Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended on September 24, 1999, although four occasional specials were produced from January 5, 2000, to January 2, 2002. The series aired 309 episodes. Repeats are regularly aired on the Food Network in Canada, the Cooking Channel in the United States, and on Special Broadcasting Service in Australia. Iron Chef can be viewed on Peacock TV and streamed for free on Pluto TV in the United States. There are 5 spinoffs, with the latest being Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend.
Masaharu Morimoto is a Japanese chef, best known as an Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show Iron Chef and its spinoff Iron Chef America. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food.
Iron Chef America is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the original Japanese program, the program is a culinary game show. In each episode, a new challenger chef competes against one of the resident "Iron Chefs" in a one-hour cooking competition based on a secret ingredient or ingredients, and sometimes theme.
Marcus Samuelsson is an Ethiopian-born Swedish-American celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is the head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.
Kenneth Joel Hotz is a Canadian comedy writer, filmmaker, entertainer and television personality. He is best known as the star of the reality comedy show Kenny vs. Spenny alongside Spencer Rice. Hotz is the creator of the FX series Testees, and Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will. Between 2004 and 2006, he served as a staff writer for South Park. Hotz has directed a number of films, including Pitch, It Don't Cost Nothin' to Say Good Morning, The Papal Chase and Subscribe. He also co-directed the music video for the song "Monophobia" by Deadmau5. Hotz is a regular contributor for Vice Media and began his career as a war correspondent and photojournalist during the Gulf War.
Robert Paul Irvine is an English celebrity chef and talk show host who has appeared on and hosted a variety of Food Network programs including Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, Restaurant: Impossible, A Hero's Welcome, Operation Restaurant, All-Star Academy, Guy's Grocery Games, Chopped: Impossible, and Restaurant Express. Irvine currently operates one restaurant, Fresh Kitchen by Robert Irvine, located within The Pentagon. He also operated Robert Irvine's Public House at the Tropicana resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, from 2017 until the closure of the Tropicana in 2024. Irvine launched The Robert Irvine Show, a daytime talk show which aired weekdays on The CW between 12 September 2016 and 25 May 2018.
Lynn Crawford is a Canadian chef and television personality. She is known for her appearances on the Food Network show Restaurant Makeover, which is seen in over 16 countries worldwide.
Dinner: Impossible is an American reality competition television series broadcast by the Food Network and initially hosted by Robert Irvine. The first episode aired on January 24, 2007 and the last episode aired in 2010. Food Network began airing the eighth season on March 3, 2010.
Emeril John Lagasse III is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author, and National Best Recipe award winner for his "Turkey and Hot Sausage Chili" recipe in 2003. He is a regional James Beard Award winner, known for his mastery of Creole and Cajun cuisine and his self-developed "New New Orleans" style. He is of Portuguese descent on his mother's side, while being of French heritage through his father.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives is an American food reality television series that has aired on the Food Network since April 23, 2007. It is hosted by Guy Fieri, and in recent episodes Hunter Fieri has joined his dad in exploring cuisines and restaurants. The show originally began as a one-off special that aired on November 6, 2006. The show features a "road trip" concept, similar to Road Tasted, Giada's Weekend Getaways, and $40 a Day. Fieri travels around the United States, Canada, and Mexico, looking at various diners, drive-in restaurants, and dive bars. He has also featured restaurants in European cities, including London and Florence, as well as in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
The Next Iron Chef is a limited-run series on the Food Network that aired its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program Iron Chef America.
Chris Cosentino is an American celebrity chef and reality television personality known as the winner of Top Chef Masters, a competitor on The Next Iron Chef and for his appearances on Iron Chef America. He is known for his haute cuisine offal dishes, and was chef-partner at Incanto in San Francisco. Forbes Traveler called Incanto "perhaps America's most adventurous nose-to-tail restaurant … On offer are lamb's necks, pig trotters and a five-course nose-to-tail tasting menu perhaps including venison kidneys and chocolate-blood panna cotta." Incanto closed on March 24, 2014. In December 2014, he opened Cockscomb, a restaurant centered around his updated interpretations of classic San Francisco dishes.
Michael D. Symon is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as Iron Chef America, Burgers, Brew and 'Que, Food Feuds, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate, as well as Cook Like an Iron Chef on theCooking Channel and The Chew on ABC. He has also made numerous contributions to periodicals such as Bon Appétit, Esquire, Food Arts, Gourmet, Saveur and O, The Oprah Magazine. He is of Greek, Sicilian, and Eastern European descent.
The fifth season of the American reality television series The Next Food Network Star premiered on Sunday, June 7, 2009. Food Network executives, Bob Tuschman and Susie Fogelson, were joined by Bobby Flay as the Selection Committee for this season, which was filmed early 2009 in New York, New York and Miami, Florida.
Geoffrey Zakarian is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is the executive chef of several restaurants in New York City, Atlantic City, and Miami. He is featured on several television shows on the Food Network, including Chopped and The Next Iron Chef. In 2011, on The Next Iron Chef he won an opportunity to join Iron Chef America.
Iron Chef Gauntlet is a television series on Food Network that began airing on April 16, 2017. The series is a reboot of the Iron Chef and Iron Chef America series that gained popularity on Food Network and is hosted by Alton Brown, who also takes over as the series' Chairman. Seven chefs from around the country battle each other in an elimination contest, with the last chef remaining then facing a "gauntlet" challenge of defeating three other Iron Chefs in order to earn the title of Iron Chef. In the first season, the Iron Chefs forming the Gauntlet were Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, and Michael Symon. The second season of Iron Chef Gauntlet began airing April 4, 2018 and was scheduled for six episodes. The Gauntlet Iron Chefs for the second season were Alex Guarnaschelli, Gauntlet season one winner Stephanie Izard, and Michael Symon.
