of heart (or knife skills).  When she got the call to kitchen stadium, Chef Amanda Cohen’s first reaction was "I don’t think so."

Having just opened restaurant Dirt Candy in New York City’s East Village, Chef Cohen explains on her blog that she thought "they were looking for chumps to throw into the shark tank with their big time Iron Chefs and I didn’t want to be savaged and mauled on national TV." However, as the first vegetarian chef asked to be on Iron Chef, she realized it gave her a platform to show that "Dirt Candy is just about food, and it's about vegetarian food as nothing more than cooking vegetables – no politics, no health claims or virtuous living, just giving vegetables a chance to be treated as seriously as chefs treat pork."

Pitted against Iron Chef Morimoto, Chef Cohen details her entire experience taping the show (which she calls an "epic tale") on her blog, which we encourage you to read, as well as learn more about Cohen who also did stints at New York's famous Angelica Kitchen and Teany.

Can the first vegetarian Chef in Iron Chef America history take down the near mythical Masaharu Morimoto? Tune in this Sunday, August 29 at 10pm/9c to Iron Chef America on Food Network and find out.

-- Brandy Shearer

What's New