Iron Chef America is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the original Japanese program, the program is a culinary game show. In each episode, a new challenger chef competes against one of the resident "Iron Chefs" in a one-hour cooking competition based on a secret ingredient or ingredients, and sometimes theme.
The Chairman is played by actor and martial artist Mark Dacascos. The commentary is provided solely by Alton Brown and Kevin Brauch is the floor reporter. The music is written by composer Craig Marks, who released the soundtrack titled "Iron Chef America & The Next Iron Chef" by the end of 2010. In addition, regular ICA judge and Chopped host Ted Allen provided additional floor commentary for two special battles: Battle First Thanksgiving (Symon/Flay v. Cora/Morimoto) and Battle White House Produce (Batali/Lagasse v. Flay/Comerford).
The show is a sequel to the original Iron Chef storyline. The introduction of the Battle of the Masters miniseries establishes the story: Chairman Kaga (played in the Japanese show by Takeshi Kaga) has decided to open an American Kitchen Stadium, assigning his nephew to take the position of the Chairman. The series was initially in Los Angeles, where the Battle of the Masters took place; later, the permanent Kitchen Stadium was established in New York's Chelsea Market. For the Battle of the Masters, the elder Chairman dispatched two Iron Chefs: Hiroyuki Sakai and Masaharu Morimoto.
(This backstory contradicts story elements from the 2002 Iron Chef Japan Cup Special, in which Chairman Kaga had died from mis-prepared fugu.)
In Season 11, the show's fiction expanded to include international Iron Chefs, spread by the Chairman "like Johnny Appleseed". In the first episode of that season, Iron Chef UK chef Judy Joo competed on the US show against Iron Chef Guarnaschelli as an Iron Chef.
Unlike the original Iron Chef or Iron Chef USA, Alton Brown, rather than the chairman, is credited as the show's host.
In 2017, Iron Chef Showdown premiered as the spiritual successor to Iron Chef America, with a revised format and returning Iron Chefs Bobby Flay, Jose Garces, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Michael Symon joined by Iron Chef Gauntlet winner Stephanie Izard. On April 5, 2018, Food Network announced Iron Chef America returning under its original name, with Jet Tila serving as floor reporter.
The Iron Chefs On this version of Iron Chef, the Iron Chefs have either been previous Food Network personalities, are current personalities, were part of the original Iron Chef, or earned their position on The Next Iron Chef.
The winning percentage for Iron Chefs participating on Iron Chef America is an average. The win/loss data is based solely on the performance of the participant as an Iron Chef in Iron Chef America: The Series and the Battle of the Masters but does not include the results from Iron Chef Showdown.
Iron Chef Seasons Specialty Win Loss Draw Total Win % Mario Batali BOM, 1–6 Italian 19 5 0 24 79.2% Cat Cora 1–10 Greek/Mediterranean 21 12 1 34 63.2% Bobby FlayBOM, 1–12 Southwestern 43 16 2 61 72.1% Marc Forgione9–13 Modern American 8 7 0 15 53.0% Jose Garces 8–13 Latin Fusion 16 7 0 23 69.6% Alex Guarnaschelli11–13 Modern American 7 4 0 11 63.6% Stephanie Izard 13 Modern American 2 0 0 2 100.0%Masaharu MorimotoBOM, 1–13Japanese 26 17 1 44 60.2% Wolfgang Puck BOM California cuisine 1 0 0 1 100.0%Michael Symon5–13Mediterranean 34 7 1 42 82.1% Geoffrey Zakarian 10–13 Modern American 9 5 0 14 64.3%
Based on weighted average (.5 victory for a draw). The win/loss data is based on the performance of the Iron Chef in Iron Chef America: The Series and the Battle of the Masters (BOM). Flay retired as Iron Chef at the end of Iron Chef Showdown. Forgione's record does not include his victory over Marco Canora in the finale of The Next Iron Chef as Forgione did not hold the title Iron Chef during that battle. Garces' record does not include his defeat of Flay in Battle Melon, or his victory over Jehangir Mehta in the finale of The Next Iron Chef as Garces did not hold the title Iron Chef during either battle. Guarnaschelli's record does not include her loss to Cora in Battle Farmer's Market, or her victory over Amanda Freitag in the finale of The Next Iron Chef as Guarnaschelli did not hold the title Iron Chef during either battle. Morimoto's record includes his battle as a competitor in the Battle of the Masters. It does not include his 16–7–1 record in the original Iron Chef during his tenure as the third Iron Chef Japanese. Symon's record does not include his loss to Morimoto in Battle Asparagus, or his victory over John Besh in the finale of The Next Iron Chef as Symon did not hold the title Iron Chef during either battle. Zakarian's record does not include his loss to Morimoto in Battle Sardines, or his victory over Elizabeth Falkner in the finale of The Next Iron Chef as Zakarian did not hold the title Iron Chef during either battle. Izard's record does not include her victories in Iron Chef Gauntlet as Izard did not hold the title Iron Chef at that time, nor her 2–0 record on Iron Chef Showdown.
