The Next Iron Chef, season 4: The Super Chefs

Cafe Society
1

The 4th season of this show starts tonight. There’s a gimmick this year that these chefs are some of the already well-known “super” chefs out there, though I suspect they are only super because they’re probably familiar to regular Food Network watchers. But a lot of these chefs have shows, are on shows, or have been on shows (including Iron Chef) and should make for a exciting season. I’ll C&P the chefs from wiki:

[ul]
[li]Anne Burrell (Host of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and Worst Cooks in America), sous-chef for Mario Batali on Iron Chef America); while being partnered with Michael Symon both defeated Cat Cora and Robert Irvine in Battle Deep Freeze in Season 9[/li][li] Michael Chiarello (Owner of Bottega Restaurant, Napa Valley; host of Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello)[/li][li] Elizabeth Falkner (Owner of Citizen Cake and Orson, San Francisco); lost to Cat Cora in Battle Honey in Season 3. Also has appeared on Food Network Challenge[/li][li] Alex Guarnaschelli (Chef and Owner, Butter and The Darby, New York; Host, Alex’s Day Off, Judge, Chopped); lost to Cat Cora in Battle Farmers’ Market in Season 5[/li][li] Chuck Hughes (Chef and Owner, Garde Manger, Montreal; Host, Chuck’s Day Off [Cooking Channel]); defeated Bobby Flay in Battle Canadian Lobster in Season 9[/li][li] Robert Irvine (Chef and Owner, Robert Irvine’s eat!, Hilton Head Island; Host, Dinner: Impossible, Restaurant: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America); has lost twice while being partnered on special holiday episodes of Iron Chef America[/li][li] Beau MacMillan (Executive Chef, Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, Phoenix; Host, Worst Cooks in America); defeated Bobby Flay in Battle American Kobe Beef in Season 3[/li][li] Spike Mendelsohn (Chef and Owner, Good Stuff Eatery, Washington D.C.; Host, Kelsey & Spike Cook [Food2.com]); lost to Michael Symon in Battle Prosciutto in Season 8[/li][li] Marcus Samuelsson (Chef and Owner, Red Rooster Harlem, New York; Judge, 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped, Next Food Network Star); lost to Bobby Flay in Battle Corn in Season 6[/li][li] Geoffrey Zakarian (Chef and Owner, The National and The Lambs Club, New York; Judge, 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Chopped); lost to Masaharu Morimoto in Battle Sardines in Season 8[/li][/ul]

That’s a pretty good list. I watch a lot of these guys on their own shows and a good number of them I’ve seen on Iron Chef and Chopped, so I think it will make for an especially compelling competition as each chef gets eliminated one by one. I don’t know all of them, but that’s never stopped me from watching before as last year, I only knew Ming Tsai and nobody else.

I think its interesting that many of these chefs have Iron Chef experience, having been on the show and on competitions. I do wonder if Chopped is going into reruns (not that I can ever tell with that show really) now with so many of their regular judges in this. I’m sure its a great opportunity for Food Network to do some cross promotion.

In the past, I would have said Robert Irvine’s got a good chance to win any of these types of shows, as his Dinner/Restaurant: Impossible is all about getting crazy stuff done within a strict limit. But he’s already battled Ann twice in 3 shows and lost (Iron Chef, Worst Cooks in America, and Chopped), and I think he’s fairly popular himself so I don’t think Food Network is going to root too hard for him. What will happen to his show(s) if he wins? Chopped, meanwhile, can lose a couple of their judges and be just fine.

I’m excited to watch Alex, Marcus, and Geoffrey, for once in the chef’s outfit instead of a judge. I don’t know much about them except that they’re regularly judging people and taking points off on Chopped for the smallest minutia, and Geoffrey himself strikes me as particularly smug, so I’m hoping he gets knocked down a peg or two. Same with Beau, who, having won on Iron Chef before, is probably a great chef, but his personality isn’t something I’d want to watch a lot.

I don’t know any of the other chefs, so I hope they impress. Except Anne, she’s cool. Love her personality, she’s very charming and despite looking like a female clone of Guy Fieri, seems like someone who really knows her stuff. She beat Robert twice and I’ve seen her as sous chef for former Iron Chef Mario Batali, so maybe she has an edge having worked there and knowing what the pressure’s like already.

