Staff Blog
Aug. 17: Jose Garces beats Bobby Flay into bloody pulpo
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Philly's Jose Garces — you know, Amada, Tinto, the brand-new Distrito — will rip Kitchen Stadium on Sun., Aug. 17, when he takes on Bobby Flay on the Food Network's Iron Chef America. (Here's hoping he fares better than when I kindasorta took Bobby on.)
Press release with lots of info (and word of a post-battle Iron Chef tasting menu!) after the jump.
PHILADELPHIA, PA - On Sunday, August 17, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Philadelphia's Chef Jose Garces will become the city's first chef-ambassador to Food Network's "Kitchen Stadium" — as a challenger on the massively popular series "Iron Chef America."
"It is an honor and a thrill to be chosen to compete against Bobby Flay, who is considered one of the world's finest culinary talents," says Chef Garces. "I admire each of the Iron Chefs, and I'm so proud to have shared their kitchen and brought my food up against the best of the best."
The chefs are given one hour to complete five dishes, which must each include the "secret" ingredient that is revealed to them at the beginning of the challenge. At the conclusion of the hour, the chefs present their dishes to a trio of judges who score each competitor on taste, presentation and originality.
"The energy in Kitchen Stadium inspired me," says Chef Garces, "and I feel that I put my very best food forward. I can't wait for viewers to watch the show and feel the excitement that I felt while competing."
For one week after the episode airs, Chef Garces will share the dishes he prepared on the show with diners at his restaurants; each will offer a special Iron Chef Menu comprised of the five dishes that he created for the competition.
At age 36, Chef Jose Garces has fast become one of the country's most distinguished chefs, a reputation that he solidified with the tremendous success of his first restaurant Amada, an authentic Andalusian tapas bar, which opened to rave reviews in Fall 2005. He further reinforced this standing with his second venture Tinto, a wine bar inspired by Basque country, the coastal and mountainous region shared by Spain and France, which was one of the city's most highly anticipated restaurants when it opened in March 2007.
In March 2008, Garces launched Mercat a la Planxa, a Barcelona-style tapas restaurant in Chicago, his hometown. Most recently, Garces oversaw the opening of a third Philadelphia restaurant, Distrito, a spirited celebration of the culture and cuisine of Mexico City. His first cookbook, Latin Evolution (Lake Isle Press), will be released in September 2008.
Called the "Latin Emeril" for his wide smile and educational approach to food, Garces is a two-time nominee for the James Beard Foundation's prestigious "Best Chef Mid-Atlantic" award, and has long been an ambassador of contemporary Latin cuisine. He has appeared in The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Esquire, Conde Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and Wall Street Journal.
LOVE the headline.
I am so glad he’s taking on Bobby Flay and his “Southwest cuisine”.
A visit at a GRG establishment never disappoints
Garces with a 48 to 44 (Flay has homefield advantage…) score!
[...] addressing none other than our very own Jose Garces, who met Iron Chef Bobby Flay head to head in a Kitchen Stadium battle (secret ingredient: melon) with a frigid twist: Each course had to feature a frozen element.Recap [...]