Jackets Each Iron Chef wears a specially designed chef's jacket, a simplified version of the more stylized attire worn by the Japanese Iron Chefs, along with an apron and trousers of their choice for each battle. Through the Battle of the Masters and the show's first six seasons, the Iron Chefs wore contemporary denim chef's jackets with individualized solid-colored patches and trim: Batali's jacket trim was red, Cora's pink, Flay's blue, Morimoto's white, Puck's green and Symon's black. On the left shoulder of each jacket was a flag representing the Chef's country of origin.
During the show's sixth season, designer and Iron Chef America judge Marc Ecko designed new jackets for the Iron Chefs, which were first worn on the 2008 "Thanksgiving Showdown" episode. The jackets are individualized for each chef and include features such as short sleeves for Symon's jacket that make it resemble the black shirts he wears at his restaurant, Lola, or men's kimono styling and colors for Morimoto's jacket that suggest the costume he wore on the original Iron Chef. With the exception of Symon and Garces (whose long sleeves were shortened for his second season on ICA), the jackets have long, turn-back sleeves. Colors differ by chef: charcoal grey (Flay), black (Symon), light blue (Cora), silver with a red undershirt (Morimoto), white with light brown trim (Batali), white with green trim (Lagasse, for Battle White House produce), brown with wide red edging (Garces), black with red trim, later grey with white trim (Forgione), white with dark red trim, later grey with black trim (Zakarian), black with white trim, later dark maroon (Guarnaschelli), and black with grey collar (Izard). "Iron Chef" with the chef's last name underneath is embroidered in the font from the show's logo on the left front side of the jacket, in the manner of a traditional chef's coat. The jackets also include a large embroidered Iron Chef patch on the right arm also bearing the chef's name, and an American flag on the left sleeve.
History
Iron Chef America first aired as a special titled Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters. Unlike Iron Chef USA, Iron Chef America quickly earned legitimacy with the appearance of Iron Chefs Hiroyuki Sakai and Masaharu Morimoto. (Chen Kenichi was also originally slated to appear, but he was absent due to a scheduling conflict.) The first Battle of the Masters involved Sakai and Flay, with the theme of trout. There, Sakai had made two dishes of note: one was gift-wrapped to commemorate the opening of Kitchen Stadium America, while the other was trout ice cream, a dish that would be repeatedly recalled and referred to later on when anyone used the ice cream maker. Other battles in Battle of the Masters were Morimoto taking on Batali, Morimoto taking on Wolfgang Puck in Puck’s only battle, and a tag team battle where Morimoto and Flay teamed up against Sakai and Batali. Battle of the Masters was largely successful and a regular series was commissioned.
The regular series is taped in New York, while Battle of the Masters took place in Los Angeles at Los Angeles Center Studios. Because of his other interests, Puck was forced to decline to appear in the regular series, and Morimoto took his place. Later that season, in the final episode of the listed order, Cat Cora debuted as an Iron Chef during "Battle Potato", becoming the first female chef to hold that rank.
The second season of Iron Chef America began airing in July 2005. This season saw its first and second ties on the American show: the first aired on July 31, 2005, with both challenger and Iron Chef receiving 45 points. In this case, unlike Iron Chef, there is no overtime, although a rematch was suggested by Alton Brown. The third such tied result occurred in Season Three, when Susur Lee challenged Bobby Flay in Battle Bacon.
Starting November 2006, Australia's SBS, the domestic rights holder to the original Iron Chef program, started airing Iron Chef America: The Battle Of The Masters, replacing the original Japanese incarnation of the program. On December 9, Season 1 of Iron Chef America began airing. The show was scheduled to run until February 17, 2007, but due to viewer feedback, SBS ended broadcast of Iron Chef America three weeks early and resumed showing the original Iron Chef on February 3, 2007.
Starting in Season 8, Mario Batali was dropped from the show's opening sequence, though he continued to appear in on-air promos for the show. Despite his appearance during the special battle in which he was teamed up with Emeril Lagasse against Flay and White House Chef Cristeta Comerford, for a time it was not clear if he would return to compete in Iron Chef America on a regular basis. In a July 2010 interview with Slashfood's Allen Salkin, Batali explained that his absence from the series was due to travel conflicts with the show's summer shooting schedule and expressed a desire to appear in 2 to 3 battles for Season 9. However, in a May 2012 interview with The Atlantic, Batali later explained that he resented the decision to move away from serious food critics to "skinny little actresses" and other personalities he felt weren't credible enough to judge his cuisine."Mario Batali on 'Sadistic' TV and Martha Stewart on Raising Chickens", The Atlantic, May 25, 2012
After the 2014 season, the show was put on temporary hiatus, but on July 25, 2017, Alton Brown tweeted and Food Network announced that Iron Chef America would be returning in last quarter of 2017 as "Iron Chef Showdown".
Format
After the active Iron Chefs are introduced by Alton Brown, the challenger chef is introduced. The Iron Chef introduction sequence is sometimes skipped in the holiday shows and other specials. In the first two seasons, the chairman announced the challenger's Iron Chef opponent. Starting with Season 3, the show returned to the format of its predecessor, where the challenger chef selects the Iron Chef they will battle. In reality, the match-ups are determined well in advance in all three incarnations of the show, which is not to say that the challengers have no influence on the selection of their opponent.