Is it just me or is Food Network been ever pushing Iron Chef as their flagship show, as least as far as quality goes? In other shows, many chefs mention how they admire an “Iron Chef” and how great they are. I know its simply a moniker from the old Japanese original and probably worth no more respect than any TV created title, but out of all of the Food Network competition shows, Iron Chef seems to be the top one with the best talent. Even though I liked Chopped, the random people they get every week can be good to bland, and seems like a step down from the competition on Iron Chef. Same with the many many cake and dessert shows, the competition seems sometimes to simply be plucked from the streets. It would be interesting if anyone knows if the Iron Chefs and their competition represents a greater cast of chefs with more experience and honors than the chefs from other shows. And all this with a cheesy kung-fu fighting actor as “The Chairman” and a fictional biographical background!

So America, with an open heart and an empty stomach, I say unto you the words of my (his) uncle: Allez cuisine!

2

I question Spike being there. He was mediocre on regular Top Chef, and now he’s supposed to be Iron Chef level talent?

and Marcus was already on Top Chef Masters and won it.

3

Anne Burrell is probably going to be the favorite from the start. She’s got experience and skill.

I’m interested to see what Alex Guarnaschelli can come up with, and by “interested” I mean “I think she’s going to fail spectacularly.”

I am not a fan of Michael Irvine, so I will be rooting against him.

So are they retiring an Iron Chef or are they just adding on to the cast? They already have seven, although Batali is semi-retired due to schedule conflicts.

4

47 quatloos on MacMillan to win it all. Another 20 quatloos on Burrell to make the Top 3.

I like Irvine, so I’ll be rooting for him, even though he’s doomed.

5

There was a thread on this awhile back: Next Iron Chef: All Stars - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board

6

I caught the last few minutes of the one where they were (I gather) cooking pig in various ways. I’m an evil person, but watching Alex Guarnaschelli look frazzled, and seeing her and her partner being ripped apart for their second dish, was just a teensy bit amusing. On Chopped, she always tastes the food with an expression like she’s been served up a dish of dirt in poop sauce, and she really rips into the competitors. Not so nice being on the opposite side of that! I didn’t see the Iron Chef where she competed, but the judges there, while critical, aren’t usually quite as vicious as the ones on Iron Chef and Chopped can be.

I wish I’d seen Irvine / Burrell cooking together in that segment, they have been antagonistic when I’ve seen them together on Chopped and on the Worst Cooks show.

Typo Knig has eaten at 2 of Spike Mendelsohn’s restaurants - there’s a distant friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend connection there. He’s the only chef whose food I have a real chance of trying someday.

7

Correcting myself: a couple seasons ago, Morou (owner of the now-closed Farrah Olivia in Alexandria) competed in an Iron Chef runoff 3-4 years ago, and I’ve dined at Farrah Olivia. His food was quite good. Not sure what he’s doing these days.

8

Original Top 3: Burrell, MacMillan, Samuelsson
New Top 3: Burrell, MacMillan, Chiarello
Top 2: Burrell (who won Chopped after deep-frying her eyeball), MacMillan
Top Chef: MacMillan (elements is one of my most favorite restaurants ever)

It hit me last night that Spike must have been a last second fill-in for someone who dropped out. That being said, I think it was Marcus that screwed up the stew. No matter how fresh/bacteria-laden your water is, I don’t think it is going to work as a flavoring agent quite like he thought. Also, I’m not sure on the strategy of the duo in the sudden-death cookoff. Yes you have to take a risk, but that is during the first challenge where there is a good chance someone is worse than you and you are going for first place. In the elimination, it has got to be the best single dish you can make with the ingredient. I know Marcus deservedly won Top Chef Masters but I don’t think he gets “Iron Chef”.

When Alex Snarkaschelli lost her Iron Chef, it was an bare-assed spanking (picture that!). Now you see why. It was interesting when Spike paired the two women together. On all of these cooking competition shows, there is a distinct anti-vagina element to the judging which mirrors the same “women can’t cook” motif in the industry so I was expecting Spike to pair the women together as the “sure loser”. He may have done that but at least he had a cooking expertise rationale as well and watching their different personalities clash, Spike was right.

I told Mrs. Cad that I would pair Burrell and Irvine together simply for the entertainment value. Thanks Spike for reading my mind.

Watching Zacharian and MacMillan cook together . . . I want to see them star in an Odd Couple reboot.

9

They worked very well together. Irvine let Burrell take the lead on what they were cooking, then he did the muscle work and they both handled the finesse. They know and respect each others talents, so no matter what the history they are going to mesh well when the pressure is on.

10

Chuck is my favorite. I like him so much and he did beat Bobby Flay, so I think he has good potential. Anne is also very good and having worked for Mario on the show should give her an advantage.

