"iron chef america" news and stories

Over at Manhattan's Harvard Club this weekend, it was Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto vs. Ming Tsai vs. Anne Burrell in a bizarre but hilarious late-night battle for karaoke supremacy as part of the New York City Wine & Food Festival. Morimoto was first up at the mic, belting out a Japanese tune with conviction -- but not a whole lot of tunefulness.

After his uneven performance, a sober Morimoto offered an excuse: "With no drink, it's the first time."

Next up at the "Rock & Roll with Morimoto and Friends" event was Ming Tsai.

Given how often the secret ingredient on Iron Chef America ends up being a vegetable, it's a wonder we haven't seen more vegetarian chefs plying their trade. Sure, Bobby Flay can grill a lime like nobody's business, and at this point, there are few things that come out of the ground that Chef Morimoto hasn't oh-so-delicately tempura-ed.

So we were looking forward to Amanda Cohen's challenge to the throne this week. Would the proprietor of Manhattan's tiny, inventive vegetarian restaurant Dirt Candy show the meat boys a thing or two? Would she show solidarity for her patrons by refusing to wade into the carnivorous, pescetarian waters judges like grump-o Jeffrey Steingarten are so used to treading? Would a vegetarian chef -- gasp! -- win the title of Iron Chef?

Granted, after the past two guests ruthlessly defeated, respectively, Chefs Symon and Morimoto, we thought it unlikely that another win was in the cards, for anyone. And the Shelley Duvall-esque Cohen looked like she was going to break out laughing when The Chairman barked out her introduction ("you walk to the beat of a different drummer!").

As The Next Food Network Star winds down its sixth season, we here at Slashfood are taking time to chat with the final contestants about their experience on the show.

Click through for our interview.

Wait, haven't we been here before? We got to know chef Dominique Crenn up close and personal last year when she tried out to be The Next Iron Chef, a distinction that ultimately went to Jose Garces.

If there's one thing we've learned, however, it's that you always get another chance to prove your Iron Chef-iness on the Food Network, and sure enough, Crenn was back this week to prove her unique Gallic mettle. And if anyone should be able to ace a competition where the secret ingredient is yogurt, it's a European chef, right?

Certainly, if Crenn approached the "coagulated milk protein" -- to use Alton Brown's over-explanation of it -- with a delicate touch, reigning Iron Chef Michael Symon practically bullied it onto the plate, baking, pressure cooking and custarding it until it was front and center.

His flavors and presentation were so bold, a dessert-course tuile threw judge Andrew Knowlton for a loop. "I didn't take you for a tuile kind of guy," he said. Symon's response: "I'm trying to show you my feminine side."

We have to admit: It's more than a little hard to keep all the renowned chefs of America and their various TV appearances straight. It's getting to the point where, if you're lucky enough to be able to dine in a big city, you're liable to be greeted by the same person who you saw whipping up calamari with Kathie Lee & Hoda in the morning, getting eliminated from a rerun of The Next Iron Chef in the afternoon, and cruelly critiquing young upstarts on Top Chef D.C. in the evening.

Such is the case with Maria Hines of Seattle's renowned Tilth. Okay, so we didn't get to dine at Tilth Sunday night, and it's been a while since she graced the airwaves on Top Chef Masters. But we've missed her bold, distinctly northwestern (not to mention organic and local) flavor profiles, unpretentious plating, and utterly cool, laid-back demeanor. In just a couple short episodes, she became our number-one summer chef crush.

So while we were eagerly awaiting her face-off with Chef Morimoto on Iron Chef America this weekend, we did so with a lump in our throats: Really, does anyone other than the reigning Iron Chef win? Sure, there are a few token wins to reassure us that the whole thing isn't rigged, but surely, pairing up Hines with seafood whiz Morimoto was a "better luck next time" kind of move on the part of the producers.