If all Iron Chef battles were to be judged solely on creativity, then most of Iron Chef Morimoto’s opponents should just enter Kitchen Stadium waving a white flag. Few chefs I have encountered can take the Chairman’s Secret Ingredient to such unexpected places while still creating dishes that are as delicious as they are exciting.
He may not always emerge victorious, but he’s still the one Iron Chef who gives me a shiver of anticipation when I find out I am going to be judging one of his battles.
Here are Morimoto-san’s typically enigmatic responses to 10 probing questions:
Do you feel added pressure to maintain the standards of Iron Chef America, given your association with the original Iron Chef Japan?
MM: I always feel tremendous pressure no matter which country I do the Iron Chef battle in. This pressure, however, is not because I am the original Iron Chef Japan.
Read more »
May Madness hits Food Network this spring as Iron Chefs battle it out — one-on-one — in the first-ever
Iron Chef America: Tournament of Champions. With five episodes and a panel of revolving judges, the tournament features high-stakes, bracket-style battles between the best of the best in the culinary world. The tournament begins
Sunday, May 5 at 10pm/9c with a face-off between the two newest Iron Chefs, Alex Guarnaschelli and Geoffrey Zakarian.
Get the full schedule
No stranger to competitions, Masaharu Morimoto is one of the Chairman’s longest-standing Iron Chefs and a seasoned veteran of Kitchen Stadium, with more than 35 Iron Chef America battles under his belt. On Wednesday night, however, the tables will turn for this king of Japanese cuisine as he trades in his chef’s jacket and takes his place at the judges’ table of the Miss Universe Pageant.
The Iron Chef will join 16 other famous judges including musician CeeLo Green and three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings at Las Vegas’ Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino to oversee this annual pageant. As 89 contestants from around the world come together to compete in several rounds like a question-and-answer segment and evening gown presentation, it will be up to Iron Chef Morimoto and his fellow judges to determine who has proven herself worthy of the crown and the yearlong title of Miss Universe.
Read more »
So you’re in Kitchen Stadium, competing against a fierce challenger who is prepared and ready to make five camera-worthy dishes featuring a secret ingredient in just one hour. As an Iron Chef, how would you face the battle? Do you have a go-to signature dish or flavor profile that you’d use? Are you a calm and organized Iron Chef, or do you thrive on impulse and take risks? Would you be sure to stay away from that pesky ice cream machine, or would you embrace its creative possibilities?
Iron Chefs Michael Symon, Masaharu Morimoto, Marc Forgione, Bobby Flay, Jose Garces, Mario Batali and Cat Cora all welcome the challenges of Kitchen Stadium, but each has his or her own unique style and culinary point of view.
Head over to Food Network’s Facebook page, find The Next Iron Chef tab and take our quiz to answer Which Iron Chef Are You Most Like?
Tune in to The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs on Sunday, October 30 at 9pm/8c to watch 10 all-star chefs battle it out for a spot in Kitchen Stadium and the ultimate culinary title.
Anne Burrell has been hitting the bowling lanes in preparation for her Sept. 29 event, Rock & Bowl, at this year’s New York City Wine and Food Festival. Metromix New York has exclusive photos of her practice session at a retro New York bowling alley. Wearing size nine bowling shoes and a mismatched pair of pink-and-yellow socks, she admitted her first ball was a gutter ball.
Mark Dacascos burned some rubber doing several laps on the new surface of Phoenix’s International Raceway. Speedway Digest reports that the Iron Chef chairman exceeded speeds of 100 miles an hour and found the experience to be “the best video game in the world.”
Find out what Morimoto and Guy Fieri are up to »
- Cat Cora, shown here in her home kitchen, will soon launch a quick service restaurant in the San Francisco airport.
SFGate is reporting that Tyler Florence and Cat Cora are soon to launch quick service eateries in SFO’s Terminal 2. Chef Florence will bring a scaled down version of his Rotisserie and Wine restaurant. His menu will be offering roasted meats along with a variety of southern style side dishes. The Cat Cora Lounge will be a cocktail bar and the menu will offer fresh local seafood. The goal of the project is to support local and sustainable dining with a number of food offerings throughout the terminal, something never before seen at an airport.
Delaware North has partnered with Iron Chef Morimoto to launch a new restaurant in Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal 5. The menu will consist of a selection of soups and salads as well as yakitori style skewers which will include meats and vegetables served with rice. The focus will be on tasty, healthy foods that can be served and eaten quickly.
Looking for more places to find something from a favorite Food Network star?
Sandra Lee is launching a new line of kitchenware for Sears and Kmart. The collection will feature small appliances and other kitchen items.
The Baltimore Business Journal is reporting that Duff Goldman will be offering a line of less expensive cakes. Priced around $250, these cakes feed 12 to 15 and will be available much quicker than the more pricey custom designs which need to be ordered months in advance.
Guy Fieri gave a sneak peek on Twitter this week of a new “Knuckle Sandwich” shoe being designed by Globe Shoes. No word yet on when they will be available.
The Food Network Fans are constantly looking for info and sharing links on where we can find favorite stars, discuss favorite shows, visit a book signing, or see an appearance in other venues. We invite you to stop by and visit at FoodNetworkFans.com
- 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
Burgers, beaches, bubbly, BBQ, Bobby Flay—what more could you want in a weekend? All of the Food Network stars came out for the 2010 South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and we caught some of them on camera during the whirlwind of parties, seminars and grand tastings.
Check out our favorite video highlights from the festivities as recorded by FN ClipChick.
[pickle url="http://my.foodnetwork.com/flshentrw.flash/cp20/VP/619468/1/16025332/16027858/1/1/1"]
