New Iron Chef America series on Food TV

[Guest The Notorious CRD]

What is the deal with the tag team show? Flay & Mario vs the Iron Chefs?

I believe it will be Flay & Batali taking on Sakai & Morimoto, yes. Should be very cool to see.

[Guest Brian]

They did one years ago. It'll just be thetwo chefs without assistance.

[Nevermortal 0]

I'm a mark for Fat-ass clog wearin' Mario Batali. I hope he eats the other Iron Chefs.

[Vyce 0]

This shit's rigged.

 

It is.

 

I like Mario Batali, I do, but can he beat Morimoto? No. He cannot.

 

That's not the greatest travesty. BOBBY FLAY CANNOT BEAT SAKAI. He cannot. He's probably the most overrated, piece of shit chef on that entire network - and that's saying something, considering they employ Emeril. It's RIGGED.

 

And yes, I didn't use spoiler tags. Everyone should be aware of this travesty.

[Guest Brian]

Goddamn it. Simon's the biggest celebrity dicksucker I've ever seen.

[griffinmills 0]

This shit's rigged.

 

It is.

 

I like Mario Batali, I do, but can he beat Morimoto? No. He cannot.

 

That's not the greatest travesty. BOBBY FLAY CANNOT BEAT SAKAI. He cannot. He's probably the most overrated, piece of shit chef on that entire network - and that's saying something, considering they employ Emeril. It's RIGGED.

 

And yes, I didn't use spoiler tags. Everyone should be aware of this travesty.

Didn't Flay win on the 2 hour special that had Kandagawa also beating Sakai? That seemed pretty non-biased or even biased against Flay since he already lost once to Morimoto. Heh, Morimoto even had his super fan kid there and he lost.

I must agree though that it is somewhat rigged by there being people that may not have the properly developed palates on the panel. Where is "boss Robert DeNiro" for Morimoto when you need him? Heh.

I like Alton on Good Eats but he is bugging me on this, especially the, "tell the chaiman I know Karate and Arrigato and other Japanese words so nyah!"

[Guest Brian]

Flay lost the first one with the little guy Morimoto had with him. He won the second one.

 

I definately disliked the way they had the panel set up.

 

I think the problem with Brown is that he was the single commentator, without a pair. They should have partnered him with someone.

[starvenger 0]

I think the problem with Brown is that he was the single commentator, without a pair. They should have partnered him with someone.

I think B.A. was busy, or in jail or something. It's possible that they tested it out, and couldn't find someone suitable in time.

 

I've only seen the first show (Flay vs Sakai), but it's a helluva lot better than Iron Chef USA and should get better if they continue this.

 

What I liked:

- The rapport between Brown and Kevin Brauch. Also liked the inside reference of Brauch as a "spirited" reporter (since he hosts "The Thirsty Traveller"

- Mark Dasacos (sp) as "The Chairman". Does a sufficient job, plus the chop on "Allez Cuisine!!" is a nice touch.

- No reference whatsoever to Iron Chef USA, not even with Kerry Simon as a taster.

- Lots of references to Iron Chef

- Sakai has the same voiceover guy

 

What I didn't like:

- You can occasionally hear the audience, but they're not visible. There's no need to pipe in noise, but SOME noise would be nice.

- Morimoto was right - everything DOES seem a bit too convenient in the stadium. Maybe a bit too modern, I guess.

- The "Iron Chef America" uniforms. It would be nicer if they had more than a colour patch to distinguish them, Batali's shorts notwithstanding. They're just a bit too bland.

 

Anyways, my thoughts on Flay-Sakai:

Totally rigged. I can buy that the dishes were roughly even, and maybe you give Flay "home court" advantage, but that's was a pretty decisive win on points. Essentially, I think this was done to "pass the torch", so to speak. Evidence:

- First IC battle, and the Iron Chef loses, even to Sakai?

- Sakai never lost a fish battle, so losing in a "Signature food" battle gives IC America more prestige.

- It seemed like a lot of time was spent stressing Sakai's status as the "greatest of the Iron Chefs".

- A chef and a food critic on the panel gives more credence to the result, even with a whodat? as the third.

- In hindsight, it seemed like Sakai was "pulling his punches". I didn't think that it was his best stuff, frankly.

[starvenger 0]

Flay lost the first one with the little guy Morimoto had with him. He won the second one.

The creepy kid got flown to Japan for the rematch as well.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Im convinced Sakai lost because of that ice cream. That would have been appreciated by Japanese Tasters, but not here.

 

And I've hated Flay ever since he jumped up and down on his cutting board.

If I ever met him I'd probably want to slap him in the head with a cutting board.

[KingPK 0]

- Sakai never lost a fish battle, so losing in a "Signature food" battle gives IC America more prestige.

 

Actually, he lost to Toshiro Kandagawa in a Red Snapper battle on the 21st Century Battles special in 2001.

 

I caught every special except for Morimoto-Batalli, and it wasn't that bad. The Chairman wasn't as over the top and goofy as Shatner's, and it had more of a feel of the Japanese series than the one on UPN did. But I didn't like the solo commentary. I would have liked someone with Alton just because I'm so used to a 2-man booth on this show.

Edited April 28, 2004 by Kingpk