Next Iron Chef Rivals Unite at New York City Wine & Food Festival

The Next Iron Chef: Redemption

Cast of Next Iron Chef as seen on Food Network's, Next Iron Chef Season 5

Photo by: Kevin Lynch ©2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Kevin Lynch, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

With just two weeks to go until the premiere of The Next Iron Chef: Redemption, eight of this season’s rival chefs, Nate Appleman, Amanda Freitag, Elizabeth Falkner, Eric Greenspan, Alex Guarnaschelli, Jehangir Mehta, Spike Mendelsohn and Marcel Vigneron, joined Alton Brown and reigning Iron Chefs Masaharu Morimoto, Marc Forgione, Michael Symon, Geoffrey Zakarian and Jose Garces for a night of competition-free cooking at the New York City Wine & Food Festival. Though the competition will certainly be fierce once the battle kicks off Sunday, November 4, last weekend’s Next Iron Chef event was all in good fun, the Iron Chef hopefuls coming together to chat with fans, watch sneak-peek clips of the first episode and dish out late-night party bites worthy of Kitchen Stadium.

Chef Mehta at the Next Iron Chef Event

©Alex Geana Photography

Alex Geana Photography

Several of the chefs, including Iron Chef Forgione and Chef Greenspan, put gourmet spins on classic comfort foods. New Yorker Chef Forgione plated a Manhattan favorite, handmade bite-size everything bagels with soft gravlax, while Chef Greenspan served a dressed-up grilled cheese with short ribs, Taleggio cheese and arugula on walnut bread. Here Chef Mehta shows off his take on an everyday favorite — the hamburger. His Indian Street Burger was made with warm Indian spices and topped with crunchy red onions and a creamy finishing sauce.

Although all of the chefs donned their jackets and led their culinary teams in cooking, many of them also took time to sign cookbooks for fans, chat about the new season of The Next Iron Chef, pose for pictures and mingle with each other and party guests. Longtime host of The Next Iron Chef and Iron Chef America Alton Brown drew a seemingly never-ending line of fans just waiting to snag a shot with Mr. Good Eats himself.

Chef Falkner at the Next Iron Chef Event

©Alex Geana Photography

Alex Geana Photography

Get ready for the all-new season of The Next Iron Chef: Redemption by learning more about the rival chefs, taking a behind-the-scenes look at Kitchen Stadium, reliving chefs’ last battles and checking out Food Network’s Road to Redemption Web series to find out which of four chefs will join the cast of The Next Iron Chef: Redemption. Don’t miss the premiere of The Next Iron Chef: Redemption on Sunday, November 4 at 9pm/8c.

Photos courtesy of Alex Geana Photography

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