I’m enjoying watching the chopped judges get judged themselves.

I don’t know much about the female chef paired with Alex. I expected better from Marcus and was not at all surprised with who was booted first.

I’m really rooting for Chuck. Doesn’t hurt that I find him so cute.

11

I can see them working well together when they’re not competing against each other - they knew that at that point, they needed to beat the others, not each other.

12

Irvine also knew that he was the one who knew how to work with improvised equipment. As he put it: “Hello? This is my show!” As long as they aren’t using exactly the same pantry ingredients, I think those two will stay pretty co-operative with each other until they have to start slitting each others throat.

13

I’ve grown wary of these ‘find the next…’ shows. I’ve grown to the opinion that the network already knows who they want to win and will make that happen.

In the first Next Iron Chef, one of the judges literally wrote a book about Michael Symon.
On HGTV, the judging for their design show was so lopsided to favor one particular contestant, that I concluded that HGTV wanted him to win. Made sense too, since he would fill in a niche otherwise not already covered by HGTV.
I have a strong suspicion that these ‘contests’ are less contest and more an elaborate ruse to introduce the audience to their anointed one. For example, when Kat Cora showed up, I was all “Who the fuck is she?” But put her in a season long contest and poof, her credibility goes way up.

Anyway, we are going to try this show out (now that we have cable again). I hope it isn’t fixed. But I have a hard time believing that it isn’t. For example, I think it is safe to say that Michael Chiarello has the deck stacked against him. He is redundant with Mario Batali.

14

Yeah, I was like WTF?! River water? Something about that was just icky to me.

I loved Irvine and Burrell together! I think they have a real chemistry underneath that whole can’t-stand-each-other surface. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are friends in real life.

Zacharian and MacMillian were really impressive. I think after last night, both of them, including the French-Candian guy and the Italian guy, are the frontrunners.

I do have an odd complaint about some of the contestants’ uh, complaints. They keep repeating that being an Iron Chef means you have to think on your feet and adjust to any possible situations and use whatever ingredients you’re offered, but that’s like the complete opposite of Iron Chef! All Iron Chef battles happen in a well-stocked kitchen with familiar ingredients and sous chefs to help you out. The only difference is the ingredients, which are usually not too weird in the American version (like in the Japanese version, Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi had a Yogurt battle), varieties of meat, fish, and vegetables. Its only on the other shows, like Chopped, or that Extreme Chef competition, or Robert Irvine’s show, that chefs get tossed into weird situations. The one-on-one cookoff is more like an Iron Chef battle. It would have been more accurate to reverse the order of the competition, put chefs into a controlled kitchen where they specialize in a couple dishes with a main ingredient, and throw the lowest 2 into a weird food challenge involving river water outdoors. But then that’d be less exciting.

I haven’t seen Batali in forever, isn’t he kind of out as Iron Chef?

Speaking of stacking the deck, next week’s is a cookoff at a stadium. It seems like the format is following almost exactly like Robert Irvine’s show Dinner: Impossible! I hope that bodes well for him, as he’s one of my favorites.

15

Very possible. He’s on “The Chew” now on ABC daytime television, so him not being an Iron Chef anymore makes sense. Either way, I could see Batali being an impediment to Chiarello. If Batali is still an Iron Chef, then he out outright. If Batali is done with that show, then ‘replacing’ him is problematic as well.

16

Not only that, but you bring your own sous-chefs which makes the cooking more predictable. On the original IC there was a huge advantage in that the ICs worked quite a bit with Hattori’s students and the challenger had not. On American IC, the sous-chef do almost as much of the cooking/planning/etc. as the competitor and there is no advantage for the IC. I’d love to see ICA use cooking school students as sous-chefs like in the original.

I was thinking that wondering who the winner will replace. I thought Batali and Mrs. Cad thought they would have an additional IC. Then Chiarello called himself “the next Italian Iron Chef”. :dubious:

17

Mario Battali no longer appears on FoodNetwork. The last winner of Next Iron Chef was Marc Forgione, who also cooks Italian.

18

Gawd I hope Anne loses and loses quickly, can’t stand even looking at her, let alone listening to her.

On the other hand, rooting for Irvine, Samuelsson, Alex and Geoffrey. I am very interested in watching Chopped! judges actually get their hands dirty and do some competitive cooking.

19

Isn’t Michael Symon also on that show? Batali has his hands in so many things, it might be hard to schedule him for Iron Chef.

20

Am I the only one who finds Marcus Samuelsson to be incredibly arrogant and annoying? I strongly disliked him on Top Chef Masters, too.