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The Next Iron Chef


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First episode was this evening...taking off the popularity of Top Chef, The Food Network has gathered together 8 chefs to compete for the title of the "Next Iron Chef." I'm not sure where I read or heard about this first, but a search here brought up zilch.

Chef Morou had a respectable showing, and I'm rooting for him to do us proud. Here's a link to some show info on the FN site. Seems a bit less far-fetched than Top Chef, and I'm intrigued enough to watch again next week...At least they haven't picked the "cast" for their personalities, like they do on TC. And, thankfully, there's no "Hung" type character (yeah, I'm still pissed about that one and how it played out :blink: )

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I thought it was pretty good. I was sad to see Traci leave so early as she was one of my early favorites. My wife and I found ourselves rooting for Morou and were amazed at his speed during the first competition.

I liked how Morou described his cooking: "I cook like I speak - American with an accent".

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I thought it was pretty good. I was sad to see Traci leave so early as she was one of my early favorites. My wife and I found ourselves rooting for Morou and were amazed at his speed during the first competition.

I liked how Morou described his cooking: "I cook like I speak - American with an accent".

I liked how Chef Cosentino described himself as "probably the most $!*^# obnoxious person that you will ever meet."

And after finally watching the first two episodes, I like this show.

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It's a delightful change to watch a reality show where they aren't all trying to get one another. The editing may just be skewed, but it looks like they are genuinely having a good time with each other. Can you imagine what goes on when the cameras are off? My guess is they are having a damn good time using up the leftovers from taping.

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Yeah, these are all very established chefs who are already at the top of their game. Since these are some of the top chefs in the country, most of them already know (or know of) each other and aren't trying to back-stab to move ahead. Whereas a show like Top Chef, where they are pretty much nobodies, are picked based on their personalities.

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I was fortunate enough to befriend and cook on the line with Morou and Chris Cosentino at the Red Sage for a couple of years back in the mid-90's. Chris is definitely obnoxious (and a great guy) and Morou is as nice of a person that you could ever hope to know. I was sorry to see both of them go from the show, but they're smart guys and knew ahead of time that win or lose, the exposure they received on the show would make their restaurants busier. Busy restaurant=more money=happy chef! Cheers to all of the chefs that competed. I enjoyed this show more than "Top Chef" or "Hell's Kitchen" by far!

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Tune in on Sunday, November 18th at 9pm ET/PT, as Symon takes on Chef Ricky Moore of Agaria restaurant in Washington, DC, in his first battle as Iron Chef. Will he live up the title? Watch and see in this special Thanksgiving-themed episode.

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Tune in on Sunday, November 18th at 9pm ET/PT, as Symon takes on Chef Ricky Moore of Agaria restaurant in Washington, DC, in his first battle as Iron Chef. Will he live up the title? Watch and see in this special Thanksgiving-themed episode.

Secret ingredient Turkey? Cranberries?

I liked the last episode. Two chefs at the top of their game, judged by the other Iron Chefs. I thought they'd annoint Besh as the more consistent player, but Symon definitely seemed to be the edgier choice.

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im000510cc1pe7.jpg

"Just a little extra salt to protect myself from Cat Cora"

"Girls did NOT look like that when I came to this school."

"Do you think I could hit you with this lemon from here?"

im000513er0pv5.jpg

The new Iron Chef and some dork who can't take a cool picture to save his life :blink:

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Wasn't Symon the subject of one of the main sections of Ruhlman's The Soul of a Chef? No conflict of interest there...

Boo.

Ruhlman responds to lame accusations about the new iron chef and his selection here. Symon won several of the previous rounds and appears to have been selected as the winner by all three iron chef judges on the final night. It was a great show and both Besh and Symon did some very cool stuff. Neither deserves to be slimmed after the fact. The regular judges, on the other hand, were my least favorite part of the show.

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We, of course, never could know who voted for who, but I was convinced that Symon was going to win. Besh seemed to do better in the finale, but Symon was more of a personality, seemed more like someone they would want to be the Iron Chef.

Either way, I think that they both did well, much better than their counterparts in the challenges.

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So...what was he doing with that immersion circulator in the first photo?
It was a demo of his olive oil-poached swordfish from the final episode. The demo and especially the Q&A were very good. Hopefully they'll have it posted online somewhere soon. Definitely got a warm reception here. Was playing to a packed house in the gym.
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Ruhlman was in Seattle the other day. Rather than beat the Simon/Cleveland connection to death I asked him about Morou. In the show it came across as if he was eliminated because the judges didn't like his plating. Ruhlman said it was more than that, but he was not specific.

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I didn't think Spike was ready to be against this group.

I considered eating at Chuck Hughes' Garde Manager while I was in Montreal this Summer. I really have no interest in any other contestant's restaurant. I asked my cousin how was Samuelsson's Red Rooster and he said it was nothing special. At least Forgione has one Michelin star, what do these guys/gals have other than being on TV?

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what do these guys/gals have other than being on TV?

What do they need other than being on TV?

Respect? Yeah, there's that. But fame and money go a long way towards easing the pain of critical rejection.

And, I hate to say it, but people who watch these things are no different than people who "dine" at The Olive Garden or swill Budweiser. I believe a related term would be "benign neglect," or whatever the opposite of "mindfulness" is.

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And, I hate to say it, but people who watch these things are no different than people who "dine" at The Olive Garden or swill Budweiser. I believe a related term would be "benign neglect," or whatever the opposite of "mindfulness" is.

I find that to be a laughably harsh generalization. Does that count for the Top Chef (which this "season" is copying) fans as well?

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Just watched first episode....must take issue with Rocks....i love these shows (but then, truth be told, I love the "Sing-Off" so consider the source).....got a kick out of the interaction between the "team-mates", these chefs/tv personalities and their enormous ego's butting up against one another out in the wild......thought poor Alex G would just melt..........as to the outcome, seemed to me the fix was really in with Spike, D.C. with no formal connection/business relationship with Food Network up against Marcus S. (by the way, Red Rooster is very good but that's for another post)......seemed from judges reactions that it should've been Spike moving on but I wasn't too surprised to see him get the boot....his scallop looked VERY tasty though and freezing the roe then grating it over the dish was totally bad-ass......

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