Iron Chef America (Part 1)

[srhcb]

Being a big fan of the original IC, I wasn't planning to watch, but the Twins were getting beaten by KC so I kept switching back and forth. I guess it was as entertaining as anything else on tv at the time.

SB (damning with faint praise)

[Chris Cognac]

i think a lot of the sterility that we're seeing is due to what someone suggested, and that's that the voiceovers are done after the fact. i hope i'm wrong, or at least i hope it doesn't continue to seem that way to me, but i can't help but think that alton isn't doing this stuff off-the-cuff.

He is, he has a ear piece hat he gets info fed to him from, as well as a live internet hookup to his powerbook..But he did have to do some studio voice over work...

[Singapore]

Am I off base here, or do the new American Iron Chefs rely more heavily on the sous-chefs to take a dish from start to finish? The old IC shows seemed to have the Iron Chefs at least completing one of the plates to show the sous chefs what to do. If this is the case, is it fair? I mean, whose cuisine is it if the Iron Chef didn't touch the dish?

[Chris Cognac]

What a blast, we had a group of around 12 people watch the Batali/Morimoto battle. Fuji TV was there and filmed us all watching and talking abbout the show...Plus they bought the beer and tapa's. It took place at Meditaraneo in Hermosa Beach....Muffin210 and Houseberg from egullet showed up!...

Its going to be on Super News Fuji TV in Japan, around 5-6 pm Monday

My friend Jeff who looks alot like Alton Brown

The gang watching the show

Myself and Yuki the L.A. bureau chief for Fuji TV. We met at the shooting of Iron Chef and got along well.

Julia (Muffin210), "Houseberg", myself, Yuki and Dave (behind the bar) from Mediteraneo..

Gotta love e gullet!

Edited April 26, 2004 by Chris Cognac (log)

[TrishCT]

Great pics, Chris!

[docsconz]

Looks like a fun time. Cool.

[tommy]

He is, he has a ear piece hat he gets info fed to him from, as well as a live internet hookup to his powerbook..But he did have to do some studio voice over work...

thanks for the insight chris. it really does sound forced, though.

as i suggested, i wish it didn't sound so forced. i think me and chris on the mic could make for a more natural spur-of-the-moment-feel than they currently have with their mix of post-production voice-overs. i understand that this might be necessary for the production of this show, but please don't make is so obvious to a dolt like me. imagine all of the people watching this show who don't have any idea of how a show like this is put together thinking "this sucks, it's so sterile". actually, i guess we're seeing some of that here.

Edited April 26, 2004 by tommy (log)

[Chris Cognac]

I "think" that the feedback from the e gullet threads will manage to make its way back to the people that make ICA. I think that overall I have been pleased, but like anything new it needs some kinks worked out.

[TrishCT]

"I "think" that the feedback from the e gullet threads will manage to make its way back to the people that make ICA. "

One hundred percent correct about that!

Edited April 26, 2004 by TrishCT (log)

[sml311]

In what universe to Flay and Morimoto beat Batali and Sakai!!!!! Seriously.....

SML

[ronnie_suburban]

In what universe to Flay and Morimoto beat Batali and Sakai!!!!!  Seriously.....

SML

It's not just a case of home kitchen advantage?

=R=

[godito]

#1.Still drooling over the kitchen.

Me too!!!! I would love to work with all that stuff! New toys!

In my heart of hearts I know Tony Bourdain would have given it the zing and wit it needed .. too bad he didn't want to be one of the judges

If he knew about the other judges, I can't blame him. The guy from The Sopranos didn't even like raw food like sushi (yet he is a culinary judge?) They also had that guy from friends who seemed not to know much about food.

I don't know...., the show was ok, but the judging was horrible, I thought. As for the show itself, they kept enough similarities with the japanese version to make it enjoyable. But I do agree with everybody else. I would have liked some audience (not a very noisy one) and a sidekick to Alton Brown.

My overall opinion of the show is that it was good enough for a remake, but the judging made me not like it at all

[ExtraMSG]

I think it's more important for the judges to be enthusiastic about food than be familiar with it, and they should let them and encourage them to describe why they like or don't like it. Anyone else notice that there was very little negative said? You usually get one or two comments from the panel on ICJ saying why it didn't work or whatever. I'd be interested to hear what the producers say to the panel before and during the show. I hope they encourage them to be honest and really say what they think and expound on why they feel that way. (Of course, then the editors have to leave it in.)

[Muffin210]

Thanks, Chris, for setting this up! It was great to meet a fellow eGulleteer...plus, how can I ever pass up watching Iron Chef? Looking forward to the next LA/South Bay event....

[Mabelline]

That is kicking out the jams!! I bet a very good time was had by all! Chris, start using a higher spf sunscreen. Trust me. I know this stuff.

[Chris Cognac]

its always fun to be able to do stuff like that. ...the "red glow" I have had as of late is not sunburn...just a result of being a fat bald guy and my skin gets red from my wearing my helmet in the helicopter..I flew last night till 2 am...and it was really hot in the chopper.

[phrank]

Hi, all. This is only my 2nd post on eGullet - wish me luck :)

Having seen years of episodes of ICJ, I have some comments on ICA (knowing some have been iterated already).

1. Not as much fun as ICJ. I realize now that one of the things I so enjoyed on ICJ was the constant banter. I love AB, but his voice alone is not enough.

