Iron Chef Competition Starts October 7th

The Next Iron Chef will air on October 7th at 9:00p.m. This competition will be different from other reality shows, as each of the contestants are already well known chefs. The prize – the chance to join the ranks of Bobby Flay, Cat Cora, Mario Batali and Masaharu Morimoto.

Bob Tuschman (Food Network's Senior VP of Programming and Production) says:
"We have chosen a group of chefs who we believe to be at the forefront of the culinary landscape, each of whom could stand proudly beside Bobby, Mario, Morimoto and Cat as a new Iron Chef,"
"In our quest, we are looking for an individual to complement the current group and bring a unique blend of innovation, creativity and passion to the show."

The show will be hosted by Alton Brown. The judges will be Michael Ruhlman (James Beard Foundation Award-winning author, cookbook author and food writer), Andrew Knowlton (Restaurant Editor of Bon Appetit magazine) and Donatella Arpaia (restaurateur and owner of New York City restaurants davidburke&donatella and Anthos). I don’t know much about two of the judges, but I know quite a bit about Michael Ruhlman. I think he will make a wonderful judge.

There will be eight competitors:

• John Besh (New Orleans, LA) Executive Chef, Restaurant August, Besh Steak, Luke and La Provence
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• Chris Cosentino (San Francisco, CA) Executive Chef, Incanto
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• Jill Davie (Santa Monica, CA) Executive Chef, JOSIE
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• Traci Des Jardins (San Francisco, CA) Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Jardiniere, Mijita and Acme Chophouse
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• Gavin Kaysen (San Diego, CA) Chef de Cuisine, El Bizcocho at the Rancho Bernardo Inn
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• Morou Ouattara (Washington, DC) Executive Chef & Owner, Farrah Olivia
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• Aaron Sanchez (New York, NY) Executive Chef & Owner, Centrico and Paladar
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• Michael Symon (Cleveland, OH) Executive Chef & Owner, Lola and Lolita

Since Michael Symon is an Ohio chef, he already scores one point.

This should really be an interesting show.