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Jose Garces looks like he's gonna win The Next Iron Chef, huh?
Jose Garces looks like he's gonna win The Next Iron Chef, huh?
Filed Under: Food TV | Next Iron Chef
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| Courtesy of Food Network |
Not to jinx our dude or anything, but if you caught last night's penultimate episode of The Next Iron Chef on Food Network, you'll agree with us that Jose Garces looks pretty good to win the title of Iron Chef over New York-based pastry supervillain chef Jehangir Mehta. (Sorry we haven't been following the series with the same vim as Top Chef � there are only so many two of us!) We have to admit that Garces, ever the master of downplaying himself, spoke with the slight lilt of a champion when we talked to him back in September, and now we've learned that he's throwing a restaurant-wide viewing party at Distrito for the finale airing this Sunday. Interesting.
More on the Garces/Mehta matchup soon.
ICA or NIC will never have blind judging because they watch the whole thing the whole time.. if u are talking abt a 'throwdown' style judging i doubt that too... the show is slanted to let its house contestants win.. i had a major problem with Melissa DArabian winning over Jeff Saad, but i remember one of the judges kept bringing up the virtue of capturing a demographic like home-moms... i think its fair to say the Latin demography is more important than the smaller indian demography.. thats not race, its just business... you cater to who brings in business.. i just find flay's silence during the judging awkward, it was clear that it was either a 4-2 or 3-3 vote with all 3 ICs voting Garces... what is not fair is that the ICs have equal voice like the judges without history of chefs' other dishes.. this is gonnab one bland show and i hv no respect for Symon... classless comment... good luck to Garces... but ICA has lost me
I find it funny that we have such strong opinions about the contestants and their food when NONE of us have even TASTED a single dish. Considering how many of us have come to such strong conclusions about who the winner should be, it would only be expected that the judges are influenced by factors other than the food. The comment about the judges tasting the dishes without knowing who prepared them was spot on.
@ Jessica: The reason people expected Chef Garces to win the Mexican challenge was because Chef Garces runs a Mexican restaurant! So it�s a shocker that he failed to top there! I concur with you about the fact that a chef�s personal background and his/her culinary inclinations are not co-related. That holds true in case of Chef Mehta too! Chef Mehta specializes in Eclectic cuisine and not in Indian cuisine alone. He has shown that he can tackle different cuisines with equal finesse. The ease with which he adapts to different ingredients shows his depth of knowledge and his experience in different cuisines. The advantage that Chef Mehta has over Chef Garces is his ability to be innovative and creative. A good chef serves good food but a great chef serves good experience. With Chef Mehta it is not only about the food but also about the experience he serves along with it. That is what makes him the best!
[...] a spirited opinion thread popping off on our Nov. 16 post on the show. Now that Garces has sealed the deal, what do you think? Let us know in the [...]
Garces DID beat Bobby in his ICA debut so he has demonstrated some legit chops. Also, let's no forget. This is television...it needs ratings. It's not a college football game or admissions test into Harvard. The Food Network can put whoever they want on the show and under whatever conditions they want to do that. Was Garces pre-selected to win? Who knows... He had to go earn it after however many episodes. Another woman besides Cat or Mehta would have given the Food Network as much demographic pull. I think it is interesting that in a very short time we live in a society that celebrates competition of art, design, food and fashion as much as pro team sports. That's a good thing right?
Wow.. good finish... the dishes all seemed ICA worthy... i did find it wierd that the iron chefs who hadnt experienced either chefs' food had equal say in the final vote... maybe only 2 judges of IC plus 3 regular judges... the Iron chefs were sold on the execution and not creativity and that sealed the deal... imagine if u are mehta, you are kicking yourself over some undone meat and raw fries... bummer.. but garces had his raw cartlidge too.. i do think Garces would be good in ICA.. not sure innovative but surely consistent
The reason all were bitching mehta is because he really is a villain. In some episodes he hide ingredients so other chef could not used. He sabotage other people dishes by taking all the ingredients before they could used it, and he did it to Iron Chef Jose with the grape leaves. Sometimes he used a pot for a long time, so others could not used it. Iron Chef Jose Garces is the Best suited to carry the title Iron Chef. He is not arrogant, he have confidence. He know how to cook, and cares for what is more important "FLAVOR". Not for firework, like Mehta. How could he just give a RAW burger. He is a Chef, he needs to be careful of this. When you cook, what is more important is the flavor and how you handle the ingredients. It was like Iron Chef Symon said before, "are you creative or a failure?"
