OK, this is pretty esoteric to this site, but I watch a lot of Food Network programming*, even though I eat like four things total and would never consume nearly anything I’ve ever seen on the channel.
[Hence the Chopped joke in one of my Superfriends reviews.]Anyway, last night I saw a commercial for the upcoming iteration of The Next Iron Chef, where they turn the opportunity to be an Iron Chef into a game show. Either they just decided to amp things up a bit, or else Iron Chef is fading a bit due to a lack of star power, with the winners of the previous three runs of Next Iron Chef not exactly matching the star power of Bobby Flay or the departed Mario Batali. Assuming someone isn’t leaving / being kicked off the show, the winner of this skein would be the show’s 7th (!) current Iron Chef. That’s a pretty big roster, and obviously risks diluting the quality of the chefs.
In any case, the next Next Iron Chef will be an All Stars edition, featuring (among others) such familiar Food Network faces as Robert Irvine, Anne Burrell,Beau MacMillan, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelsson and Geoffrey Zakarian. The latter three are regular judges on Chopped and 24 Hour Restaurant Battle, while MacMillan has appeared as a contestant Chopped All Stars. I remember Ted Allen, the host of Chopped, mentioning that MacMillion was a rare contestant to have beaten one of the Iron Chefs. (I think it was Bobby Flay.) Guarnaschelli ruefully replied that, indeed, she and her two co-judges had each themselves lost on the show.
Most interesting, and potentially wince-inducing for Robert Irvine fans, is the presence of both him and his long-time rival Anne Burrell. Burrell has beating Irvine on three different shows (Worst Cooks in America, an Iron Chef special battle show and Chopped All Stars). Irvine is clearly unhappy with that situation, while Burrell lords it over him at every opportunity.
I admire Irvine for risking humiliation a fourth time, and can only imagine that while he wants to win, his next thought is, “But if I lose, let anyone but Burrell win.” However, that’s a dangerous gamble. Irving is a great chef and could win the show, but again, he’s lost to Burrell several times before, and most dangerously, Burrell has tons of Iron Chef experience working as Mario Batali’s regular sous chef back in the day. One Chopped judge opined upon tasting her food that she must have been “Mario’s secret weapon” on the show. In any case, Burrell is clearly a very talented chef, and again, has tons of experience actually cooking on Iron Chef. It’s hard not to peg her as the front runner.
On a somewhat more conspiratorial note, Cat Cora remains the only female Iron Chef, so that can’t hurt Burrell with the suits. I’m not saying they’ll throw her the show, but especially with rumors about Cora leaving the program, I’m sure they’d like to get another woman in there. Just saying. (And although I’d like to think the show is above that sort of thinking, a very noticeable majority of female contestants on Iron Chef either pick Cora or have her assigned to them, much in the same way that Wonder Woman on Superfriends always seems to end up fighting Cheetah. Indeed, last night a female challenger inevitably opted to fight Cora, and just coincidentally all three judges just happened to be, for the first time I can recall, women as well. Maybe that’s all a coincidence, but it’s kind of hard to swallow.)
Anyway, I kind of like Robert Irvine, so here’s to you, buddy. Good luck.
