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Alton Brown’s Point of View in Kitchen Stadium, fully stocked with yellow sticky notes.

FACT: It takes four to five hours to produce an episode of Iron Chef America. Many contestants, including Iron Chef Michael Symon, have been badly cut, burned, battered and bruised, but we have never stopped the clock during a battle!

- Joe, Honorary FN Historian

Go to Food Network Fun Fact #1

What do you get when you mix breakfast cereal, a passion for food and a keen ability to multi-task? Rob Bleifer, the executive chef who manages 15 different Food Network shows. I caught up with Rob for a rapid-fire round:
Read more about this passionate, cereal-loving multi-tasker here.

Yes, we work here but many of us are true fans as well. We watch the shows, try the recipes and live the life. Crazy…but true.

That said, one new FN show is seemingly creating even more buzz in the halls than usual. CHOPPED, hosted by Ted Allen, premieres tonight, triggering heightened chatter around our fancy, coffee maker-sized watercooler. Frantic sous chefs, insane time constraints, amazing food, flowing tears — all good.

Without giving it away, Rene Lynch (Daily Dish blog on the LA Times) summarized it best…
The format makes for one heck of a nail-biting experience, and it succeeds in placing the viewer in the shoes of the contestants. Who hasn’t raced around their kitchen, staring at the mismatched ingredients in the cupboard, while the clock is ticking?

Ok — enough shamless promotion.
Tune in tonight and let us know what you think…
Watch the promo here.

On special occasions, FN offers private tours to visiting dignitaries, celebrity chefs and the like. One FN’er, Joe, takes time from his day job to lead this behind-the-scenes tour.

A recent tour-ist, Lana, suggested… “You could ask Joe what questions folks ask the most (during tours). I’ll bet it’d make an interesting read.” Good post, Lana. Thanks, Joe. Here goes:

Q) Who gets to eat the food?
A) Who ever is closest – studio crew etc… We only purchase food for what we are making that week and we donate to any extras to City Harvest each Friday.

Q) On Iron Chef America, do they know the secret ingredient?
A) Before the show, the chefs are told that it could be one from a list of items. The challenge is still amazingly difficult to pull off in an hour. Plus, the cameras never stop rolling…no matter what.

Q) Are all of the Iron Chefs here for each show?
A) When we shoot a battle, there is only one. The others are stand ins.

Q) What is the weirdest ingredient a challenger chef requested on Iron Chef?
A) Jose Andres – Goat testicles

Bonus fact — Our offices are on the site of the original Nabisco factory. The Oreo was invented here in 1912.

The FN Dish’s Bruce Seidel visits Iron Chef Cat Cora at a book signing and Bon Appétit culinary demo.

FN DISH CONTEST!
To win an autographed copy of Cat’s new book, Cooking from the Hip, tell us about your favorite Cat Cora recipe in the comments section below!

Contest Ends: Sunday, November 23, 11:59PM/10:59c
By entering a comment you are consenting to these contest rules.

One of the best kept secrets in NY is tucked beneath Food Network. In an undisclosed location (think: the warehouse in Indiana Jones), lies a vast storeroom of the dishes, props and accessories FN has used for the past 15 years. Rachael Ray’s original GBs, Mario Batali’s favorite ravioli rolling pin, Sunny’s entire kitchen — it’s there.

One artistic visionary, FN set decorator Wendy and her creative prop coordinator, Jamie, have the awesome responsibility of maintaining, organizing, expanding and decorating with the massive collection.

FN Dish will start showcasing certain pieces, like this giant bowl that’s great for “kicking light” — (being highly reflective on set). Wendy stumbled across it and knew it would be perfect for a dramatic Iron Chef America ingredient.

Questions about a Food Network set? Need inspiration for an innovative tablescape? Curious about culinary “minis”? Post and Wendy will attend to the most burning questions…

New Iron Chef coats will be revealed during the Iron Chef America Thanksgiving battle Sunday, and we’re here to give you a sneak peek! To see more, watch as Bobby Flay and Michael Symon go head to head with Morimoto and Cat Cora, Sunday at 8:30pm/9:30c.

An partial list of upcoming appearances by some FN faves:

November 8 – 9
Washington DC: Bobby Flay, Paula Deen and Giada De Laurentiis will all be featured at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show. Details here.

November 10
Atlanta, GA: Alton Brown will be at a book signing with Shirley Corriher, the James Beard award winning author of Cookwise at the historic Margaret Mitchell house. Info here.

November 10
Natick, MA: Ina Garten will be signing books at Williams Sonoma from 12:00 – 2:00pm. Not in Natick? No fear… Ina will be on a multiple city book tour across the country throughout November and December. Full details on those locations can be found here.

November 12
Atlantic City, NJ: Rachael Ray will be appearing for two shows at Harrah’s. She’ll be sharing personal stories and anecdotes, followed by a Q&A. Details here.

November 13
Baltimore, MD: Chef Duff, the Ace of Cakes, will be part of the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland Green Carpet Event. Get your cookies and all the details here.

November 23
Long Island, NY: Bobby Flay will be doing a book signing at Bobby’s Burger Palace in the Smithhaven Mall. He just opened this Palace back in July and will be flipping burgers there in the morning. Details here.

Know of others? Post in the comments below…

The FN Dish just caught a culinary demo and book signing for none other than Iron Chef, Cat Cora in Midtown Manhattan. When not doing battle on Iron Chef America, Cat is plenty busy. Aside from nine lives, she appears to have nine jobs as well.

Her recent book, Cooking from the Hip, is a great overview on whipping up creative, tasty offerings from fresh ingredients and staples every stocked pantry should have.

However, Cat caught us up on an even NEWER venture that’s coming this December. She’s opening a new restaurant called CCQ (think BBQ but add a dash of Cat Cora instead). Keywords for Cat here are affordable, flavorful, fast and casual. Time and money are more valuable than ever but why sacrifice taste? She is taking international BBQ inspiration from Asia, South America and the Caribbean to make the CCQ experience unforgettable.

The OC crowd will get first tastes. CCQ will open within the Macy’s at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA. If SoCal isn’t in the cards, FN has the recipe to the CCQ Signature BBQ sauce here that should tide you over.

If that all weren’t enough, Cat is also President and Co-founder of Chefs for Humanity which supplies relief and aid to fight worldwide hunger — created in response to the 2004 Asian Tsunami tragedy. You can learn more here or even donate and get a signed photo of Cat for your kitchen here.