OK, normally Christine and I are not huge fans of the U.S. version of Food Network’s “Iron Chef America”, but after last night’s epic throw-down with two of our favorite celebrity chef’s, Jamie Oliver and Mario Batali, well, we might just change our tune…
Since they are both best known for their rocking Italian “sapore”, these two kitchen Jedis couldn’t be more perfectly matched. And watching them go head-to-head in that crazy-big kitchen stadium was downright thrilling. They were quick, informative and funny as hell!
And they weren’t the only ones that were funny. Mario’s sous chef, Anne Burrell, seemed to be smiling and/or laughing the whole time and to really shake things up, Jamie brought along his old-school mentor, the “Italian Rasputin” himself, Gennaro Contaldo, who was absolutely hilarious. You have not lived till you’ve seen this dude crack an ostrich egg with a hammer and a screwdriver…awesome!
As for the food, I can’t remember what kind of fish they used as the “secret ingredient”, but I do know it looked way better cooked than it did when they first fished it out of that tank. Yikes…
And just when we thought things couldn’t get any cooler on this already amazing episode, the host revealed that one of the judges was none other than our favorite Asian robot, Julie “Chenbot” Chen!
I’m not kidding, Christine and I were in geek nirvana…Jamie and Gennaro; Mario wearing his iconic orange Crocs (pictured below); and “Big Brother’s” Chenbot actually eating food! On the same show! Whoa…and they said the strike would ruin our TV prospects in the new year! Ha! Whatever Food Network genius dreamt up this “perfect storm” of a line-up deserves an Emmy! Big time!
I won’t give away the ending by telling you who actually wins the competition, but I will say that that sassy Chenbot did her fair share of drooling over Jamie’s dishes…and I’m not talking about his fried fish and chips with mushy peas…if you know what I’m saying…
So, if you get a chance to catch this one in repeats (which I’m sure you will as they run these things non-stop) I encourage everyone to check it out. Even non-fans of the show will have — in the words of Señor Oliver — a smashing good time!
make. see. eat. do. 
I seem to be a little addicted to the Food Network lately, and that includes Iron Chef, even though the secret ingredient is usually something I wouldn’t eat. When I saw this last night, I almost called you guys to make sure you were watching. Mario’s sous chef is one of my favorite people on that show–she always looks like she’s having so much fun!
You know you’re a food TV geek when you actually know who the sous-chefs are! (Or even when you use the words “sous-chef”). This means you too Melissa!
As a fellow food TV geek, I somehow managed to miss this ep. I can’t say that I like the American Iron Chef as much as the Japanese version, but I still watch every now and again. But this sounds like a match-up I have to see.
Of course the best Iron Chef match-up is that between Iron Chef Japanese vs. Iron Chef Chicano.
I know … what a shameless plug! 🙂
They’re playing this episode again on the 10th and 12th … our TiVo is already set!
Ahhh! We saw it too and we’re soooo excited that Jamie’s back on TV. When I saw a promo for “Jamie at Home” I actually thought, MAN, it’s good to hear his voice again!
I’m watching Iron Chef America now and just saw an ad for Anne Burrell’s own new show starting next weekend. Yay! Looking forward to seeing her personal take on things.
How cool! I had no idea they had given Anne her own show…we’ll totally have to Tivo it!