"iron chef america" news and stories

In this frank interview with Slashfood, Mario Batali discusses his forthcoming vegetarian restaurant (yes, this from the man known for his love of lardo and other meat products), admits that his Italian food megacomplex in New York, Eataly, is delayed yet again, and reveals details about a new TV show he's pitching.

Batali also answered questions about his future with Iron Chef America and the "carnival" his life has become -- "dancing with Katy Perry on a Jetta was fun." Perhaps most surprising of all, the chef who has become a pop-culture celebrity as well as a celebrity chef said he dreams of one day letting others run his American restaurants while he moves to an out-of-the-way Roman neighborhood and runs a little eatery with 35 seats open only three days a week.

Sounds nice – when can we make a reservation?

"Behind The Apron," is a video series featuring news-breaking conversations between the journalist Allen Salkin and the biggest names in the culinary world. The series goes beyond the plate and into the lives of those in the food world who have become mainstream cultural icons. In a turnaround from his TV role as head judge on Top Chef, Tom Colicchio talks about his struggle to rise to the expectations of judges at the James Beard Foundation; Jose Andres gets political; and Jacques Pepin laughs about the social ascendance of chefs over the past two decades from blue collar workers into "geniuses." Much more is to come in this groundbreaking series.

We knew going in that this would be interesting. Venerable New York restaurateur Ed Brown versus Iron Chef Michael Symon: Upper West Side refinement squaring off against brazen Midwestern dude-ness. Even the secret ingredient, wahoo, didn't seem to favor one chef over the other, as they sometimes do. This was anyone's game.

The contrasts were clear from the start. Brown and his white-aproned team were all about precise, almost clinical, technique: Using a smoker gun to infuse the fish with flavor, cooking in duck fat, relying on exotic fish accoutrements like geoduck and shaved bonito.

Symon being Symon, had his team of laid-back, tatted-up sous chefs march out in their traditional, black "mechanic's shirt" uniforms (always the Ohioan, that Symon) and quickly set to work grilling the hell out of everything: lemons, apple chips, grapefruit, tomatoes, bread.

Marcus Samuelsson may have recently been crowned Top Chef Master for bringing African cooking to Bravo's judging tables. But he's not the only New York chef introducing the flavors of the continent to armchair chefs in Middle America.

Chef Pierre Thiam has attracted quite a bit of attention for his two Senegalese restaurants in Brooklyn, Yoele and Grand Dakar. Add to that a well-received cookbook, and you've got an Iron Chef virgin just waiting to be subjected to all the screaming, hyperbole and whiplash camera moves of Kitchen Stadium.

Of course, Thiam is so stately and composed, it was difficult to even detect a bead of sweat as he faced off against -- who else -- the reigning King of Big Flavors, Bobby Flay. The secret ingredient, papaya, seemed to favor the cooking style of Flay -- who described it as the "ugly cousin of mango" -- more than that of Thiam, but we were willing to give the episode a chance. Hyper-polished (and super-sauced) South-American-influenced cuisine versus spare, almost vegetarian Afro-Asian ingenuity? Bring it on.

Iron Chef and Cleveland native Michael Symon, who almost single-handedly put the city back on the culinary map with the opening of his first restaurant there (Lola) in 1997, is hoping that the old adage proves true: the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

The object of Symon's (and, these days, most other Clevelander's) affections is NBA superstar LeBron James, who this summer is up for free agency. Rampant speculation has the two-time MVP landing anywhere from the New York Knicks to the Los Angeles Clippers-or staying put with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On Tuesday, Symon posted a heartfelt (some might say gushing; others desperate) open letter to James on his Facebook page. "I first off would like to thank you for what you have done for the fine city of Cleveland," the letter begins. "You have created a energy downtown that has not been seen in years and have allowed businesses to thrive beyond their wildest dreams."

More after the jump.

Even if you don't know the name, chances are you've encountered Curtis Stone. In the few years since Australia exported the camera-friendly, Bachelor-esque beefcake upon these shores -- presumably in an attempt to atone for foisting Vegemite upon us way back when -- he's been everywhere.

Maybe you've seen his show Take Home Chef on TLC, wherein Stone straddles the line between helpful stud and creepy sociopath, strutting around L.A. supermarkets picking up unsuspecting (and sometimes completely actress-y) young women who need, um, culinary assistance at home.

If not, he's no doubt peered back at you from the pages of People magazine -- specifically, their "Sexiest Men Alive" issue -- with that calculated, boy-next-door-meets-sexy-surfer-with-sun-highlights vibe. Or maybe you've seen one of his countless talk show appearances and asked, "Is Oprah having a Rod Stewart lookalike contest?" or maybe, "Isn't that that Jamie Oliver guy?"