Response to Jessica:
Whoa, let's not get too Calabrese. As a Latino who is not Mexican, I agree with the spine of your post; your specific conclusions, however, miss the mark. There are no guarantees in life; if one is to guess (and what more is there to being human than to guess), then its not terribly inhuman to guess that a Latino knows more about Mexican food than an Indian, or that a Korean knows more about Japanese food, or a Spaniard more about Portuguese food. It hardly seems necessary to ridicule nathan for making similar assumptions. Furthermore, it's the very nature of this show's producers to play upon those common assumptions, in order to create dramatic tension and surprise; shouldn't you first criticize the show itself for employing such crass social manipulations?Thanks Jessica, that was a classy post...
It has been obvious that Garces would be the next Iron Chef since before the show aired.Any one whom saw his performance and comentary on Iron Chef America would know this. His performance is not the reason why he is to be the next Iron Chef. Along with the Spanish language commercials on the Food Network, the network wants and needs more Latin/Spanish "stars". Obviously is pandering to the Latin population as is the rest of America, the show was decided long before its airing. This from a Cuban guy fed up with all this. Graias..Muchas Gracias
I am sad that Chef Mehtha lost and did not become the next iron chef. Ia still proud of this chef because he is very humble and rarely bitched about other chefs and thier cooking style throughout the competition.I watched the last 2 episodes where the other 2 chefs bitching about chef mehtha's colourful plating sytle for lack of creativity and judging him and those 2 judges sounded arrogant.
Response to Nathan: Are you serious, you just demonstrated to all of us how ignorant you are. Just because a person is hispanic/latino does not mean they are Mexican, Chef Garces is Ecuadorian!! And no, just because you are Latino does not mean you know more about Latino food, it's like saying that a Japanese person is likely to know more about Chinese food than a French person. You are a joke, think before you speak please.
It's a surprise for me why people consider Chef Jehangir Mehta a supervillain of cooking. He is very creative in his dishes. He was beaten by one of the Iron Chef(I think was Bobby) for only a point. Chef Garces looks an arrogant for me and looks ridiculous how he pronunces his name with a gringo accent when he is a first generation of Americans from Ecuadorean parents. Many children of immigrants are proud of their parents culture and language. Or prehaps his parents never teach him Spanish.
I don't know if anyone else noticed that this show was rigged from the beginning. It was so obvious that they were looking for a minority to add a bit of new flavor & coloring (pun) to the existing chefs. And with the growing Latin population, it was inevitable, or should I say so predictable. The others had no chance at all. Most of the Food Network competitions are prejudice. What I'd like to see is "blind-tasting" events, especially with the Iron Chef competitions, and Chopped. It's astonishing that the opponent never wins. So, take away the cameras within the kitchen area & allow the judges to taste the foods without the chefs personal presentations, and let the chips fall where they may. Who's with me, huh?
Well this episode was shot long back and Chef Garces is hosting a 2floor viewing party... they took the suspense out of it.. shudnt it be against the rules or something .. the whole 'suspense' is gone...
Chef Mehta has the Iron Chef potential. Chef Graces is ok and doesnt jump out as far as his food is concern. Graces just play it too safe with familiar food and presentation . Many chef are capable of whipping up dishes but few are able to move beyond to Innovate a dish. Not as a disrespect, the only true iron chef in the Iron chef America line up is Chef Morimoto and grossly underrated and Flay is grossly overrated . I don't remember most of his dishes but Morimoto's dishes and presentation lingers on me. Similarly Graces present existing food with his own flare..not innovating...very forgettable. The truth is Chef Metha create flavorful and dare to be different. Let's admit..who wants another boring flay like chef. ..bring on Morimoto like chef calibrate anytime for me. my vote is to Metha
I absolutly cannot stand Mehta's personality...not to mention his obsessed eyes, Garcia does nothing for me... in all honesty Amanda Freitag should have won..she competed well against Flay when she was on the show. She is an amazing chef.. they really got it wrong this year.. what iron chef needs is new judges and to fire THE MAN WHO EATS EVERYTHING.