2. The judges suck. Steingarten was the only one in the 1st 3 episodes to offer much beyond what others in the forum have quoted.

3. Sakai and Morimoto made a mistake in not dumbing down their food for the unsophisticated judges. Hopefully this will be rectified in the future with judges who know something. (Pastore should have been disqualified for not having tried sushi beforehand. Sheesh). David Rosengarten would be an ideal judge, the new Kishi.

4. As many others have noted, The Thirsty Traveler is awful. As anyone who has watched his show knows, he's not the brightest light, and on ICA, he's really in over his head.

5. All the food looked great, but I must say Sakai's and Morimoto's food looked transcendent. This is why I love Iron Chef - interpretations of ingredients that I would never think of. These chefs are really artists.

A couple years ago I ate at Morimoto's restaurant in Philadelphia shortly after it opened. It was one of the most memorable meals of my life. We got the chef's choice menu and it was amazing. I have also eaten Mario Battali's food years ago at Po - also great. (I guess I've also sorta eaten Wolfgang Puck's food if you count his frozen pizzas ). I would dearly love to eat at La Rochelle in Tokyo and wherever Chen-san is the chef. When I watch IC, I think I can better imagine what the food tastes like having eaten some of it for real.

Anyway, I'll keep watching, but hope they improve the show. Be great if the Food Network people are reading this thread!

[torakris]

looks like it should be airing in about 30 minutes, I will go set my VCR so I am sure not to miss it!

[purplewiz]

I just watched the last two battles for the second time, and caught much of the stuff I missed because I was cooking dinner while I watched the first time . I wanted to write out my thoughts before going to sleep and losing them all.

- There was entirely too much time spent on "recaps" and procedural stuff. I really wanted to fast forward through most of them - especially the ones before and after each commercial break. If they cut those in half, they could give at least another full minute to the judging and reactions (which is important for the reason below).

- I don't know if it's the editing or the judging itself, but they need to get more articulate people on the judging panel. What I realized is that instead of our eyes and ears, the judges are the noses and tongues of us schlubs out here in TV Land. The words of the judges are the only window we have as to how the dishes came out, and what they taste and smell like, and if they're crunchy or soft or difficult to eat or underdone.

I don't think I can stress the importance of the judges not only knowing about food and having somewhat experienced (as opposed to sophisticated) palates, but also being able to describe what they are experiencing accurately and quickly in the sound bites allotted. No judge is perfect, but I learned more from Jeffrey Steingarten and Ted Allen than any other judges, and would like to see them in future episodes. (Ok, I hope they also invite Kishi sometime, too.) If giving the judges crib sheets with suggestions about what to consider, what to taste for, what kinds of questions to answer with their comments, and good adjectives to use is what's necessary, go for it.

- The more I hear the theme music, the more I like it. It's bold without being bombastic, dramatic without being melodramatic. Music was always an important part of ICJ, and I'm pleased with how it's being incorporated in ICA.

- I also like the chefs describing their dishes and answering questions about the effects they were going for.

- And I like the fact that The Chairman dresses markedly less flamboyantly.

- And I like the fact that they refer to the assistants by name, such as "Chef So And So". Using their names and the title gives them the respect I believe they deserve.

- The floor reporter is annoying. Very annoying. His comments aren't particularly useful and I'm not convinced he knows much about food. I'm not sure what to do about that. Maybe make him the theme ingredient? .

- And I still want to see Battle Wonder Bread some day .

Marcia.

[arkestra]

In what universe to Flay and Morimoto beat Batali and Sakai!!!!! Seriously.....

SML

in one that thinks sylvester stallone makes better movies than akira kurasawa . . . .

[Fat Guy]

Once again The Daily Gullet brings you the inside scoop. Patricia Gay ("TrishCT" to you) talks to Iron Chef America director Michael Simon here.

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Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

[Chris Cognac]

Once again The Daily Gullet brings you the inside scoop. Patricia Gay ("TrishCT" to you) talks to Iron Chef America director Michael Simon here.

+++

Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

I read that, she did a nice job!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Once again The Daily Gullet brings you the inside scoop. Patricia Gay ("TrishCT" to you) talks to Iron Chef America director Michael Simon here.

The interview by Patricia Gay was marvelous! Insight into the various internal components of ICA make my viewing of the episodes so much more interesting ...

Thanks for this humorous and insightful article, Patricia.

[mikeycook]

Not to be overly cynical, but my wife and I watched all of the episodes over the weekend and came away with the distinct impression that these first episodes were not on the up-and-up. The comments from the judges often seemed at odds with the final result, not just the winning and losing, but the margin of victory as well, which was quite large, particularly in the Batali-Morimoto and Puck-Morimoto battles. What really surprised us was the reactions of Sakai and Morimoto, who acted almost like they expected to lose (they almost seemed jovial in defeat.)

It makes a certain amount of sense that the Food Network would not want their new Iron Chefs to taste defeat the first time out and the whole weekend felt a lot more like a passing of the torch and coronation of the new Iron Chefs than a real competition. I realize the judges weren't the most enlightened group I've ever seen, but the results and reactions seemed a lot more scripted than we would have expected.

[bpearis]

The comments from the judges often seemed at odds with the final result

I think this comes more from the editing than anything else. If this show moves forward, they need to give more time to the tasting and show more of peoples comments and less trying to snip them down to a two second soundbite. Of course, having judges who sound intelligent about food will help this.