OG Iron Chef America Returns TONIGHT, MAY 20TH

[meowmommy]

7 hours ago, nitrofishblue said:

They seemed to really love Wolen's dishes and dinged GZ dishes.

Probably TPTB can't afford to let their ICs lose too often.  Did I say the fix was in?

[Sew Sumi]

I figure in a 10 episode season, recycling your five ICs twice, that we'd see one loss per rotation. We've already had the two losses, so the final two contenders don't stand a chance.

[jcbrown]

I saw that the latest episode was Jose Garces and deleted it unseen. He is just bland and boring to me.

[mlp]

Quote

I saw that the latest episode was Jose Garces and deleted it unseen.

It's always interesting how impressions differ.  I've always liked him.  From what I've read about him, he's a family man and decent human being so I don't care that he's not exciting.

I thought last night's show was the first one this time around that "felt" like original ICA.  Alton was acting like his old self.  I love Jet Tila and he and Alton interact well.  I didn't recognize the female judge or catch her name but I liked her.  And I've always liked Marcel so I was happy to hear that he's doing so well.  There must be a gazillion restaurants in LA so being named best in LA is quite an accomplishment.  Overall, it was my favorite show this season even though I didn't care for the challenger who made nothing I wanted to eat.

[jcbrown]

7 minutes ago, mlp said:

I thought last night's show was the first one this time around that "felt" like original ICA.  

Hmm. Maybe I'll recover it on my TiVo. Something has just been off about many of the episodes they've shown lately but if this one felt like original recipe ICA, I'll give it a try.

[nitrofishblue]

I just watched last night's show. Not impressed, never been a big fan of Garces and not fond of Marcel. Felt they hit the bottom of the judging pool to get him. The lady seemed to be very knowledgeable. Marcel not deferring to her. You could tell the lady chef was in trouble from the beginning. Alton was much better. His snark was tolerable. How long do have to wait for the start of the next season?

[riprock]

I was surprised to see Garces when he was totally omitted from the opening credits! I figured he had been made persona non grata with his recent bankruptcy and restaurant closings.

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/07/celebrity_chef_closing_2_philly_restaurants_this_w.html

It seemed clear that Chef Spence was overmatched, which made it less suspenseful.

[jcbrown]

12 minutes ago, riprock said:

I was surprised to see Garces when he was totally omitted from the opening credits! I figured he had been made persona non grata with his recent bankruptcy and restaurant closings.

I thought the same thing, actually.

[Rammchick]

And how long has Garces been an Iron Chef that they finally put a head band on him?

[mlp]

Quote

not fond of Marcel. Felt they hit the bottom of the judging pool to get him.

I don't want to come across as argumentative but, seriously, he has credentials.  He's a classically trained chef who has worked with some of the best chefs in the world.  It's a shame that all he's ever associated with is Top Chef when he was young and immature.

Below is from his bio on his Wolf site because even Wikipedia mentions almost nothing but Top Chef.

Marcel attended the acclaimed Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York and achieved his Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts, as well as a Bachelors Degree in Hospitality Management. At the CIA, Marcel enrolled in the teaching assistant program where he served as the Sous Chef at the school’s award-winning Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici. Since then, he has continued to pursue the progression of gastronomy and at the young age of 25 gained national notoriety in season two of Bravo’s hit reality series, Top Chef where he made it to the finals finishing “Runner-Up”. He has worked all over the globe with world-renowned chefs, including Joël Robuchon (named "Chef of the Century" by the Gault Millau) and Michael Mina (awarded “Best Chef of 2002” by the James Beard Foundation during the time of Marcel’s employment). Marcel has also spent time in Barcelona, Spain, where he took classes at El Taller with famed Chef Ferran Adrià of El Bulli restaurant, which was named the top restaurant in the world in 2007 by Restaurant magazine. Marcel worked under José Andrés as the Executive Sous Chef of The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, which received the first 4 star review by the LA Times in five years. 

[MajorWoody]

On 7/24/2018 at 2:10 PM, mlp said:

I don't want to come across as argumentative but, seriously, he has credentials.  He's a classically trained chef who has worked with some of the best chefs in the world.  It's a shame that all he's ever associated with is Top Chef when he was young and immature.

Below is from his bio on his Wolf site because even Wikipedia mentions almost nothing but Top Chef.

Marcel attended the acclaimed Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York and achieved his Associate’s degree in Culinary Arts, as well as a Bachelors Degree in Hospitality Management. At the CIA, Marcel enrolled in the teaching assistant program where he served as the Sous Chef at the school’s award-winning Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici. Since then, he has continued to pursue the progression of gastronomy and at the young age of 25 gained national notoriety in season two of Bravo’s hit reality series, Top Chef where he made it to the finals finishing “Runner-Up”. He has worked all over the globe with world-renowned chefs, including Joël Robuchon (named "Chef of the Century" by the Gault Millau) and Michael Mina (awarded “Best Chef of 2002” by the James Beard Foundation during the time of Marcel’s employment). Marcel has also spent time in Barcelona, Spain, where he took classes at El Taller with famed Chef Ferran Adrià of El Bulli restaurant, which was named the top restaurant in the world in 2007 by Restaurant magazine. Marcel worked under José Andrés as the Executive Sous Chef of The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, which received the first 4 star review by the LA Times in five years. 

 

 

Marcel may have all that experience, and may be a great chef. But I can’t take him seriously with that ridiculous manbun hairdo that even Richard Blaise would turn down. Not to mention his all black clothing and gaudy jewelry, looked like he was on his way to audition for Run DMC after IC.

[mlp]

I didn't discover Top Chef until season 4 or 5 so I didn't see Marcel's season and had no knowledge of him at all when I first saw him years later on Food Network (I think).  I've always liked him based on my exposure to him.  He has friends who own a restaurant in my city and he was here a few years ago visiting.  While here he did a tasting menu dinner open to the public.  I went and he came out and chatted with me for about 10 minutes.  He was just charming and I was delighted to meet him.

I don't like his current hairdo either.  

[blackwing]

On 7/23/2018 at 4:06 PM, jcbrown said:

I saw that the latest episode was Jose Garces and deleted it unseen. He is just bland and boring to me.

And sweaty.  Don't forget sweaty!  I always thought it was so gross how he probably drips buckets of sweat into every dish he prepares.

So over the weekend I saw an Iron Chef Japan episode with an Iron Chef French I had never seen before.  It wasn't the legendary Hiroyuki Sakai nor was it the guy who came before Sakai.  I looked it up afterwards and discovered there was a "revival" show of sorts.  It was fun to watch, even though it was Battle Mushroom and I loathe mushrooms.  I'm going to have to keep watching these.  Love the classic silly judging comments.  

And right afterwards was a Halloween battle with Guarnaschelli/Zakarian battling Spike Mendolsohn and some one else.  The secret ingredient was "unusual combinations".  Did that extend to the chefs?  What's so unusual about Guarnaschelli and Zakarian together?  He handpicked her as Iron Chef and that whole season of Next Iron Chef was nothing but a sham.

Anyhoo... are these actually new first run episodes?  My onscreen programming guide seemed to indicate they were brand new.  True?

Edited October 29, 2018 by blackwing

[lambertman]

No, just new to Cooking Channel.  My DVR picks up a lot of "new" eps of Delicious Destinations for that same reason.  (The Japanese revival series eps are new to the US, though.)

Edited November 2, 2018 by lambertman