Wow.. all this hate for Chef Mehta... hope most of you are aware the TVshows clipped versions of a marathon... anyway the fix is in, they need a latin flavor profile and Garces is the deault ... he has been saying that for weeks on the show and to boot he has a viewing party on the day of final episode... For those who cry abt Mehta getting an upperhand in the Indian challenge, didnt Garces get the upperhand in the Mexican challenge the previous week... and ironically Mehta wins Mexican week and Garces wins Indian week i still dont get the hate... i dont mind either one winning, its clear who has won though...
I think if Mehta wins, he has compromising photos of Alton Brown with a lobster crammed in his ass or something. There's no other way. I feel like Mehta is the Project Runway contestant on the show. His presentations are always over-the-top and quite fierce....but is that really an Iron Chef? He kept using the ice cream machine to prove a point. Marcel tried that ish on TC and look what it got him. 2nd place. Don't try to outsmart/snark the judges. They hate that. Sure Flay is an ass, and Batali is kind of a bag, but all of them are classyish folks that are serious about food. Mehta is not Iron in any way I've seen.
It has been interesting to see the difference between this series and the last. The first had good natured sparring that you see on ICA all the time, but moments where chefs would help each other out. In series 2, it is win at any cost. Lie, hide or steal ingredients / equipment (this is called "strategy"), bad mouth others work - It's all fair in the new world, far away from the Japanese honor code and the shows roots. Of the two remaining, both have become so arrogant that neither man would keep me watching an ICA episode. I have to agree with Pat (although for different reasons), Freitag possessed some honor, and humor, she could cook and I would have liked to see her win.
[...] down to two: New York’s Jehangir Mehta (chef-owner of Graffiti) and Philadelphia-based Jose Garces. We caught up with both finalists via conference call this afternoon; the chefs dished on ethics, [...]
I've been watching next Iron chef since the begin, I'm pleased to see a Latin chef in the final two. Jose Garces is definite Iron Chef material, PS he is cute too!!
Might never forgive you for no recaps of this. :( Okay, I will if Garces wins. Hold your breath.
I have no idea why Jehangir is still there. I was sure so many times he was going to be booted, for his ice cream messes that turned into puddings and shakes, for that vile combination of bizarre take out boxes, but he remains. His energy is so frenetic and scattered that I can't bear to watch him, and certainly will never watch him if by some bizarre twist of the planets, he wins. I like Garces and hope he wins, but I was really pulling for Amanda Freitag. She's been so consistently good. The episode where she was booted totally confused me. The judges had highly negative comments about Jehangir's giant oysters and the overall messiness of Garces' bento box, and Dr. Hattori himself said Freitag's bento box had the best umami. But then she's booted for not having enough umami? I think she was kicked off simply because women cannot stand to see other women succeed, and the two female judges have been especially vile to Freitag right from the beginning. If they'd had male judges, I think Freitag would have a shot at winning.
Could not agree more. Thanks for the heads up on the finale party, I've been dying to dine Garces while watching Garces...he's the MAN! We should be thankful as Philadelphians for his representation!
Mehta was appalling right from the start. Definitely not iron chef material. Garces on the other hand showed solid cooking skills. His victory was well deserved.
Watching on TV I really can't say how each chef's food tastes, we have to leave that to the judges discretion. But, what makes me lean towards Mehta is that atleast he does'nt drop is sweat in the food. I mean for God's sake whats wrong with Garcia..if you look back at the challenge, in every episode he is so sweaty with sweat dripping from his brow...eeew that makes me loose my apetite...
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